White-eye question. Hainan Island (1 Viewer)

[Hainan on the fly]

Hello all. I got a quick look at a white-eye on Hainan island but I'm not sure what type it was. It was a yellowish color and I'm wonder if anyone knows what type of white-eyes could possibly be in Hainan or Southern China. The possibilities I've come up with are Yellowish WE, Japanese WE or Christmas WE but if anyone can add to or eliminate from my list it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Owen Krout]

Hi, Maybe Swinhoe's White-eye? https://ebird.org/species/swiwhe1/CN-46

You might want to download eBird's list for Hainan at: https://ebird.org/region/CN-46?yr=all Only going to be as accurate as the reporting they have, which probably is spotty as in all of China, but may have more from Hainan than most places due to Western tourists. Your current reporting would be very helpful.

According to McKinnon's & Phillipps, for Hainan, If yellow only on the throat and rump with no chestnut flanking, probably Japanese WE; Yellow on throat, chest and rump, probably Oriental WE

 

[johnallcock]

The most likely species would be Swinhoe's White-eye, which is very common and widespread throughout south China. It has only recently been split from Japanese White-eye, so many books and websites will still refer to it as Japanese.

Chestnut-flanked White-eye would be possible. Although they usually have chestnut flanks, on a few birds this can be difficult to see. They are much less common than Swinhoe's in south China.

I don't think Indian (aka Oriental) White-eye occurs on Hainan, but I may be wrong.

 

[Hainan on the fly]

Hi, Maybe Swinhoe's White-eye? https://ebird.org/species/swiwhe1/CN-46

You might want to download eBird's list for Hainan at: https://ebird.org/region/CN-46?yr=all Only going to be as accurate as the reporting they have, which probably is spotty as in all of China, but may have more from Hainan than most places due to Western tourists. Your current reporting would be very helpful.

According to McKinnon's & Phillipps, for Hainan, If yellow only on the throat and rump with no chestnut flanking, probably Japanese WE; Yellow on throat, chest and rump, probably Oriental WE

Thanks Owen! I think you are correct. I got a better look at some today and am pretty sure they where Swinhoe's White-eye. I also looked at Hainan's ebird page and I think that will be very helpful. That leaves me with a question about reporting..... When you say reporting you mean adding my sightings to my ebird account, right? I'm a little reluctant to do this as a lot of the time I'm not 100% sure that my identification is correct. How certain should I be when reporting a sighting?

 

[Hainan on the fly]

The most likely species would be Swinhoe's White-eye, which is very common and widespread throughout south China. It has only recently been split from Japanese White-eye, so many books and websites will still refer to it as Japanese.

Chestnut-flanked White-eye would be possible. Although they usually have chestnut flanks, on a few birds this can be difficult to see. They are much less common than Swinhoe's in south China.

I don't think Indian (aka Oriental) White-eye occurs on Hainan, but I may be wrong.

Thanks John! I got a better look at a few of these today and am fairly certain they are Swinhoe's White-eye. Let me see if I understand the taxonomy changes related to our discussion….The Japanese white-eye species is split into Swinhoe's White-eye and Japanese white-eye. Then the Japanese white-eye is lumped into mountain white-eye and the previously recognized Enggano White-eye is lumped into Swinhoe's White-eye. This leaves the Japanese white-eye and the Enggano White-eye not longer recognized as a species?

 

[Owen Krout]

Looks like you wandered from dipping your toes into the waters of taxonomy by deciding to keep a list into the deeper waters. Looks like your right though. I hadn't noticed that change.

I didn't go the biology route, but if I had I could see how I could have become one of those people in the basement of the museum with a magnifying glass obsessing over the fine details of specimens. Imagine the frustration of being the bloke who spent years in the field, "discovered" (never mind the natives who knew about it all along) the bird, submitted the English and Scientific names, had them approved and then sees that some other bloke in the basement decided he was wrong and poof, his claim to fame disappears.