Jane Turner
Well-known member
I've been sent a number of photos of mystery Phyllosc by a friend. I've not cleared publishing them with him - so for now this is an intellectual exercise.
In the field it looked to be an Arctic type in moult. It was relatively sluggish, large looking and silent. Looking at the photos however its far from easy.
-it appears very large-billed - and there is quite a hook to the tip of the upper mandible
-the lower mandible is all orange - the upper is all dark
-the crown is rather grey and contrasts with a more olive mantle
-the legs are rather dark grey
-there is no crown stripe
-the supercilium is rather Arctic Warbler-like in length, but is is wide before the eye and bridges.
-the ear coverts are mottled
-it appears to have one wing bar only (though moult makes this hard to judge)
-there is a very strong emargination on the 6th primary
-the 1st primary is very long - its past the primary coverts by at least the -length of the primary coverts
Unless I'm missing something obvious, the wing structure more or less narrows the field to Greenish types - but can eg obsuratus show a contrasty grey crown and a honking great bill,
or
Lage-billed Leaf Warbler, but can it have an entirely pale lower mandible, aside from not being recorded in Thailand?
or
Are there examples of Pale-legged/Sakhalin with dark legs and longer than usual 1st primary?
Oh and May = February!
In the field it looked to be an Arctic type in moult. It was relatively sluggish, large looking and silent. Looking at the photos however its far from easy.
-it appears very large-billed - and there is quite a hook to the tip of the upper mandible
-the lower mandible is all orange - the upper is all dark
-the crown is rather grey and contrasts with a more olive mantle
-the legs are rather dark grey
-there is no crown stripe
-the supercilium is rather Arctic Warbler-like in length, but is is wide before the eye and bridges.
-the ear coverts are mottled
-it appears to have one wing bar only (though moult makes this hard to judge)
-there is a very strong emargination on the 6th primary
-the 1st primary is very long - its past the primary coverts by at least the -length of the primary coverts
Unless I'm missing something obvious, the wing structure more or less narrows the field to Greenish types - but can eg obsuratus show a contrasty grey crown and a honking great bill,
or
Lage-billed Leaf Warbler, but can it have an entirely pale lower mandible, aside from not being recorded in Thailand?
or
Are there examples of Pale-legged/Sakhalin with dark legs and longer than usual 1st primary?
Oh and May = February!
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