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World Rarities - the most widely strung species?! (3 Viewers)

Foothill Elaenia on the east slope of Ecuador is a species I can see being frequently strung, especially if one has not done his or her homework with the call.

Carlos

PS: I have Green Manakin on my list, from the Bombuscaro Sector of Podocarpus National Park in Ecuador. I only have that one record from my three months in that country, but I remember getting walk-away views of this one.
 
lewis20126 said:
Another one for South America: Blue-fronted Lancebill

How many photos do you see of that one, compared to its relative frequncy in trip reports (usually females).....

a
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Hi Alan,
i have blue-fronted lancebill on my list, self IDed from a non-guided visit to Amazonia lodge in Madre de Dios.
I don't deny it might be stringy as it was a female type and i think my main argument for this sp. as opposed to green-fronted was the elevation (500m). I didn't realise it was a big world rarity either...
on the plus side Dan Lane got recordings of this sp. there last year.
do you have any other knowledge about this species occurrence at Amazonia Lodge?
cheers,
James
 
James Lowther said:
Hi Alan,
i have blue-fronted lancebill on my list, self IDed from a non-guided visit to Amazonia lodge in Madre de Dios.
I don't deny it might be stringy as it was a female type and i think my main argument for this sp. as opposed to green-fronted was the elevation (500m). I didn't realise it was a big world rarity either...
on the plus side Dan Lane got recordings of this sp. there last year.
do you have any other knowledge about this species occurrence at Amazonia Lodge?
cheers,
James
Click to expand...

Hi James, I'm sure any Lancebill at 500m would be Blue-fronted - good stuff. And if Dan has recorded them there then that's good enough for me! I'm hoping one (preferably a male) starts using a feeder somewhere.

cheers, alan
 
Larry Wheatland said:
For Aus, I strongly suspect not all Grey Falcon, Grey Honeyeater or Black-eared Miner records are the real deal.
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Not so much strung, but I think easily the most misrecorded bird in the SW is Western Corella. It's pretty easy to find in the right areas, but around Perth and coastal towns like Busselton and Bunbury the corellas are almost all introduced Little and Eastern Long-billed, but a lot of visitors (and even some locals) don't realise this and assume they're seeing Western (not helped by a lot of field guides not showing the introduced populations). If you do a Google Image search for Western Corella, you'll easily find all three species labelled as Western
 
Blue-fronted Lancebill is one of my bogey birds. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one!
(also very jealous of Ian's thornbill..)
 
Having lived and worked in some very good birding spots, I've come to the conclusion that many birders leave their ID skills behind them (or at least their caution) when going on holiday. When they're coming here to Tanzania I can understand that there's a lot of new stuff going on, so sure they're going to make mistakes (though deciding each non-breeding weaver is going to be a different species is probably wishful thinking!). But when I lived in Portugal I couldn't believe the number of birders who were certain they'd seen several individuals of species that were only rare visitors to my patch: western olivaceous warbler - presumably reed warbler in a bush or a pale melodious; orphean warbler - presumably badly seen Sardinian or even blackcap, and Marmora's warbler - presumably juv. Dartford warbler were the most common. All possible (though Marmora's would be a mega, I know of no records for Algarve), but none common where we were. To see several would be astonishing! The same used to happen in Lebanon, where again most of the birds are familiar to European birders.
 
TZBirder said:
But when I lived in Portugal I couldn't believe the number of birders who were certain they'd seen several individuals of species that were only rare visitors to my patch: western olivaceous warbler - presumably reed warbler in a bush or a pale melodious; orphean warbler - presumably badly seen Sardinian or even blackcap, and Marmora's warbler - presumably juv. Dartford warbler were the most common. All possible (though Marmora's would be a mega, I know of no records for Algarve), but none common where we were. To see several would be astonishing! The same used to happen in Lebanon, where again most of the birds are familiar to European birders.
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You could add to that list Iberian Chiffchaff, veeery often strung in Iberia.
 
Another potentially widely strung species is Esmeraldas Woodstar.

Misidentification can occur in all forms, however. One of the most widely strung species in Florida (especially south) is Brown-crested Flycatcher. La Sagra's Flycatcher probably gets widely strung as well by ABA listers wishing for a self-found bird. It doesn't help that Great Crested Flycatcher winters in the area in good numbers (resident pairs?), and there are many very pale individuals that can cause further confusion.

Carlos
 
Motmot said:
Keel-billed Motmot also get strung on ocassion in CRica.
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Almost strung (well, claimed a badly seen) one of these in Belize a few years back but bottled it!

How about Basra Reed Warbler in east Africa? I'm guilty of claiming that one briefly before coming to my senses. God I really shouldn't be confessing to that sort of thing here but hell, who hasn't gotten over excited when birding abroad and then had to metaphorically reach for the tipex when they sober up? Any more dirty secrets out there? (Please don't let it just be me!)

James
 
OK - did Euler's Fly for Yellow-crowned Elaenia in Northern Bolivia (taped and re-identified pn x-c by Dan Lane) - not proud of that one. Have seen and taped a number of Euler's previously as well.
cheers, alan
 
I had a damned good go at stringing a Minahassa Masked Owl out of a Sulawesi Masked Owl on Sulawesi. Especially when the 2 guides we were with told us that it was one. Big capital letters in the notebook, smug post on the internet and everything. Don't worry about it James! :t:
 
lewis20126 said:
Des, I've only spent about 4 months birding in the Phil's but have seen plenty of Honey Buzzards (both sp) and only poor views of one probable Hawk-eagle. I really would like to see them! I agree that they are there, but see very few photos of them (always a sign..) and having spoken to a few good birders with more experience than me, think this view is correct.

cheers, alan
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To follow up on Des's observations. I am supposedly at least moderately proficient in the Philippines, and I have lots of problems with the Pernis. Some recent threads of birds shot in various locations in the Philippines:

http://birdphotoph.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=photo&thread=8410&page=2
http://birdphotoph.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=id&action=display&thread=8371
http://birdphotoph.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photo&action=display&thread=8378
http://birdphotoph.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=id&action=display&thread=8392
 
So what do you make of this one? Sorry about the poor quality had broken my camera and was hand holding a camera to the scope.
 

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Mark,
Just on pure instinct at a glance - Spilornis. Too fierce looking (meaning too much superciliary ridge to be anything from Pernis). The culotte markings also make me think Spilornis. However, will look with more attention later.

Looking better, maybe the tarsometatarsal feathering extends too far down for Spilornis. Need to break out the Ferguson-Lees. I am now getting Nisaetus. It's not Hieraaetus. It is not N. cirrhatus (a crest is visible). It does not look like Pernis to me (though I do admit some of the photos of celebensis celebensis on OBI resemble this - but as is known celebensis celebensis is a plumage mimic in Sulawesi of Nisaetus). Not real sure of this plumage, but I think it is a N. philippensis.
 
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