Paradise-flycatcher ID, China (1 Viewer)

[Barbets48]

Yesterday I was birding in a local park in Baise, Guangxi, China and for the first time came upon a Paradise-flycatcher which was feeding in a small patch of dense trees. The bird was a female, stayed high up just under the canopy, and did not give me excellent views.

My observations were that the bird showed bright rufous coloration on the tail and wings, a fairly thick bill, and a grayish breast and belly.

Knowing this park well and never having seen it here before, the bird is almost certainly a migrant that was passing through.

I'm curious if anyone could provide any insight into whether the bird would most likely be a Blyth's or Amur Paradise-flycatcher. I've mostly ruled out Japanese on the basis of the breast and belly being a pretty uniform color, without any clearly demarcated line/change of color. But I'm unsure whether the range of Blyth's reaches as far East as Baise.

I attached a couple terrible photos that may not be much help.

Mike W.

 

[andyb39]

It's very hard to be sure with these as in some lighting conditions, the throat can look darker than it really is. I think perhaps the head can sometimes cast shadow onto the throat.

I'm not sure about range.

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

It's very hard to be sure with these as in some lighting conditions, the throat can look darker than it really is. I think perhaps the head can sometimes cast shadow onto the throat.

I'm not sure about range.

Would echo Andy's caution give the quality of the images and lighting effects so, pass on ID.

Regarding range of Blyth's, IOC and HBW give ssp. indochinensis reaching S China with HBW specifying S Yunnan & SW Guangxi so, Baise would appear to be out of range....but I would be cautious. Best to seek advice from someone who knows the area, like Jonathan Martinez. AFAIK he's still active on BF but I don't have his contact details.

Grahame

 

[andyb39]

Perhaps not that far out of range, looking at the map. Amur is more likely and your bird appears to be one but as Grahame says, you would need better quality images to be certain.