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Hume's Leaf Warbler in Cornwall? (1 Viewer)

C

Cuckoo-shrike

Well-known member
I haven't had chance to see this bird yet, but I've just seen Mike Barker's photos on Surfbirds, where he queries the i.d. as Hume's.

It does not seem to have the distinctive features of Hume's, e.g. Lewington et al states that on Humes:

- tips to median coverts tend not to form distinct wing-bar
- base of lower mandible tends to be darker as do the tarsus and toes

Those features are certainly lacking on this bird. It also looks too green but of course you can't rely on a photo for depicting correct colour shades.

I don't know if the call has been heard but I have a friend who went to Khazakstan recently, where the local expert guide advised that Yellow-browed and Hume's calls are interchangeable!
 
Aquila said:
I haven't had chance to see this bird yet, but I've just seen Mike Barker's photos on Surfbirds, where he queries the i.d. as Hume's.

It does not seem to have the distinctive features of Hume's, e.g. Lewington et al states that on Humes:

- tips to median coverts tend not to form distinct wing-bar
- base of lower mandible tends to be darker as do the tarsus and toes

Those features are certainly lacking on this bird. It also looks too green but of course you can't rely on a photo for depicting correct colour shades.

I don't know if the call has been heard but I have a friend who went to Khazakstan recently, where the local expert guide advised that Yellow-browed and Hume's calls are interchangeable!
Click to expand...


Just had a quick look at the photos and it doesn't strike me as being a Hume's at all although lack of time permits me into saying why at the moment - judging a couple of poor photos is not ideal for querying this bird.
 
I don't know about their calls being interchangeable. Heard a few Hume's in Tbet this year and never heard anything like a YBrow call. Conversely, though perhaps much less suprisingly never heard them call anything like Hume's call over here in the winter either. Will have a look in minute

the bare parts of the bird in question look dodgy. Much too pale and orangey. Should be dark. Overall tone looks very green as well
 
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I believe the identification has been confirmed as Yellow-browed now?
Anyway: Hume's can have quite a pale bill (maybe especially in late winter?), but never that orange I guess. The colours of this picture look a bit unnatural though.
The bird looks much too contrasting for any Hume's; the fact that it looks "green" is a bit dodgy, especially with these strange colours (I've seen some rather green Hume's Warblers too).
The back of the tarsus seems pale: this is typical for Yellow-browed which has dark pink front tarsi with yellow feet & back of tarsi; Hume's has dark legs with pinkish feet (especially the soles).
The variation in calls is quite big: check the sound gallery of Dutch Birding which has a special page on them!

B.t.w.: looking for pictures on the web, I found that the P. inornatus and humei pictures on the (great) site http://www.orientalbirdimages.org appear to contain errors. Some Yellow-brows look like Hume's, one Hume's looks like a weird Pallas's; some Yellow-brows look like completely different warblers!
 
The wintering Hume's at Newbiggin, Northumberland, in the late 90s (can't remember exact year) was, if I remember correctly, an extremely bright green individual. Don't think the median cov. wing bar was as pronounced as this, and I can't remember the bare parts, but it may be worth trying to get hold of some of the photos of it to compare. That bird gave quite a few different calls.
 
Apparently the brighter bird (in the tree) is the Newlyn Yellow-browed; the bird on the ground is the Hume's. Mike Barker muddled up his captions on Surfbirds.
 
Still looks a bit bright. The super is very bright too... look at the photo of the other controversial phyllosc... the Norfolk "humei" which has been calling like a Yellow-browed.
 
Hi all,
At least the 'two bird theory' clears a few things up, as, if the Sandy Bay bird had been calling like a Hume's, it would really mess up the visual ID criteria (though I concede the existence of occasional bright birds, like that Newbiggin bird referred to by Tom)!
I wouldn't call the Portreath bird as a Hume's from this one pic alone, given the complexities involved when one factors in wear in Yellow-broweds, but it would be possible to do so if recordings of the calls were available.
If the Norfolk bird genuinely HAS been calling like a Yellow-browed, then perhaps that is what it is...? Certainly possible from what little can be seen.
Regards,
Harry
 
Crikey Harry your post is like groundhog day! ;) WAS!!!

Although Hume's can be (very) Dull being bright is not a problem. Check out the image on the Spurn Website.

I wondered why the Cornwall bird had lost it's tail in between the pics being taken! Can't really see any of the features well enough to make any call on this pic.

As for the Norfolk bird it seems to show a weak median cov bar and perhaps more importantly lacks the blackish greater covs that give Yellow browed such a contrasting wing. It also seems to have dark legs and bill and a grey wash to the head/nape. I would be cautious about reports of it calling like a Yellow browed until I heard who it was that heard it. For my money on this one pic it has a lot going for it as a Hume's

G
 
humei

Garry,

The humei has been heard by several people local to us (on a trip) who all heard Yellow-browed. Amazingly, before the bird was reported on Sunday, Mike Weedon heard (and heard only) a Yellow-browed call.

Ask Will to back me up on this one, but several Norfolk birders including Richard Millington were down there as well and heard a Yellow-browed - shame it looks like a Hume's :S

Josh
 
wrexile1 said:
Garry,

The humei has been heard by several people local to us (on a trip) who all heard Yellow-browed. Amazingly, before the bird was reported on Sunday, Mike Weedon heard (and heard only) a Yellow-browed call.

Ask Will to back me up on this one, but several Norfolk birders including Richard Millington were down there as well and heard a Yellow-browed - shame it looks like a Hume's :S

Josh
Click to expand...
Hi Josh,

So what does it look like in the field? What does RM think it is? What are the pagers reporting it as? (I've been out of reception and missed a lot of messages the last two days)

G
 
wrexile1 said:
Garry,

The humei has been heard by several people local to us (on a trip) who all heard Yellow-browed. Amazingly, before the bird was reported on Sunday, Mike Weedon heard (and heard only) a Yellow-browed call.

Ask Will to back me up on this one, but several Norfolk birders including Richard Millington were down there as well and heard a Yellow-browed - shame it looks like a Hume's :S

Josh
Click to expand...
Just to repeat what I pointed out earlier:
I don't know if the call has been heard but I have a friend who went to Khazakstan recently, where the local expert guide advised that Yellow-browed and Hume's calls are interchangeable!
 
We heard a few odd calls from them in Tibet. I was expecting the 'normal' wesooo downslurred job but there were some quite bright and sparky calls. I wouldn't have confused them with the typical YBrow sweeeeest call though. Hume's do have a tchuuis/pweees kind of rising call. Wonder if it's giving that?
Or what variation is at play over the range?

Tim
 
I recorded the Caernarvon bird that wintered in 03/04. It does the rising call that Tim mentions, and sounds like the choo-ee of a Pied Wagtail, only weaker.

It's in an emailable format, so if you would like a listen PM me with you email address and I'll electronically post it to you.
 
Hi all,
In my limited experience of two Hume's (but many Yellow-broweds), the main call types are:
1) the wagtail-like call referred to by Tom, which can be rising (like a Pied Wagtail, and as with my bird), or falling, like Yellow Wagtail or Greenish Warbler (given by the Hook Head bird)
2) a slightly Chiffchaff-like 'hwitt', though more forceful

I have only ever heard Yellow-broweds give variations on the well-known 'tsee-oo-eet'.
Regards,
Harry
 
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