Babbler (?) and flycatcher in Malaysia (1 Viewer)

Hi all, long-time reader, first-time poster. I've attached a couple of pics taken by a friend of mine while we were on a trip to Peninsular Malaysia, and would greatly appreciate any help with the IDs.

The first two are likely a babbler of some sort; I was thinking some sort of Malacopteron, but could not be sure. The sequence was taken in FRIM, a patch of secondary forest on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

The third is a brown flycatcher; my best guess is Brown-streaked Flycatcher (Muscicapa williamsoni), but it's such a non-descript bird I reckon I'll abstain from guessing. This one was spotted at the Kuala Selangor mangroves.

Pin-striped Tit Babbler and Asian Brown Flycatcher

Hi Al,
welcome to the forum, i think the babbler could be pin-striped tit-babbler and am fairly sure the flycatcher is not a muscicapa, maybe a ficedula, juvenile narcissus?
cheers,
James

http://www.birdskorea.org/Images/ID...hers/Fig49YellowRumpedFlycatcher_m_2_wong.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--E2AKStWgVE/TpbdlqkdySI/AAAAAAAAB04/3TI5l3b3GFI/s1600/IMG_2196.jpg

Hi guys,

Thanks for the speedy replies! Pin-striped Tit-babbler looks a great call; the intensity of the streaking and the tail length threw us off whilst comparing images on the OBC database, but it def looks a great call.

Re: James, I like the Ficedula idea. The main (only) diagnostic feature I can see is the black line behind the eye, and I don't think Narcissus has that; would you know if other species do?

Could be Yellow-rumped Fly.

Another for juv Narcissus. The back stripe behind the eye looks more like an artifact ( ? ) but the extent of the faint, diffuse pale 'blob' in front of the eye, the weight of the bill and the shape of the head, coupled with the wing-tip to tail length all add up to looking right for Narcissus. They are also rather common in the coastal woodlands of Selangor, particularly the Mangroves.

Chris

I'm not sure about Yellow-rumped, Larry. It looks a bit too elongated, not stubby enough and the wings don't look the right length.

Chris

Re: Chris, Larry

Thanks for the suggestions, the two are scarily alike aren't they? I don't recall it showing as much white on the wing as a Yellow-rumped, nor indeed the eponymous yellow rump. I reckon I'll go with Narcissus; now that it's mentioned there is a very faint yellow wash on the breast and there is a fair amount of faint scaling across the upper breast and throat.

If we're comfortable with that call I'll be glad to call it that! Thanks lots for the help, was really floundering there!

Hoping for more input on this one cos I've a lot to learn here, as I've only seen male Yellow-rumpeds and none of the 'narcisus' group.

As far as I can make out, the form of 'narcisus' that's likely in pen Malaysia is elisae, and this is now (mostly?) considered a full species, Green-backed Flycatcher. 'Normal' Narcisus would be (I think) a vagrant at Kuala Selangor. According to HBW the females of the two forms differ, with elisae being yellower below and on the lores, and greener above with a rustier tail. If we're comparing pics of likely females on the net, we should be comparing female yellow-rumped with female Green-backed (unless we can claim a vagrant Narcisus from this pic!). To me some of the pics of female Yellow-rumped (if they're correctly labelled) on Oriental Bird Images aren't that far off the OP's bird, though it could well be Green-backed, or maybe even Narcisus for all I know.

If I was you Al-lit, I'd really want to hear more of an explaination from the likes of Rockfowl, James Eaton, DaveB or someone with heaps of knowledge on these jobbies about why it is whatever it is, before I thought about ticking it! :smoke:

Too kind Larry, never easy when you cant see the important bits clearly!

Personally I'm with you, for me its a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher due to the general plumage tones and perhaps more importantly, the suggestion and pattern of white visible on the inner wing.

rockfowl said:

Too kind Larry, never easy when you cant see the important bits clearly!

Personally I'm with you, for me its a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher due to the general plumage tones and perhaps more importantly, the suggestion and pattern of white visible on the inner wing.

Click to expand...

Sorry to join the party late! I'd agree with Rockfowl - it's a Yellow-rumped. Green-backed female is much more olive above, and female Narcissus (which would be a first for the Peninsula) lacks those creamy lemon tones below. The hint of scaling at the breast sides and white streak on the outermost tertial (I think!), as already mentioend, are other clues.

Dave