Come on you oriental experts - this must be easy (2 Viewers)

[Jane Turner]

I am in central Shanghai - which has to limit the field a bit. Can see and hear a bird which I am guessing is a Laughing Thrush... but I have never seen the genus - so I'm guessing..

I have a sketch - but attaching it is beyond me just now.



Size of Waxwing but longer tailed and slimmer. Bit like a Phoebe in shape, but more hunched.

Uppers mostly grey but with green secondary panel and Gcs White outer TFs, white belly. Black eyestripe continuting onto upper nape and black forecrown, rear crown white...very slight hint of crest in the white, but might have been headshape. Cheeks and upper throat flecked blackish grey on white - there may have been an ill-marked throat patch like a very fuzzy fem bluethroat.

Is that enough?

Jane

 

[Jane Turner]

Well I've been through the pics of Laughing thrushes in then Oriental bird club and drawn a blank.. looks like I got the genus wrong. Will start again from scratch when I get home unless someone id's it for me.

I have a long journey ahead of me... It had a simple - bunting-like song, a short warbler... repeated a lot at huge volume and with a flutiness that was very thrush-like.

 

[HokkaidoStu]

Well I've been through the pics of Laughing thrushes in then Oriental bird club and drawn a blank.. looks like I got the genus wrong. Will start again from scratch when I get home unless someone id's it for me.

I have a long journey ahead of me... It had a simple - bunting-like song, a short warbler... repeated a lot at huge volume and with a flutiness that was very thrush-like.

Maybe some kind of Bulbul? Your description reminded me a bit of Brown Eared Bulbul ( from your first description it defnitely isn't this though ) which is a dirt common bird here in Japan................I guess there must be several different species in China............

 

[Edward woodwood]

White-collared Yuhina?

although location would not be the best for this!

can't think offhand of anything with white at back of head other than this

it also has the flecked cheeks and grey colour etc but some other things don't fit Jane......

 

[cuckooroller]

Tim,

I too had thought of genus Yuhina. I'm thinking Sylvidae with this bird but there are things that don't jibe. The first that came to mind was Heterophasia. Tried to find a birdlist for Shanghai Province but came up with zip.

 

[cuckooroller]

Jane,

I guess we need the sketch. We'll have to wait until you get somewhere where you can scan it and work from there. Would help also if we had a Shanghai Province birdlist. As it is there are too many possibles and too little info. E.g. what sex, what development stage, etc.

 

[Sumit]

Hi Jane,
One remote possibilty is the Moustached Laughingthrush (garrulax cineraceus) - 22 cms. OBI does not have an image of this species. I am going with your 1st haunch that it was a Laughingthrush that you saw.
Cheers!
Sumit

 

[cuckooroller]

If someone can give me a list of Garrulax possibles for Shanghai, I'll look through my database. Don't have any pics of cineraceus but have tons of other Garrulax pics.

 

[Jane Turner]

Will check out bulbuls - another genus I haven't seen - and then post a pic

 

[Jane Turner]

From what I have seen so far - BulBUl possible on shape (I had wrongly ssumed they were more finchy) but there are 100's to check through.

Am playing with a photo too.... will be a miracle if I get anything from it.

 

[cuckooroller]

Jane,

First impression for me is also a Bulbul. Have downloaded your sketch to my desktop and will look through my database.

 

[Jane Turner]

Cheers - I am getting something on the picture too... Another 10 mins and it might be a useful image

 

[cuckooroller]

Might be Pycnonotus sinensis. Pics coming

 

[cuckooroller]

Here they are:

 

[Jane Turner]

Sold though can't see the white outers!

 

[cuckooroller]

Are you talking about the pale wing panel?

 

[cuckooroller]

A couple more:

 

[Jane Turner]

my bird... taken though a pair of 8x20 bins, hand held and a little nervously since I was next to a Chinese army parade ground.

 

[cuckooroller]

That's him. Pycnonotus sinensis.

 

[cuckooroller]

I think your bird is not quite yet adult.