Hi all,
A bit confused about this accipiter from Tangkoko, Sulawesi a few days ago. All the information I can find seems to be a bit inconsistent so really hoping someone who has more experience with Nanus (Small Sparrowhawk) and Rhodogaster (Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk) can weigh in (I've seen neither except this bird!). Attached are two photos as well as link to two recordings of the bird.
The tentative ID of this bird is Nanus, but this might be skewed as local bird guide Samuel ID'd it as such a few days before I saw it (reasonably sure it's the same bird as it's apparently nesting in the area).
Here are my thoughts/confusion points:
Plumage: Although very similar, according to the description in the new guide, "Rhodogaster underwing is more strongly mottled on wing linings and less strongly barred on flight feathers than Nanus" Looking at my flight photo the bird clearly has barred flight feathers and fairly clean underwings which would make me lean towards Nanus BUT looking at the illustrations in the book, the illustration of Nanus in flight looks nothing like the bird I photographed (and more closely to the illustration of Rhodogaster) It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be any flight pictures of either species online (or at least I can't find any!)
Vocalizations: The book states that the best way to separate the two species is by voice...the only problem is that there are very few recordings online to compare to! XC provides four recordings of Nanus and two recordings of Rhodogaster. Nanus should be a "thin, high pitched, "kiliew" sometimes followed by a very sharp "kik-kik-kik", higher pitched than Rhodogaster" and Rhodogaster is a rapid "hihihihihihi" lower pitched and less piercing than Nanus. Based on these descriptions, XC210258 by Verbelen matches the description for Rhodogaster, but his second recording XC210256 is much higher pitched (higher than the recordings of Nanus on XC) and is VERY similar to my recordings XC382582 and XC382583.
So there you have it, based on book plumage description and vocal description I'd say Nanus. Based on book illustration and XC recordings, I'd say Rhodogaster....
Any thoughts would be very appreciated.
My recordings of bird
http://www.xeno-canto.org/382582
http://www.xeno-canto.org/382583
A bit confused about this accipiter from Tangkoko, Sulawesi a few days ago. All the information I can find seems to be a bit inconsistent so really hoping someone who has more experience with Nanus (Small Sparrowhawk) and Rhodogaster (Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk) can weigh in (I've seen neither except this bird!). Attached are two photos as well as link to two recordings of the bird.
The tentative ID of this bird is Nanus, but this might be skewed as local bird guide Samuel ID'd it as such a few days before I saw it (reasonably sure it's the same bird as it's apparently nesting in the area).
Here are my thoughts/confusion points:
Plumage: Although very similar, according to the description in the new guide, "Rhodogaster underwing is more strongly mottled on wing linings and less strongly barred on flight feathers than Nanus" Looking at my flight photo the bird clearly has barred flight feathers and fairly clean underwings which would make me lean towards Nanus BUT looking at the illustrations in the book, the illustration of Nanus in flight looks nothing like the bird I photographed (and more closely to the illustration of Rhodogaster) It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be any flight pictures of either species online (or at least I can't find any!)
Vocalizations: The book states that the best way to separate the two species is by voice...the only problem is that there are very few recordings online to compare to! XC provides four recordings of Nanus and two recordings of Rhodogaster. Nanus should be a "thin, high pitched, "kiliew" sometimes followed by a very sharp "kik-kik-kik", higher pitched than Rhodogaster" and Rhodogaster is a rapid "hihihihihihi" lower pitched and less piercing than Nanus. Based on these descriptions, XC210258 by Verbelen matches the description for Rhodogaster, but his second recording XC210256 is much higher pitched (higher than the recordings of Nanus on XC) and is VERY similar to my recordings XC382582 and XC382583.
So there you have it, based on book plumage description and vocal description I'd say Nanus. Based on book illustration and XC recordings, I'd say Rhodogaster....
Any thoughts would be very appreciated.
My recordings of bird
http://www.xeno-canto.org/382582
http://www.xeno-canto.org/382583
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