"Asian Brown" Flycatcher, Bangkok, February (1 Viewer)

[gandytron]

Given that August seems to be the best time to chance upon a migrant Brown-streaked Fly in Bangkok I did a bit of web-searching for images of this spp the other day to familiarise myself with it. I found a series of images of a bird labelled as "Brown-streaked Flycatcher" on the OBC images database taken in Singapore in Jan 2011 http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=3&Bird_ID=2702&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1 (see images 3, 4, 5 and 6) and thought that they looked similar to images I had from my local patch in downtown Bangkok. A quick look through my own images has produced the attached (taken 20th Feb 2009), which to my eyes are more or less the spitting image of the Sinagpore bird (bill structure and extent of yellow on lower mandible, buff lores and near absence of eye-ring, ground colour, very weak streaking on underparts).

The only things that bother me are the apparent lack of rufous tones in the wing covert fringes, and the fact that in my bird you cannot see its back to indicate if it has any warmer tones in the rump or upper tail coverts.

I have never seen 'Brown streaked" Flycatcher, and much of the information I read, and images I see relates to nice streaky 1cy birds, so I'm unsure what a mid-winter bird would look like.

Can anybody enlighten me?

Thanks

Dave

 

[GraemeS]

I can't answer your questions, but personally I'd call that an Asian Brown. There's just not enough evidence for me to elevate it. I 'm terrible at bird IDs, though, especially when the differences are small, and the Asian Brown itself has variations.

I am going to look through my Asian Brown back catalogue to see if I have something hiding, though!

 

[gandytron]

I know what you mean Graeme - my feeling is that either my suspicion (that the subject bird is a Brown-streaked) is correct, or the bird on the OBC image database is wrongly ID'd.

I did a bit of web searching on Asian Brown Fly pictures yesterday in the BF Gallery and found at least two that were mis'ID'd (one an obvious Brown-streaked and the other possibly a Dark-sided).

Best

Dave

 

[SeeToh]

Both images looked asian brown fc to me.

The brownish streaks should be quite obvious from the frontal view.

The tail of bsfc tend to be forked also.

Refer to a record shot of the bsfc from my gallery.

http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/422664/ppuser/86109

 

[SeeToh]

Image 3 of obc confirmed a bsfc as I was there when Myron shot it.

 

[viator]

Asian Brown for me as well.

 

[gandytron]

SeeToh, Viator

Thanks for these comments, however I am really struggling to understand where you see the differences between my bird and the Jan 2011 Singapore bird. I can see obvious and clear differences in plumage between the bird that SeeToh links to - but that is taken at a different time of the year (July) and is, I think a 1CY bird.

SeeToh's comment on tail shape is instructive, but I do not see it reflected in the Singapore Jan 2011 bird (who's tail looks very similar to that of my bird in Bangkok). Any further info you can shed on the separation of these two individuals would be greatly appreciated.

If you know of other images of the Singapore Jan 2011 bird that are online I'd be very interested to see them.

Thanks so much!

Dave

 

[SeeToh]

Dave

Photo of the same Jan 2011 bird shot at Bidadari can be found in Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38396164@N00/5351255635/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38396164@N00/5351593464/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawrenceneo/5345582892/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawrenceneo/5345582878/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawrenceneo/5345582888/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawrenceneo/5345582884/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yychong/5356711000/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/astro08/5362787055/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robin88/5339392934/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltk2505/5326044434/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisli023/5338195035/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisli023/5338194943/
http://www.pbase.com/wkcheah/brown_streaked_flycatcher

Another BSFC was spotted at Singapore this week. Photo of this Aug 2012 bird can be found at http://www.pbase.com/con_foley/flycatcher_brown_streaked_sg. This bird, however, lacked the rufous tone wing fringings apparent in the Jan 2011 bird but the brownish breast streaks are pretty obvious.

As for your two images, I really could not see any brown streaks on the upper breasts of the two birds.

Regards

See Toh

 

[gandytron]

Hi See Toh,

Thanks for these - some of those links (especially the images in http://www.pbase.com/wkcheah/brown_streaked_flycatcher) are very useful and I agree that the degree of breast-streaking on the Singapore Jan 2011 is significantly more pronounced than on my bird. Furthermore some of these images show the distinct rufous fringing to the wing coverts and upper tail coverts of the Singapore bird.

Many thanks for making the rime to search out these images and put the links together.

Very best wishes

Dave