Nong Song Hong Thailand - colours of juvenile Olive-backed Sunbird ? (1 Viewer)

[Bertus]

19-12-23 in Mango tree in garden, first pic I would say female Olive-backed Sunbird, sharp high pitch, almost everyday, male eclipse too, but now spotted one bit smaller, second and third pic, more greyish, with definitely some red in the crown. This and the female looked to belong together and if I put up the colours (fourth pic) some greenish-yellow turns up like olive. Is that a juvenile of the same species? Can't find anything with red in the crown....

 

[THE_FERN]

Suggest something like immature
Scarlet-backed flowerpecker

 

[Bertus]

@bhutjoe Hi there, what would you say in this case?

 

[Bertus]

@THE_FERN and @foresttwitcher....Tnx for suggestion. Strange I have never seen anything like a flowerpecker around here, but the red colour yes, no have many candidates, and indeed also in Isan. But the bill of the red-headed looks more like that of a sunbird to me, but I have only little experience. And what about the first pic, would that not be a female Olive-backed Sunbird but a female Scarlet-backed flowerpecker? I can't find any pic of that with so much green/yellow. But of course it could be two different species. I assumed that the small one was a kid of the green one.. For sure we have the Olive-backed Sunbird in our garden almost every day, especially the female, the male seems a bit more shy

 

[THE_FERN]

First pic is olive-backed sunbird

 

[bhutjoe]

Other than to say it is now called Ornate Sunbird I would say the Fern is correct. Also, I would defer to his ID, as I would to a number of others here. But I have never seen one with what appears to be a reddish cap. Not an adult male as you note. We have a family that is around our house in the south and the male is certainly not shy, often "resting" a few feet away from me, though flies away if I move. I will ask my friend when I see him again but it won't be till next fall/winter.
By the way, I believe in another post you mentioned Hala Bala. I would be remiss in saying that even the Thai birders I know are very careful when they go there - they do not stray from the main roads or go to any of the towns nearby. I would strongly suggest not going alone but with an experienced Thai birder should you go there. Most of the top Thai top e-bird listers also do guiding so it should be easy to find someone.
steve

 

[THE_FERN]

Other than to say it is now called Ornate Sunbird I would say the Fern is correct. Also, I would defer to his ID, as I would to a number of others here. But I have never seen one with what appears to be a reddish cap.

? There are 2 birds here. First is ornate/olive-backed sunbird. The second is a flowerpecker

 

[bhutjoe]

Yes, I responded without looking at the photos but only remembered the red cap as I was only wanting to make a comment about the name change, at least in e-bird. I realize my comment was not at all clear, apologies. The one with a red cap is not a sunbird, though its bill does appear I think to be on the larger end of the scarlet backed flowerpecker continuum. And scarlet backed seems the most (likely only?) candidate. I think there is a photo affect that is making the bill look more curved than it is by showing the lower mandible as being very light and thus hard to discern. Interesting bird.

 

[Bertus]

You are all right, that was a lit bit difficult to ID, hard to realise but that indeed can only be a juvenile Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, thanks a lot.. First time, nice species again.... still surprising what the countryside here offers on species... happy new year I have to say....

 

[Bertus]

Other than to say it is now called Ornate Sunbird I would say the Fern is correct. Also, I would defer to his ID, as I would to a number of others here. But I have never seen one with what appears to be a reddish cap. Not an adult male as you note. We have a family that is around our house in the south and the male is certainly not shy, often "resting" a few feet away from me, though flies away if I move. I will ask my friend when I see him again but it won't be till next fall/winter.
By the way, I believe in another post you mentioned Hala Bala. I would be remiss in saying that even the Thai birders I know are very careful when they go there - they do not stray from the main roads or go to any of the towns nearby. I would strongly suggest not going alone but with an experienced Thai birder should you go there. Most of the top Thai top e-bird listers also do guiding so it should be easy to find someone.
steve

I checked the map. Never I realised that Hala Bala is almost on the border. I have to say I am not against Islam, and sometimes it helps to speak some words in Arab, but not there I guess, since they speak more Malaysian. Is that the risk that you aimed at? The insurgents, generally called Islam insurgents...? And is there no rangers there? Still interesting, that is politics and maybe religion too. I found one elephant in Nam Nao and a sunbear in Kaeng Krachan quite risky already, but that is different from wildlife, this is people and weapons... yes you got to be careful there, but honestly I know nothing about that conflict I realise now, better I check before getting there indeed...