Prinia ? Precise ID appreciated (1 Viewer)

[Butty]

I watched hundreds of pictures of this species today and found an identical one at Blue-winged Minla by ed agter.

Aha, good discovery! - at last one that shares the striking spectacle/eye-ring+eye-stripe feature of your bird which is missing from everything linked/discussed so far. Did you get any hint of where that photographer took his(?) pics and hence what race that might be? - I don't see any indication of location (other than 'Thailand') on that site.

 

[jbpixels]

Aha, good discovery! - at last one that shares the striking spectacle/eye-ring+eye-stripe feature of your bird which is missing from everything linked/discussed so far. Did you get any hint of where that photographer took his(?) pics and hence what race that might be? - I don't see any indication of location (other than 'Thailand') on that site.

I was happy with your profound posts and only looked for a similar bird until I found this almost identical one. I found more pictures of this photographer but no further hints at the moment.

 

[Butty]

So, the existence of a 'spectacled' form of blue-winged minla indicates something unknown/undescribed/unacknowledged about the species'

• Races, or
• Juvenile plumage, or
• Individual variation, or
• Morphs

I have no idea which - but certainly one of the above.

(The things you find while looking for photos... Blue-winged Minla Macaulay Library ML325057681 )

 

[jbpixels]

So, the existence of a 'spectacled' form of blue-winged minla indicates something unknown/undescribed/unacknowledged about the species'

• Races, or
• Juvenile plumage, or
• Individual variation, or
• Morphs

I have no idea which - but certainly one of the above.

(The things you find while looking for photos... Blue-winged Minla Macaulay Library ML325057681 )

The web is of course always full of surprises.

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

So, the existence of a 'spectacled' form of blue-winged minla indicates something unknown/undescribed/unacknowledged about the species'

• Races, or
• Juvenile plumage, or
• Individual variation, or
• Morphs

I have no idea which - but certainly one of the above.

(The things you find while looking for photos... Blue-winged Minla Macaulay Library ML325057681 )

Butty, I asked Phil Round to take a look at this in light of the atypical brown 'spectacle' He commented 'Now I look at the photo on birdforum, I understand why you drew attention to it. It does look weird! No idea why it should!' and regarding taxon at this location and ageing Phil added 'The race of Blue-winged Minla on Doi Inthanon (and in the Mekong Drainage of Chiang Mai, on Doi Pha Hom Pok/Doi Lang) is sordida which has a creamy white iris. Wingatei, which I have seen on Phu Luang (Loei), has a red-brown iris. There is (expectedly) also a difference in iris colour between ads and young in sordida as shown in the enclosed photo from Doi Lang.' Blue-winged Minla Macaulay Library ML728550 adult (centre) with juveniles either side.

My personal view is that the simple explanation is, it's infinitely more likely an aberrant individual (adult sordida) than an undescribed taxon in such a well-studied region.

Grahame