A review of my HK birding life 6 - Ijima's Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus ijimae

Ijima's Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus ijimae

This little bird is one of my favorite East Asian birds. It only breeds in some isolated islands of Japan and has a poorly known migration route. Because of this, it is suggested to be a Vulnerable species. We tried several times on Po Toi for getting good photos, but still failed. So, We needa go to Miyakejima to try again and also the endemic birds there.

A review of my HK birding life 5 - Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola

Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola

Like the rustic bunting, Yellow-breasted Buntings are facing the same fate, but their situation is even worse. They were once used to be a very common bunting, breeding across the whole Eurasia and even to Hokkaido, but now, they are undergoing a 90% population decline mainly due to over-exploitation, especially hunted for food in China, and hence, they are now listed as Endangered species in the IUCN red list. In the last five year, we have tried to take as many good photos as we can, but we still haven't seen a male in full-breeding plumage. Though, this non-breeding male can  always remind us of the importance of protection before they are totally extinct.

A review of my HK birding life 4 - Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica

Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica

Rustic Bunting is used to be a widespread and common species, like tree sparrow.But now this bird is facing rapid population decline in both Europe and Asia mainly due to hunting and habitat change, so it is upgraded to a Vulnerable species according to the IUCN red list. Although we have recorded this species in HK for many times, we still could not stop our love and took more decent shots.

A review of my HK birding life 3 - Relict Gull Larus relictus

Relict Gull Larus relictus

This vulnerable gull is called a relict because it was long treated as a subspecies or hybrid of Mediterranean gull, until 1970s, it was known to be a distinct monotypic species. This is a classical example of how new species discovery can be easily overlooked. This rare gull only breeds in Northern China, Mongolia and Central Asia while the wintering ground is still incompletely understood. There are occasional records in Hong Kong, which I have missed several times, but finally, we were lucky to tick an immature bird few years ago.

A review of my HK birding life 2 - Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana

Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana

Another endangered species, which was used to be a regular winter visitor in Hong Kong. Similar to Siberian Crane, it is also threatened by habitat destruction. Five years ago, one bird came to Mai Po again, surprisingly in summer, and stayed for whole winter, so everyone could make an easy twitch.

A review of my HK birding life 1 - Siberian Crane Leucogeranus leucogeranus

Siberian Crane Leucogeranus leucogeranus

The most rarest crane in East Asia, formerly placed in genus Grus but now is more generally accepted as its own monotypic genus Leucogeranus. Nearly 90% of its global population winters in Poyang Lake, however, they are facing great stress due to habitat change and hence clarified as an Critically Endangered species in the IUCN Red List. There are two records in HK. And we were very lucky to get a shot of the long-wintering adult with its juvenile, which only stayed for 2-3 days in Mai Po.

The Cyornis Blue

Leaving this blog for more than a year, mainly because of my study. Now, as still during the unemployed period, I have more time and better start again and focusing more on bird ID.

In this Feb and March, two Cyornis species, Chinese Blue Flycatcher Cyornis glaucicomans and Hill Blue Flycatcher Cyornis banyumas were recorded in Hong Kong. I took the chance and manage to get some shots of both. The Chi Blue is quite elusive while the latter one is being fed, allowing me to take photos of reasonable quality.

Male Cyornis is usually in a combination of blue plus yellow and sometime causing problems in identification, while female is duller and much more troublesome. Luckily, the two we have recorded recently are first-winter male, and assuming adult plumage in this time of year.

Chinese Blue Flycatcher, note the brownish wing indicating this is a 1st winter bird

The key feature for separating from Hill Blue is mainly the throat. For Chi Blue, the yellow throat is more limited, showing a very narrow triangle and blue chin.

Chinese Blue Flycatcher

The Hill Blue also showing brownish wing, and pale tips on tertials.

  

Hill Blue Flycatcher

Hill Blue Flycatcher

Hill Blue Flycatcher

 The yellow throat of Hill Blue is wider and showing a yellow chin in most of the angles.

Hill Blue Flycatcher

Hill Blue Flycatcher

A comparison

Although both flycatchers are put on the latest HK checklist cat I, male Cyornis is a common pet species and many of the past records are treated as escaped birds. For the case of Hill Blue, the closest range is Guangxi and mainly non-migratory, under the subspecies whitei. Worn feather especially the tail can be observed in this bird, leaving us a question whether this bird is truly wild or not.

Hill Blue Flycatcher

And according to the recent studies, the Jungle Flycatcher is also grouped into the genus Cyornis, like this Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher Cyornis brunneatus taken in mainland China few years ago.

Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher