Identification queries
Usually on a birding tour of this kind it good to be able to use the guide as a resource and to engage in discussions about the identities of particular birds seen. Two aspects of this tour reduced the opportunities to do this in a meaningful way.
- Wings policy is that at the list birds seen or heard by the guide will be listed irrespective of whether any tour participant has seen or heard the bird AND birds seen by a tour participant but not by the guide will not be recorded. (So I think Wandering Whistling-duck, Malaysian Plover, Spectacled Monarch and Black-faced Munia will not appear on the official tour list)
- Susan conducted the list in a way that allowed no discussion, often in noisy surroundings and occasionally without ensuring sufficient chairs for all participants and she seemed to react poorly to having identifications challenged.
While some tour participants may be happy to record the guide's list as their own, my policy is only to record birds whose identity I have verified. I just note here some queries over identifications that will appear in the tour list and provide evidence for most of these.
- Great Egret was recorded by Susan on almost every day that we saw any egrets. I looked quite carefully through all egrets that we saw while in the field and did not see any Great Egrets on the tour at all. When asked, no other tour participant had seen a definite Great Egret either.
- Grey-faced Buzzard was called on 18/10 but as far as the tour participants could see only Black Kites were present.
This raptor from Halmahera on 30/10 was called a Pacific Baza. Having seen Black Baza, and knowing Baza's to have a very distinctive wing shape, I was dubious about this being a Baza from the outset. The photograph shows it to be a Moluccan Goshawk. I showed Susan the photograph and she agreed with my identification but still called Pacific Baza at the list. |
This raptor was called an immature Brahminy Kite on 05/11. I was dubious about this identification at the time - immature BK shows dark wing linings and pale primary bases. I think this is an immature Rufous-bellied Eagle (see below). (After my previous experience I did not engage in any discussion about this bird).
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This raptor from Lore Lindu on 22/10 was called a Rufous-winged Buzzard. I was fairly content to accept this at the time, but reviewed it following the item above and now believe that bird was also an immature Rufous-bellied Eagle. It is not a great photo, but it does appear to show the dark eye-mask of immature Rufous-bellied Eagle; unmarked underparts apart from some axillary smudging (Rufous-winged Buzzard shows contrast between darker breast and paler belly); greyish rather than rufous flight feathers; and a small dark mark at the junction of neck and wing-base is seen in some images of Rufous-bellied Eagle but not Rufous-winged Buzzard.
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This raptor from Tangkoko on 03/11 was called a Chinese Sparrowhawk. It's underwing does not show the extensive black on the primaries or rufous colouring of the underwing coverts. I think this is sufficient to say it was not a Chinese Sparrowhawk and is more likely to be Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk.
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This raptor from Tangkoko NP (which is ~at sea level) on 04/11 was initially called a Small Sparrowhawk (which is predominantly a species of montane forests >550m). Susan acknowledged this error the next day, though it is not clear to me that she had re-identified it as Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk, which is what I believe it is. I had mentioned to her the similarity between this bird and the one above (whose identity I had questioned), which was seen in the same area the previous day. I think it quite possible that these are images of the same bird seen on both days. Note that adult Small Sparrowhawk and Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk are ~indistinguishable in appearance.
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This the immature small raptor that was seen drying itself after a rain shower at Tomohon on 04/11. I had initially identified it as Sulawesi Goshawk (having missed the one seen by the rest of the group earlier that day), but in that species barring is confined to the thighs. The possibility of Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk was mentioned by Susan, but no firm identification was arrived at. I think Small Sparrowhawk can be excluded by the strong mesial stripe, and both Vinous-breasted and Japanese Sparrowhawks may be excluded by the virtually unmarked underwing linings. The pale iris excludes Spot-tailed Goshawk. The unmarked wing linings and heavy flank barring are good features for immature Chinese Sparrowhawk and that is what I think it is.
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Sulawesi Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa sodhii) was called in the field on 2 occasions. On the second occasion, at Tangkoko overlook, I stated that for me it was a Grey-streaked Flycatcher and Susan later agreed. However, I think my images of the first bird (left), at Lore Lindu on 22/10, also show it to be a Grey-streaked Flycatcher.
The most conspicuous feature differentiating Sulawesi Brown from Grey-streaked Flycatcher, is the length of the vent, which is unusually short in Sulawesi Brown. The wings are also shorter in Sulawesi Brown so that the wing-tips reach approximately to the apex of the vent in both species - resulting in the Sulawesi Brown having a substantially longer tail projection beyond the wing-tips. I think the image shows a long vent and a short tail projection. Less important facial differences are present with Sulawesi Brown having almost no eye-ring or pale moustachial stripe and darker lores and a spotted rather than white throat. |