Birds in your garden

[Briggsy 17,909]

So, not strictly in my garden (I am in a condo).

 

I found lots of feathers together in Khao Khieow forest, typical of evidence of a raptor, probably an accipiter, having devoured some prey.

 

I took 4 of the feathers as they were distinctive but I couldn't be sure what bird had the misfortune to be eaten.

 

The 2 feathers on the left look like they come from the body or the wing. I suspect the 2 on the right are tail feathers. The feather on the far left is 19 cm from the base of the shaft to the tip, i.e. the full length. All the feathers on the scene, except the tail feathers, had this grey-brown and white barring to some extent. There were no other colours. The tail feathers have wider barring in dark brown and lighter brown.

 

Any idea what bird was killed. I can only think of a hawk-cuckoo but it is not really common there.

[jak2002003 3,911]

21 hours ago, Briggsy said:

So, not strictly in my garden (I am in a condo).

 

I found lots of feathers together in Khao Khieow forest, typical of evidence of a raptor, probably an accipiter, having devoured some prey.

 

I took 4 of the feathers as they were distinctive but I couldn't be sure what bird had the misfortune to be eaten.

 

The 2 feathers on the left look like they come from the body or the wing. I suspect the 2 on the right are tail feathers. The feather on the far left is 19 cm from the base of the shaft to the tip, i.e. the full length. All the feathers on the scene, except the tail feathers, had this grey-brown and white barring to some extent. There were no other colours. The tail feathers have wider barring in dark brown and lighter brown.

 

Any idea what bird was killed. I can only think of a hawk-cuckoo but it is not really common there.

My guess is a female or young Asian koel.   

 

 

 

[Briggsy 17,909]

That would be more likely and also follow the cuckoo family theme. I tend to think of female / juvenile koels as spotted but, of course, that is an overall picture made up of many feathers. So, individual feathers would appear barred rather than spotted. This probably explains my confusion.

[Skeptic7 3,551]

So after nearly 2 weeks at the new patch in Nong Prue, Kanchanaburi...45 is the current yard list total. Best birds were, of course, the 7 lifers. Also got another lifer about 2km down the soi...Little Ringed Plover...sadly not on the yard list (yet), but nice addition to the Thailand list (last pic below).

 

Green-billed Malkoha (pic #1)

Purple Heron 

Red-wattled Lapwing (#2)

Black-headed Bulbul

Ashy Woodswallow (#3 & 4)

Red-rumped Swallow 

Richard's or Paddyfield Pipit (possibly both. more on these and pix in a future post)

 

 

 

 

 

[Skeptic7 3,551]

So after infinitely more Pipit research than ever thought I'd possibly find interest...am still pretty much where I started!  Actually, just kidding...sort of. I now know a lot MORE than I ever imagined would about Richard's Pipit and Paddyfield Pipit, but still not certain about separating the 2 in areas where they overlap...which is the case in Kanchanaburi in winter. Separating visually may not be possible. The main reason is that Paddyfield Pipit and Richard's were originally lumped together with and considered subspecies of the Australasian Pipit. They were split along the way into separate species. Supposedly, Richard's is slightly larger and has minor plumage differences from Paddyfield, in the proverbial nutshell. However, Birds of Singapore and some other reference sites claim that the 2 can only be confidently distinguished by call notes. 

 

For those still awake, here's a few snaps from the patch of what appears to be a larger pipit with long bill and tail on the ground...and a smaller pipit with shorter bill and tail on the wire. Of course, posture and lighting surely come into play.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skeptic7 3,551]

Looking again (and again) at the Pipit pix I posted above, seems the 3rd pic is of a different bird than the top 2. Noticed that the bird in the top 2 pix has dark lores, while the bird in the 3rd has light colored lores. There actually were 2 pipits in the yard at that time. 

 

2 sources makes mention of the lores saying that Paddyfield generally has darker lores, while Richard's usually or always light...but it is not diagnostic. P. Round in "Birds of the Bangkok Area" gives the best comparison. Also this article for anyone interested. 

 

https://digdeep1962.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/identification-of-paddyfield-richards-and-blyths-pipits-in-malaysia/

Edited January 31, 2019 by Skeptic7

[AjarnNorth 704]

Great Backyard Bird Count next weekend, Feb 15-18: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-take-part-great-backyard-bird-count?ms=digital-eng-social-facebook-x-20190200_fb_link&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20190200_fb_link&fbclid=IwAR3hg_Gwp-mmxsQdI4_c_aIOcqxPZ6qUI8b2IBk-_DV4xn-BwuR_1Sr8GbY

[AjarnNorth 704]

On 1/31/2019 at 9:09 PM, Skeptic7 said:

Looking again (and again) at the Pipit pix I posted above, seems the 3rd pic is of a different bird than the top 2. Noticed that the bird in the top 2 pix has dark lores, while the bird in the 3rd has light colored lores. There actually were 2 pipits in the yard at that time. 

 

2 sources makes mention of the lores saying that Paddyfield generally has darker lores, while Richard's usually or always light...but it is not diagnostic. P. Round in "Birds of the Bangkok Area" gives the best comparison. Also this article for anyone interested. 

 

https://digdeep1962.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/identification-of-paddyfield-richards-and-blyths-pipits-in-malaysia/

Pretty certain that third bird is one of the Bushlarks. I used to be good at separating Richard's from Paddyfield, or I thought I was anyway, as I often had them right next to each other and there were things I knew - but can't recall offhand - about size and stance and such like. That was when i was in Surin and saw them all the time. Here in Chonburi I only see them when i go out to certain areas and don't pay all that much attention. Likewise, I was good at the Bushlarks (and the Skylark) but mostly on behavior and call. You won't often see Paddyfield or Richard's on wires, though, or really anywhere but on the ground. 

[AjarnNorth 704]

 

On 1/20/2019 at 1:40 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

saw a bright yellow little guy out on the front terrace this morning that I hadn't seen before...is there more migration in these parts (central Thailand) during the cold weather than other times of the year?

 

 

In a very general sense, winter visitors mostly arrive around September and depart around April. Of course many species fall outside that range. Little, yellow and eating bananas on the ground could be Oriental White-eye, depending where you live. Other small yellow birds would include some of the sunbirds - which can appear yellow - or the Common Iora, but these would likely be in trees and not on the ground. Google those possibilities and you may find your bird. Those are all residents, not winter visitors. See if you can get a photo. Even a fuzzy jpeg from a phone s often enough for a positive ID.

[AjarnNorth 704]

Yard visitors this morning. Red-breasted Parakeet and Common Iora. Thus far this year, no new additions to the yard list. 

[Skeptic7 3,551]

3 hours ago, AjarnNorth said:

Pretty certain that third bird is one of the Bushlarks. I used to be good at separating Richard's from Paddyfield, or I thought I was anyway, as I often had them right next to each other and there were things I knew - but can't recall offhand - about size and stance and such like. That was when i was in Surin and saw them all the time. Here in Chonburi I only see them when i go out to certain areas and don't pay all that much attention. Likewise, I was good at the Bushlarks (and the Skylark) but mostly on behavior and call. You won't often see Paddyfield or Richard's on wires, though, or really anywhere but on the ground. 

Sold! Great call on the Bushlark. Patch list up to 46...thanks! Thought it rather odd a Pipit on a wire, but outside of BKK and still far removed from my comfort zone.

Now which one? Pretty sure it's a Singing Bushlark (Australasian), as wings and tail don't appear rufous enough...AND does appear that outer tail feathers show some white, which both Round and Robson say is diagnostic. 

[Skeptic7 3,551]

4 hours ago, AjarnNorth said:

Great Backyard Bird Count next weekend, Feb 15-18: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-take-part-great-backyard-bird-count?ms=digital-eng-social-facebook-x-20190200_fb_link&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20190200_fb_link&fbclid=IwAR3hg_Gwp-mmxsQdI4_c_aIOcqxPZ6qUI8b2IBk-_DV4xn-BwuR_1Sr8GbY

This sux! Leaving the Kingdom on the 15th for a few weeks. Would have been camped out on my BKK lanai all weekend. 

[AjarnNorth 704]

18 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

This sux! Leaving the Kingdom on the 15th for a few weeks. Would have been camped out on my BKK lanai all weekend. 

I will be working on and off so can't do the whole weekend, but will do as much as I can. Why not do it from wherever you are going? They also encourage folks to have a look around beyond their yards, though I do like the excuse to sit around and give my yard area a real good look. 

[AjarnNorth 704]

25 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Sold! Great call on the Bushlark. Patch list up to 46...thanks! Thought it rather odd a Pipit on a wire, but outside of BKK and still far removed from my comfort zone.

Now which one? Pretty sure it's a Singing Bushlark (Australasian), as wings and tail don't appear rufous enough...AND does appear that outer tail feathers show some white, which both Round and Robson say is diagnostic. 

I also had it as probable Australasian. A bit hard to tell from the pics, but I would tick it as that. Likely you'll get both there eventually anyway. 

[Skeptic7 3,551]

1 hour ago, AjarnNorth said:

I also had it as probable Australasian. A bit hard to tell from the pics, but I would tick it as that. Likely you'll get both there eventually anyway. 

Now about the other sp...Rufous-winged. The 2 field guides differ on not only common name, which is not uncommon, but the scientific name, as well...which means SPLITS and subspecies, of which there are many. TMI, but seems there is no longer a Rufous-winged (only Australasian and sub sp) and Singing and it's 4 sub sp does not include Indochinese, which is a single sp. TMI...I know.