Dear pitarhk, thank you very much! Author: brendank Time: 8/03/2012 00:29
Dark tail bars are narrower than the pale bars. This fits Japanese Sparrowhawk better. Author: kkoel Time: 8/03/2012 00:35
Mesial stripe fits Besra: I'm starting to doubt the tail bar criterion which fits many birds alright but may be normally variable within Besras. Author: Jonathmartinez Time: 8/03/2012 10:24
As does mesial stripe, even I agree this one is quite broad. If the feather that can be seen below the tail is a primarie, then this bird has a quite long projection that fit better for Japanese. Author: brendank Time: 8/03/2012 14:33
I agree the primary projection does seem to fit Japanese better but the primaries are a bit obscured in the photo. Author: HFCheung Time: 8/03/2012 19:38
I go for Besra. There is no way a male that is at least as old as a second winter to show such clear Mesial stripe. Also, I think the bars on the tail also fit Besra. They are very clear and the dark/light ratio is close to 1:1. In Japanese, they are not that clear and the dark/light ratio is close to 1:2.
HF Cheung
Welcome to HKBWS Forum 香港觀鳥會討論區 (http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/)