geoff_welch
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Ortolan Bunting at Long Valley - a late report
« on: Apr 19th, 2006, 6:21pm » |
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I photographed this bunting at Long Valley on 20th October 2005. At the time I was a newcomer to serious birdwatching in Hong Kong and did not expect to see birds which were not in ‘The Birds of Hong Kong and South China’, so I identified it as a first-winter Chestnut-eared Bunting. Paul Leader has subsequently re-identified it as a first-winter Ortolan Bunting. His comments are
“This is not a Chestnut-eared Bunting due to overall rather pale and
poorly streaked plumage, and the rather slender proportions of the bird. A further strong pointer away from CEB is the clearly pinkish bill. In combination these indicate that it is Ortolan, Grey-necked or Cretzschmar's Bunting.
The latter occurs no where near to HK, but there is one previous HK
record of Grey-necked and Ortolan breeds in NW China, and I believe has
occurred as a vagrant east to Japan.
The combination of strong malars, the well-streaked mantle and the
obvious step in the tertial fringe fit only Ortolan. The streaked plumage indicate a first-winter and the obvious grey tones to the head suggest a male.”
My apologies to all for not putting it up on the website and giving others a chance to see it. In hindsight, I think the most obvious feature which should have alerted me is the pink bill which is very clear in the photos. For anyone who has a copy of Collins Bird Guide, photo 1 is a dead rip-off of the first winter Ortolan in that book. Also the photos of Ortolan Bunting on the ‘orientalbirdimages’ website show the obvious step in the dark brown colour on the tertials as mentioned by Paul.
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