HKBWS BBS 香港觀鳥會新聞組


    
      
        HKBWS BBS 香 港 觀 鳥 會 新 聞 組
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        Discussion Area 討論區 >> Bird Identification 鳥類辨識 >>  Cuckoo sp
        
(Message started by: geoff_welch on Sep 21^st, 2006, 4:47pm)

Title: Cuckoo sp
Post by geoff_welch on Sep 21^st, 2006, 4:47pm

The cuckoo I photographed on Po Toi last week was still there this week and I managed to get some slightly better photos.

http://www.geocities.com/geoffwelch46/C1.jpg http://www.geocities.com/geoffwelch46/C2.jpg http://www.geocities.com/geoffwelch46/C6.jpg http://www.geocities.com/geoffwelch46/C9.jpg

Do these help the id?

Title: Re: Cuckoo sp
Post by Captain on Sep 22^nd, 2006, 9:18am

Let me try to narrow down the options.

There is no dark band at the end of tail. So, It should not be an Indian Cuckoo

For me the black stripes on the belly are too thick, so it should not be a Common Cuckoo.

The rest options are Oriental Cuckoo or Lesser Cuckoo. I will put my bet on Oriental Cuckoo due to its large size.

Cheers,

Captain

Title: Re: Cuckoo sp
Post by Paul Leader on Sep 22^nd, 2006, 9:38am

Firstly, this is not the same bird as last week! That bird was an adult, this a first-winter. The broadness and eveness across the belly of the barring eliminates both Eurasian and Lesser Cuckoos. So we are left with either Horsfield's or Oriental Cuckoo. Only Horsfield's is on the HK list (identified from measurments of trapped birds) but Oriental, which breeds in S China should also occur. However, with a lack of field characters with which to separte the two, there is nothing much more we can do with this bird.

Title: Re: Cuckoo sp
Post by geoff_welch on Sep 22^nd, 2006, 10:04am

OK, thank you both.
Let's just call it an Oriental/Horsfield's Cuckoo and the earlier bird can remain a mystery.