msamuel

Po Toi on 18Oct09

lchunfai

Samuel , I'd go for an Arctic Warbler ^^

HFCheung

I think it is Arctic, but it may be hard to have a definite conclusion from these photos.

Features that fits Arctic
1. The bird seems "long"
2. Primary projection seems long
3. The bill-tip is dark

Features that are not typical Arctic
1. The two wing bars (Arctic usually have 1 thin wing bar)
2. The supercilium (eyebrow) is board, and not sure whether it reach the base of bill (Arctic often has a thin supercilium that do not reach the bill base)

Overall, I think it is Arctic, unless the primary projects is really much shorter than I thought, or there is a clear crown stripe.  Possible confusions are Two-barred Greenish Warbler and Eastern Crowned Warbler, or may be even Goodson's Leaf Warbler.

HF Cheung

msamuel

Thank you, chairman and lchunfai, for the detail response.
Are the bird's legs too dark for Arctic?  Would it be more likely to be Greenish?
Do other birders have better photos of the bird that you do not mind to post here for id confirmation?

Samuel

lpaul

This is a Two-barred Greenish.  Thw wing bars are too broad for Arctic W, and the legs too dark.  The braodness of the supercilium and the eyestripe behind the eye are not correct for Arctic.  The bill also seems proportionatly big (due to the smaller, more rounded head of Greenish),and has only a hint of darkness on the lower mandible (Arctic should have an obvious dark mark below).  I cannot see the primary projection so can comment on that!

HFCheung

Thanks Paul.

The dark legs do favour Two-barred Greenish, which I have not mentioned in my post.  I still think that without the primary projection, I cannot be sure.

HF Cheung

cgeoff

This looks like Greenish to me for the reasons stated above.

Ho Fai's features not favouring Arctic are quite 'concrete', while the features favouring Arctic are either more impressionistic, difficult to see on this photo or variable. I agree with what he says, but reach a different conclusion!

Geoff

HFCheung

There seem to be a sudden influx of Greenish Warbler all over HK in the last few days.  However, I was shown some Greenish-type photo in Po Toi with bird photos (on the small screen of camera) that showed long primary project and orange leg.  I guess I must have those photos in mind when I look at the photo of this bird.  It would be good to re-check those photos now.

HF Cheung

msamuel

Thank you everyone for the expert advice.  This was certainly a very valuable discussion that I personally learnt a lot.

Samuel