Bulletin 294 - Hong Kong - other birds

In just a single day of birding I had about 40 new species of bird photos to add to my collection. Last time, we saw the birds around water, and here are the best of the rest.

There was a single hawk, the 25" Black Kite (Milvus migrans). It is an all black hawk.

Black Kite

And in flight.

Black Kite

The cuckoo family has over 140 species and only about 40 are in the New World. I saw 2 species and photographed one, the 17" male Asian Koel (Eudynamus scolopaceus) is all black with a red eye. The female is brown. This may be a juvie male with the spots on the wings,

Asian Koel

The rest of these birds are passerines or songbirds. There were 2 members of the Corvidae family. These are the crows, jays and magpies. The 21" Collared Crow (Corvus torquatus) is black with a white collar around the neck.

Collared Crow

The other was the 15" Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus). This long-tailed bird has a black head and blue wings and tail.

Azure-winged Magpie

The New World has just 2 of the 33 species of shrikes. Here is the 9" Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach). It is very similar to our shrikes with the hooked bill and black mask across eyes,

Long-tailed Shrike

The starling and myna family is an Old World family. The birds seen in the Americas are introduced or escaped cage birds. Here is the 10" Black-collared Starling (Gracupica nigricollis) has a yellow face, black collar, black back, wings and tail and gray below.

Black-collared Starling

The other was the 10" Crested Myna (Acridotheres cristatellus). It is all black with a red eye and small bushy crest above the bill.

Crested Myna

Bulbuls are another Old World family of birds with many being used as caged bird pets and hence, some escapes are seen in North America. Here is the 8" Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus). I had photographed an escaped bird in Miami, so it was nice to see this distinctive bird in the natural habitat. It is brown with a black head and crest and red cheek spot. 

Red-whiskered Bulbul - adult

Another was the 8" Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster). This bird is brown above, light below and a black head.

Sooty-headed Bulbul

The third was the 7.5" Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis). It is also known as the Chinese Bulbul. It has olive back and wings, light underparts and black and white head.

Light-vented Bulbul
Chinese Bulbul

The cuckooshrikes are a 92 species Old World family. The one I saw looked very similar to our Baltimore Oriole. Here is the 8" male Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus).

Scarlet Minivet - male

The female is yellow and has gray wings.

Scarlet Minivet - female

The last bird is a member of the Old World Flycatcher family. It is the distinctive 8"  Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis). The male shown here is pied black and white and the female is gray and white. 

Oriental Magpie-Robin - male

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2017 David McDonald

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