Bulletin 310 - China #10 - flycatchers, parrotbills and leaf warbler

I had an 8 day birding to trip in eastern China with a wonderful guide Lin Zhang based in Shanghai. He is perfectly fluent in English. We visited 5 different locales. His website is here. FYI making contact within China by email is a problem as the government blocks some email accounts coming in including gmail.  So I had to contact him using MS Outlook. His email is zhanglinas@hotmail.com.

The Old World flycatcher and chat family is a huge 300+ family of songbirds. The 13" Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is navy blue with white spots on his head and upper body.

Blue Whistling Thrush

The 6" male Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) is black and white bird with rufous underparts.

Daurian Redstart - male

The male 7" White-capped Redstart (Phoenicurus leucocephalus) has rufous underparts, black breast, head and body with a white cap.

White-capped Redstart - male

The 5" male Plumbeous Water Redstart (Phoenicurus fulginosa) as his name suggests is found besides streams and ponds. He is blue-gray with a rufous tail.

Plumbeous Water Redstart - male

The female is duller and lacks the colorful tail.

Plumbeous Water Redstart - female

This 5" male Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus) just popped up for a single photo.

Siberian Stonechat - male

The last of this family of birds is the cute 5" Little Forktail (Enicurus scouleri). This little black and white bird with a forked tail is found along mountain streams.

Little Forktail

The parrotbills are songbirds in the sylviidae family which also includes the Wrentit in California and Oregon as the only New World species in this family. The 5" Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis webbianus) is a rufous headed bird with a long tail.

Vinous-throated Parrotbill

The 7" Reed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis heudei) has a gray head with a black stripe over the eye and rufous belly. The bill is distinctive and gives the name to these species.

Reed Parrotbill

The last bird is a member of the leaf warbler family. The 77 members of this family are very similar and the best ID is by voice. There is just one in North America, the Arctic Warbler in western Alaska. This is the 4" Pallas's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus). It is a small green  backed bird with white underparts and striped face.

Pallas's Leaf Warbler

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 11 of the 324 species of old world flycatchers and chats

I have photos of 3 of the 70 species of parrotbills and allies

I have photos of 2 of the 77 species of leaf warblers

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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