Bulletin 345 - China 2019 #3 - Bulbuls, vireo, crow, magpie

I had a brief trip to SW China and managed a few days birding. I was particularly interested in 2 critically endangered primates there, as well as a new bird species discovered about a decade ago.

Bulbuls are a large (153 species) Old World family of birds, so one can find several species on any trip to Africa or the Orient. I photographed 3 new species on the trip. The first is the 8" Black Bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus). The subspecies I saw is all black with a red bill, and legs. Interestingly as you can see from the species name, there are subspecies with white heads.

Black Bulbul

Next is the 9" White-throated Bulbul (Alophoixus flaveolus). This is a brown backed bird with yellowish breast and white throat and a nice bushy crest. The range of the bird is Himalayas to Thailand and just barely makes it into southern China. The Birds of China says it is an occasional bird in limited range of China. So it was a treat to find it.

White-throated Bulbul

Last is the 7" Black-crested Bulbul (Pycnonotus flaviventris). It is a yellow bird with a black head and crest.

Black-crested Bulbul

The corvidae family (134 species) consists of crows, jays and magpies. Crows are familiar and mostly all black birds so nothing special to look at. I saw the 20" Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos).

Large-billed Crow

More interesting are the long tailed magpies. The 19" White-winged Magpie (Urocissa whiteheadi). This is a black and white bird with bold white wing patches and white tip of the tail. It is listed as endangered with a declining population. The Birds of China says this bird is recorded only sporadically in mainland China. This pair was attracted to a feeding station by some meat that can be seen on the branch.

White-winged Magpie

And the pair on the branch.

White-winged Magpie

The 64 species vireo family are all in the New World except for 10 species. I saw my first one in the Old World on this trip. The 5" White-bellied Erpornis (Erpornis zantholeuca) is olive above and grayish below. He has a bushy crest. It is a monotypic genus and was formerly called the White-bellied Yuhina and was considered to be in the babbler family until 2008.

White-bellied Erpornis
previously called White-bellied Yuhina

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

I have photos of 14 of the 153 species of  bulbuls

I have photos of 41 of the 134 species of crows, jays, magpies

I have photos of 24 of the 64 species of vireos


Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

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