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Thursday 31 January 2013

More Colourful Wintering Birds


The bad air quality in Hong Kong may not be ideal for photography but it doesn’t seem to deter the birds. In fact I have seen more species of birds this winter than previous years.

Sightings of these beautiful Silver-eared Mesias are always a winter delight for me. 



They belong to the Babbler family which are also called Softbill because of their diet of insects, fruit and vegetables, mainly in the undergrowth.



The Tristram's Bunting, in contrast, is a seed-eating bird with a solid finch-like bill. 



The Chinese Hwamei, or Melodious Laughing thrush, is also a member of the Babbler family.  



The characteristics of this bird are reflected by its Chinese and English names. While “Hwamei”in Chinese means painted eyebrow referring to the white marking around its eyes, the English name reflects the attractive songs this bird often sings.


Chinese Hwameis often feed on the ground in groups, preferably on leaf litter, for insects and fruit. Unfortunately, the singing talent of this bird makes them one of the most popular cage birds in China.



The Black-throated Laughingthrush is very similar to the Chinese Hwamei in terms of behaviour and habitat but less colourful. 


Sometimes they can be seen together with other laughing thrushes such as the Chinese Hwamei.

 
The Orange-flanked Bush-robin is a beautiful but very shy bird. I was lucky to see this female looking for insects on the ground.  



Sometimes they sing from high up in the tree-tops. 


The Orange-Bellied Leafbird is one of my favourite tropical birds. As its name indicates, the belly of the male bird is very distinctive,

but less colourful in the female.



The Scarlet Minivet is also found in Southern Asia and often forages high up in the tree-tops for insects. Both the male,

and female are brightly coloured.


 
In the past few months, a Long-tailed Shrike has been living in a local nature reserve.



A typical Shrike, it is often seen perching on top of trees watching for prey.
 







25 comments:

Bas. said...

wat een heerlijke gevarieerde serie van hele mooie bijzondere vogels,geweldig.

Isidro Ortiz said...

Estupendas capturas de estas bonitas especies,la primera tiene un colorido espectacular.Un abrazo

Alan Pavey said...

What a fantastic set of images and colourful birds, the Mesia is stunning :-)

Eko said...

Mainio Kuvaus-Työ.
Kaikki kohdallaan.
Uusia tuttavuuksia tapasin paljon...
Eko Suomi-Kuusamo...

Andrew said...

Fantastic series. I am especially impressed by the Tristram's bunting and the leafbird. Well found.

Bob Bushell said...

Wow, they are the prettiest, well done in catching them.

de schoonheid van de natuur said...

GEWELDIGE SERIE VAN DIE VOGELS
DE LAATSTE VIND IK ERG MOOI DE KLAPEKSTER.
GROETJES Herman.

Montanagirl said...

Such an impressive collection of beautiful, gorgeous birds! Thank you for sharing. The Shrike is similar to what we have here.

TexWisGirl said...

just wonderful! every one exotic, whether brightly colored or more subtle. the shrike is the only one similar to what we have here.

Joke (Joke's Camera) said...

You have really beautiful birds in your surroundings. A great blog with stunning picturs. Greetings, Joke

YTSL said...

Nice photos -- as always. Re the birds not being deterred by the air pollution -- that's surprised me too. But I guess they're happy enough that Hong Kong's had a warmer winter than usual -- especially since much of the rest of the world has had colder winters than usual!

Monique et Daniel said...

Magnifique série de ces oiseaux si colorés!

Marco Luijken said...

Hello,
Very great shots!!
So nice to see all these different birds. Some of them I've never seen before. The silver eared mesia has beautiful colors. This is real enjoyment!!

Greetings, Marco

Giga said...

Piękne ptaki i niektóre takie kolorowe. Cudowne zdjęcia . Z wielka przyjemnością je oglądałam. Pozdrawiam.
Beautiful birds and some of the color. Wonderful pictures. With great pleasure watching them. Yours.

Rohrerbot said...

I'm so glad you blog from your part of the world!!! Those birds are so gorgeous! I really am in love with everyone of them. The thrush especially!!! Thank you thank you thank you for sharing!
I hope that air pollution cleans up. we've heard about it over here and it sounds terrible!

Monts said...

Stunning set of images, you certainly have some colourful species hard to pick a favourite.

Irma said...

What a lovely blog with many beautiful colorful birds.
Greetings Irma

Maria said...

Friend of HK: I changed my blog address to: caribbeanbiodiversity.blogspot.com if you want to keep on following me. It's called Caribbean Biodiversity. Thanks. Your images are stunning as usual.

Helma said...

Ohhhhhhhh .... what a beautiful colored birds I see here. We have no means such beautiful colored birds. Beautiful to see it.
Thank you for sharing.
A hug.

Roger said...

Hello friend of HK
This gallery of portraits of birds is absolutely beautiful and the colors of some are incredible. Beautiful pictures, congratulations!

waldlaeufer68 Frank Scholtyssek said...

beautifully captured .. a great series of pictures ..
great photos, great colors ..
greetings Frank

Ai-jane said...

What wonderful photographs, thank you!

Magia da Inês said...

º° ✿彡
Olá, amigo!
Estou encantada com essa série de pássaros tão coloridos e tão lindos!!!
Parabéns pelas fotos!
Bom fim de semana.
Beijinhos do Brasil.
✿ °•.¸
¸.•°♡⊱彡

ShySongbird said...

A lovely selection of beautiful birds. The Silver-eared Mesia is stunning!

Unknown said...

Everything everyone has said & more! Just wow!