I still can?t see it as a Striated Heron. The image is strongly pixilated
and probably colour compromised. The colour of the photo suggests Striated
first off, but when you look closely at the bird it can?t be.
Looking at those face markings/structures the cap appears to be well clear
of the eye position by a substantial amount. The face and bill base pattern
is all wrong for juv Striated. The eye is positioned within the apparent
diagonal line of dark starting from front of cap. I can envisage the area of
pale bare skin at bill base with no dark forward of the eye and the bill is
too long and pointy. Looks like an Ixobrychus Bittern to me.
So it?s still Yellow Bittern for mine.
Cheers Jeff.
I hope people don't get this post twice but my first attempt at reply
bounced.
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Nikolas Haass
Sent: Wednesday, 26 February 2014 9:00 AM
To:
Subject: Fw: Christmas Island Unknown Heron Identification
Hi David,
Looks like our posts crossed in cyberspace. While I am certainly sympathetic
with your point that it is a Striated Heron, as which I initially ID'd it
myself, I don't think we have done enough to rule out an Ixobrychus (see
Jeff's mail and my response). I think it is time to get a bit more
information from Brendon? Was size compared to another nearby bird? Any more
details on plumage patterns? Are there more photos? BTW most (if not all?)
Ixobrychus bitterns can raise a crest.
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Brisbane, QLD
________________________________
From: David James <>
To: Birding-aus <>
Cc: "" <>; Nikolas Haass
<>; Jeff Davies <>
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 6:55 AM
Subject: Christmas Island Unknown Heron Identification
Hi Brendon,
Your bird is without doubt a young Striated Heron. It is a rare but
regular visitor to CI with about 30 records since 2001. In fact there has
been at least 1 record every year since 2001, so it possibly even breeds on
CI. Ethel Beach is one of the spots were it is seen most often. The Striated
Herons on CI look quite different to those on mainland Australia because
they are one or more Southeast Asian subspecies, although it is not clear
which one(s). They are more heavily marked (streaked) below and have bolder
face markings with broader pale and dark stripes. The subspecies might be
the local javanicus from nearby Indonesia (especially if they are breeding).
However, the narrow range of dates (November to May) suggests they are
migrants and therefore perhaps the more northerly migrant ssp amurensis.
There are a couple of other possibilities too.
It is not a Yellow Bittern. For starters, the upperparts are grey-green
instead of tan-brown. Yellow Bittern only has a solid black crown in adult
male plumage, at which time it is bright yellow brown with no streaking or
mottling above, and the bill is mostly yellow. I don't know that yellow
bittern can raise a crest.
Cheers,
David James
Sydney
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