I have questions about a few of the birds we saw on our recent trip:
1. At Royal National Park, we saw (very briefly) a flying Zoothera thrush
that showed a definite contrast between reddish-brown wings and tail and a
plainer brown back; did not notice any white in the tail. The bird looked
more like field guide depictions of Russet-tailed Thrush than of Bassian
Thrush but RT Thrush does not seem to occur south of Sydney according to
the range maps. Has RT Thrush occurred in RNP? Can Bassian Thrush show a
contrast between more reddish wings/tail and a plainer brown back?
2. While we were at Newman Rd. looking at the Pacific Baza fledgling, a
female (or imm.) Myagra flycatcher flew down to the fence. The throat and
upper breast of the bird was a bright peachy-orange, similar to the picture
of the female Satin Flycatcher in Pizzey & Knight and unlike the picture of
the female Leaden Flycatcher. Are the pictures accurate? Is there overlap
in the degrree of brightness of the throat/upper breast in the females of
the 2 species? We heard no vocalizations.
3. At Centenary Lakes on the north side of Cairns, we saw a distant
raptor soaring to the north on 1-7-98. We were able to get our scope on it
and Susan & I each watched it, Susan getting better views than I. The
underside appeared to be dark; the mantle, scaps & upper coverts were a
deep rufous (thus showing a broad rufous triangle on the upper side); the
crown and nape appeared to be rufous as well, giving the bird somewhat of a
hooded look; on the underside, the wing linings seemed to be at least
partially reddish, with the flight feathers darker (?); the underside of
the tail was light (couldn't get color); Susan thought the tail was fairly
short (buteo-like) while I thought it was a bit longer. Our best guesses
were Black-br. Buzzard or Squart-tailed Kite.
Any suggestions/help is welcome.
Thanks....Jim
----------------------
James D. Hengeveld Biology Dept.
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 Indiana University
812: 855-5353
|
