birding-aus

Possible White-browed/Masked woodswallow hybrid

To: "" <>
Subject: Possible White-browed/Masked woodswallow hybrid
From: Vivien Rolland <>
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:02:46 +1100
Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies, both on birding-aus and in private.

Tonight I decided to go back to the same site to try and find the bird again. I 
thought it was vain but after 45 min I found it and observed it for longer than 
yesterday. I even managed to take a few record shots.
You can see one here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vivienrollandphotography/

The orientation and posture of the bird affects the appearance of the white 
line around the black mask. It turns out that the white mark is thicker on the 
sides of the upper chest than it is in its middle.

Thank you Mick for pointing out the birding-aus archive thread initiated by 
Graeme. It turns out that I have "Boom and Bust" but didn't read it yet. Now I 
will!

Cheers,
Viv

On 16/10/2013, at 2:36 PM, Nikolas Haass <> wrote:

> Ooops, the correct date is '27th December 2012'.
> 
> Nikolas
>  
> ----------------
> Nikolas Haass
> 
> Brisbane, QLD
> 
> From: Mick Roderick <>
> To: Nikolas Haass <>; Vivien Rolland <>; 
> "" <>; Raja Stephenson 
> <> 
> Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 12:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Possible White-browed/Masked woodswallow hybrid
> 
> Nikolas ... Did you mean "27th December 2012" or did you mean "Raja and I are 
> going to observe a...." ;-)
>  
> Hi Vivien,
>  
> Graeme Chapman actually discussed that bird on the link that you posted 
> Vivien, which is available on the Birding-aus archives. See:
>  
> http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/birding-aus/2012-11/msg00039.html
>  
> There are some other places for you to research suggested by him as well. I 
> haven't tracked down the Leo Joseph book that he mentions, but it sounds like 
> a great read.
>  
> Of interest, HANZAB says that "Evidence of hybridisation equivocal" and goes 
> on to cite some examples where the evidence wasn't quite strong enough to be 
> unequivocal, one of which was described by McGill when a male White-browed 
> and a female Masked had a nest with eggs but the "pair was collected before 
> the eggs were allowed to hatch"!!
>  
> I also recall seeing a photo of a potential hybrid taken by someone 
> at...Bowra maybe?
>  
> See also the link below for another bird very similar to one on Graeme's 
> website.
>  
> http://www.mdahlem.net/img/ozbirds/22/mskswal_bh_1050567_big.jpg
>  
> Mick 
>  
> From: Nikolas Haass <>
> To: Vivien Rolland <>; "" 
> <>; Raja Stephenson <> 
> Sent: Wednesday, 16 October 2013 11:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Possible White-browed/Masked woodswallow hybrid
> 
> Hi Vivien,
> 
> Raja and I observed a White-browed/Masked Woodswallow hybrid 27th December 
> 2013 at Whoey Tank, Round Hill, NSW (Eremaea/Birdline NSW #160543). I am 
> pretty sure that Raja has some pictures of this bird. They are not yet 
> uploaded to the website but we will have a look for them and make them 
> available.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Nikolas
>  
> ----------------
> Nikolas Haass
> 
> Brisbane, QLD
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Vivien Rolland <>
> To:  
> Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 9:18 AM
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Possible White-browed/Masked woodswallow hybrid
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Yesterday 15th of october at Campbell Park (ACT) there was a group of 30+ 
> White-browed and 5 Masked woodswallows in which I found a peculiar bird which 
> I now think is a male White-browed/Masked woodswallow hybrid.
> The bird was perched quite low together with 2-3 White-browed Woodswallows 
> and I could see it for about 30 seconds. It had bright rufous underparts 
> (like a male White-browed Woodswallow) and a black eye/face/throat mask (like 
> a male Masked Woodswallow). There was a thin white line around the black mask 
> that turned into a thicker white band on its upper chest creating a neat 
> contrast with both black and rufous parts.
> 
> I only have HANZAB vol. 1 so far - still looking for all the other ones so if 
> you want to sell them contact me in private! - so I couldn't check whether it 
> mentions Woodswallow hybrids.
> I therefore turned to the internet - always dangerous, I know!
> Photo 544204-D at 
> http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=576displays a bird 
> similar to what I saw yesterday (top bird obviously).
> 
> I am interested in information about woodswallow hybrids so I turn to 
> experienced Australian birders out there.
> How common are Woodswallow hybrids? How much variation do they show? Are 
> there confirmed observations of female hybrids?
> 
> Thanks a lot for your help!
> 
> Cheers,
> Vivien Rolland (Viv)
> ACT
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