ARTICLES ON BIRDS, BIRDWATCHING AND OTHER WILDLIFE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Green-backed Flycatcher at Tai Po Kau: The First Record for Hong Kong

While birdwatching near Tai Po Kau at about 0920 hours on 11th April 1996 during a holiday in Hong Kong, three Japanese birdwatchers and the authors, Christian Melgar and Richard Kemp, were watching a "Narcissus Flycatcher" Ficedula narcissina in some trees along Tai Po Road near Tai Po Kau park. The Japanese birders departed but the authors continued to watch the bird for about five minutes until it disappeared deeper into the forest. The authors subsequently identified it as a male Green-backed Flycatcher Ficedula elisae (formerly known as Chinese Narcissus Flycatcher), at which time they also realised the full significance of the record, ie. that it was the first for Hong Kong. The following description was taken at the time of observation.

Both C.W. Melgar and R.J.L. Kemp made field-sketches, of which R.J.L. Kemp's is reproduced below.

Figure 1. Male Green-backed Flycatcher Ficedula elisae at Tai Po Kau, Hong Kong 11th April 1996. Field-sketch by Richard J.L. Kemp.

Upperparts: The crown, ear-coverts, lores, nape and mantle were uniform dull olive-green or olive greenish-grey. Above the lores there was a short yellow supercilium that did not extend behind the front of the eye. The rump was yellow and contrasted markedly with a black tail.

Wings: Wholly blackish apart from a large white patch covering the whole of the median and greater secondary coverts.

Underparts: Wholly lemon yellow, slightly dingier on the vent and undertail coverts.

Bare Parts: The bill and legs were dark; no orbital ring was noted.

Behaviour: The bird typically perched out on exposed twigs until it moved away from the roadside into the forest.

Identification: Male Yellow-rumped F. zanthopygia and Narcissus Flycatchers F. narcissina can be ruled out immediately by the olive-green upperparts and the shortness of the supercilium; females of both species are eliminated by the presence of a large white wing patch, wholly yellow underparts and very dark wings. Males of the form of Narcissus Flycatcher breeding and wintering wholly within Japan, F. (n) owstoni, also have olive-green upperparts, however males of this form have underparts very similar to the nominate form (ie. rich orange on the throat and upper breast,a nd paler on the belly and vent) and a supercilium extending behind the eye (Shigeta 1991).

Distribution: Green-backed Flycatcher breeds in the mountains of northern Tibet and in the Zhongtiao Mountains, southeast Shanxi (Cheng 1987). Migrants have been noted in Hunan (de Schauensee 1984) and it is annual in small numbers in spring on the Hebei coast and in the Beijing area during the first half of May (G.C.Carey in litt.). It has been recorded in winter in peninsula Thailand (Lekagul and Round 1991).

As a long-distance migrant to the south and breeding due north of Hong Kong occurring during the peak of spring Ficedula migration, this species was accepted by the Records Committee of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society into Category A of the Hong Kong List. Whilst undoubtedly a candidate for the bird trade, its restricted distribution and rarity in the wild, in addition to the timing of occurrence, make this highly unlikely to be the provenance of the bird. In addition, the Records Committee has subsequently received and accepted another record for spring 1997.

Usually treated as a subspecies of Narcissus Flycatcher, the Hong Kong Records Committee, is following Alstrom et al. in treating this distinctive form as a full species on the basis of its morphological and vocalisational differences as well as the isolated breeding range.

References

ALSTROM, P. et al. The taxonomic status of Ficedula (narcissina) elisae.

CHENG, T.H. 1987. A synopsis of the Avifauna of China. Science Press, Beijing.

de SCAUENSEE, R.M. 1984. The Birds of China. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

HONG KONG BIRDWATCHING SOCIETY. 1998. Green-backed Flycatcher at Tai Po Kau: The First Record For Hong Kong. HKBWS, Hong Kong.

LEKAGUL, B. and ROUND, P.D. 1991. A Guide to the Birds of Thailand. Saha Karn Bhaet, Bangkok.

PHILLIPS and YOUNG. The Birds of Hong Kong.

SHIGETA, Y. 1991. Subspecies of Ficedula narcissina. Birder 5(8). August 1991: 48-52.

CHRISTIAN W. MELGAR and RICHARD J. L. KEMP, West Sussex, March 1998.

---