In a longtime custom reaching way back to 2023, I regard the primary day I see a colourful male flycatcher in Shanghai as my private begin of the migration season. This yr, the date was April 11, a number of days sooner than final yr (April 16).
And the birds in query (sure, two of them on the identical day) have been Blue-and-white Flycatcher …
… (eBird gushingly describes the grownup male as “strikingly stunning”, which is true) …
… (whereas the eBird reviewer should have written the part on the species in a bout of melancholy, because the music of the fowl is described as “a brief, sad-sounding sequence of whistles”) …
… and Narcissus Flycatcher, which eBird appears to fee as considerably much less enticing than the primary species (“splendidly coloured” isn’t fairly as enthusiastic as “strikingly stunning”).
A number of days later, a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher joined. It’s about as yellow-rumped because the Narcissus Flycatcher – the Chinese language identify which interprets as “white-browed flycatcher” is a bit higher at highlighting the distinction between the 2 species.
Extra colourful flycatchers adopted:
Mugimaki Flycatcher (with the feminine trying like a male that has been washed for too lengthy or at too excessive a temperature) …
and the Taiga Flycatcher.
It appears to be like pretty just like the Crimson-breasted Flycatcher, however one paper asks “Are you able to inform a Taiga by its tail?”, solutions sure, after which instantly warns you to not do precisely such an id based mostly on just one function. Nonetheless, I assume the reasonably catchy title makes it worthwhile.
Different species in the identical esthetic vein (smallish, cute, colourful) included the Siberian Rubythroat.
And sure, it’s nonetheless exhausting for me to not take photographs of this species any time I encounter it – although this month this occurred very continuously.
The male Siberian Blue Robin has a wonderful blue colour shut to what’s known as Prussian Blue, which was the uniform coat colour worn by the infantry and artillery regiments of the Prussian Military. It’s produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. Studying irrelevant issues whereas studying about birds. Apparently, in 1958 Crayola modified their Prussian Blue crayon to Midnight Blue as a result of they realized nobody knew what Prussia was – you do now.
Of the feminine, the web site Birds of Singapore says that it “resembles male however has greyish-brown upperparts”, which is a wierd approach of stating that its colour is totally totally different.
In 2006, some Russian authors described a brand new subspecies (nechaevi) with some important variations from those beforehand described: “The second major feather of L. c. nechaevi isn’t shorter than the sixth major feather. The coloration of the fowl subspecies is especially just like that of L. c. bochaiensis, however differs within the wider distribution of darkish areas on the physique sides.” Hmm, does that persuade me?
Right here’s a Bluethroat.
Be aware the masterful match of the blue plastic with the colour of the fowl on this shot. I’m at all times attempting to disgrace China into lowering its environmental air pollution however with fairly restricted outcomes thus far.
Within the subsequent days, the Bluethroat stayed however Chinese language fowl photographers took over my authentic web site of discovering the fowl. Now, you’ll be able to see the male standing on a pleasant pile of moss. All of the trash is both underneath the moss or not less than outdoors of the view of the digicam. Coping with environmental air pollution the Chinese language approach – genius!
The moss hill apparently was so enticing that the Bluethroat even got here throughout heavy rain.
If you’re poor, you might solely be capable to afford fairly substandard bluethroats.
A male Japanese Robin would have match higher on this sequence, however the feminine can be enticing and fairly troublesome to see in Shanghai in spring.
Should you criticize the paler colour of the feminine Japanese Robin (and even point out it), I’ll accuse you of being a misogynist.
The Brown-eared Bulbul is sort of widespread in Japan however a lot much less so in Shanghai. Apparently, in Japan some fowl watchers don’t notably like bulbuls as they scare the opposite species away – right here, being a single particular person, this bulbul didn’t dare to bully another species.
Right here’s what ChatGPT says concerning the Oriental Scops Owl: “The Oriental Scops Owl is a captivating species with distinctive variations that enable it to thrive in its atmosphere. Its small measurement and glorious camouflage make it a difficult fowl to identify within the wild, however its distinctive calls usually reveal its presence.”
Sadly, they by no means appear to name when in Nanhui, and they’re certainly troublesome to identify. Each that I noticed at Nanhui this month have been neglected by not less than 95% of fowl watchers …
Marsh Grassbirds appear to be well-liked with Shanghai birdwatchers (and presumably birdwatchers normally) although (or as a result of?) they are often exhausting to see and even more durable to {photograph}.
However they make for good copy for sensationalist broadsheets – if this sentence from a examine is suitably rephrased: “The sudden disappearance of a nesting male from his territory made the neighboring male broaden his authentic territory to the vacant space the place the unrelated nestlings have been being reared by a feminine within the nest. The male discovered the nest and attacked the unrelated nestlings. We inferred that the infanticide sequence was finished as meals useful resource competitors and/or sexually chosen infanticide.”
As I didn’t wish to do the modifying myself, I requested ChatGPT: Might you rephrase and shorten this passage in order that it appears like an article in a sensationalist newspaper?
And sure, ChatGPT did: “Territorial Drama: Chook Dad Vanishes, Neighbor Strikes In and Assaults Nestlings! In a surprising flip of occasions, the sudden disappearance of a nesting male songbird left a main piece of territory up for grabs. The neighbor didn’t waste any time—he swooped in, discovered a nest with unrelated infants, and attacked! Consultants imagine it’s both a vicious battle for meals or a darkish twist within the quest for mates.”
Guess who wrote the HBW entry for Alstroem’s Warbler? Sure, it was none aside from Per Alstroem. Appears a bit North Korean fashion to me to call a fowl after its discoverer after which have the identical individual write about it, nevertheless it appears to be shameless isn’t the unique prerogative of Mr. Trump.
A brief paper in the Journal of the Pure Historical past of African Birds factors out shoddy analysis that ended up describing the Eurasian Interest as a “hunter of nightfall and daybreak”. It isn’t.
One other paper hypothesizes that the Eurasian Interest has “false eyes” behind its head, very like the Collared Owlet. Sadly, my photograph doesn’t illustrate this in any respect.
Listed below are some photographs with none annoying phrases:
Brambling
Gray-capped Greenfinch
Blue Rock Thrush
Black-collared Starling
Black Drongo
Hair-crested Drongo
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Black-winged Stilt
Manchurian Bush Warbler
Asian Stubtail
Chinese language Pond Heron
Eurasian Hoopoe (moist morph)
Some endangered species:
Black-faced Spoonbill
Far Jap Curlew
Chinese language Egret, with a identified international inhabitants of solely about 2,600-3,400 birds (supply).
Apparently, this fowl enjoys intercourse outdoors of established relationships however much less so with its formal associate. Or to cite immediately from the supply: “Observations performed in 2003 at Xing-Ren Tuo in Liaoning Province indicated that the species had a low within-pair copulation frequency and a comparatively excessive extra-pair copulation frequency.”
Different elements of the summary additionally learn like tutorial descriptions of pornographic films: “The prevalence of extra-pair copulations depended upon the absence of the cuckolder’s mate and the cuckolded male”.
This Little Ringed Plover isn’t endangered however is clearly having a foul hair day.
Many thrushes will not be notably elegant birds – consider Pale Thrush – however the Japanese Thrush is.
Some male Japanese Thrushes appear to interact in morally questionable conduct – in keeping with the HBW, “Polygynous males have been present in Japan, sustaining major and secondary territories (singing areas) and making daybreak journeys and even a number of daytime journeys to those areas”.
As at all times, it’s the feminine of the species affected by this conduct.
Black Redstarts are uncommon in Shanghai (the truth is, this was the primary one I’ve ever seen right here) however not so in France.
The males there (and elsewhere) sing in several microdialects, and curiously, males are extra aggressive towards singers sharing their very own microdialect. Sadly, not less than the summary of the paper doesn’t give a speculation as to why that is the case.
There may be additionally a distinction between the music of grownup male Black Redstarts and that of subadults – possibly an indication (an “trustworthy sign”, in science-speak) by the subadults that helps them keep away from dreary old-man gatherings in smoke-filled pubs …
In sure poses, the Eurasian Wryneck appears to be like like a harmful snake.
In others, extra like a sock puppet.
In line with an article in Nationwide Geographic, when spooked, Eurasian Wrynecks certainly “bend and twist their head back and forth, usually whereas hissing, to mimic a forest snake”.
This snake-like conduct additionally led to the idea that they’ve some magical powers – sadly, these days we don’t assume that anymore, preferring to imagine in Bitcoin.
Among the many varied buntings of the month, the spotlight was this Chestnut Bunting. A troublesome fowl to get an honest photograph of – I do know, photographers say that of many species (offers them a higher feeling of accomplishment), however eBird appears to assist this declare: “Small, shy bunting, often seen via a display screen of thick shrubby vegetation in low, dense thickets”.
Do you sleep effectively when the sunshine is on? If not, you will have one thing in widespread not solely with me but additionally with mentioned Chestnut Bunting. A Chinese language examine discovered that synthetic gentle delayed the time till the birds fell asleep, lowered sleep length, and elevated the frequency of awakenings.
The quantity of disturbance additionally is determined by the colour of the sunshine – the authors hopefully conclude “The examine highlights the potential of adjusting spectral compositions of sunshine supply to mitigate the disturbance of synthetic gentle to avian sleep”. Good luck telling a Chinese language metropolis to vary the colour of its gentle bulbs …
Listed below are a number of extra buntings earlier than Shanghai strikes into the bunting summer time break:
Black-faced Bunting
Tristram’s Bunting
Yellow-browed Bunting
Little Bunting
Yellow-throated Bunting
The put up ends with one other magnificence, the Black-capped Kingfisher. Sending photographs of it to an American buddy and birdwatcher acquired the next response: “It’s grossly unfair that Asians even in massively industrialized landscapes have nice kingfishers. North American kingfishers simply don’t measure up.”
Certainly, decoupling won’t be straightforward for People, not less than not within the space of kingfishers.
Because of S.R. for the title. The second a part of it, to be exact – the primary half I may nearly come up alone, thanks very a lot.