The morning dawned with a nice chill in the air after a long, long Summer.
Diving straight into the birds, we started with one of our most feisty residents; a Yellow-cheeked Tit! Like most of the tit species, these charismatic critters have a moult strategy of adults carrying out a Summer Complete moult, and juveniles summer partial. Again as with most tits, juveniles usually retain 0 or 1 GCs, and our bird was no exception. We can see just 1 less dense and more worn GC (outermost), allowing us to determine it as a 1st calendar year bird. The lack of black in the belly means that this is a female 1st calendar year Yellow-cheeked Tit!
Next up was quite a surprise; a Hartert’s Leaf Warbler! Though this is not uncommon for us, what WAS uncommon was that this is a recaptured bird. Furthermore, a quick check in our records revealed that this bird was first ringed in January 2020, meaning this bird is now at least in it’s 7th calendar year (and nearly in it’s 8th)! For a bird that weighs only 8 grams, this is quite an incredible feat!
Our next three birds, caught over both ringing sessions, are of a species we have not caught since 2021, and with only one other capture record from the HKBWS team: the Eyebrowed Thrush! And suddenly, three appeared over the two days! Our first was a spectacular adult male! Eyebrowed Thrushes, like most Thrush species, have an Adult Summer Complete juvenile summer partial moult strategy. As expected, the wing of our bird showed a nice, fresh and uniform adult wing and tail. He also showed a deep grey head, fading to black at the lores, and contrasting strongly against the white eyebrow and moustachial stripe.
Our next two individuals showed moult limits in the wing, with 6 and 7 unmoulted juvenile GCs respectively. This, coupled with rather narrow and pointed tail feathers confirmed that they were both 1st calendar year birds. Our first individual did not show much grey in the head, rather grey lores in front of the eye, and a more beige tone to the belly. These factors, and the overall lack of contrast in the face determines that this is a young female!
In contrast, our 2nd individual showed a bright orange belly, more more grey in the head and a much more strongly contrasting facial pattern, allowed us to conclude it as a 1st calendar year male!
A great few days of winter ringing!
Daily Totals
| Species | Original | Recapture |
| Asian Stubtail | 1 | 0 |
| Chestnut Bulbul | 1 | 0 |
| Eastern Crowned Warbler | 1 | 0 |
| Eyebrowed Thrush | 3 | 0 |
| Hartert’s Leaf Warbler | 0 | 1 |
| Huet’s Fulvetta | 2 | 0 |
| Japanese Thrush | 4 | 1 |
| Olive-backed Pipit | 3 | 0 |
| Pallas’s Leaf Warbler | 5 | 0 |
| Red-billed Leiothrix | 3 | 2 |
| Rufous-capped Babbler | 1 | 0 |
| Rufous-tailed Robin | 2 | 1 |
| Swinhoe’s White-eye | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow-cheeked Tit | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 28 | 5 |
*Please note that all wild birds, their nests, and eggs are highly protected (under Wild Animals Protection Ordinate, Cap. 170) in Hong Kong. It is an offence to wilfully disturb, take, remove, or injure wild birds or their nests/eggs. The actions described here were undertaken by trained professionals holding the necessary licenses and permits issued by the AFCD.*
