Arctic vs Eastern Crown

There are many birds out there which are very similar in their features and some are only separated by a tiny  bit of difference between them. One of them which intrigues me to find out more are the Arctic and Eastern Crown Wablers. An Eastern Crown is quite similar as an Arctic Warbler (Robson, 2007) but there are several features which can be identified to separate them from each other. Through numerous field trips, comparing notes, photos and listening to the experts, i have managed to distinguish them based on these features:

This is an Eastern Crown Warbler. Like Arctic Warblers, Eastern Crowns are winter visitors/migrants originating from as far as Siberia. Robson (2007) has listed several differences between them but there are a few "fast" and "easy" ways to determine their presence.  (1) An Eastern Crown has pale crown stripe and (2) a yellow vent !   In this picture you could see a faint white stripe on top of its head while its vent is yellowish.

This is an Arctic Warbler i believe. It has no crown stripe and certaintly looks much duller (3) than an Eastern Crown. So those are the three quick references one could use to determine whether you are looking at an Eastern Crown or an Arctic warbler in the field. The rest of their differences including their calls can be found in Robson (2007). Hope the above explaination would be of help to new birders and if you have a better and faster way to id these birds please do drop your views here.

According to the experts like Dave and Seng, this bird looks more like an Arctic Warbler and not a Dusky Warbler. This picture was taken more recently in Serendah - Nov 2011.

Grey-bellied Bulbul

This picture was taken at Taman Negara

Looks like its eyes are also grey in colour.

These are recent picture taken at Templer's Park in Aug 2011

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

This fellow is the male

This is the female

Together they are pecking on their name sake.

White-bellied Yuhina

Black Crested Bulbul

 

 

Black Crested Bulbul (Pycnonotus melanicterus) or locally named as Merbah Jambul Hitam is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is said to be found from Himalaya to Indonesia but there are several distinctive subspecies which occured in Sri Lanka and Borneo eg the Black-capped bulbul, the Borneon Bulbul and the Ruby-throated bulbul from Sumatra.

Black Crested Bulbul is a beautiful bird about 19 cm (7 in) in length with a black upright crest and white eyes against a black face. One could often spot it among bird waves and although it is said to be a common bird found around forest edges, lowlands and hill forest up to 1200 feet, it is however often overlook for its beauty and photograhic values. It loves to eat fruits esp figs and insects. IUCN list: "least Concern".

Bamboo Woodpecker (Gecinulus viridis)

Bamboo Woodpecker (male)

Bamboo Woodpecker (female)

Bamboo Woodpecker (Gecinulus viridis) is a species of bird in the Picidae family which is said to occur in a very large range i.e. ranging from Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Unlike other woodpeckers, Bamboo Woodpeckers do not have a crest and made a loud monotone kyeek-kyeek-kyeek - usually by males. Males have redish crown while females are brownish. Bamboo Woodpeckers are about 26 - 28 cm which habitats are mainly around bamboo vegetation up to 1,400m. Bamboo woodpeckers breed around April - May and eats insects. Although mature population is said to be on a declining trend however IUCN has listed it as "least concern" at the moment. Locally named as "Belatuk Buluh" and are listed as fully protected by Act 76/72

Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus)

There were still many articles out there linking Javan Myna with White-vented myna. Most of the new version of field guides have actually differentiated the two birds. One of the ways to determine the differences between the 2 morphs is to look at its crest. Javan Myna has a shorter crest while the latter has more fluffy and longer crest. Then one might also want to compare Javan Myna with Crested Myna. Crested Myna has a shorter crest quite similar as a Javan but Crested Myna has a slaty-black undertail-coverts and a bill which is a pale whitish yellow almost to ivory color as compared to yellow bill and a clean white vent of a Javan . One could also mistakenly id Javan Myna as a Jungle myna.  From field observations, one of the easiest way to diffentiate the two birds is to look at its bills - a jungle myna has an orange bill with bluish base while a Javan myna and White-vented myna have yellow bills. 

However recently (2012) i met with a seasoned birder named Yang Chong and some experience birders like Aun Tiah and Mr Rafi who informed me that the bluish tinge at the base of Jungle Myna may not always be there. So the other way to differentiate between Javan and Jungle i guess is to see the back feathers whereby Javan has slaty black while jungle has brown back.

 Javan myna which is said to be a member of the starling family is predominantly black, with dark slaty-grey body and a white wing patch. It was also said to be brought into Singapore around the early 1920s and since then has spread upwards to Johor and now residing enormously in Klang Valley. It was said that now it is as common as the common myna. A few sightings was also reported in Penang recently. Javan myna reportedly can live between 8 to 20 years. There are also ways to determine the differences within the Javan group. I may have discovered one of them here:

  

This is the first pair (above image) which i would label as "Bird A"

2nd pair as per images below ("Bird B")

They (Bird A & B) were actually different birds

There is a pair of Javans (Bird A & B) (pictured above) which would always like to hang around at my rooftop balcony. At one glance, it may be a bit difficult to determine which one differs from the other. After close scrutiny i thought i may have spot some differences in term of the roof color of its bill. Have a look at the differences below:

This one has a white color mouth roof (Bird B).

....and this one was darker! (Bird A)

Interesting ya !