Fw: Christmas Island Unknown Heron Identification

Hi David, Looks like our posts crossed in cyberspace.  While I am certainly sympathetic with your point that it is a Striated Heron, as which I initially ID’d it myself, I don’t think we have done enough to rule out an Ixobrychus (see Jeff’s mail and my response). I think it is time to get a bit more information from Brendon? Was size compared to another nearby bird? Any more details on plumage patterns? Are there more photos? BTW most (if not all?) Ixobrychus bitterns can raise a crest.  Cheers, Nikolas   —————- Nikolas Haass nhaass@yahoo.com Brisbane, QLD ________________________________ From: David James <burunglaut07@yahoo.com> To: Birding-aus <birding-aus@vicnet.net.au> Cc: “brendonlevot@live.com” <brendonlevot@live.com>; Nikolas Haass <nhaass@yahoo.com>; Jeff Davies <jeff@jeffdavies.com.au> Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 6:55 AM Subject: Christmas Island Unknown Heron Identification Hi Brendon, Your bird is without doubt a young Striated Heron. It is a rare but regular visitor to CI with about 30 records since 2001. In fact there has been at least 1 record every year since 2001, so it possibly even breeds on CI. Ethel Beach is one of the spots were it is seen most often. The Striated Herons on CI look quite different to those on mainland Australia because they are one or more Southeast Asian subspecies, although it is not clear which one(s). They are more heavily marked (streaked) below and have bolder face markings with broader pale and dark stripes. The subspecies might be the local javanicus from nearby Indonesia (especially if they are breeding). However, the narrow range of dates (November to May) suggests they are migrants and therefore perhaps the more northerly migrant ssp amurensis. There are a couple of other possibilities too. It is not a Yellow Bittern. For starters, the upperparts are grey-green instead of tan-brown. Yellow Bittern only has a solid black crown in adult male plumage, at which time it is bright yellow brown with no streaking or mottling above, and the bill is mostly yellow. I don’t know that yellow bittern can raise a crest. Cheers, David James Sydney ============================== _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org