Common Name (in English) Scarlet Tanager (in Chinese) 猩紅麗唐納雀 Scientific Name (in Latin) Piranga olivacea Peculiar characteristics / external features: Scarlet Tanagers are a beautifully colored bird. The male’s breeding plumage is red on the body and black on the wings and tail.Scarlet Tanagers are unusual among the 230 species of the Neotropical tanager family because they have seasonal changes in plumage. Only one other tanager, a South American species, does this. Females, immature males, and winter males have an olive colored back, yellow underside,…

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Common Name (in English) Scarlet Macaw (in Chinese) 緋紅金剛鸚鵡 Scientific Name (in Latin) Ara macao Peculiar characteristics / external features: The plumage is mostly scarlet, but the rump and tail-covert feathers are light blue, the greater upper wing coverts are yellow, the upper sides of the flight feathers of the wings are dark blue as are the ends of the tail feathers, and the undersides of the wing and tail flight feathers are dark red with metallic gold iridescence. Some individuals may have green in…

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Common Name (in English) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (in Chinese) 紅喉北蜂鳥 Scientific Name (in Latin) Archilochus colubris Peculiar characteristics / external features: The hummingbird is from 7 to 9 cm  long and has an 8 to 11 cm wingspan. Weight can range from 2 to 6 g, with males averaging 3.4 g against the slightly larger female which averages 3.8 g. Adults are metallic green above and greyish white below, with near-black wings. The species is sexually dimorphic. The adult male has a gorget (throat patch) of…

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Common Name (in English) Mountain Bluebird (in Chinese) 山藍鴝 Scientific Name (in Latin) Sialia currucoides Peculiar characteristics / external features: The mountain bluebird is a medium-sized bird weighing about 30 g with a length from 16–20 cm. They have light underbellies and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and somewhat lighter underneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female’s throat and breast are tinged with red-orange,…

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  Common Name (in English) Indigo Bunting Bird (in Chinese) 靛藍彩鵐 Scientific Name (in Latin) Passerina cyanea Peculiar characteristics / external features: A breeding male Indigo Bunting is blue all over, with slightly richer blue on his head and a shiny, silver-gray bill. Females are brown, with faint streaking on the breast, a whitish throat, and sometimes a touch of blue on the wings, tail, or rump. Immature males are patchy blue and brown. The immature bird resembles the female in coloring, although a male…

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Common Name (in English) Gouldian Finch (in Chinese) 胡錦鳥、格爾丹雀、七彩文鳥 Scientific Name (in Latin) Erythrura gouldiae Peculiar characteristics / external features: Both sexes are brightly coloured with black, green, yellow, and red markings. The females tend to be less brightly coloured. One major difference between the sexes is that the male’s chest is purple, while the female’s is a lighter mauve. Gouldian finches are about 130–140 mm long. Gouldian finches’ heads may be red, black, or yellow. Formerly considered three different kinds of finches, it is…

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  Common Name (in English) European Robin (in Chinese) 歐亞鴝、知更鳥 Scientific Name (in Latin) Erithacus rubecula Peculiar characteristics / external features: The adult European robin is 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) long and weighs 16–22 g (9/16–13/16 oz), with a wingspan of 20–22 cm (8–9 in). The male and female bear similar plumage; an orange breast and face (more strongly coloured in the otherwise similar British subspecies E. r. melophilus), lined by a bluish grey on the sides of the neck and chest. The upperparts are…

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Common Name (in English) Eurasian Tree Sparrow (in Chinese) 麻雀 Scientific Name (in Latin) Passer montanus Peculiar characteristics / external features: The Eurasian tree sparrow is 12.5–14 cm long, with a wingspan of about 21 cm and a weight of 24 g, making it roughly 10% smaller than the house sparrow. The adult’s crown and nape are rich chestnut, and there is a kidney-shaped black ear patch on each pure white cheek; the chin, throat, and the area between the bill and throat are black.…

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Common Name (in English) Eurasian Bullfinch (in Chinese) 紅腹灰雀 Scientific Name (in Latin) Pyrrhula pyrrhula Peculiar characteristics / external features: The bullfinch is a bulky bull-headed bird. The upper parts are grey; the flight feathers and short thick bill are black; as are the cap and face in adults (they are greyish-brown in juveniles), and the white rump and wing bars are striking in flight. The adult male has red underparts, but females and young birds have grey-buff underparts. It moults between July and October,…

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  Common Name (in English) Eastern Bluebird (in Chinese) 東藍鴝 Scientific Name (in Latin) Sialia sialis Peculiar characteristics / external features: The bright-blue breeding plumage of the male, easily observed on a wire or open perch, makes this species a favorite of birders. The male’s call includes sometimes soft warbles of ‘jeew’ or ‘chir-wi’ or the melodious song ‘chiti WEEW wewidoo’. Distributions: Eastern bluebirds tend to live in open country around trees, but with little understory and sparse ground cover. Original habitats probably included open,…

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