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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Common Name (in English) Common Magpie, Eurasian magpie (in Chinese) 喜鵲 Scientific Name (in Latin) Pica pica Peculiar characteristics / external features: The adult male of the nominate subspecies, P. p. pica, is 44–46 cm (17–18 in) in length, of which more than half is the tail. The wingspan is 52–62 cm (20–24 in). The head, neck and breast are glossy black with a metallic green and violet sheen; the belly and scapulars (shoulder feathers) are pure white; the wings are black glossed with green…

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  Common Name (in English) Chinese Bulbul, Light-vented Bulbul (in Chinese) 白頭鵯、白頭、白頭鵠仔 Scientific Name (in Latin) Pycnonotus sinensis Peculiar characteristics / external features: It is a medium-sized (19 cm), noisy, conspicuous bulbul with a black crown, a white nape stripe bordered posteriorly by a black band, a thick black moustachial stripe and a buffy auricular patch. The back and wings are grayish with olive yellow highlights and edgings to the flight feathers; the throat and undersides are white, separated by a grayish-brown, diffuse breast band.…

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Common Name (in English) Chestnut Bulbul (in Chinese) 栗背短腳鵯 Scientific Name (in Latin) Hemixos castanonotus Peculiar characteristics / external features: The chestnut bulbul is between 18-22 cm in length. It is chestnut brown on top and back, while its throat, chest and belly is white in colour. Distributions: It is found in southern China and northern Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. In Hong Kong, chestnut bulbuls were only seen inside Tai Po Kau among the 11 study sites. This…

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  Common Name (in English) Blue Rock Thrush (in Chinese) 藍磯鶇、亞東藍石鶇、水嘴、麻石青 Scientific Name (in Latin) Monticola solitarius Peculiar characteristics / external features: The blue rock thrush is a starling-sized bird, 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in) in length with a long slim bill. The breeding male of the nominate subspecies is unmistakable, with all blue-grey plumage apart from its darker wings. Females and immatures are much less striking, with dark brown upperparts, and paler brown scaly underparts. Distributions: The European, north African and southeast Asian birds are…

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