Calls of Swinhoe's Minivet

Geoff Carey very helpfully commented on my earlier posts on Swinhoe's and Ashy Minivets, as follows:

"You mention in your blog that calls are very similar, which they are. However, with practice and assuming the call is heard clearly, they are distinguishable. I’ve attached some sonograms of the calls, three of Swinhoe’s and two of Ashy."







Swinhoe's Minivet calls.






Ashy Minivet calls.

"The call of Swinhoe’s is flatter than that of Ashy, as well as slightly shorter, on average. It’s interesting because when you look at the sonograms, you might not expect the call of Ashy to sound higher-pitched, but it does because it has a more ‘ringing’ quality. The elements of a Swinhoe’s call cover a wider frequency range, which, presumably, imparts the flatter timbre."

All sonogram images courtesy of Geoff Carey.

Calls of Swinhoe's Miniivets can be heard here:



And Ashy here:

Ashy and Swinhoe's Minivets - males

As promised, here are the males of both species, not annotated this time, as the diagnostic features are basically the same in both sexes.







The things to look for are:
1. Brown wash on the back and rump
2. Brown wash on the underparts (males sometimes have a hint of peach on the rear flanks)
3. White supercilium extending well behind the eye
4. White forehead and thin black loral streak

An additional feature of males is that the rear crown is always grey, not black.



The bill of Swinhoe's is often subtly weaker (looks thinner and shorter), though this is not always the case. At close range, the eye-ring is more extensively white on both the upper and lower crescents. That's more a point of interest than an identification feature!

I have to say that I don't think we have been widely missing these, and I doubt they are anything other than very rare. They must also be more likely in the north than further south. Having said that, minivet flocks are worth a check wherever you get the chance. Best of luck!

Swinhoe's Minivet - another new species for Malaysia?

I got very sick last week, and since I had no energy for doing much, spent some time going through some of the blogs linked to this site.

As I was scrolling through Adolph Khor's site, I came across some interesting minivet photos he'd taken at Ulu Muda last November (see this post). The upper two of these photos looked very like a Swinhoe's Minivet, a species not previously known from Malaysia!

Then another bird came to light, this time, on the Malaysia Bird Photography Forum here (you'll need to register to see these), photographed by C V Cheah. More investigation revealed that both birds were snapped at the same spot at the same time, and were part of a flock (at least some of which were Ashy Minivets).

Differences from Ashy are subtle, and I'm still looking into the range of variation shown by both species.

But it strikes me that it would be a worthwhile exercise for birders and bird photographers to pay close attention to Ashy Minivet flocks, especially in the north of the Peninsula. Here's a brief guide to the differences between non-males.





Wing pattern is not very much help, since there seems to be much variation, especially among worn birds. However, when fresh, Swinhoe's sometimes shows a neat pale yellow or buff bar on the greater coverts which Ashy appears not to show. Calls are also very similar. I've highlighted the four main things to look for on females/1st years, and would stress that it's probably necessary to get at least three out of four of these to be confident of identification.



Here they are side by side for easy comparison.

I'll add the males when I have a bit more time... or get sick again (hopefully the former!). I'll also add a bit on Rosy Minivet, a similar species in both plumage, vocalizations and rarity.

My main sources of photos for learning about Swinhoe's Minivet are:
1. Oriental Bird Images
2. The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society website (minivet section)