ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2017

It's kind of funny that you got to 124 without seeing Bali mynas, which sometimes feel almost ubiquitous.

 

A trip to Hong Kong last weekend was more productive than I'd hoped due to the surprisingly excellent Edward Youde Aviary. This will probably be it until July, although I might find time to pop in to Nanjing Zoo.

A couple of notes, just for transparency.
I don't usually write the latin names, which burnt me here. I can't really say for sure whether the Blue-eared glossy starlings are greater or lesser, but I found a record of Hong Kong keeping Greater in 2008 so I'm making a reasonable assumption.
The Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes were in a small cage at the back of a much larger aviary. They were unsigned, but it's an unmistakeable species, and they were clearly visible (although my binoculars helped).

2017

Zoo Negara, January 23rd:

1. Black and White Laughing Thrush, Garrulax bicolor

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, February 10th:

2. Black-naped Oriole, Oriolus chinensis
3. Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus
4. Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus
5. White-crested Laughing Thrush, Garrulax leucolophus
6. White-headed Munia, Lonchura maja
7. Black-crested Bulbul, Pycnonotus flaviventris
8. Black-headed Bulbul,Pycnonotus atriceps
9. Black-headed Munia, Lonchura atricapilla
10. Red-whiskered Bulbul, Pycnonotus jocosus
11. Stripe-throated Bulbul, Pycnonotus finlaysoni
12. Scaly-breasted Munia, Lonchura punctulata
13. Red Avadavat, Amandava amandava
14. Hill Myna, Gracula religiosa
15. Common Myna, Acridotheres tristis
16. Javan Myna, Acridotheres javanicus
17. Black-throated Laughingthrush, Garrulax chinensis
18. Formosan Blue Magpie, Urocissa caerulea
19. Straw-headed Bulbul, Pycnonotus zeylanicus

Shanghai Zoo, February 27th:

20. Black-collared Starling, Sturnus nigricollis
21. Silky Starling, Sturnus sericeus
22. Grey Starling, Sturnus cineraceus
23. Red-billed Blue Magpie, Urocissa erythrorhyncha
24. Java Sparrow, Padda oryzivora
25. Yellow-cheeked Tit, Machlolophus spilonotus
26. Green Magpie, Cissa chinensis
27. Orange-bellied Leafbird, Chloropsis hardwickii

Hong Kong Zoo, April 15th:

28. Bali Myna, Leucopsar rothschildi
29. Emerald Starling, Lamprotornis iris
30. Philippine Glossy Starling, Aplonis panayensis
31. White-browed Robin Chat, Cossypha albicapilla
32. Blue-eared Glossy Starling, Lamprotornis chalybaeus

Edward Youde Aviary, April 16th:

33. Yellow-faced Myna, Mino dumontii
34. Hwamei, Garrulax canorus
35. Silver-eared Mesia, Leiothrix argentauris
36. Racket-tailed Treepie, Crypsirina temia
37. Blue-winged Leafbird, Chloropsis cochinchinensis
38. Long-tailed Broadbill, Psarisomus dalhousiae
39. Red-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus cafer
40. Orange-spotted Bulbul, Pycnonotus bimaculatus
41. Greater Green Leafbird, Chloropsis sonnerati
42. White-eared Catbird, Ailuroedus buccoides
43. White-rumped Shama, Copsychus malabaricus
44. Golden-crested Myna, Ampeliceps coronatus

Kowloon Park Aviary, April 17th:

45. Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Garrulax pectoralis

 

Decided it was time to join the party

Weltvogelpark Walsrode
1. Magpie shrike (Urolestes melanoleucus)
2. Spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
3. Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)
4. Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
5. European greenfinch (Carduelis chloris chloris)
6. Common redpoll (Carduelis flammea)
7. Yellow grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysopeplus)
8. Twelve-wired bird-of-paradise (Seleucidis melanoleuca)
9. Inca jay (Cyanocorax yncas)
10. White-tailed jay (Cyanocorax mystacalis)
11. Yellow-faced myna (Mino dumontii)
12. Mount Omei liocichla (Liocichla omeiensis)
13. Empress of Germany's bird of paradise (Paradisaea raggiana augustaevictoriae)
14. Greater bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda apoda)
15. Red-tailed laughingthrush (Trochalopteron milnei)
16. Flame-faced tanager (Tangara parzudakii)
17. Bay-headed tanager (Tangara gyrola)
18. Red-legged honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus)
19. Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae)
20. Sudan golden sparrow (Passer luteus)
21. Common waxbill (Estrilda astrild)
22. Long-tailed finch (Poephila acuticauda)
23. Scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata)
24. Thick-billed euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris)
25. Blue-winged pitta (Pitta moluccensis)
26. Chestnut-backed scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus montanus)
27. Blue-necked tanager (Tangara cyanicollis)
28. Chestnut-backed ground-thrush (Zoothera dohertyi)
29. Greater hill myna (Gracula religiosa intermedia)
30. Sumatran laughingthrush (Garrulax bicolor)
31. White-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus)
32. Montezuma oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma)
33. Green oropendola (Psarocolius viridis)
34. Java sparrow (Padda oryzivora)
35. Brazilian tanager (Ramphocelus bresilius)
36. Red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)
37. Golden-breasted starling (Lamprotornis regius)
38. Sumatran fairy-bluebird (Irena puella crinigera)
39. Blue-naped mousebird (Urocolius macrourus)
40. Eastern black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis diffusus)
41. Scarlet-headed blackbird (Amblyramphus holosericeus)
42. Brahminy starling (Sturnia pagodarum)
43. Long-wattled umbrellabird (Cephalopterus penduliger)
44. Purple glossy starling (Lamprotornis purpureus)
45. White-crested laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus)
46. Capuchinbird (Perissocephalus tricolor)
47. Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus peruvianus)
48. Greater kiskadee flycatcher (Pitangus sulphuratus)
49. Piapiac (Ptilostomus afer)
50. Asian black bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus)
51. Superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus)
52. Crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus)
53. Blue-crowned laughingthrush (Dryonastes courtoisi)
54. Red fody (Foudia madagascariensis)
55. Snowy-crowned robin-chat (Cossypha niveicapilla)
56. Black-headed sibia (Malacias desgodinsi)
57. Emerald starling (Lamprotornis iris)
58. Sickle-billed vanga (Falculea palliata)
59. Spangled cotinga (Cotinga cayana)
60. Pompadour cotinga (Xipholena punicea)
61. Paradise tanager (Tangara chilensis)
62. Amethyst starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster)
63. Silver-beaked tanager (Ramphocelus carbo)
64. Saffron-crowned tanager (Tangara xanthocephala)
65. Blue dacnis (Dacnis cayana)
66. Black-necked weaver (Ploceus nigricollis nigricollis)
67. Red-capped cardinal (Paroaria gularis)

 

I checked my pictures, the one at KLBP was also melanicterus actually. I guess I just pulled the latin from wikipedia, which gave me the correct name in this case, but has also directly led to this confusion.

 

I called them Black-crested because that's what they were signed as, and they were indeed crested birds. I'm sure it's just a case of the zoos being slow to update their signage from melanicterus to flaviventus. I didn't notice I had them twice because of my own nomenclature based confusion. I will remove the second listing now that I know, although a mod (cough) may have to do the online version for me.

 

I'd forgotten the facility I visited today had passerines. I won't predict my next addition(s) as I've always been wrong
Disney's Animal Kingdom 4/28/17
96. Purple glossy starling Lamprotornis purpureus
97. Snowy-crowned robin chat Cossypha niveicapilla
98. Crested jay Platylophus galericulatus
99. Black-collared starling Gracupica nigricollis
100. Yellow-throated laughingthrush Garrulax galbanus

Sadly, I missed quite a few in the Maharajah Jungle Trek aviary. This included my first chance at sunbirds, but since I was in a group and had limited time, I think I did fairly well. Funny, this was the second institution of the year that recently had paradise whydahs and now longer does. That also makes it the fourth zoo I missed them

 

Bronx had paradise-whydahs fairly recently, though no one was ever able to properly identify the photos despite them being quite clear :/

~Thylo

 

I really know nothing about whydahs, the only species I could reliably identify is the pintailed whydah (which DAK also had recently but no longer does). Bronx was the other (besides DAK) that I meant in my post. I also missed paradise whydahs at the San Diego parks. San Antonio had them a while back. Oh well, the National Aviary is supposed to have them.

 

Some more from Bronx:
47) Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
48) Black-Naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis
49) Australian Magpie Cracticus tibicen
50) Plush-Crested Jay Cyanocorax chrysops
51) Double-Barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii
52) Australian Zebra Finch Taeniopygia (guttata) castanotis
53) Red-Throated Parrotfinch Erythrura psittacea
54) Plum-Headed Finch Neochmia modesta
55) Chestnut-Backed Thrush Geokichla dohertyi
56) Montezuma Oropendola Psarocolius montezuma
57) Yellow-Fronted Canary Serinus mozambicus

Thus far I've seen 46 passerine species at Bronx this year, with there still being a few more I know I'm missing and some still to ID.

~Thylo

 

A visit yesterday to Vogelpark Avifauna resulted in a number of new species for the Challenge :

77) Red-legged honeycreeper ( Cyanerpes cyaneus ) ( see Red-legged honeycreeper Male | ZooChat )
78) Turquoise tanager ( Tangara mexicana ) ( see Turquoise tanager | ZooChat )
79) Wattled starling ( Creatophora cinerea ) ( see Wattled starling | ZooChat )
80) Purple glossy starling ( Lamprotornis purpureus ) ( see Purple glossy starling | ZooChat )
81) Red-crested cardinal ( Paroaria coronata ) ( see Red-crested cardinal | ZooChat )
82) Spangled cotinga ( Cotinga cayana ) ( Spangled cotinga Female | ZooChat )
83) Guianan cock-of-the-rock ( Rupicola rupicola ) ( see Guianan cock-of-the-rock Female | ZooChat )
84) Blue-crowned laughing-thrush ( Dryonastes courtoisi ) ( see Blue-crowned laughing-thrush | ZooChat )
85) White-tailed jay ( Cyanocorax mystacalis ) ( see White-tailed jay | ZooChat )
86) Montserrat oriole ( Icterus oberi ) ( see Montserrat oriole | ZooChat )
87) Asian glossy starling ( Aplonis panayensis ) ( see Asian glossy starling | ZooChat )
88) Jungle mynah ( Acridotheres fuscus ) ( see Jungle mynah | ZooChat )
89) White-eared bulbul ( Pycnonotus leucotis ) ( see White-eared bulbul | ZooChat )
90) Red siskin ( Carduelis cucullata ) ( see Red siskin | ZooChat )

A nice list but evenso missed a number of species which were signed or which I had seen on previous visits like :
-Saffron finch ( signed )
- Yellow-faced mynah ( signed )
-Sulpher-breasted tyran ( signed )
-Scarlet-headed blackbird ( not signed but seen last year )
-Golden-crested mynah ( not signed but seen last year )

I will however visit Avifauna prop. a second time this year and hopefully I will be able to find these "missing"species also .

 

Yesterday I visited Safaripark Beekse Bergen and found one new species for the list but discoered also that a second species -which I had seen already at Antwerp Zoo earlier this year is still not on the list and yesterday I saw it again so I will add that one also :

91) Black-headed weaver ( Ploceus melanocephalus ) ( see Black-heded weavers | ZooChat )
92) Vieillot's weaver ( Ploceus nigerrimus ) ( see Vieillot's weaver | ZooChat )

 

Antwerp Zoo:
163) Red-billed quelea, Quelea quelea

A quick run-through got me this species, as it was locked in for the cold on all previous visits. Unfortunately for the zoo (and this challenge) it seems they have gone out of green honeycreeper, kilimanjaro white-eye and red-cowled cardinal. Certainly the former is a pity as it was the only one in a public collection in Europe.

The only species that are still signed and that I have yet to see this year in antwerp are double-barred finch and red-cheeked cordonbleu (both kept only in the dark hall, and I'm dubious of their presence as well as I've looked for them on all 6 of my visits this year).

 

Franklin Park Zoo
58) Gouldian Finch Erythrura gouldiae
59) Yellow-Rumped Cacique Cacicus cela

I missed Red-Rumped Cacique here as well. I thought the rainforest aviary to be especially hard to spot birds in.

~Thylo

 

Was it in Bird's World or the Tropical Forest building, or elsewhere? It's a species I would really like to see when I (hopefully) visit this year, both for this challenge and just because I haven't seen it before!

 

It was in Tropical Forest as was the Yellow-Rumped. The Tropical Forest is difficult in that much of the aviary space in out of sight from the path so many birds hide easily. I suggest noting that a significant chunk of it can but viewed from the gorillas as it's actually above/behind the enclosure. It's a large space and it took me a while to find the Yellow-Billed Storks so imagine how difficult it is to find a passerine! Also keep an eye out for East African Hadada Ibis and Hartlaub's Duck. Does Cincinnati no longer keep Red-Rumped Cacique?

~Thylo

 

Thanks for the tips! I will keep an eye out, though I just saw Hartlaub's duck today. I did not see red-rumped cacique at Cincinnati, and it was not signed, so I guess the answer is no.

Sylvan Heights Bird Park 5/7/17:
101. Orange-cheeked waxbill Estrilda melpoda
102. Blue-capped cordon-bleu Uraeginthus cyanocephalus
103. Village indigobird Vidua chalybeata
104. Red-billed firefinch Lagonostica senegala
105. Pin-tailed whydah Vidua macroura
106. Black-rumped waxbill Estrilda trgolodytes
107. Red-cheeked cordon-bleu Uraeginthus bengalus
108. European (common) blackbird Turdus merula

 

A new bird for Warsaw Zoo:

57) White-crowned Robin-chat (Cossypha albicapillus)

Also a rescued bird held (probably temporarily) in their bird rescue centre:

58) Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)