Plumbeous redstart, Rhyacornis fuliginosus (formerly, Rhyacornis fuliginosa; protonym, Phoenicura fuliginosa), also known as the plumbeous water redstart, slaty-blue redstart, water robin, or (my favorite) as the water redstart, photographed at Hong Kong.
Image: Marie Louise Ng, 19 February 2011 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D5000, 500/4
Question: I'll be pleased if you can tell me the family that this cute Asian mystery bird is part of -- and yes, this task is more difficult than you might think!
Response: This is an adult male plumbeous redstart, Rhyacornis fuliginosus. This species was previously placed in the the thrush family, Turdidae, but biochemical studies indicated that this species should instead be grouped in with the Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae.
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.
