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Blue Fronted Redstart

Phoenicurus frontalis

Photo by AneeshJain
Published on Project Noah
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30.4429, 78.57

Field Notes

Notes:

Birds look really cross when they stare at you like this one is in the first pic!

Reference Links:

Blue-fronted Redstart

Species ID Suggestions

Chestnut-bellied rock thrush
XXD17
2

Comments (12)
Atul
Blue Fronted Redstart it is for me Anish looking at the plumage but the size of the bird is still a question ,as Malcolm said the Red start is a sparrow sized bird , while a chestnut bellied rock thrush is the size of a Myna, which is a pretty big difference. !
AneeshJain
You're right, they're quite alike. I'll get in touch with Atul and verify the ID of this and other spottings I've made.
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
It's amazing how alike those birds are plumage-wise but very different in size. My experience with Indian birds is just 2 weeks in Goa and 3 in Sri Lanka although I spent many years in Malaysia and Singapore so am familiar with a lot of those which inhabit both areas. User Atul, another of our Rangers, is very good with Indian birds, as are some others, so we are often chatting about them.
AneeshJain
Yes, this one was not much bigger than a sparrow. If you see the other thrush in my spottings, that one is much closer to a CBRT.
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
Quite a difference in size, the redstart is only sparrow-sized, would that be correct? The tail pattern is certainly correct for the Redstart. My Indian colleagues are probably all asleep now.
AneeshJain
Malcolm, a friend suggested a more accurate ID for this, and I think he is right. As you can see in the second pic, the line dividing blue and chestnut colors is quite sharp, which is not so in the Chestnut Bellied Rock Thrush, but is there in the Blue Fronted Redstart.
AneeshJain
Malcolm, can you help in identifying this one? http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9875294
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
OK, it looks like we are agreed on Chestnut. The sub-species Philippensis of Blue Rock has the same orange colour but is only a vagrant to India so unlikely. Scientific name is Monticola rufiventris.
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
Our Indian experts are looking at it right now, pictures in my book are not good.
AneeshJain
Malcolm, I think it is a chestnut bellied rock thrush, as suggested by Xiaoxuan. A blue rock thrush has very little or no orange coloration on its underbelly.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Himalayan Biodiversity
Mission
The Color Blue
Photographed
PublishedMarch 19, 2012

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