Birding Shanghai in February 2025

After missing a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker three times in January, I finally saw it in February.

eBird is impressed, calling it a beautiful woodpecker.

The individual I saw was a female – as common among woodpeckers, the male has a red head, not a black one.

It is the only sapsucking woodpecker in Asia, creating sap-wells on trees (source) and apparently spending quite a lot of effort on these.

One paper therefore calls the Rufous-bellied Woodpecker an Ecosystem Engineer: “Rufous-bellied Woodpeckers exhibited a distinctive behavior of drilling numerous small holes around tree trunks, often forming ring-like structures. These ‘sap-wells’ were meticulously created by drilling dense rows of small holes encircling the tree trunks and served as the primary food source for the woodpeckers. They attracted a wide array of insects and offered a valuable source of protein.”

It is quite surprising to see this woodpecker in Shanghai at this time of the year – its breeding range is far further north while its non-breeding and all-year distribution is far further South. In any case, the extensive rows of holes at its Shanghai location indicate that the woodpecker may have been around for quite some time already.

February is still a very good month to see buntings in Shanghai. I was glad to see a largish flock of Rustic Buntings at Nanhui – my impression is they are getting rarer on Chongming Island.

Less of a worry: Pallas’s Bunting …

… Yellow-throated Bunting …

… Tristram’s Bunting …

… Yellow-browed Bunting …

… and Black-faced Bunting.

It is also time to show two very common but attractive species again. One is the Long-tailed Shrike.

A Bangladeshi website explains why Long-tailed Shrikes do not make good cage birds: “The Long-tailed Shrike has not become a pet in the Indian Subcontinent, perhaps, because it is a meat-eater and not very congenial to keep indoors. “

Our friends from Nepaldesk apparently have mastered ChatGPT very well by now, yielding the following statement about the Long-tailed Shrike: “In summary, the Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) is undeniably a fascinating bird, with its stunning appearance, enthralling hunting techniques, and extraordinary vocal mimicry. Its extensive presence in Nepal provides bird enthusiasts a chance to witness and admire the unique qualities this species has to offer. So, when planning your next birdwatching adventure in Nepal, be on the lookout for this awe-inspiring feathered friend.”

The other is the Crested Mynas have good taste – they prefer to incorporate black feathers into their nests rather than white feathers (source). Admittedly, this is not only due to their good taste – apparently, black feathers trigger a fear response in other mynas (they think the nest has been preyed upon) and thus reduce the risk of nest usurpation.

One blogger calls the Zitting Cisticola “desperately annoying, with the male’s incessant ‘zitting’ call and zig-zag flight, touring his territory”.

A male Blue Rock Thrush shows up fairly reliably on the Nanhui seawall near the hotel.

The species is reported to expand into urban areas, both in Tokyo …

… and on Malta. Well, if you love concrete and rocks …

The male Red-flanked Bluetail prefers a rather different tone of blue.

It is a common bird in Shanghai in winter (though admittedly, the females are much more common than the males) – but somehow, the HBW distribution map does not seem to be aware of that. They might want to occasionally check the eBird lists when preparing their range maps.

The species profile in the HBW also has some weirdly human notes: “The song of the Red-flanked Bluetail is one of the most distinctive sounds of the Siberian taiga forests. Its simple song with a melancholy ring seems well suited for the habitat”.

While this sounds romantic, I can add from my own experience that at least the females behave rather viciously toward each other, with the dominant bird chasing the others off even though Shanghai is not their breeding territory and even if there is plenty of food around.

The Silver-throated Bushtit is related to the Long-tailed Tit and also shares some of its cuteness.

Similar to me not being able to see the difference between human babies (they all look similarly ugly to me), Silver-throated Bushtits cannot recognize their own offspring if this study is to be believed.

Strangely, a person advertising for something called Japan Dreamscapes Photography Tours talks about the Silver-throated Bushtit – and then illustrates it with a photo of a Long-tailed Tit (which seems to be the species he/she really has in mind). In any case, this really takes a bit of the credibility of his/her claim to “help visiting birding photographers find these bonny birds in the field.”

At Wusong Wetland Park, I saw an interesting mixed-species flock consisting of Silver-throated Bushtits, Pallas’s Leaf Warblers, Black-throated Bushtits …

… a Speckled Piculet …

… as well as a single Long-tailed Tit, a rare bird in Shanghai (it was the first time I had ever seen one in Shanghai, briefly making it Number 382 on my Shanghai list – but see below).

Interestingly, it seems that the local eBird reviewer did not manage to see this species, which inevitably resulted in the Shanghai sighting being classified as an escaped bird even though the distribution map makes vagrancy much more likely.

The Grey-backed Thrushes in this park are surprisingly tame.

While the cranes on Chongming Island seem to have largely gone, there are still some interesting birds there: Chinese Grey Shrike …

… Eurasian Bittern …

(I suspect that the individuals in Shanghai are residents, but in other countries such as the Netherlands, there is a gender split – males are far less likely to migrate than females, possibly due to the larger size of the males – source)

… and Brown-cheeked Rail.

Less interesting there: Common Shelduck …

… Pied Avocet …

… Common Snipe …

… and Dunlin.

On Tianmashan, there was still a male Common Rosefinch along with some females or immature …

… and one of my favorites, the White’s Thrush.

My late mother once remarked that she particularly liked bird photos on which the birds were partly hidden – I then ascribed this statement to her beginning dementia (of which she later died), but now I can occasionally see her point:

Other common birds there: Swinhoe’s White-eye …

… Brambling …

… Eurasian Siskin …

… Pale Thrush …

… and the cute and apparently rather hygiene-conscious Rufous-faced Warbler.

One study looked at how playback affects breeding birds – while moderate playback did not significantly affect the nestlings’ health, heavy playback reduced the weight of the nestlings, presumably as the parents expend energy on reacting to the playback.

Another study looked at the effect of heavy rainfall during the breeding period – it lowers the nesting success.

Now that this species is called Cinereous Tit, it can be included into this post without this site at risk of being blocked for underage viewers.

Nanhui brought a Saunder’s Gull (classified as Vulnerable) …

… as more and more of its habitat vanishes – one source states that the
common seepweed habitat, in which this species nests, decreased in area by 79.1% within 15 years …

… a Grey Heron posing on a pedestal, looking as if made of recycled plastic …

…. and more thrushes: Dusky Thrush …

… and the rather attractive Naumann’s Thrush – a male …

… and a female.

It is named after Johann Andreas Naumann (1744-1826), a German farmer and naturalist. And the author of a book with the precise title “Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands, nach einigen Erfahrungen entworfen : Durchaus umgearbeit, systematisch geordnet, sehr vermehrt, vervollständigt, und mit getreu nach der Natur eigenhändig gezeichneten und gestochenen Abbildungen aller deutschen Vögel, nebst ihren Hauptverschiedenheiten”

Google translates this as “Natural history of the birds of Germany, drawn up on the basis of some experience: thoroughly revised, systematically arranged, greatly enlarged, completed, and with hand-drawn and engraved illustrations of all German birds, together with their main differences”.

Maybe he was paid based on the word count. Unlike me, I am afraid.