IDENTIFICATION

VOCALISATIONS

In autumn especially its distinctive song can be heard: ‘kyee kyee kyee’ resembling the call of a small falcon.

DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE

Eurasian Wryneck is found on active and abandoned agricultural land, marshes and fish pond areas, gardens, city parks and more generally in open areas with low or sparse vegetation where cover is available. Most reports are from the Deep Bay area, but it is also regularly recorded in lowland areas of the New Territories, Lantau, Lamma, and occasionally on offshore islands such as Tung Ping Chau and Po Toi.

OCCURRENCE

Most reports are from the second week of September to the third week of April (Figure 1). The main period of autumn passage occurs in October and November. The decrease in numbers in the first half of November followed by an increase in the second half of the month may indicate a transition between passage migrants and the arrival of winter visitors. Numbers recorded decline through winter and spring, with weak passage occurring from the second week of March. Extreme dates are 17 August 2015 and 24 April 2020.

Most reports refer to one or two birds, but up to three are frequently seen together at Mai Po NR during autumn passage. The longest-staying individual was one at Tai Mei Tuk from 21 October 1981 to 17 March 1982. Year to year site fidelity was shown by one trapped at Mai Po on 8 October 1992 and recaptured there on 14 March 1993 and 26 November 1994.

A decline in numbers since the 1950s may be suggested by the fact that up to five birds were reported on 34 dates, all in the Deep Bay area and central New Territories from 28 September to 23 April, by a single observer (Walker 1958) during two consecutive winters. Since the 1990s the highest single-site count is three. Walker’s series of records was unprecedented, however, as at the time there were only eight previous reports, all in October, March and April (Herklots 1953, Dove and Goodhart 1955), including one at Kam Tin on 21 April 1934 (Pereira and Herklots 1934), the first for HK.

BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET

Ants are the only food items noted. Habitually perches prominently on leafless trees, wires or fencing, from where it may deliver song even on migration.

RANGE & SYSTEMATICS

Breeds from southwest, central and northern Europe east through Russia, northern Kazakhstan, north Mongolia and northeast China to Sakhalin and Hokkaido, Japan, and southwest to central China; winters in sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator and the Indian subcontinent east to south China and south Japan, and south to peninsula Malaysia (Winkler et al. 2020). In China breeds in the northwest, north and northeast and winters in south Tibet and the area south of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) (Liu and Chen 2020).

J. t. chinensis breeds in east Siberia and northeast and central China and is presumed to occur in HK. J. t. himalayana occurs in north Pakistan and the northwest Himalayas, while J. t. sarudnyi breeds in west Siberia. The remaining subspecies breed to the west.

CONSERVATION STATUS

IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend decreasing.