

According to Brazil's "The Birds of East Asia" there are 40 subspecies of Wren. The Old World avian species has only been spotted. This Red-flanked Bluetail was very confiding, clearly used to the attention of Beijing's growing band of bird photographers. Flocks of hard-core bird watchers are converging on a downtown Los Angeles library to catch a glimpse of an extremely rare red-flanked bluetail. Forages on ground and in trees for various insects and berries. Red-flanked Bluetail, Beijing Botanical Gardens Hops on ground while bobbing tail up and down. While they usually stay close to the ground, Bluetails will also perch high, usually remaining nearly motionless.

If this female bird’s behavior typical, Bluetails hate being in the open and seldom linger there for long. A handful of these birds winter around the capital in most years. What’s a Bluetail Red-flanked Bluetails are skulkers: they hide in dense cover or sit in the shadows. A Red-flanked Bluetail braving the Beijing winter. View thousands of bird photos and video from around the world. Upload a photo/video View another gallery. The Wren even indulged in a few bouts of song, no doubt encouraged by the relatively warm, almost Spring-like conditions. Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus).

The Bluetail and the Wren showed extremely well, clearly used to the attention. I joined them for 5 minutes and in that time the Bluetail and a Winter Wren came down to drink from a small puddle and took advantage of the worms that the photographers had strategically placed on a prominent branch. On the boardwalk that runs along the stream to the west of the gardens, I heard a Red-flanked Bluetail and, as we rounded a corner, there were 4 or 5 bird photographers staked out by the frozen stream. Despite a short search of their favoured habitat, I failed to see any Chinese Nuthatches. There was a surprising lack of thrushes around (normally this is a good site for wintering Naumann’s, Dusky, Red-throated and Black-throated Thrushes) but the usual residents – Red-billed Blue Magpie, Chinese (Light-vented) Bulbul, Chinese Grosbeak etc were around in small numbers. With clear skies and little wind it was a good day to be outside, so we packed a picnic and visited the Botanical Gardens in north-west Beijing.
