White-browed Shortwing

White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana is very much a skulking bird and as such difficult to see and even more difficult to photograph. Mr Daeng’s restaurant in the Doi Inthanon National Park is built somewhat precipitously over a small patch of bushes and bananas with a small stream running through it. This acts as a magnet for birds that prefer damp dark conditions and we saw the black-billed race of Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus, a female Siberian Blue Robin Larvivora cyane as well as the Shortwing.

Mr Daeng’s deck has lunch tables and a bench seat which runs along one edge and overlooks the stream. In order to see the birds, it is necessary to lean over the back of the seat and stare vertically downwards into a very dark patch of mud and water. When twelve people are doing this simultaneously, there has to be a possible health hazard such as broken planking as well as the finite chance of dropping a camera or even culinary utensils over the edge. I’m pleased to say that no-one was injured or lost any valuables and I think most of us enjoyed a fleeting glimpse at least of the said birds.

A female White-browed Shortwing is indeed one of the most nondescript looking birds and even more so when photographed in near darkness. It is hard to report any distinguishing features and perhaps the lack of any is the key to its identification.

It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. White-browed Shortwing is a shy skulker, preferring to be on or near the ground, in the depths of dark vegetation, where it feeds on small insects, larvae, berries, seeds, sprouts and new buds of plants. The nest consists of moss and grass stems, placed in a dense shrub.

Reference: Wikipedia