Chalk up another species to my growing list of bird sightings.

Perched on the apex of the roof above Riana’s room and on the frame of our water tank were these Blue Rock-Thrushes. From our bedroom’s balcony, what I could see were mostly their heads, chests and underparts as they paced back and forth for about a minute before flying off.

Also known as the Red-Bellied Rock-Thrush (for the subspecies monticola solitarius philippensis that resides here and in some other Asian countries), the bird’s coloring differs depending on its age and sex, and on the season. According to Wikipedia:

“The summer male is unmistakable, with all blue-grey plumage apart from its darker wings. Females and immatures are much less striking, with dark brown upperparts, and paler brown scaly underparts.”

Based on this information and after viewing other images on the internet, my guess is the first and last pictures are of an immature cock, while the second and third photos are most likely of a hen.

I could be wrong, of course, but I like my chances. After nearly a dozen posts I’ve made on various birds, I’m getting quite handy with identifying these winged creatures. If you haven’t noticed, Celebrity Sound Alike has (accidentally) morphed into a quasi-ornithology blog (which is what I mentioned to T. Connie on houseonahill.net just a few days before these pictures were taken).

As you can see, there wasn’t any of the usual foliage backdrop for these shots, just a clear cloudless early morning sky. Hence the title for this post.

You can find videos and sounds of the Blue Rock-Thrush at The Internet Bird Collection site, which has become one of my favorite internet resources for species data.

I’ll be back soon, with more to add to my virtual aviary.

Posted in: Better Earth, Photo Gallery | | November 2009