AJP spotted Yellow-cheeked Tits (Machlolophus spilonotus) in the New Territories of Hong Kong last week. They are marked in the Hong Kong bird book as an uncommon resident, but also of captive origin. I am always suspicious of that latter label since the bird is known to occur across China not that far to the north. The habitat - mature woodland - would not have been available for many decades at least. Photographs from the early decades of the 20th century show a far more denuded landscape and with the use of anything for firewood during and immediately after the Japanese occupation, mature woodland was very sparse indeed. Re-introduction by artifical (i.e. the cage bird market) or natural (i.e. range expansion) means would seem a better term.
Whatever the origins of the present population, it is a stunning little bird.
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