Hong Kong: Yellow-cheeked Tit

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 an