ss 10 2.

British Ornithologists’ Club

THE NATURAL
HISTORY MUSEUM

1 2 SEP 201)

PRESENTED
TRING LIBRARY

Volume 131 No. 3
September 201 1

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
See also BOC website: http://www.boc-online.org

MEETINGS are open to all, not just BOC members and are free.

Evening meeting in Tower Rooms, Section A, Sherfield Building, Imperial College, South Kensington,
London, SW7 2AZ. The entrance is opposite the Queen's Tower in the main quadrangle. The nearest Tube
station is at South Kensington. For maps, see: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/campusinfo/southkensington

11 October at 6.00 pm — Rachel Bristol — Back from the brink: translocations of threatened endemic birds in
the Seychelles

Abstract: Following initial failures in the 1970s, translocations (reintroductions and conservation introductions)
of threatened endemic birds have more recently had great success in increasing the numbers, range and
conservation status of five of eight Seychelles threatened endemic bird species. Methods have been refined
with time and trial and, although still learning, we now have consistent translocation success. Keys to
success in Seychelles have been: ensuring all of the species' habitat requirements are provided in the new
environment (e.g., habitat rehabilitation prior to release, predator management, provision of nest boxes),
translocating only wild birds, and tailoring the release methods to the species.

Biography: Rachel Bristol has worked for the last 20 years to conserve threatened endemic birds in New
Zealand, Hawaii, Mauritius and, for the past 14 years, the Seychelles, where she has led several avian
conservation introductions. She is currently undertaking a Ph.D. in the ecology, conservation genetics and
restoration of the Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone corvina, and a comparison of the evolutionary
history of Indian Ocean flycatchers, at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent.

The evening will commence with the talk beginning at 6.00 pm. After the talk the cash bar will open so
that attendees can socialise. At approximately 7.30 pm there will be a light buffet supper (sandwiches etc.)
costing £15 per person for those who have ordered it at least two weeks in advance. Vegetarian and gluten-
free options will be available for those who have requested them when booking.

Those wishing to order the buffet supper should apply to the Chairman (address below) by 27 September 2 Oil.

There is no charge to attend the talk but to comply with Imperial College requirements those wishing to attend must
notify the Chairman no later than Monday 10 October 2011.

One-day joint meeting with NBC and NHM in the Flett Theatre, Natural History Museum, London
SW7 5BD. The nearest tube station is at South Kensington and attendees should use the NHM entrance on
Exhibition Road.

Saturday 29 October 2011 — Birds of South and Middle America — recent advances in knowledge

The full programme, with abstracts, was advertised under Club Announcements in the June Bulletin and is
also available on the website.

Nathalie Seddon — Why birds sing at dawn

Huw Lloyd — Conservation of high-Andean forest birds in Peru

James Lowen — Wildlife of the Pantanal, South America's Serengeti

Adolfo Navarro— The Mexican Bird Atlas: a collaborative approach to the study of biodiversity
Robert Prys-Jones— Project BioMap: documenting the global museum resource of Colombian birds for
research and conservation

Thomas Donegan— Exploring, studying and protecting the world's most diverse national avifauna
(Colombia)

Access is possible from 10 am, the meeting will begin at 10.30 am with coffee/tea and the first talk at 1 1 am.
I here will be an hour's break for lunch and the afternoon session will start at 2.15 pm. The symposium will
end at 5 pm.

I hose wishing to order a sandwich lunch costing CIO should apply to the Chairman (address below) by I hursday 13
October 201 1.

I here is no charge to attend the symposium but, in order to order coffee/tea, those planning to attend are asked to notify
the Chairman no later than Thursday 20 October 2011.

I he C h airman: I lelen Baker, W) Tnwnfield, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 700 UK. Tel. +44 (0)1923 772441.
E-mail: helen . ba ke r60@ti sea I i .co.u k

Club Announcements

Bulletin of the

137 THE NATURAL
HISTORY MUSEUM

1 2 SEP 2011

PRESENTED

BRITISH ORNITHereCfISTS’ CLUB

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Vol. 131 No. 3

Published 6 September 201 1

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chairman's message

Committee decided in June that the time had come to raise the annual subscription to £25 as from 1 January
2012. By that time subscription rates will have remained unchanged for five years, yet Bulletin production
costs have increased. We are also planning more colour in the Bulletin to further enhance its appeal. New
Standing Order forms will be distributed shortly.

We have two more meetings this year. The first is an evening meeting on Tuesday 11 October at
Imperial College and the second is our joint meeting with the Neotropical Bird Club (NBC) and the Natural
History Museum (NHM), on Saturday 29 October, in the Flett Theatre at the Natural History Museum. The
full programme appeared in the June Bulletin and further details are on the inside front cover and on the
enclosed flyer.

Members may be interested to know that on Friday 28 October a symposium is being held in the
Flett Theatre to celebrate the life and legacy of Charles Davies Sherborn (1861-1942). He was the first
President of the Society for the History of Natural History (SHNH) and singly-handedly compiled the Index
animalium. This 11-volume work became the core reference for zoological nomenclature. The symposium
is being organised by the Linnean Society of London, SHNH, the International Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature, the Natural History Museum and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. To register, contact Gina
Douglas at meetings@shnh.org.uk or check www.shnh.org.uk for details.

Helen Baker

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club was held in Room SALC 3, Sherfield
Building, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, on Tuesday 14 June 2011 at 5.40 pm with Miss H. Baker in the
chair. Fifteen members were present (including eight from the committee). Apologies were received from
Cdr. M. B. Casement, RN, Mr S. E. Chapman, Mr E. C. Dickinson, Mr F. M. Gauntlett, Mr S. M. S. Gregory
and Mr G. M. Kirwan.

1. Minutes of the previous meeting. The Minutes of the 2010 AGM held on 27 April 2010, which had been
published (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 130: 73) were approved and signed by the Chairman.

2. Chairman's report. The Chairman referred members to her review, the Trustees' Annual Report and the
Annual Accounts, which were combined in one document and had been available in the room before the
start of the meeting. She thanked Committee members for their contributions and support over the last year
and reminded members that more volunteers are needed to help with the running of the Club. In particular
the Club was looking for a member to take over the Hon. Treasurer role.

3. Trustees' Annual Report taken with item 4, the Bulletin, and item 5, Publications report. The Chairman
apologised for omitting reference to Lincoln Fishpool's talk in the section of the Trustees' Report dealing
with Club meetings. The Hon. Secretary, referring to the Trustees' report, reported that there had been a
good programme of talks but attendance had been disappointingly low on several occasions. Vol. 130 of
the Bulletin contained many interesting papers covering a wide geographical area and the increasing use
of colour made it an attractive publication. The year had seen the publication of the first issue of Systematic
Notes on Asian Birds (SNAB) by the BOC. He invited Dr D. R. Wells, the editor, to say a few words about the
publication. Dr Wells said that sales were largely dependent on reviews and it would be some 18 months
before all the reviews were published. However, early reviews had been favourable.

Revd. T. W. Gladwin presented the JPC Report for 2010. He said that he had decided to stand down
after 11 years chairing the Committee since its inception. It was quite a busy role and it seemed an opportune
time to hand over during a pause in the publication stream and printing techniques were changing
dramatically. He hoped that the BOC would continue to further good relations with the BOU and with the
Trust for Oriental Ornithology in the interests of best serving ornithology.

The Hon. Treasurer drew attention to the income and expenditure details, which showed a £5,080
shortfall of income over expenditure. Subscription income and investment income had both fallen and

Club Announcements

138

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

income from sales was down on 2009 because there were no new joint BOC/BOU publications in 2010.
Expenditure for the year of £32,188 was slightly less than in 2009. He proposed the adoption of the Report
and Accounts, and this was seconded by the Revd. T. W. Gladwin.

6. Election of Officers. The Chairman proposed that Dr R. P. Prys-Jones be elected as Hon. Secretary, Mr D. J.
Montier be re-elected as Hon. Treasurer, Mr D. J. Fisher be elected as Vice-Chairman and Mr R. R. Langley be
elected to serve on the Committee in place of Mr S. A. H. Statham. This was seconded by Mr N. J. Redman.
Ex-officio members are appointed by the Committee.

7. Any Other Business. The Chairman formally thanked Revd. T. W. Gladwin for all the work he had done
for the Club over the years, particularly in his role as Chairman of the JPC. She called on Mr D. J. Montier,
who had served on the JPC for the entire period to say a few words of appreciation.

The meeting closed at 6.00 pm.

The Chairman's review. Trustees' Annual Report and the Accounts are available on the BOC website
(www.boc-online.org) and hard copies can be obtained from the Hon. Treasurer, D. J. Montier, Eyebrook,
Oldfield Road, Bickley, Bromley, Kent BR1 2LF, UK, e-mail: djmontier@>btinternet.com

The 966th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 14 June 2011 in the Sherfield Building, Imperial College,
South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ. Nineteen members and seven non-members were present.

Members attending were: D. ALLEN, Miss H. BAKER (Chairman), D. J. FISHER, Dr L. FISHPOOL, F. M.
GAUNTLETT, Revd. T. W. GLADWIN, D. GRIFFIN, K. HERON JONES, R. R. LANGLEY C. F. MANN, D. J.
MONTIER, R. C. PRICE, Dr R. P. PRYS-JONES, N. J. REDMAN, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R.
STOREY, M. J. WALTON and Dr D. R. WELLS.

Non-members attending were: J. BOORMAN, N. CHESHIRE, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J.
GLADWIN, Mrs J. HERON JONES, Mrs M. MONTIER and D. RUSSELL.

A series of short talks was presented, starting with Nigel Redman, who first discussed What is Sharpe's
Lark? In 1896 D. G. Elliot collected a lark in British Somaliland that he described as Mirafra sharpii. It was
later subsumed within Rufous-naped Lark M. africana, a widespread species whose races range from pale to
dark, although none is as rufous as sharpii. In 1918-20 Sir Geoffrey Archer collected a further 14 specimens in
Somaliland, mostly on the Tuuyo Plain where it apparently overlapped with the very similar Somali Lark M.
somalica. Whilst Somali Lark's range extends east from here, Sharpe's extends west to the Ethiopian border.
There have only been a handful of sightings of Sharpe's Lark since, and the taxon is recorded from only six
squares in Birds of Somalia. It inhabits open grassy plains within open dry woodland, but the nest has never
been found and no photographs or sound-recordings exist. Sharpe's Lark is surprisingly similar to Somali
Lark, both being very rufous overall (Somali Lark is slightly paler). The key consistent differences are bill
length (short in Sharpe's, usually much longer in Somali), outer tail colour (buff in Sharpe's, white in Somali)
and hindclaw length and shape (shorter than hind toe and strongly arched in Sharpe's, and longer than hind
toe and almost straight in Somali). Furthermore, Somali shows more spotting on the undertail-cov.erts. Their
similarity raises the question of whether Sharpe's Lark might be a race of Somali Lark rather than Rufous-
naped Lark, but the differences, though subtle, do seem too marked, especially the hindclaw. It therefore
seems best to treat sharpii as a species for now. It is disconcerting that the first bird tours to Somaliland in
2010 found Somali but not Sharpe's Lark on the Tuuyo Plain. We can only hope that this interesting taxon
has managed to cling on somewhere in north-west Somalia (or in eastern Ethiopia).

Nigel went on to consider Species, races or morphs: taxonomic confusion in the Tropical Bonbon complex, in
a talk that further considered issues raised by Turner et al. (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 131: 125-128) in relation to a
recent molecular study (Nguembock et al., Mol. Pln/l. & Evol. 48: 396-407). Turner et al. reported that the black
'morph' of Laniarius ( aethiopicus ) sublacteus in coastal Kenya lives side by side with black-and-white sublacteus,
and they apparently behave as separate species. The situation in southern Somalia is not well known, but the
black morph of L. (a.) erlangeri reportedly calls very differently from normal Tropical Boubous. Turner et al.
overlooked that Nguembock et al.’ s study did in fact sample the black 'morph' of erlangeri and therefore it is
this bird that is more distantly related to other black-and-white boubous. Nigel suggested that the all-black
Somali and Kenyan birds must be synonymous, but L. erlangeri is inappropriate as the Kenyan birds were
named L. nigerrimus in 1879, 26 years before erlangeri was described. This 'new' species requires an English
moniker and Reichenow's name Black Boubou seems sensible. But the question remains, what are the
black-and-white birds in the Jubba Valley in southern Somalia? It would be logical for them to be sublacteus,
but the Somali birds often show a short wingbar, which sublacteus lacks. However, three of 30 adult sublacteus
in I ring had some white feathers on the shoulder, so there is clearly some variation. Until a fuller genetic
analysis is made, including all relevant taxa, we can only speculate.

( live Mann spoke on Two tropical cuckoo problems, starting with plumage coloration in Large
Hawk-Cuckoo llierococcyx sparverioides. This species ranges from the Himalayas to southern China and
South-East Asia, with small numbers from northern populations migrating to the Philippines and Greater
Sundas. It breeds at 900 3,500 m, but migrants occur to sea level. Five unusually plumaged specimens (four
male, one unsexed) at I ring were collected between 1863 and 1915 in Burma (four) and Thailand (one), from
tlnee localities near sea level, one at 1,500 m and one untraced. Four were taken in October-January, but that

Club Announcements

139

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

fiom the untraced locality in August. They differ in being silvery grey above (usually blackish brown), with a
chestnut throat and the barring below much paler and more rufous. Although one collector remarked on the
silveiy colour in his notes, nothing appears to have been published on this plumage. Clive initially thought
they represented an undescribed taxon, but the plumage differences could have resulted from a simple
genetic mechanism, perhaps just one mutation, causing the dilution of melanin pigments. Such a variant,
lefeired to as pastel , is known in other birds. On this basis he considered it more logical to view them as
a morph of sparverioid.es. The dates suggest that they could be wintering birds, although August is perhaps
anomalous, but if they are where did they come from?

Clive then discussed the Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus ( saturatus ) optntus, which breeds from European
Russia east to Japan. It migrates to southern Asia and Australasia, with vagrants recorded in the Pacific
and North America, and twice in Israel. An hepatic morph female Cuculus collected by Boyd Alexander in
December 1898 in Zambia is in the Tring collection, with the African Cuckoos C. gulnris. It was originally
labeled C. canorus, but in Clive's opinion is obviously different to both gularis and canorus, notably in the
rump / uppertail-coverts. The former species has much grey amongst the rufous and dark brown barring,
whereas the latter generally has an almost unmarked rufous rump, although juveniles may have dark brown
barring as in the Boyd Alexander specimen, but have narrow whitish fringes to the feathers (lacking in the
specimen in question). He found it difficult to distinguish it from optatus ( saturatus is extremely similar to
optntus, but smaller) and provisionally considers that the specimen represents the sole record of Oriental
Cuckoo in Africa.

David Fisher presented The first-ever photographs of Nkulengu Rail? Whereas in former years members
commonly exhibited 'novelties', i.e. specimens of potentially new taxa, David showed what he believed to be
the first-ever 'consciously taken' photographs of Nkulengu Rail Himantornis hnematopus, of a bird in Ghana
on 9 May 2011 (two poor photographs taken by automated camera traps can be seen on the internet). This
species, whose range stretches from West Africa to Uganda, is loudly vocal pre-dawn and post-dusk, and
in one recent field guide is described as sounding like a 'dancing conga-line going through the forest'! The
species is notoriously hard to see but, as the camera trap photos prove, it is active by day as well as at night.
This rail is considered to be the sole member of its own subfamily, based primarily on its skeleton, which
is much closer to the South American trumpeters (Psophiidae). Unlike other rails, juveniles possess highly
patterned down. Compared to illustrations in books, David's photographs differed primarily in the bare-part
colours. The legs are usually painted (correctly) as bright red, but the bill as uniform grey or uniform black,
whereas in life it is silvery blue with a lime-green base. The lores are usually painted grey or black, whereas
they are greyish blue in life. Presumably these discrepancies are due to illustrations being based on skins
in which the colours have faded. The photographs will shortly be made public via several websites and
elsewhere.

Douglas Russell's talk was entitled Con artist or unfairly maligned collector? — the rediscovery of William
Farren's Black Woodpecker eggs from the New Forest. The status of Black Woodpecker Dryocopus m. martins in
Britain and Ireland has long been controversial. The last review, by the BOU Records Committee (Ibis 137:
590-591) considered 110 alleged records, but unanimously concluded there was no unequivocal evidence of
the species occurring in the last 200 years. Prior to this, R. S. R. Fitter (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 79: 79-87, 102-113;
revisited in Birding World 5: 75-77) compiled a comprehensive list of records, categorising at least 26 as
now or formerly supported by specimens and 'in one case a clutch of eggs'. This clutch was presumed lost
to science. However, examination of the Milton Abbey School Collection, acquired by the Natural History
Museum, Tring, in 2001, revealed overlooked manuscripts that suggested its presence in the collection,
which appears to have been formerly in the possession of the Beavan-Rake family. In 1862, William Farren
(1836-87), a well-known naturalist and dealer, detailed in The Zoologist collecting the clutch on 9 June 1862
at Pignel, near Brockenhurst, Hampshire, in the New Forest. He subsequently passed the eggs to John de
Capel Wise (1831-90) for authentication. The manuscripts indicated that Wise, who mentioned the eggs in
his book The New Forest: its history and scenery (1883), had subsequently sold them to the surgeon Thomas
Beavan-Rake. Three of the original clutch of four have now been found. Comparison with other European
Black Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker Picus viridis eggs are inconclusive, but their identification can
potentially be determined by molecular investigation. However, an answer to the central question of whether
the clutch was actually taken in the New Forest will remain disappointingly elusive in the absence of an
unambiguous method for determining a clutch's laying locality.

Lengthy discussion of the above meant insufficient time was available for Robert Prys-Jones's projected
talk on Type specimens of the Imperial Woodpecker: confusion resolved?

Addendum

In Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 131: 125, in the first paragraph of 'Remarks concerning the all-black coastal boubous
(Laniarius spp.) in Kenya and southern Somalia', by Don Turner et al., it was erroneously stated that no
all-black birds had been sampled in the Nguembock et al. (2008) study. That sentence should have read 'With
only one all-black bird sampled in the Nguembock et al. (2008) study...'.

Beneharo Rodriguez et al.

140

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Variable plumage coloration of breeding Barbary Falcons
Falco ( peregrinus ) pelegrinoides in the Canary Islands:
do other Peregrine Falcon subspecies also occur in

the archipelago?

by Beneharo Rodriguez Felipe Siverio, Manuel Siverio & Airam Rodriguez

Received 21 October 2010

Summary.— The taxonomic status of the Barbary Falcon has been controversial
for many years, it being variously considered a subspecies of Peregrine Falcon
( Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides) or treated as a full species (F. pelegrinoides). Although
morphological and molecular studies are still scarce, they suggest that subspecific
status is more appropriate. Other subspecies of Peregrine, such as F. p. brookei,
exhibit some plumage characteristics similar to Barbary Falcon. We quantitatively
ciescribe coloration patterns of Barbary Falcons breeding in the Canary Islands,
based on photographs of wild birds, injured or dead individuals brought to
rehabilitation centres, and specimens deposited in museum collections. We tested
sexual differences, and compared Canaries falcons with a sample of specimens
labelled as F. p. brookei. Males of both taxa are usually paler and possess less barred
underparts than females. The majority (>60%) of birds in the Canaries have a
Barbary Falcon-like appearance, but there is much overlap with F. p. brookei. This
variation in coloration could be natural or relate to escaped falconry birds, meaning
that molecular studies are needed to clarify the identity of wild falcons on the
Canary Islands.

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, with at least 19 recognised subspecies worldwide, is
one of the best-studied diurnal raptors (Ratcliffe 1993, White et al. 2002, Sielicki & Mizera
2009). Flowever, for many of these races, such as the endemic Cape Verde Peregrine
Falcon F. p. madens, few data are available concerning their general biology (Anderson &
White 2000). For others, such as the pallid phase of the South American Peregrine F. p.
cassi)ii (formerly F. p. kreyenborgi) and the Black Shaheen F. p. peregrinator, although more
biological data are available, their taxonomic status has been controversial for many years
(Ellis & Carat 1983, White & Boyce 1988, Dottlinger 2002). Some authors have considered
Barbary Falcon a subspecies of Peregrine (F. p. pelegrinoides: Helbig et al. 1994, del Hoyo
et al. 1994, Wink & Seibold 1996), whilst others have treated it as a separate species, with
two subspecies, F. pelegrinoides pelegrinoides and F. p. babylonicus (Vaurie 1961, Clark &
Shirihai 1995, Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). Genetically, they appear to be very similar to
other Peregrines (Wink et al. 2000), but morphologically they present very distinctive size
and coloration patterns (Vaurie 1961, Clark & Shirihai 1995, Forsman 1999). Compared to
Peregrine, this mid-sized falcon is slightly smaller, paler, has a more compact body shape,
a very short-tailed silhouette in flight, and a different head pattern with a rufous patch on
the nape (C lark & Shirihai 1995, Shirihai et al. 1998, Forsman 1999). Differences in skeleton
features have also been described compared to other Peregrine subspecies (Vaurie 1961,
White & Boyce 1988, Johansson et al. 1998).

Morphologically, Barbary Falcon and Peregrine F. peregrinus brookei can overlap
(forsman 1999), but in the past it was suggested that they do not hybridise in the wild
(Vaurie 1001, Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). Recently, however, mixed pairs of Barbary

Beneharo Rodriguez et al.

141

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Falcons * F. p. brookei and individuals with coloration patterns intermediate between these
falcons have been observed at several localities (Forsman 1999, Schollaert & Gilles 2000,
Zuberogoitia et al. 2002, Rodriguez et al. 2009). The name 'atlantis' has been used in relation
to such intermediates between F. p. brookei and Barbary Falcon observed in Morocco
(Schollaert & Dufourny 1995, Schollaert & Gilles 2000), and a preliminary genetic study
has demonstrated that some birds on Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) possess the Barbary
phenotype but also haplotypes of F. p. brookei, suggesting recent hybridisation (Amengual
et al. 1992). During recent decades many ornithologists have studied the field identification
of Barbary Falcon (Brosset 1986, Clark & Shirihai 1995, Wink & Seibold 1996, Shirihai et al.
1998, Forsman 1999, Schollaert & Gilles 2000, Corso 2001), but few studies have aimed to
quantify its morphology (see Dementiev 1957, Vaurie 1961, White & Boyce 1988).

The Canary Islands mark the westernmost limit of the breeding range of Barbary
Falcons (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). In nearby Morocco, populations of Barbary, F. p.
brookei and F. p. minor regularly breed, whilst in Iberia only F. p. brookei occurs as a breeder,
although F. p. calidus and F. p. peregrinus regularly winter in both countries (Brosset 1986,
Zuberogoitia et al. 2002). Here we describe, for the first time, variation in coloration patterns
in falcons on the Canary Islands. Furthermore, we remark on the presence of breeding
falcons in the archipelago whose morphology resembles F. p. brookei, based on comparison
between Canaries birds and museum specimens from Iberia.

Methods

Study area and falcon population.— The Canary Islands are a volcanic archipelago
situated 100 km off the north-west Atlantic coast of Africa. They comprise seven major
islands (from east to west: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La
Palma and El Hierro), and several islets (Alegranza, Montana Clara, La Graciosa and Lobos)
and small marine rocks. Besides the breeding falcons, there are observations of migrant
Peregrines in the archipelago (Martin & Lorenzo 2001). The Barbary Falcon population on
the islands was considered threatened, but currently is increasing in numbers and range
(a 17.6% mean annual increase was estimated in 1989-2007; Rodriguez et al. 2009), and the
archipelago currently supports approximately 144 pairs (Siverio et al. 2009). For now, we
consider the taxon to be a subspecies of Peregrine until molecular studies are undertaken.

General procedures. — We studied coloration patterns of 66 adult falcons from all of the
major islands in the Canaries archipelago, except La Gomera and La Palma (see Appendix).
For each individual, we recorded sex (based on size) and plumage colour using photographs
or video recordings of wild birds, injured or dead animals admitted to wildlife rehabilitation
centres, or museum specimens (Appendix). The majority of these data pertain to birds from
the period 2000-10, but some specimens were collected in the early 20th century (Appen-
dix). Except in a few cases (18%), we are certain that adults from the Canaries were breeders.
Where possible we noted sex, locality and date to avoid repetition in the sample of wild
individuals. Furthermore, we studied photographs of 26 specimens held at the Estacion
Biologica de Donana CSIC (EBD, Seville) labelled F. p. brookei (collected in Iberia), and adult
specimens belonging to the type series of Cape Verde Peregrine F. p. madens in the Yale Pea-
body Museum of Natural History, New Haven (YPBM; Appendix).

We adopted similar procedures to those of White & Boyce (1988), McDonald (2003)
and Zuberogoitia et al. (2009a) to describe and code phenotypic characteristics of each
adult. Because we lacked high-quality photograph of all birds, sample sizes differ between
characters. Furthermore, because many birds were not studied in the hand, we could not
measure directly facial characters. We endeavoured to obtain three facial measurements for

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142

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

TABLE 1

Description of plumage characteristics of adult falcons and codes used in the present study.

Feature

Description

Scores

1

2

3

Superciliary

Presence or absence of pale
superciliary stripe

Clearly visible

Absent or very small

-

Forehead

Presence or absence of pale spot

Clearly visible

Absent or very small

-

Nape

Size of rufous / reddish area on
the nape

Single large rufous patch Clearly visible rufous
lines

Absent or too
small to see

Back

Relative darkness of the
upperparts

Paler

Intermediate

Darker

Upper breast

Presence of spots

Unmarked

Partially marked on
lower half

Fully marked

Breast

Intensity of barring

Almost white or only
slightly barred on flanks

Barred

Heavily

spotted

Colour

General colour of the ventral
surface

White

Cream

Pinkish or
rufous

each bird, expressed relative to eye dimension: width
of the moustachial at the midpoint, width of the pale
cheek patch from the distal tip to upper end of the
ear-coverts, and width of the dark patch between
the eye and upper end of the paler ear-coverts (see
Fig. 1). We also coded seven coloration characters
(Table 1). For each individual, we calculated an index
of similarity to Barbary Falcon (ISBF) as follows:
Moustachial + Cheek + Black + Supercilary + Forehead +
Nape + Back + Upper breast + Breast + Colour.

Lower values conform to those birds with a
typical Barbary phenotype (pale appearance, white
forehead, presence of a superciliary stripe, red nape,
larger cheek patch, etc.), while higher scores relate
to Peregrine-like birds (dark with heavily spotted
underparts, small cheek patch, no red on the nape
and no superciliary or white on the forehead).

Statistical analyses.— Two-way ANOVAs were
used to test differences in head patterns including by
sex and origin (Canary Islands vs. Iberia) as factors.
A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with varimax
rotation was performed to order and identify the con-
tributions of each coloration variable (head pattern

Figure 1. Diagram showing measurements
taken of the head pattern of falcons from
the Canary Islands and Iberia (A = eye
dimension, B = black area below the eye,
C = moustachial, D = cheek patch; see text
for more details).

and general plumage) to establish possible differences between falcons from the Canaries

and Iberia. A total of 78 falcons was analysed to calculate the correlation matrix. Bartlett's
sphericity test (x2 = 202.4; df = 28; P < 0.001) and KMO measure (0.759) indicated the ad-
equacy of the1 correlation matrix. We extracted those principal components exhibiting Eigen-
values higher than I. A Mann-Whitney U- test was employed to compare sexual differences
in the head patterns of Canaries falcons. Statistical calculations were made using the SPSS
(v.17.0) statistical package.

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TABLE 2

Head pattern characters (mean ± SD) of falcons from the Canary Islands and Iberia (see text for further
details), based on specimens and live birds (sample size in brackets). Significance level of two-way
ANOVAs (sex and origin as factors) (significant values are placed in bold).

Canary Islands

Iberia

F.

interaction

Character

F. p. pelegrinoides

F. p. brookei

r

sex

r . .
ongin

Moustachial

Male

1.15 ±0.25 (26)

1.15 ±0.29 (11)

Female

1.30 ± 0.30 (29)

1.28 ±0.30 (14)

4.39

0.23

0.04

Total

1.23 ± 0.29 (55)

1.22 ±0.30 (25)

Cheek patch

Male

2.26 ± 0.58 (28)

1.42 ±0.35 (11)

Female

2.31 ± 0.65 (30)

1.72 ±0.49 (14)

1.63

27.29

0.72

Total

2.30 ± 0.68 (58)

1.59 ±0.45 (25)

Black below eyes

Male

1.01 ±0.32 (28)

1.54 ±0.44 (11)

Female

1.18 ±0.31 (30)

1.50 ± 0.39 (14)

0.54

23.97

1.27

Total

1.09 ±0.33 (58)

1.22 ± 0.40 (25)

Results

General description of falcons from the Canary Islands. — In general. Canaries falcons
possess a narrow moustachial and large white cheek patch almost reaching the eye (Table
2). A total of 71% of birds have red or rufous on the nape (scores 1 or 2; Fig. 2). Almost half
(48.4%) possess a white or pale patch on the forehead, and just 13.1% possess a superciliary
stripe (Table 3, Figs. 2-4).

Those birds analysed by us exhibited all three scores for the darkness of the upperparts,
but the majority (67.8%) presented intermediate (2) or paler scores (1) (Table 3; Figs.

2-4). In general, the upper breast and breast
scored intermediate or low values in terms
of barring (86.4% and 84.7%, respectively),
but 13.6% and 15.3% had the heavily barred
upper breast and breast, respectively, typical
of Peregrine (Table 3). The underparts were
cream-coloured in 66.1%, with the remainder
white or pinkish-coloured (Table 3).

Comparison between F. p. pelegrinoides,
F. p. brookei and F. p. madens.— Canaries fal-
cons exhibit lower values in almost all plum-
age characteristics than Iberian birds (Tables
2-3), and possess a significantly larger pale
cheek patch than falcons from Iberia and the
smallest black area below the eyes (Table 2).
ISBF values of Canaries falcons were signifi-
cantly lower than Iberian falcons (13.1 ± 3.0
vs. 17.2 ± 2.4; U = 213.5, P < 0.001), although
there is considerable overlap (Fig. 5). Some
63.6% and 16.1% of birds from the Canaries
and Iberia, respectively, possessed ISBF val-

Barbary Falcon Peregrine Falcon

Figure 5. Variation in the Barbary-Peregrine
phenotype index (ISBP) utilised in the present study
(see text for details), according to sex and origin.

Iberian Peninsula Canary Islands

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

TABLE 3

Plumage colour characters of adult falcons from the Canary Islands and Iberia (percentages

in parentheses).

Canary Islands

Iberia

Character

<U

T3

F. p. pelegrinoides

F. p. brookei

u

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Superciliary

1

2 (3.3)

6 (9.8)

8(13.1)

0(0)

0(0)

0(0)

2

25 (41.0)

28 (45.9)

53 (86.9)

11 (42.3)

15 (57.7)

26 (100)

Forehead

1

16 (25.8)

14 (22.6)

30 (48.4)

0(0)

0(0)

0(0)

2

15 (24.2)

17 (27.4)

32 (51.6)

11 (42.3)

15 (57.7)

26(100)

1

3 (4.8)

2 (3.2)

5(8.1)

0(0)

0(0)

0(0)

Nape

2

21 (33.9)

18(29.0)

39 (62.9)

3(11.5)

2 (7.7)

5 (19.2)

3

7(11.3)

11 (17.7)

18 (29.0)

8 (30.8)

13 (50)

21 (80.8)

1

8 (13.6)

4 (6.8)

12 (20.3)

0(0)

0(0)

0(0)

Back

2

15 (25.4)

13 (22.0)

28 (47.5)

6(23.1)

3(11.5)

9 (343.6)

3

7(11.9)

12 (20.3)

19 (32.2)

5 (19.2)

12 (46.2)

17(65.4)

1

13 (22.0)

7(11.9)

20 (33.9)

2 (7.7)

1 (3.8)

3 (11.5)

Upper breast

2

14 (23.7)

17 (28.8)

31 (52.5)

9 (34.6)

6 (23.1)

15 (57.7)

3

2 (3.4)

6(10.2)

8 (13.6)

0(0)

8 (30.8)

8 (30.8)

1

13 (22.0)

5 (8.5)

18 (30.5)

2 (7.7)

1 (3.8)

3(11.5)

Breast

2

14 (23.7)

18 (30.5)

32 (54.2)

7 (26.9)

7 (26.9)

14(53.8)

3

2 (3.4)

7(11.9)

9(15.3)

2 (7.7)

7 (26.9)

9 (34.6)

1

13 (22.0)

6 (10.2)

19 (32.2)

3(11.5)

1 (3.8)

4 (15.4)

Colour

2

16 (23.7)

23 (39.0)

39 (66.1)

6(23.1)

9 (34.6)

15 (57.7)

3

0(0)

1 (1.7)

1 (1.7)

2 (7.7)

5 (19.2)

7 (26.9)

ues lower than the mean (14.4) considering
individuals from both study areas. The first
three principal components retained 70.6%
of the original variance (Table 4), with PCI
clearly related to general body coloration
(both upper- and underparts), whilst PC2
was associated with the size and morphol-
ogy of the cheek patch, and PC3 with the
width of the moustachial (Table 4). When the
location associated with each falcon is plot-
ted on the principal component axes, some
differentiation is observed in PC2 accord-
ing to origin (Fig. 6). This suggests that two
important coloration characteristics for dif-
ferentiating these populations are the sizes
of the cheek patch and black area below the
eye, which two variables possess higher Ei-

Figurt' 6. Locations associated with each falcon (white
dots = Canary Islands and black dots = Iberia) on the
principal component axes.

gen values in PC2 (Table 4; Fig. 6).

Visually, several birds from the Canaries
are like Peregrines, having very dark upperparts, heavily barred underparts and a head
pattern characterised by the complete absence of or smallest red nape patch and small white

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TABLE 4

Importance of coloration variables in falcons from the Canary Islands and Iberia (see Appendix), with
respect to each varimax-rotated factor of the principal components analysis (PCA). Factor loadings values

larger than 0.7 are indicated in bold.

Variable

Factor loadings
PCI

PC2

PC3

Moustachial

0.109

0.057

0.972

Cheek patch

-0.099

-0.878

0.127

Black below eyes

0.180

0.785

0.358

Nape patch

0.470

0.516

0.062

Back colour

0.808

0.242

0.041

Upper breast

0.816

0.164

0.033

Breast

0.853

0.175

0.158

Colour

0.270

0.597

0.038

Eigenvalue

2.394

2.130

1.122

Explained variance (%)

43.7

14.3

12.6

cheek patch (Figs. 7-10), which characters are typical of Peregrine. On the other hand, two
individuals from Iberia labelled F. p. brookei (see Fig. 11 for one example) exhibit the typical
Barbary Falcon phenotype.

Due to our small sample size we cannot quantitatively compare coloration of Cape
Verde F. p. madens with F. p. pelegrinoides. However, the Cape Verde type series (two adults
and a juvenile) possess relatively darker upperparts than typical Barbary Falcon, as well as
red napes and moderately barred breasts (Fig. 12).

Sexual differences.— Male falcons on the Canaries possess a narrower moustachial and
smaller black area below the eyes than females ( U = 258.50, P = 0.045 and U = 255.00, P =
0.040, respectively; Table 2). Both on the Canaries and in Iberia, males are usually paler than
females in general body coloration (Table 3).

Discussion

Several mechanisms could be at work in the coloration of Peregrine populations (White et
al. 1995). Most neighbouring populations show dines in characters reflecting environmental
pressures or genetic influence (White et al. 1995). Some authors have suggested that
Peregrine Falcon populations provide an example of Gloger's Rule (Johansson et al. 1998),
which states that within a species more heavily pigmented individuals tend to be found in
humid environments, with less-coloured individuals in dry climates (Millien et al. 2006).
Degradation of the feathers by parasites could affect their coloration, and the intensity of
parasite activity could be favoured by particular environmental conditions (e.g., Figuerola
et al. 2003, Burtt & Ichida 2004).

Within each subspecies of Peregrine, considerable variation in coloration has been
described, especially at the limits of their distribution or in areas of potential overlap
(Stepanyan 1995, Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001, Wheeler 2003). For example, Zuberogoitia
et al. (2009a) documented that falcons breeding in northern Iberia vary in coloration, some
individuals appearing like typical F. p. brookei and others like F. p. peregrinus. In North
America, F. p. anatum displays highly variable plumage due to hybridisation during recent
decades with Peregrines from different populations (White et al. 1995). Whereas Dementiev
(1957) noted that Barbary Falcons also are highly variable individually, based on a small

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

sample, Vaurie (1961) elected to recognise two subspecies of Barbary Falcon, and considered
that geographic variation was relatively slight.

In general, the coloration of most falcons on the Canaries studied by us matches
descriptions of Barbary Falcon (Clark & Shirihai 1995, Forsman 1999, Corso 2001, Ferguson-
Lees & Christie 2001). However, our results also demonstrated the existence of considerable
plumage variation within the population breeding on the Canaries, with some resembling F.
p. brookei (Figs. 7-10). Some specimens of F. p. brookei from Iberia possess red nape patches,
a narrow moustachial, paler back and less barring on the underparts (Fig. 11), suggesting a
mixture of F. p. pelegrinoides and F. p. brookei characters. Although 'Barbary'-like birds from
Iberia could be vagrants, some breeding falcons there possess Barbary Falcon coloration
(see Zuberogoitia et al. 2002, 2009a). Some Canaries falcons also resemble the endemic and
rare Cape Verde Peregrine Falcon (Anderson & White 2000). However, our small sample
does not permit precise comparison. Sexual differences are also important in both main
populations studied, with males on average paler than females (as also reported by Clark &
Shirihai 1995, Corso 2001, Zuberogoitia et al. 2009a).

The presence of Peregrine-like birds breeding on the Canaries, and others with the
Barbary phenotype but molecularly similar to F. p. brookei (Amengual et al. 1992) could be
caused by several factors. It has been proven that even Peregrines belonging to sedentary
populations can breed >100 km from their natal area (Zuberogoitia et al. 2009b), meaning
that it is possible that continental Peregrines have reached the Canaries and started to breed
with local falcons. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that birds with the Barbary
phenotype have been recorded in Iberia and other Mediterranean countries where F. p.
pelegrinoides does not breed (Corso 2001, Zuberogoitia et al. 2002, Massa & Brichetti 2003).

Another potential explanation for the presence of Peregrine-like birds in the Canaries
could be related to the increase of falconry on these islands in recent years. At least one
female of captive origin with a Peregrine-like appearance has been observed on Tenerife
paired and holding territory with a typical male Barbary Falcon (Rodriguez et al. 2009).
Hybridisation between raptors of captive origin and wild individuals has been recorded
in several species, including Peregrine, at various places in the world (Oliphant 1991,

Legend to figures on facing page

Figure 2. Barbary Falcon Fnlco peregrinus pelegrinoides, Tenerife, Canary Islands, February 2006; note the
extremely large rufous patches on the nape of this breeding male (Jose J. Hernandez)

Figure 3. Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides, Tenerife, Canary Islands, January 2010; note the
narrow superciliary stripe in this breeding female (Beneharo Rodriguez)

Figure 4. Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides, Tenerife, Canary Islands, January 2009; this breeding
female shows all of the typical characters of pelegrinoides: the narrow moustachial, large cheek patch, pale
forehead, large red nape patches, pale back, and paler-barred breast (Jesus Palmero)

Figure 7. Peregrine / Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus ssp., Tenerife, Canary Islands, January 2010; this
breeding male has a Peregrine-like appearance, with a black-hooded head, small, oblong cheek patches and
very dark upperparts (Nicolas Trujillo)

Figure 8. Peregrine / Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus ssp., Tenerife, Canary Islands, April 2008; this breeding
female has a Peregrine-like appearance, defined by the relatively small cheek patch, large moustachial,
absence of rufous patches on the nape, and dark upperparts; and it also had heavily barred underparts
(Beneharo Rodriguez)

Figure 9. Peregrine / Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus ssp., Tenerife, Canary Islands, January 2010; this
breeding male (the mate of the bird in Fig. 4) resembles a Peregrine due to its black hood, no pale forehead,
small cheek patch, large black area below the eyes and relatively small rufous nape patches, but does have a
slightly barred breast (Beneharo Rodriguez)

Figure 10. Peregrine / Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus ssp., Tenerife, Canary Islands, January 2008; this
breeding female has a typical Peregrine-like appearance, with a relatively small cheek patch, large
moustachial and heavily barred breast (Jose J. Hernandez)

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Figure 11. Ventral and
dorsal views of Falco
peregrinus brookei collected
in Iberia and deposited
in the collection of the
Estacion Biologica de
Doriana CSIC, Seville,
Spain (catalogue numbers
from left to right: 8267a,
17701a, 21382a, 21685a and
17520a). Note the ventral
and dorsal coloration
typical of Barbary Falcon
F. p. pelegrinoides in 21685a
(Airam Rodriguez)

Figure 12. Ventral and
dorsal views of the type
series of Falco peregrinus
madens from the Cape
Verde Islands deposited in
the Yale Peabody Museum
of Natural History, New
Haven. From left to right:
adult female collected
on Brava (catalogue
no. 44551), adult male
collected on Santiago
(catalogue no. 44553) and
juvenile female collected
on Brava (catalogue no.
44552). Note the sparse
spotting on the ventral
surface, relative darkness
of the upperparts and the
presence of visible red
patches on the napes of
the adults (photographs
courtesy of Yale Peabody
Museum)

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Lindberg & Nesje 2002, Everitt & Franklin 2009). Escaped individuals threaten wild falcons
because they could compete for resources or through genetic pollution (Lindberg & Nesje
2002). Some hybrids are very conspicuous (Randier 2004) whilst others are very difficult
or impossible to correctly identify in the field, especially when second- or third-generation
hybrids are involved (Eastham et al. 2005), meaning that they can easily go undetected by
ornithologists. Given that some hybrid pairings are capable of producing fertile young
(Everitt & Franklin 2009), and because relatively few individuals with high breeding
fitness could have a major role in shaping the morphological and genetic structure of a
population (White et al. 1995), it is possible that escaped falcons have played some role in
colour variation observed in the Canaries. In this respect, considering the rise of falconry
in the Canary Islands in recent years and the escape of falcons, the appropriate regional
authorities should take effective measures to prevent any genetic pollution.

Phylogeographic analyses have proven powerful in elucidating patterns of gene
flow and hybridisation among raptor species (Nittinger et al. 2007). Detailed studies
combining morphology and genetics of falcons from the Macaronesia, North Africa and the
Mediterranean Basin are needed to clarify the taxonomic relationships of these populations.

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted without financial support. We are very grateful to Jose J. Hernandez, Pedro Felipe
(Alas Cinematografia, S.L.), Juan Sagardia, Jesr'is Palmero, Nicolas Trujillo, Carmen Mendez, Miguel A.
Suarez, Domingo Trujillo, Javier Alonso, Marcelo Cabrera, Rayco Jorge, Daniel Gonzalez and Jose D. Morata
for permitting us to study their falcon images. Photographs from private and museum collections were
provided by Juan A. Lorenzo (SEO / BirdLife), Mark Adams (Natural History Museum, Tring), Margaret
Hart (American Museum of Natural History, New York), Jose Cabot (Estacion Biologica de Donana CSIC),
Guillermo Delgado (Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Tenerife) and Kristof Zyskowski (Yale Peabody
Museum); we are indebted to them and their institutions. We greatly appreciate the assistance of Manuel
Lopez converting video into still images. Furthermore, the staff at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre La
Tahonilla, Cabildo de Tenerife, and the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre of Tafira, Cabildo de Gran Canaria,
enabled us to photograph several injured or recently dead individuals. Clayton M. White, Jerry Olsen and
Andrea Corso made important and useful suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.

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White, C. M., Clum, N. J., Cade, T. J. & Hunt, W. G. 2002. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). In Poole, A. &
< -ill, F. (eds.) I lie birds of North America, no. 660. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia & American Ornithologists'
Union, Washington DC.

V\mk, M. & Seibold, I. 1996. Molecular phytogeny of Mediterranean raptors (Families Accipitridae and
Falconidae). Pp. 335-344 in Muntaner, J. & Mayol, J. (eds.) Biology and conservation of the Mediterranean
raptors. SEO, Madrid.

Wink, M., Dbttlinger, H., Nicholls, M. K. & Sauer-Giirth, H. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships between Black
Shaheen Falco peregrinus peregrinator, Red-naped Shaheen F. pelegrinoides babylonicus and Peregrines
/. peregrinus. Pp. 853-857 in Chancellor, P. D. & Meyburg, B.-U. (eds.) Raptors al risk. World Working
( .roup on Birds of Prey / I lancock 1 louse, Berlin, London & Paris.

Beneharo Rodriguez et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Zuberogoitia, I., Ruiz, ]. F. & Torres, J. J. 2002. El Halcon Peregrino. Diputacion Foral de Bizkaia, Bizkaia.

Zuberogoitia, I., Azkona, A., Zabala, J., Astorkia, L., Castillo, I., Iraeta, A., Martinez, J. A. & Martinez, J.
E. 2009a. Phenotypic variations of Peregrine Falcon in subspecies distribution border. Pp. 295-308 in
Sielicki, J. & Mizera, T. (eds.) Peregrine Falcon populations - status and perspectives in the 21st century.
European Peregrine Falcon Working Group & Society for the Protection of Wild Animals, Warsaw.

Zuberogoitia, I„ Martinez, J. A., Azkona, A., Martinez, J. E., Castillo, I. & Zabala, J. 2009b. Using recruitment
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95-101.

Addresses : Beneharo Rodriguez, La Malecita s/n, 38480 Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain,
e-mail: benerguez@terra.es. Felipe Siverio, Los Barros 21, 38410 Los Realejos, Tenerife, Canary Islands,
Spain. Manuel Siverio, Constitucion 17-3, 38410 Los Realejos, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Airam
Rodriguez, Dept, of Evolutionary Ecology, Estacion Biologica de Donana (CSIC), Av. Americo Vespucio
s/n, 41092 Seville, Spain.

Appendix

Origin, date and sex of adult falcons ( Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides, F. p. brookei, F. p. madens and F. peregrinus
ssp.) considered by the present study (Al = Alegranza, L = Lanzarote including its northern islets, F =
Fuerteventura, GC = Gran Canaria, T = Tenerife, H = El Hierro, Cl = Canary Islands, IB = Iberia, CV = Cape
Verde Islands, WRCT = Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre La Tahonilla, Tenerife, AMNH = American Museum
of Natural History, New York, BMNH = Natural History Museum, Tring, EBD = Estacion Biologica de
Donana CSIC, Seville, YPBM = Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, DBC = Private
collection of Domingo Bello, * = appearance of F. p. pelegrinoides, ** = appearance of F. p. peregrinus).

ID

Origin

Date

Sex

Skin / live

Photographer or
institution

1

Al

01-04-1998

¥

live

O. Trujillo

2

L

01-05-2003

$

live

Authors

3

L

23-05-1913

&

skin

BMNH

4

L

12-11-1904

¥

skin

AMNH

5

L

01-03-2005

<?

live

J. Palmero

6

L

01-03-2005

live

J. Palmero

7

L

01-03-2005

&

live

J. Palmero

8

L

01-03-2005

¥

live

J. Palmero

9

L

01-03-2005

¥

live

N. Trujillo

10

L

1999

&

live

P. Felipe

11

L

1999

¥

live

P. Felipe

12

L

2006

&

live

J. Sagardia

13

L

2006

¥

live

J. Sagardia

14

L

2006

d

live

}. Sagardia

15

L

2006

&

live

J. Sagardia

16

L

2006

¥

live

J. Sagardia

17

L

2006

¥

live

J. Sagardia

18

L

2006

c f

live

}. Sagardia

19

L

2006

live

J. Sagardia

20

L

2006

¥

live

J. Sagardia

21

F

01-02-2008

?

live

J. J. Hernandez

22

F

27-06-1902

c?

skin

AMNH

23

F

22-06-1904

c?

skin

AMNH

24

F

21-03-2009

c?

live

M. Cabrera

25

F

10-12-2009

o"

live

]. J. Hernandez

26

GC

09-12-2007

¥

live

M. A. Suarez

27

GC

06-12-2008

?

live

M. A. Suarez

Beneharo Rodriguez et al.

152

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

ID

Origin

Date

Sex

Skin / live

Photographer

institution

28

GC

1999

?

live

P. Felipe

29

GC

1997

d

live

P. Felipe

30

GC

2009

d

live

}. D. Morata

31

GC

22-08-2009

a"

live

J. D. Morata

32

GC

10-06-2009

d

live

J. D. Morata

33

T

2006

d

live

]. j. Hernandez

34

T

2006

9

live

J. ]. Hernandez

35

T

01-02-2008

c r

live

J. J. Hernandez

36

T

01-02-2008

¥

live

J. ]. Hernandez

37

T

01-01-2008

d

live

]. J. Hernandez

38

T

01-01-2008

¥

live

J. ]. Hernandez

39

T

01-09-2006

¥

live

Authors

40

T

01-04-2005

¥

live

Authors

41

T

01-02-2005

0"

live

P. Felipe

42

T

08-02-2007

¥

live

WRCT

43

T

28-04-2008

d

live

Authors

44

T

30-04-2008

¥

live

Authors

45

T

30-04-2008

d

live

Authors

46

T

1 8-05-2004

d

live

WRCT

47

T

15-05-2008

¥

skin

WRCT

48

T

19-05-2008

¥

live

WRCT

49

T

10-10-2007

¥

live

Authors

50

T

29-09-2009

¥

live

Authors

51

T

20-09-2008

d

live

Authors

52

T

20-09-2008

¥

live

Authors

53

T

14-11-2008

d

live

Authors

54

T

14-11-2008

¥

live

Authors

55

T

02-01-2009

d

live

J. Palmero

56

T

02-01-2009

¥

live

J. Palmero

57

T

02-01-2010

¥

live

Authors

58

T

02-01-2010

d

live

Authors

59

T

07-01-2010

d

live

N. Trujillo

60

T

10-01-2010

¥

live

Authors

61

T

10-01-2010

d

live

Authors

62

T

25-01-2010

¥

live

]. ]. Hernandez

63

H

01-03-2004

d

live

Authors

64

H

15-04-2008

¥

live

D. Trujillo

65

Cl

7

7

skin

DBC

66

Cl

7

7

skin

DBC

67

IB

20-11-1962

¥

skin

EBD

68*

IB

11-12-1934

¥

skin

EBD

69

IB

08-01-2003

¥

skin

EBD

70

IB

1940

¥

skin

EBD

71

IB

1960

¥

skin

EBD

72

IB

1940

d

skin

EBD

73

IB

1991

¥

skin

EBD

Beneharo Rodriguez et al.

153

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

ID

Origin

Date

Sex

Skin / live

Photographer or
institution

74

IB

24-03-1991

?

skin

EBD

75

IB

14-06-1983

a”

skin

EBD

76

IB

30-08-1995

a"

skin

EBD

77

IB

18-10-2000

d"

skin

EBD

78

IB

15-08-1985

d"

skin

EBD

79*

IB

11-10-1990

&

skin

EBD

80

IB

1994

a”

skin

EBD

81

IB

05-07-1995

9

skin

EBD

82

IB

22-02-1990

9

skin

EBD

83

IB

11-1987

9

skin

EBD

84

IB

1984

9

skin

EBD

85

IB

1986

9

skin

EBD

86

IB

30-11-1996

cr

skin

EBD

87

IB

28-09-2006

9

skin

EBD

88

IB

1983

9

skin

EBD

89

IB

26-06-1997

9

skin

EBD

90**

IB

24-09-1998

<f

skin

EBD

91

IB

11-1990

O'

skin

EBD

92

IB

01-10-1977

a*

skin

EBD

93

CV

22-04-1924

cf

skin

YPBM

94

CV

1924

9

skin

YPBM

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Fran^oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

154

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

On the voice, distribution and habitat of Baumann's
Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni

by Frangoise Dowsett-Lemaire , Ron Demey & Robert J. Dowsett

Received 2 January 2011

Summary.— The song of Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni was first
tape-recorded in 2001, and since then this discreet bulbul, often misidentified in
the past (Fishpool 2000), has been found at many new localities from north-western
Guinea to western Cameroon, with an altitudinal range of 10-1,500 m. Following
a description of the distinctive vocalisations, we list all new localities by country
and include details of its ecological preferences. The species appears to be locally
common in the forest-savanna (or Guineo-Congolian / Sudanian) transition zone,
but is rather scarce at the margins of the Guineo-Congolian forest biome except in
the Nimba / Loma highlands. It invariably occupies low, dense growth 1-2 m above
ground (rarely up to 4-5 m), including fallow fields and Chromolaena farmbush to
thickets in transition woodland or in open semi-evergreen forest, under broken
canopy. In the last situation it frequently comes into contact with White-throated
Greenbul P. albigularis. It avoids closed, mature forest.

Fishpool (2000) produced a clear and critical account of acceptable records of
Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni across its relatively narrow range from
Sierra Leone to Nigeria. The species has since been found in Guinea (Demey & Rainey
2004, 2006, Demey 2006, R. Demey et al. in Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 15: 268), Benin (Dowsett &
Dowsett-Lemaire 2011, and in Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 18: 230) and western Cameroon (Bobo et
al. 2007). This rather nondescript greenbul (Fishpool 1999) has been poorly documented
in life and had been misidentified in publications as, inter alia, Slender-billed Greenbul
Andropadus gracilirostris, White-throated Greenbul Phyllastrephus albigularis and even Brown
Illadopsis Illadopsis fulvescens (Fishpool 2000). The voice had not been tape-recorded by the
time Chappuis (2000) compiled his comprehensive collection of CDs. Based on definite
records, mostly specimens and some verified photographs, Fishpool (2000) concluded
that the species was absent from primary lowland rain forest, instead being associated
mainly with the forest-savanna ecotone or transition zone, including mid-altitude forest
on hills and slopes at 500-1,100 m. Some collectors noted that they obtained the bird low
down, e.g. 'near the ground in thick foliage in second-growth' (Serle 1950), but many labels
bear no details, the localities being associated with the presence of forest or thick bush
without further specification. In Sierra Leone, G. Field (in Fishpool 2000) reported that he
found the species widespread in the mid-altitude forests of the north, in the shrub layer of
undergrowth or even in the 'open mid-layer', right down into 'proper' forest. The general
conclusion reached by Fishpool (2000: 226) is that the bird, like other Phyllastrephus species,
is not present in the canopy, but 'it is likely that (it) forages at or near ground level'.

In 2001 RD tape-recorded the species in Mont Sangbe National Park, Ivory Coast. In
2004 FD-L, helped by a copy of this tape, located the species in Kyabobo National Park in
eastern Ghana, and obtained further recordings there (including of a bird singing while
trapped in a mist-net) and elsewhere. Knowledge of the voice helped us locate more birds
in the field, in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria,
and we present here a description of the species' vocalisations and a reassessment of its

Franchise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

status, distribution and habitat preferences. Some of the more characteristic species sharing
its habitat are cited; particular attention was paid to the presence of other Phyllastrephus
greenbuls. Baumann's Greenbul was removed from Near Threatened (Collar et al. 1994)
to Data Deficient (BirdLife International 2000, 2004) and has recently been downgraded
to Least Concern (BirdLife International 2008). This decision is based largely on our
observations, which we present here.

Voice

The song comprises a series of detached, disjointed notes, some of them reminiscent of
the typical calls of Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus. As described in Borrow & Demey
(2001), it commences with 2-4 slightly nasal, rising notes, followed by a series of scolding
ivik notes. It could be transcribed whu, ivhee, whueew , ivik, wik, chuk, chuk, chuk followed,
after a slight pause, by another series of whur, zohur, whir, wik, uhk, rrik, rrik, rrik.... The soft
whu or slightly rolled whur notes are delivered more slowly (c.2 per second) than the louder
wik, wik, rrik, rrik (often three per second), which are quite similar to those of Common
Bulbul. The song is not far carrying, being uttered from the interior of low, dense growth.
At times it may not be audible beyond a range of 20-30 m or even less. In the early morning
the song may be given almost continuously for several minutes or more. At other times
of the day, song phrases may be quite short, consisting of just a few notes with a pause of
several seconds before the next phrase. Playback may bring the bird close, and sometimes
even into the open atop a low bush, but most birds do not stay in view for long. We found
no significant differences in songs tape-recorded from Guinea to Nigeria; birds in Sierra
Leone, eastern Ghana and Benin tested with playback of a song from Ivory Coast were very
prompt to react.

The distinction between calls and songs is not always clear, as these ivik Pycnonotus-
type notes may be given in isolation or as part of the song. Given less frequently, some
call notes (probably alarm-calls) consist of a low churr, rather nasal: this was heard in
several places in Ghana and Benin. In Benin soft churrs were given at the rate of one every
two seconds (tape-recorded), and on another occasion highly stressed birds (mobbing or
interacting with something we could not see) gave a fast series of short rattles rree-rree-rree...
(8-12 per second, tape-recorded). Marchant (1953), who collected the species in Nigeria,
gave a description of the voice that accords well with the song described above, mentioning
a 'continuous clucking', some of which he compared to Little Greenbul Andropadus virens
and some to the 'typical calls' of Common Bulbul.

Songs were heard at all seasons but sometimes only when provoked by playback.
Overall, the species was more vocal after the start of the first rains than in the dry season.

A copy of the tape-recordings obtained by FD-L in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Benin has
been deposited with the British Library in London.

Distribution and Habitat

Guinea (RD)

Pic de Fon. — One pair heard and seen at forest edge on 3 December 2002 at c.570 m, where
the forest graded into derived savanna, and this, or another pair, was found c.100 m away
next day (Demey & Rainey 2004). These were the first records for Guinea. In October 2008,
the species was found at five additional sites in the submontane forest-grassland transition
zone, at 1,189-1,494 m, and at a lower site in gallery forest, at 957 m. At three of the five
high-elevation sites it occurred alongside Sierra Leone Prinia Schistolais leontica in dense

Frangoise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

156

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

thicket-like, luxuriant herbaceous vegetation attaining 1. 5-3.0 m height, with species such
as Brillantaisia owariensis (often dominant), B. lamium, Triumfetta sp. and various Asteraceae.

Mont Bero.—O ne singing in shrubbery at forest edge, where the forest graded into
derived savanna, at c.600 m, in December 2003 (Demey & Rainey 2006).

Surabaya (Boke Prefecture).— Just above sea level. In April 2005, seven pairs were found
in farmbush, consisting principally of Chromolaena odorata, whilst one pair was in dense
vegetation at the edge of degraded forest (Demey 2006). These records are the westernmost
to date.

Mamou. — Singing birds found at four different sites just south of Mamou, at the edge of
the Fouta Djalon, in farmbush and degraded bush savanna at 728-887 m, on 6-9 May 2008.

Kounounkan.— Two singing in farmbush (no Chromolaena) on the south-west slopes of
Kounounkan Forest Reserve at 482 m on 12 May 2008.

Sangaredi. — ln October 2010 four were found in north-western Guinea by M. B. Conde
with the help of RD's tapes (Bidl. Afr. Bird Cl. 18: 98).

Sierra Leone (FD-L, RJD, RD)

Gola Forest (a new locality, cf. Fishpool 2000: 225). — During a five-week survey in Gola
in 2007 (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2008), i.e. within the evergreen rain forest zone, the
species was found only outside forest, in low second growth or farmbush at two sites.
Both observations were made in an extensive area of regrowth 2-4 m tall, dominated by
the invasive exotic shrub Chromolaena odorata 2-3 m high, overtopped by the pioneer tree
Harungana madagascariensis, which reached a height of 4 m. A few taller trees were dotted
about, including oil palms Elaeis guineensis. At the first location (south of Gola West, 29
January), one bird flew across a small path chased by another, alighted on a bush at a height
of c.2 m and gave a few wik calls and short songs (tape-recorded). Other characteristic birds
in the area included Little Greenbul, Brown Illadopsis, Green Crombec Sylvietta virens and
Western Bluebill Spermophaga haematina. One was also heard at Tunkia Nema, edge of Gola
East, 6 February. The altitude of these localities is between 100 and 200 m.

Loma Mountains. — During 18 days of field work in February-March 2008, RD heard
three individuals at separate sites in low, dense shrubbery at the forest edge (next to the
territory of a Sierra Leone Prinia) and in thick, bushy vegetation just inside rather open
forest at 1,300-1,400 m, and one in farmbush at c.400 m.

Liberia (RD)

Mount Nimba. — Baumann's Greenbul has been known to occur in this area since Forbes-
Watson's field work in 1967-71 (Colston & Curry-Lindahl 1986). It was found at three new
sites in 2008-09, at Mount Gangra, Mount Tokadeh and the East Nimba Nature Reserve.
At Mount Gangra, two were heard at 750 m (8 July 2008) and 837 m (13 January 2009)
respectively, in dense shrubbery with Chromolaena; other species present at the second site
included Little Greenbul, Grey-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brachyura, Yellow-browed
Camaroptera C. superciliaris and Red-cheeked Wattle-eye Dyaphorophyia blissetti. In the
I okadeh area, on 21 January 2009, one was heard in dense second growth at 505 m, where a
Sooty Boubou Laniarius leucorhynchus was also present; a few hundred metres further at 520
m, a pair was foraging in shrubbery at the edge of cultivation 0.5-1. 5 m tall, in the company
ot Grey-headed Bristlebill Bleda canicapillus and Yellow-browed Camaroptera. At East
Nimba Nature Reserve, one was singing in Chromolaena within second growth at 509 m (15
July 2008). Previously, ten specimens had been collected in unknown habitats in the mine
area (1,000-1,300 m) and at Grassfield at 550 m (Colston & Curry-Lindahl 1986, Fishpool
J)00). Although it is reported to be rare to not uncommon in the north of the country by

Fran<;oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

157

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Gatter (1997), this author states that Baumann's Greenbul is a fairly common canopy species
in montane primary and secondary forest at Nimba and not an undergrowth species, which
is incorrect.

Ivory Coast (RD)

Prior to 2000, Baumann's Greenbul was known only from Beoumi, where three specimens
were collected by Lowe in 1922 (Fishpool 2000).

Mont Peko National Park.— This locality was added by Fishpool (2001), based on two
birds mist-netted by H. Rainey in 2000 at c.940 m, in scrubby forest (H. Rainey in litt. 2001,
and in Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 8: 64).

Mont Sangbe National Park.— In April-May 2001, ten pairs were found at four sites
in this national park. The birds occurred in the lower stratum of dense vegetation with
Chromolaena at the edge of degraded forest patches, shrubbery and gallery forest. The song
was tape-recorded here for the first time. The birds responded vigorously to playback,
approaching the source of the sound whilst calling constantly, remaining mostly hidden,
but sometimes flying over the observer and perching briefly in the open at a height of 4-5 m.
In February 2002, the species was found at two additional sites within the park, including
in the south-west, where five pairs were encountered along c.5 km of track. Unlike in April,
the birds were mostly silent but responded to playback. One (or a pair) was in a mixed-
species flock with Grey-headed Bristlebill, Green Hylia Hylia prasina, Blue-headed Crested
Flycatcher Trochocercus nitens, etc.

Mont Tonkoui. — A pair was observed in dense vegetation along the track up the
mountain in April-May 2001 and February 2002 at c.400-500 m.

Ghana (FD-L, RJD)

During 2004-05 and 2008-10 a total of 15 months was spent surveying the country's wildlife
reserves and a large proportion of the forest reserves in the rain forest zone of the south-
west, as well as in the forest-savanna transition zone. Prior to these surveys the species
was confirmed from just three localities, all in the forest-savanna transition zone: it was
collected at Ejura by Lowe, near Mount Kyabobo by Moyer and mist-netted at Cape Coast
by Karr (Fishpool 2000).

We found this greenbul at >20 new localities. We met it most commonly in the hills of
eastern Ghana, from Kyabobo National Park south to Amedzofe and Tanyigbe (for a full list
of localities, see the Gazetteer). The species' ecology was studied in some detail in Kyabobo
(Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2007), where the range of habitats used is representative of the
forest-savanna transition zone of the eastern highlands. From Kyabobo south to Amedzofe,
Baumann's Greenbul was invariably found in dense herbaceous or shrubby cover close to
the ground, in the following situations: low farmbush (old cassava or maize fields invaded
by tall grass and frequently by Chromolaena odorata), rank grass and shrubs (e.g. Alchornea
cordifolia) near streams, thickets in gardens, rank growth (often with Chromolaena) in
forest clearings, thickets at the edge of riparian forest and in 'transition woodland' (mixed
woodland and forest trees, with some lianas) or in open forest under broken canopy.
Baumann's Greenbul was seen feeding low down, 0.5-1 .2 m above ground, hopping from
stem to stem; it occasionally perched in a shrub or small tree when alarmed, or provoked by
playback, but was never seen perched at a height above 4-5 m. The other main bird species
found in the more open situations were Little Greenbul and Simple Leaflove Chlorocichla
simplex, Green Crombec and Grey-backed Camaroptera. In thickets within broken forest,
other usual associates also included Grey-headed Bristlebill, White-throated Greenbul, Red-
cheeked Wattle-eye, Brown and Puvel's Illadopsis I. puveli, and Sooty Boubou. The overall

Fran^oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

158

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

altitudinal range is 200-760 m (Amedzofe). Kyabobo National Park lies a few kilometres
north of the locality where D. Moyer (in Fishpool 2000) collected a specimen in 1994, at an
altitude of 610 m. Moyer described the general area but not the specific habitat occupied
by the greenbul, and one might be misled into believing that it occurs there inside mature,
closed forest.

In Kalakpa National Park, in the coastal plains of south-east Ghana (50-80 m), the forest
forms several broad galleries in the Kalakpa River basin and is rather dense (Dowsett-
Lemaire & Dowsett 2011c). Baumann's Greenbul was widespread on the lower edges, in
dense understorey of transition woodland (under Acacia, Anogeissus, Antiaris and even teak
Tectona grandis) as well as in low second growth with creepers and vines 1-2 m high under
scattered exotic Leucaena, just outside the park's boundary. White-throated Greenbul was
present alongside Baumann's in areas of broken-canopy forest.

In the transition zone of western Ghana, the greenbul is far more local and is common
only in a narrow strip of secondary thickets, extending from 07°10'N to 07°25'N (cf.
Gazetteer).

Surveys of the rain forest zone in the south-west suggest that the species is generally
absent (e.g. in extensive areas of farmbush surveyed around 05°15'-06°30'N), except at the
margins of this region. Thus one pair was found once in a clearing at the eastern edge of
Bia National Park (c.150 m; Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2011a), and one bird was seen in
Chromolaena farmbush below the Atewa Range (r.300 m), from where there are subsequent
records (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2011b). An earlier record accepted by Fishpool
(1999, 2000) for the south-west is from Cape Coast, where Karr (1976), mist-netted and
photographed the species in second growth — this is within the narrow coastal forest-
savanna transition zone, but it must be uncommon there as we have not found it again.

The species appears commoner in the transition zone north of the forest zone, as in
the south of Digya National Park (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2009). Here it occurs in low
growth at the edge of dry forest (with Chromolaena odorata), in low weedy thickets (with no
Chromolaena) near the Obosum River, and in semi-open riparian forest on the Sumi River.
Further west, it is or was locally common in the Afram Headwaters Forest Reserve, in a
degraded section of this dry, semi-evergreen forest, in thickets under very light canopy,
but the forest here is fast being destroyed by farmers (2010). It coexisted with White-
throated Greenbul, Capuchin Babbler Pln/llanthus atripennis and several Illadopsis species.
Further west still, it is very common in derived thickets (following the destruction of forest)
between Sunyani and Berekum, and at Pamu Berekum, alongside species such as Sooty
Boubou and Red-cheeked Wattle-eye. It is in this area (Nsoatre) that C. M. Hewson (in lid.
2010) mist-netted two birds in full primary moult in November 2010.

Togo (FD-L, RJD)

Previously known only from four specimens, all taken in the western highlands, including
the type collected by Baumann at Misahohe (near Klouto) in 1895 (Fishpool 2000). Klouto
was visited on 21-24 February 2010, and much of the western highlands on 18 March-4
April and 1-5 May 2011. Baumann's Greenbul was found throughout, i.e. at nine new
localities, from Dikpeleou and Assoukoko forest south to Dzogbegan and Klouto (see
Gazetteer for a full list). Altitudinal range was 230 m (Djodji) to 790 m (Dzogbegan). The
range of habitats was identical to that in the highlands of eastern Ghana; the species was
found locally alongside its congener, White-throated Greenbul, under light-canopy forest
(Diguengue, and 10 km east of Kougnohou).

Fran^oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Figure 1. Map showing range of Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni, with reference to the Guineo-
Congolian / Sudanian transition zone (shaded). The position of the transition zone is based on White (1983),
with slight modifications. The Guineo-Congolian forest biome is between the transition zone and the coast.

Benin (FD-L, RJD)

During a six-week survey of southern Benin in January-February 2009, Baumann's
Greenbul was found in the Foret Classee de la Lama, a large remnant of dry semi-evergreen
forest and transition woodland (c.4,500 ha; 20-60 m altitude). These are the first records for
Benin (Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire 2011). Some forest was cultivated until the 1980s and
these sections have since reverted to transition woodland, with a canopy cover of 40-50%
(mostly Anogeissus leiocarpus and Lonchocarpus sericeus). This is where Baumann's Greenbul
occurs, confined to low dense growth with a mixture of Chrornolaena and low thickets of
Lecaniodiscus cupanioides and other species. The bird is locally very common and coexists
with White-throated Greenbul in situations where woody thickets are more extensive and
the canopy denser. In the one place where we erected a few mist-nets, four of each greenbul
were caught together in the same mixed party and they were seen together elsewhere
in the vicinity. Other common understorey species in this area included Grey-backed
Camaroptera, Puvel's and Brown Illadopsis, and Red-cheeked Wattle-eye.

In April 2011 Baumann's Greenbul was found commonly at Tobe farm (edge of the
Foret Classee d'Agoua), an 800-ha area of woodland and fields that has regenerated into
transition woodland and dry Anogeissus forest since it has been protected. The species was
heard throughout the low dense understorey. The region between Lama forest and Tobe
has not yet been surveyed and the gap between the two locations is probably artificial (cf.
Fig. 1). ^

Nigeria (RD)

The vocalisations of a bird tape-recorded in dense shrubbery at the edge of degraded
forest at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, in December 1997, were
later identified as Baumann's Greenbul. L. D. C. Fishpool (in litt. 2010) tape-recorded the
species at the same location on 21 October 2002, in the degraded, regenerating forest with
Chrornolaena in clearings. There was already a specimen record from Ibadan (Fishpool 2000).

Cameroon

The species was discovered in 2006 in an area of farmbush (fallow cassava fields overgrown
with Chrornolaena ) outside Korup National Park at an altitude of c.250 m, where four were
mist-netted in the Abat-Mgbegati-Basu area (Bobo et al. 2007). A male caught on 25 February
was in primary moult, while a female on 7 March was laying.

Fran^oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Discussion

The known range of Baumann's Greenbul now extends from north-west Guinea and
Sierra Leone to western Cameroon (Fig. 1), taking Fishpool's (2000) verified records as a
base, with the addition of many new localities (all listed in the Gazetteer).

On the basis of our observations, and of several specimens and confirmed sight records
accepted by Fishpool (2000), Baumann's Greenbul appears to be fairly common in the
forest-savanna transition zone, or Guineo-Congolian / Sudanian transition zone of White
(1983). It is also common in the (sub)montane forest-grassland mosaic of the Nimba and
adjacent highlands which White (1983) included in the rain forest zone sensu stricto, but
which is close to and perhaps best placed in the transition zone. Within this belt, the bird
occupies open areas invaded by dense low growth, i.e. natural clearings in semi-evergreen
forest patches, or thickets in transition woodland, but also any other vegetation type that
conforms to the appropriate facies, i.e. old cultivation invaded by rank grass and shrubs.
We have never found it in the closed interior of forest, or more than 4-5 m above the
ground. G. Field (in Fishpool 2000) mentions observing the species not just in undergrowth
(e.g. streamside tangles) but 'also in the open mid-layer', alongside such species as Lemon-
bellied Crombec Sylvietta denti : this we are unable to confirm, in more than 120 days
of observations. In western Ghana the forest-savanna transition zone is very reduced,
occupying a small strip between 07°00' and 07°30'N: the distribution of the greenbul fits so
closely within this that it occupies a band of territory no wider than c.10-15 km.

Although Fishpool (2000) wrote that the species 'penetrates a little way into the
Sudanian woodland zone' along the Ghana-Togo border, this would seem not to be the
case. Fishpool placed the specimen record of Moyer (at 08°16'N) just north of the transition
zone, but all of Kyabobo National Park is within this belt (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett
2007). The northernmost records of the greenbul in this area are now at Koue, right on the
border with Togo, at 08°31'N: this is on the northern edge of the transition zone, where dry
Anogeissus semi-evergreen forest and transition woodland still occur. Fishpool's map also
places some of the forest area on the Ghana-Togo border within the Guineo-Congolian
biome. Flowever, White (1983) included all of this area within the Guineo-Congolian /
Sudanian transition zone, and the dry semi-evergreen forests of the region, mixed with
transition woodland and small pockets of Sudanian woodland, certainly belong there (FD-L
& RJD pers. obs.).

With reference to the Guineo-Congolian rain forest zone away from highlands,
Baumann's Greenbul has been found only outside forest and mostly at or near the margins
of this biome, either in extensive fire-created clearings (e.g. Bia National Park) or, more often,
in second growth in old cultivation. In the latter situation it is almost invariably associated
with the shrub Chromolaena odorata, a blue-flowered exotic Compositae originating in
South America. In Ghana it was widely planted in the 1960s to suppress weed growth
under electricity pylons (!) and thereafter spread extremely quickly (Hall ct al. 1972; W.
Hawthorne in htt. 2005). This weed grows faster after fire than native vegetation and is now
considered to be an invasive pest. To some extent, however, birds seem to benefit from this
cl88ross've weed: small sunbirds feed on the nectar and various insectivorous passerines
take insects on its leaves. In Sierra Leone FL9-L & RJD observed Tit-Hylias Pholidornis rushiac
and Chattering Cisticolas Cisticola anonymus taking numerous white aphids from below
the leaves. In G liana this plant attracts large numbers of aphids, themselves attacked by
Syrphid larvae (I la 1 1 ct al. 1972). Although not native, C. odorata has close African relatives in
the genus Eupatoriuin taken in a broad sense (and in which Chromolaena was earlier placed;
I lepper 1963), and at least some native insects seem to find it very palatable.

Frangoise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

161

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Within the Guineo-Congolian biome the greenbul appears absent from the south-west
corner of Ghana (in the evergreen and moist semi-evergreen forest zone) and is similarly
unknown from southern Ivory Coast. Further west, as in Sierra Leone, there are pockets
of transitional vegetation (even Sudanian woodland) in the west of the country (pers.
obs.), and in the north, at Bumbuna, evergreen forest abuts woodland (W. Hawthorne in
litt. 2007), at 09°03'N, 11°44'W, thus the transition zone is probably more extensive than
shown on the biome map of White (Fig. 1). In any case, it is possible that the greenbul will
gradually expand its range into the forest zone in the wake of deforestation. In south-west
Ghana, some savanna species such as Vieillot's Barbet Li/bius vieilloti and Tropical Boubou
Laniarius aethiopicus are slowly expanding into very large clearings opened by mining
activities or agriculture.

Overall, the species occurs from near sea level to 1,300-1,500 m, reaching its highest
elevations in the transition zone or in the submontane block of Mount Nimba, in Guinea
and adjacent Liberia, and in the Loma Mountains of Sierra Leone.

One of the two easternmost records, in south-east Nigeria (Ebok Boje, 06°17'N, 08°55'E),
is based on a bird mist-netted and photographed by C. M. Hewson (in Fishpool 2000) in
an abandoned cassava field. The altitude is not as stated but lies between 300 and 600 m
(Important Bird Area NG027 in Ezealor 2001). The location of this record just west of the
Obudu Plateau prompted Fishpool (2000) to surmise that Baumann's Greenbul might come
close or even compete with the Afromontane Cameroon Olive Greenbul Pln/llastrephus
poensis around 1,000-1,200 m. From what we now know of their respective ecology,
this is rather unlikely. Cameroon Olive Greenbul is a true forest species, occupying the
undergrowth under fairly closed canopy, where it spends much time probing the bark of
low trees or saplings, less often in small clearings under gaps (pers. obs. in Cameroon and
Nigeria). The recent record of Baumann's in western Cameroon is from farmbush 2.5 m tall,
at an altitude of c.250 m (Bobo et al. 2007).

In several open forests of the transition zone, Baumann's Greenbul coexists with
another Phyllastrephus, White-throated Greenbul (from at least Ghana to Benin). FD-L &
RJD have not observed any aggressive interactions between them, although they are rather
similar in size (Table 1) and they appear to occupy the same layer of vegetation. There are

TABLE 1

Measurements of Baumann's Phyllastrephus baumanni and White-throated Greenbuls P. albigularis. Wing
length = max. chord, bill = from base of skull, and most weights taken using a portable electronic balance.

The mass sample of P. baumanni under 'RJD' includes two measured by Karr (1976) and two by C. M.
Hewson (in litt. 2010); weight data for this species in Keith (1992) are from Colston & Curry-Lindahl (1986).

Wing (mm)

RJD (unpubl.)

Keith (1992)

P. baumanni (m)

79.5-81.0 (80.1, n = 4)

71-82 (77.9, n = 10)

P. baumanni (f)

71, 75 ( n = 2)

69-72 (70.5, n = 4)

P. albigularis (m)

79-88 (82.5, n = 39)

80-89 (83.5, n = 12)

P. albigularis (f)

68-79 (72.3, n = 32)

66-76 (72.8, n = 12)

Bill (mm)

P. baumanni (m)

19, 21 ( n = 2)

20-22 (20.6, n = 10)

P. baumanni (f)

18, 21 (n = 2)

17.5-21.0 (19.0, n = 4)

P. albigularis (m)

-

20-22 (21.2, n = 12)

P. albigularis (f)

—

18-20 (19.0, n = 12)

Mass (g)

P. baumanni (m)

27.0-30.5 (29.5, n = 7)

27.3-32.9 (30.3, n = 5)

P. baumanni (f)

22.4-25.3 (24.1, « = 3)

23.5-26.5 (24.9, n = 4)

P. albigularis (m)

21.9-34.0 (25.5, a =38)

24-31 (27.5, n = 23)

P. albigularis (f)

17.5-29.9 (20.3, » = 31)

17-28 (21.9, n = 24)

Fran^oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al.

162

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

no differences in bill length, and although the males of White-throated appear, on average,
longer winged, they are lighter in weight. The two greenbuls overlap where patches of
transition woodland or very open forest (the domain of Baumann's) are gradually closing
towards denser forest, thus bringing the two species into contact. This phenomenon may
not be more than of brief temporal duration, but the feeding ecology of the two species in
such circumstances would repay further study.

Acknowledgements

FD-L is grateful to Serena Marner in Oxford for providing a botanical reference. We thank Lincoln Fishpool
for commenting on a draft, Chris Flewson for sending us mass data of two Baumann's Greenbuls, and Hugo
Rainey and Jeremy Lindsell for commenting on the submitted manuscript.

References:

BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened birds of the ivorld. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona & BirdLife International,
Cambridge, UK.

BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge,
UK.

BirdLife International. 2008. Threatened birds of the world 2008. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge,
UK.

Bobo, K. S., Njie, F. M., Mbeng, S. E., Muhlenberg, M. & Waltert, M. 2007. Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus
baumanni, new to Cameroon. Malimbus 29: 130-132.

Borrow, N. & Demey, R. 2001. Birds of western Africa. Christopher Helm, London.

Chappuis, C. 2000. African bird sounds — 2. West and Central Africa. CDs. Societe d'Etudes Ornithologiques de
France, Paris & British Library National Sound Archive, London.

Collar, N. J., Crosby, M. J. & Stattersfield, A. J. 1994. Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds. BirdLife
International, Cambridge, UK.

Colston, P. R. & Curry-Lindahl, K. 1986. The birds of Mount Nimba, Liberia. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London.
Demey, R. 2006. A rapid survey of the birds of Boke Prefecture, northwestern Guinea. Pp. 137-140 in Wright,
H. E., McCullough, J. & Diallo, M. S. (eds.) A rapid biological assessment of Boke Prefecture, northwestern
Guinea. RAP Bull. Biol. Assessment 41. Conservation International, Washington DC.

Demey, R. & Rainey, H. J. 2004. The birds of Pic de Fon Forest Reserve, Guinea: a preliminary survey. Bull.
Afr. Bird Cl. 11: 126-138.

Demey, R. & Rainey, H. 2006. Rapid surveys of the birds of the Forets Classees of Dere, Diecke and Mont
Bero, southeastern Guinea. Pp. 159-167 in Wright, H. E., McCullough, J., Alonso, L. A. & Diallo,
M. S. (eds.) A rapid biological assessment of three classified forests in southeastern Guinea. RAP Bull. Biol.
Assessment 40. Conservation International, Washington DC.

Dowsett, R. J. & Dowsett-Lemaire, F. 2011. The avifauna of Benin: additions and corrections. Bull. Afr. Bird
Cl. 18: 148-167.

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2007. The avifauna of the proposed Kyabobo National Park in eastern
Ghana. Malimbus 29: 61-88.

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2008. Selected notes on birds of Gola Forest and surroundings, Sierra
Leone, including three new species for the country. Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 15: 215-227.

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2009. Exploration of Digya National Park, Ghana (January 2005, March
2008, March 2009), with special reference to birds. Dowsett-Lemaire Misc. Rep. 57 (.pdf).
Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2011a. Ornithological surveys in Bia National Park and Resource
Reserve, Ghana (January 2005, December 2009 and September 2010). Dowsett-Lemaire Misc. Rep. 73
(.pdf).

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2011b. An update on the birds of Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Ghana.
Dowsett-Lemaire Misc. Rep. 74 (.pdf).

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2011c. Ornithological surveys in Kalakpa Resource Reserve, Ghana
(2005, 2008-11), with notes on vegetation and mammals. Dowsett-Lemaire Misc. Rep. 76 (.pdf).

Ezealor, A. U. 2001. Nigeria. Pp. 673-692 in Fishpool, L. D. C. & Evans, M. I (eds.) Important Bird Areas
in Africa and associated islands: priority sites for conservation. Pisces Publications, Newbury & BirdLife
International, Cambridge, UK.

Fishpool, L. D. C. 1999. Little-known African bird: Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni. Bull. Afr.
Bird Cl. 6: 137.

fishpool, L. D. C. 2000. A review ol the status, distribution and habitat of Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus
baumanni. Bull Brit. Orn. Cl. 120: 213-229.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Fish pool, L. D. C. 2001. Cote d'Ivoire. Pp. 219-232 in Fishpool, L. D. C. & Evans, M. I. (eds.) Important
Bird Areas in Africa and associated islands: priority sites for conservation. Pisces Publications, Newbury &
BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.

Gatter, W. 1997. Birds of Liberia. Pica Press, Robertsbridge.

Hall, J. B., Kumar, R. & Enti, A. A. 1972. The obnoxious weed Eupatorium odoratum (Compositae) in Ghana.
Ghana ]. Agricult. Sci. 5: 75-78.

Hepper, F. N. (ed.) 1963. Flora of west tropical Africa, vol. 2. Second edn. Crown Agents, London.

Karr, J. R. 1976. The weights of African birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 96: 92-96.

Keith, S. 1992. Pycnonotidae, bulbuls. Pp. 279-377 in Keith, S., Urban, E. K. & Fry, C. H. (eds.) The birds of
Africa, vol. 4. Academic Press, London.

Marchant, S. 1953. Notes on the birds of south-eastern Nigeria. Ibis 95: 38-69.

Serle, W. 1950. Notes on the birds of south-western Nigeria. Ibis 92: 84-94.

White, F. 1983. The vegetation of Africa. UNESCO, Paris.

Addresses: Franchise Dowsett-Lemaire and Robert J. Dowsett, Le Pouget, 30440 Sumene, France, e-mail:
Dowsett@aol.com. Ron Demey, Walter Thijsstraat 9, B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium.

Gazetteer of localities, new since Fishpool (2000)

Benin

Foret Classee de la Lama 06°58'N, 02°05'E

Tobe farm 08°19'N, 01°50'E

Cameroon

Abat-Mgbegati-Basu 05°22'N, 09°13'E

Ghana (F.R. = Forest Reserve, N.P.= National Park)

East of the Volta, from north to south:

Kyabobo N.P

Chai F.R

Apepesu F.R

Tolome

Kabo River F.R

Odomi F.R

Togo Plateau F.R

Likpe Todome

Afadjato Mountain

Liati Wote

Amedzofe

Biakpa

Tanyigbe

Akuete

Kalakpa N.P. (north)

08°20-31'N, 00°35'E

08°06'N, 00°23'E

07°52'N, 00°34'E

07°43'N, 00°36'E

07°33'N, 00°25'E

07°21'N, 00°29'E

07°20'N, 00°24'E

07°11'N, 00°36'E

07°01'N, 00°34'E

07°01'N, 00°31'E

06°50'N, 00°26'E

06°50'N, 00°24'E

06°42'N, 00°31'E

06°34'N, 00°38'E

06°27'-06°28'N, 00°20'-00o30'E

West of the Volta, from north to south:
Nsoatre (between Sunyani and Berekum)

Pamu Berekum

Afram Headwaters F.R

Digya N.P. (south)

Bia N.P

Below Atewa Range

07°25'N, 02°30'W

07°20'N, 02°50'W

07°14'N, 01°44'W

07°08'-07°15'N, 00°09'-00°28'W

06°35'N, 03°05'W

06°13'N, 00°34'W

Guinea

Kounounkan Forest Reserve

Mamou

Mont Bero

Pic de Fon, lowland forest (c.570 m)
higher altitudes (957 m)
(1,189-1,494 m)

Sangaredi

Sarabaya

09°31'N, 12°52'W

10°14'-10°19'N, 12°06'-12°08'W

08°08'N, 08°34'W

08°31'N, 08°56'W

08°29'N, 08°54'W

08°32'N, 08°54'W

11°06'N, 13°46'W

10°45'N, 14°26'W

Ivory Coast

Mont Peko 07°05'N, 07°13'W

Mont Sangbe (Parc National) 07°58'N, 07°14'W

[between 07°51'-08°10'N and 07°03'-07°23'W]

Mont Tonkoui 07°24'N, 07°36'W

Fran^oise Dowsett-Lemaire et al. 164 Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Liberia

Mount Nimba area:

East Nimba Nature Reserve 07°26'N, 08°35'

Mount Gangra 07°32'N, 08°37'

Mount Tokadeh 07°27'N/ 08°39'

Sierra Leone

Gola East (Tunkia Nema) 07°24'N, 11°13'

Gola West (southern edge) 07°22'N, 11°1 7'

Loma Mountains, 1,300-1,400 m 09°12'N, 11°08'

Loma Mountains, c.400 m 09°13'N, 11°H'

Togo (from north to south)

Dikpeleou 08°13'N, 00°37'E

Diguengue (Assoukoko forest) 08°04'N, 00°38'E

Assoukoko 08°01'N, 00°38'E

Djodji (= Kessibo-Wawa) 07°41'N, 00°35'E

Kougnohou (10 km east of) 07°38'N, 00°51'E

Benali 07°35'N, 00°44'E

Kpete Bena 07°26'N, 00°36'E

Dzogbegan (Danyi) 07°14'N, 00°42'E

Klouto 06°58'N, 00°35'E

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

? ^ ^ ^ ^ ?

Caio J. Carlos & Jean-Fran<;ois Voisin

165

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Charadrius wilsonia brasiliensis Grantsau & Lima, 2008, is
a junior synonym of Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1825

by Caio /. Carlos & Jean-Frangois Voisin

Received 18 January 2011

Summary. — We demonstrate that the recently described Charadrius wilsonia
brasiliensis Grantsau & Lima, 2008, is a junior synonym of Charadrius crassirostris
Spix, 1825. The type locality of the latter taxon is 'Brasilia' [=Brazil] and most
probably was collected at Ilheus in the state of Bahia, north-east Brazil.

Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia is a medium-sized wader distributed along coasts
of North, Central and South America. In all plumages, the bill is black and heavy in
appearance, the upperparts are greyish to greyish brown, the underparts white, with a
black to brownish breast-band, and the legs pinkish to pinkish grey. In breeding adults,
the breast-band, lores and forecrown are black in males, but grey-brown tinged rufous in
females. Non-breeding adults are similar to breeding females, but lack any rufous tones.
Geographic differences in the coloration of the upperparts, face and head patterns, and
width of the breast-band has led to the recognition of at least three subspecies. C. w. wilsonia
Ord, 1814, breeds along Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North and Middle America south to
Belize, as well as in the Bahamas and northern Lesser Antilles, and is thought to spend the
non-breeding season along the Gulf coast south to Brazil. C. w. beldingi (Ridgway, 1919)
breeds along the Pacific coast from central Baja California to Panama, and in north-west
Peru, whilst C. w. cinnamominus (Ridgway, 1919) is resident from north-east Colombia to
French Guiana, and on islands off Venezuela north to the Lesser Antilles (Hayman et al.
1986, Piersma & Wiersma 1996, Corbat & Bergstrom 2000).

Ord (in Wilson & Ord 1814: 77-78, pi. LXXIII: fig. 5) described and illustrated C. wilsonia
based on three specimens, two males and a female, collected 'on the shore of Cape May,
New Jersey', USA. Ridgway (1919) proposed two new subspecies, originally named Pagolla
wilsonia beldingi (pp. 108, 112) and P. w. cinnamomina (pp. 108, 113). Their type specimens
originate, respectively, from La Paz in Baja California, Mexico, and Sabanilla in Colombia.
The three races are similar, but the nominate lacks rufous in the plumage except on the ear-
coverts. In C. w. cinnamominus, the crown is strongly rufous, males exhibit mixed rufous and
black in the breast-brand, and females are strongly gingery over the mask and breast-band.
C. w. beldingi is darker above than the nominate, and has a broader mask, less white on the
forehead, narrower supercilia and breast-band, and more rufous on the crown, nape and
breast-band (see, e.g., Hayman et al. 1986, Piersma & Wiersma 1996).

Recently, Grantsau & Lima (2008) described a new subspecies of Wilson's Plover,
based on three specimens, an adult male (holotype), adult female and an unsexed adult
(paratypes), from a population breeding in north-east Brazil, naming it C. w. brasiliensis.
According to them, C. w. brasiliensis closely resembles nominate wilsonia of the USA, but
adult males have a narrower, blackish-brown, not black, breast-band, less black on the face
and less rufous on the ear-coverts. Adult females also differ from the nominate form in
having a grey-brown wash, not rufous, over the ear-coverts.

Aside from any discussion of validity and / or the taxonomic rank of C. w. brasiliensis,
which is beyond the scope of this paper, as we will demonstrate, there is an available name,

Caio J. Carlos & Jean-Frangois Voisin

166

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1825, which can be safely applied to those Wilson's Plovers
breeding in Brazil.

The identity of the type specimen of
Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1825

In 1824-25, the German zoologist Johann Baptist von Spix published the two-volume
Avium species novae, a large work in which he described many new bird species from
Brazil. Spix (1825) described a plover under the name Charadrius crassirostris, as follows (c/.
Appendix for original text in Latin).

'Small, upperparts brown verging on white, underparts white, collar and head blackish
brown, forehead, supercilium, and middle of the neck white, beak thick toward apex'.

'Body hardly larger than that of Tringa pusilla, upperparts greyish brown, under
parts white; head pale brownish, forehead and eyebrow white; throat white; collar
above the chest blackish-brown, back and tertials of the wing pale brownish, remiges
brown-black, white at base, rachis white; knee with a spinous tubercle, underside of
wing totally white; tail not longer than wings, central rectrices brownish black, outer
rectrices white; bill dark, hardly shorter than the head, thick at apex, cylindrical,
subdentate; legs red, toes short. Body length 71/ 3" 1 178 mm], tail 2" [50 mm], bill 10"
[25 mm], tarsus 13"[33 mm], feet 2' [5 mm].' (Spix 1825: 77)

An illustration of C. crassirostris also
appeared on plate XCIV of Spix (1825), which
is reproduced here (in black and white) as
Fig. 1. The bird described and illustrated by
Spix (1825: 77, pi. XCIV) has a heavy, dark
bill with both mandibles curving evenly to
a dagger-like pointed tip, a white forehead
continuous with the white supercilum, a
white hindneck collar, greyish-brown
upperparts, a blackish-brown breast-band
and red legs. These characteristics clearly
identify the bird as an adult C. wilsouia from
the population breeding in north-east Brazil.
Its measurements (i.e. total body length, bill,
tail and tarsus) confirm the identification.

Two other Charadrius plovers occur
in north-east Brazil, often sympatrically
with Wilson's Plover: Semipalmated C.
semipalmatus Bonaparte, 1825, and Collared
Plovers C. collaris Vieillot, 1818 (e.g. Sick
1997, Fedrizzi 2003, Lima 2006, Albano et
al. 2007). However, Semipalmated Plover
possesses an overall darker, grey-brown
back, a stubby, two-toned bill (base often
orange-yellow), and orange-yellow legs
and feet. Collared Plovers, in contrast, are
smaller than Wilson's Plovers (14-15 cm vs.
16.5-20.0 cm in total length), have a slender,

Figure 1. Reproduction in black and white of plate
XCIV of Spix (1825) named Charadrius crassirostris.

Caio J. Carlos & Jean-Fran^ois Voisin

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

all-black bill, flesh-pink to yellowish legs, and lack a white hindneck collar (Hayman et al.
1986, Piersma & Wiersma 1996).

Spix (1825) provided no detailed information on the number of specimens, type
location or date of collection in his original description of C. crassirostris. However, because
the original description is written in the singular, it appears reasonable to assume that it was
based on a single specimen, which, according to Art. 73 of the International code of zoological
nomenclature (ICZN 1999) would then be the holotype by monotypy.

Soon after joining the staff of the Museum of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences (now
the Bavarian State Collection for Zoology) in 1903, Carl Eduard Hellmayr set himself to
study thoroughly the collection of birds obtained by Spix in Brazil. This resulted in the
publication, in 1906, of Spix's types of Brazilian birds, wherein he commented as follows
(translated from the German) on a single specimen upon which the description of C.
crassirostris was based.

'This bird is in complete accordance with specimens [of Ochthodromus w. wilsonia =
C. iv. wilsonia] from the south-east USA and by no means belongs to O. w. rufinucha
(Ridgway). The periocular, head side and throat are dark as in various specimens from
Florida, and only in the auricular region it exhibits a slight trace of rusty coloration. In
O. w. rufinucha, of which I have a nice suite of specimens from Jamaica and Trinidad at
hand, the head side and neck always have a clear ochre-rusty wash. Thus, Spix's type
must have been a bird migrating from the north.' (Hellmayr 1906: 715)

Several years later, in his extensive revision of the ornithology of the north-east
Brazilian states of Maranhao, Piaui and Ceara, Hellmayr (1929) compared two specimens,
a male and a female, of C. wilsonia collected by the German ethnographer Emil-Heinrich
Snethlage in Maranhao with the type of C. crassirostris and other specimens from North
America and the Caribbean, and concluded:

'Like the type of Charadrius crassirostris Spix, with which it was directly compared, our
male has but a few feathers behind the auriculars faintly tipped with pinkish cinnamon,
while the jugular band, in both, is blackish, indistinctly edged with pale brownish.
They are matched by numerous individuals from the United States and the Bahamas
[...] The same applies to the female which differs from ten specimens of the Caribbean
breeding race by the complete absence of any rufescent tinge whatsoever on head and
jugular band, and cannot be distinguished from females of Wilson's Plover.' (Hellmayr
1929: 492)

Finally, Hellmayr & Conover (1948) commented, in a footnote, on some specimens of
C. wilsonia collected in Brazil:

'Eight specimens taken in winter (between September and April) on the coast of Brazil
agree well with the type of C. crassirostris, and, while matched by numerous individuals
from the United States, look very different from C. w. cinnamominus [...] Five (out of
six) Brazilian females have the jugular band entirely grayish brown and no rufescence
whatsoever on sides of head, while the sixth individual shows a slight rusty tinge on
both these parts, the series being thus exactly similar to females from the United States.'
(Hellmayr & Conover 1948: 75)

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From the information above, it is clear that the closer resemblance to Spix's type with
specimens of Wilson's Plover from the USA led Hellmayr (1906) to regard C. crassirostris as
a synonym of C. wilsonia, contra Grantsau & Lima (2008) who stated that Hellmayr offered
no rationale for his opinion. Also note that Hellmayr (1906, 1929) thought that Wilson's
Plovers specimens collected in Brazil were migrants from North America.

Status of Wilson's Plover in Brazil and
Charadrius wilsonia brasiliensis Grantsau & Lima, 2008

The status of C. wilsonia in Brazil has attracted some debate. Initially, the species was
assumed to be a migrant from North America, and thus the birds belonged to the nominate
subspecies, because no evidence of breeding in Brazil existed prior to the late 1980s (e.g.
Hellmayr 1906, 1929, Hellmayr & Conover 1948, Pinto 1938, 1964, 1978, Pinto & Camargo
1961, Sick 1985). However, since the early 1990s, breeding data for C. wilsonia along north
and north-east Brazilian coasts have accumulated (Rodrigues et al. 1996, Sick 1997, Fedrizzi
2003, Lima 2006, Albano et al. 2007, Grantsau & Lima 2008, Lunardi & Macedo 2010). Today,
it is well established that birds breeding in Brazil do not exhibit any seasonal variation in
abundance, being always observed in small numbers year-round, and a ringed C. wilsonia
from North America has never been recovered there (e.g. Lara-Rezende 1982, Azevedo-
Junior et al. 2001, Fedrizzi 2003, Schulz-Neto et al. 2008, Mestre et al. 2010). Wilson's Plovers
are regarded as a 'not completely migratory species'; some remain in the nesting areas all
year, while others are short-distance migrants (Corbat & Bergstrom 2000). The evidence
currently available does not support the view that North American birds reach Brazil.

At the tenth Brazilian Congress of Ornithology, held in Fortaleza on 3-8 November
2002, Rolf Grantsau, Pedro C. Lima and two other colleagues presented a poster, wherein
they postulated that the breeding population of C. wilsonia in north-east Brazil represents a
distinct taxon, for which the name C. crassirostris Spix, 1825, is available. Grantsau and his
colleagues explicitly stated that Spix's (1825) description of C. crassirostris matched specimens
of 'C. wilsonia' from north-east Brazil. Although not valid from a taxonomic or nomenclatural
standpoint, the abstract, published in the congress booklet, proposed revalidating C.
crassirostris as a subspecies
of C. wilsonia (Grantsau et al.

2002). Subsequently, Lima
et al. (2002) even referred to
Wilson's Plovers breeding in
the state of Bahia, north-east
Brazil, as C. w. crassirostris.

Quite surprisingly, in
describing their 'new
subspecies', Grantsau &

Lima (2008) rejected the
name C. crassirostris, stating
that Spix's type cannot be
certainly identified because
it is no longer extant, and
because no locality was
given in its description.

However, the locality ^‘8ure 2. Lateral and ventral views of the type specimen of Charadrius
• i crassirostris Spix, 1825, in the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology,

giwn ant Munich, Germany (© Markus Unsold, Bavarian State Collection of
the type has been found. Zoology)

Caio }. Carlos & Jean-Fran^ois Voisin

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

The building of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology was severely damaged during
World War II, and the specimen used by Spix (1825) to describe C. crassirostris was thought
to be lost, as can be inferred from Reichholf (1983). Even if true, Spix's (1825) original
description and accompanying plate, together with the information subsequently provided
by Hellmayr (1905) would be sufficient to identify the type of C. crassirostris. However,
the type specimen of C. crassirostris is still extant in the collection of the Bavarian State
Collection for Zoology (Fig. 2) and there is no doubt that the birds described by Spix (1825)
and Grantsau & Lima (2008) refer to the same taxon; consequently:

Charadrius wilsonia brasiliensis Grantsau & Lima, 2008
= Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1824, syn. nov.

Doubts persist concerning the precise collection locality of Spix's specimen. Regrettably,
Spix did not record such localities for most of his specimens, either in his Avium species
novae or on his labels. The records, in many cases as here, simply state 'Brasilia' as the place
of collection. Good information, however, exists concerning the route followed by Spix,
and his colleague, the botanist Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, during their 1817-20
expedition to Brazil (Papavero 1971, Spix & Martius 1981, Paynter & Traylor 1991, Vanzolini
1992). Most time was spent at inland localities in the dry Caatinga (xeric shrubland and
thorn forests) and Cerrado, but they remained in coastal Bahia between November 1818
and February 1819, and also collected specimens on the coasts of Maranhao and Para in July
1819. It is reasonable to assume that the type of C. crassirostris was taken somewhere on the
coast in one of these three states, but most probably at Ilheus (14°49'S, 39°02'W; Paynter &
Traylor 1991) in coastal Bahia, where Spix and Martius stayed for about two months.

Acknowledgements

Markus Unsold of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology kindly provided information and photographs
of the type of Clmrndrius crassirostris. He also permitted use of his photographs here. CJC is supported by
the Cordena^ao de Aperfeigoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES), Brasilia, Brazil. The typescript
benefited from the input of Alan P. Peterson, Frank D. Steinheimer and the editorial advice of Guy Kirwan.

References:

Albano, C., Girao, W., Campos, A. & Pinto, T. 2007. Aves costeiras de Icapui. Fundagao Brasil Cidadao,
Fortaleza.

Azevedo-Junior, S. M., Dias, M. M., Larrazabal, M. E., Telino-Junior, W. R., Lyra-Neves, R. M. & Fernandes,
C. J. G. 2001. Recapturas e recuperates de aves migratorias no litoral de Pernambuco, Brasil. Ararajuba
9: 33-42.

Corbat, C. A. & Bergstrom, P. W. 2000. Wilson's Plover ( Charadrius wilsonia). In Poole, A. & Gill, F. (eds.) The
birds of North America, no. 516. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia.

Fedrizzi, C. E. 2003. Abundancia sazonal e biologia de aves costeiras na Coroa do Aviao, Pernambuco, Brasil.

M.Sc. thesis. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife.

Grantsau, R. & Lima, P. C. 2008. Uma nova subespecie de Charadrius wilsonia (Aves, Charadriiformes) para
o Brasil. Atualidades Orn. 142: 4-5.

Grantsau, R., Lima, P. C., Santos, S. S. & Lima, R. C. F. R. 2002. Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1825 e uma
subespecie de Charadrius wilsonia com nome valido. Pp. 170-171 in Resumos do X Congresso Brasileiro de
Ornitologia. Fortaleza, Sociedade Brasileira de Ornitologia.

Hayman, P., Marchant, J. & Prater, T. 1986. Shorebirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Hellmayr, C. E. 1906. Revision der Spix'schen Typen brasilianischer Vogel. Abh. Akad. Wiss., Math.-.Phys. Kl.,
Munchen 22(1905): 561-726.

Hellmayr, C. E. 1929. A contribution to the ornithology of northeastern Brazil. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser.
12(18): 235-500.

Hellmayr, C. E. & Conover, B. 1948. Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands, 1(2). Field
Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 13(1): 1-434.

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological
nomenclature. Fourth edn. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History
Museum, London.

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Lara-Rezende, S. M. 1982. Recuperate de anilhas estrangeiras no Brasil. Rev. Bras. Zool. 13: 231-237.

Lima, P. C. 2006. Aves do litoral norte da Bahia. Atualidades Orn. 144: 28 [www.ao.com.br/download/lnbahia.
pdf] (accessed 17 January 2011).

Lima, P. C., Lima, R. C. F. R., Santos, S. S. & Grantsau, R. 2002. Os ma^aricos da Bahia, com a inclusao de
Charadrius wilsonia crassirostris. Neon: Arte, Cultura e Entretenimento 4: 26-29.

Lunardi, V. O. & Macedo, R. H. 2010. First reproductive record of Wilson's Plover in Baia de Todos os Santos,
northeastern Brazil. Wilson /. Orn. 22: 788-791.

Mestre, L. A. M., Roos, A. L. & Nunes, M. F. 2010. Analise das recuperates no Brasil de aves anilhadas no
exterior entre 1927 e 2006. Ornithologia 4: 15-35.

Papavero, N. 1971. Essays on the history of Neotropical dipterology, with special reference to collectors (1750-1905),
vol. 1. Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.

Paynter, R. A. & Traylor, M. A. 1991. Ornithological gazetteer of Brazil, vol. 1. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge,
MA.

Piersma, T. & Wiersma, P. 1996. Family Charadriidae (plovers). Pp. 384-442 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. &
Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the ivorld, vol. 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Pinto, O. M. O. 1938. Catalogo das aves do Brasil e lista dos exemplares que as representam no Museu
Paulista, la parte. Rev. Mus. Paulista 22: 1-566.

Pinto, O. M. O. 1964. Ornitologia brasiliense, vol. 1. Departamento de Zoologia da Secretaria da Agricultura
do Estado de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.

Pinto, O. M. O. 1978. Novo catalogo das aves do Brasil. Primeira parte: aves ndo Passeriformes e Passeriformes nao
Oscines, com exclusdo da familia Tyrannidae. Empresa Grafica da Revista dos Tribunals, Sao Paulo.

Pinto, O. M. O. & Camargo, E. A. 1961. Resultados ornitologicos de quatro recentes expedites do
Departamento de Zoologia ao Nordeste do Brasil, com a descrito de seis novas subespecies. Ary. Zool.,
Sao Paulo 11: 193-284.

Reichholf, J. H. 1983. Der Bestand an Typenmaterial der ornithologischen Aufsammlungen von J. B. V. Spix
in der Zoologischen Staatssammlung Miinchen. Spixiana, suppl. 9: 417-423.

Ridgway, R. 1919. The birds of North and Middle America, pt. 7. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 50: 1-852.

Rodrigues, A. A. F., Oren, D. C. & Lopes, A. T. L. 1996. New data on breeding Wilson's Plovers Charadrius
wilsonia in Brazil. Wader Study Group Bull. 81: 80-81.

Schulz-Neto, A., Serrano, I. L. & Efe, M. A. 2008. Muda e parametros biometricos de aves migratorias no
norte do Brasil. Ornithologia 3: 21-33.

Sick, H. 1985. Ornitologia brasileira: uma introduqao, vol. 1. Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia.

Sick, FI. 1997. Ornitologia brasileira. Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro.

Spix, J. B. von 1825. Avium species novae, yuas in itinerum per Brasilian i annis MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX jussu
et auspiciis Maximiliani josephi l. Bavariae Regis suscepto collegit et descripsit Dr. /. B. de Spix, vol. 2. Franc.
Seraph. Hiibschmann, Munich.

Spix, J. B. von & Martius, C. F. 1981. Viagem pelo Brasil (1817-1820), 3 vols. Ed. Villa Rica, Rio de Janeiro.

Vanzolini, P. E. 1992. A supplement to the Ornithological gazetteer of Brazil. Museu de Zoologia da Universidade
de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.

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Bradford & Inskeep, Philadelphia.

Addresses: Caio J. Carlos, Laboratorio de Sistematica e Ecologia de Aves e Mamiferos Marinhos & Programa
de Pos-graduato em Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biociencias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do
Sul, Av. Bento Gonsalves 9500, Agronomia, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, e-mail: macronectesl@
yahoo.co.uk. Jean-Frangois Voisin, Laboratoire d'Entomologie, C.P. 50, Museum national d'Histoire
naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France, e-mail: jfvoisin@mnhn.fr

Appendix: original description of Charadrius crassirostris Spix (1825: 77)

Species I. CHARADRIUS CRASSIROSTRIS. Tab. XCIV.

Minor, supra brunneo canescens, subtus albus; collari capiteque fuscis: fronte, superciliis colloque medio
albis; rostro versus apicem crasso.

Descriptio. Corpus Tringa pusilla vix maius, supra fusco-canescens; subtus album; caput pallide
brunnescens, fronte, genis superciliisque albis; gula collarique albis; lora collareque supra pectus fusco-
brunnea; dorsum tectricesque alarum albicanti-brunnescentes; remiges nigro-fuscae, basi albae, scapis
albis, axillae spinoso-tuberculatae, alae subtus totae albae, cauda alis hand maior, rectricibus internis
nigro-brunneis, externis albis; rostrum fuscum, capite fere brevius, verus apicem crassum, cylindricum,
subdentatum; pedes rubris; digitus brevibus.

© British Ornithologists' Club 201 1

Mary LeCroy & Justin J. F. J. Jansen

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Joannes Maximiliaan Dumas, bird collector in the
East Indies and New Guinea

by Mary LeCroy & Justin J. F. J. Jansen

Received 22 February 2011

Summary.— J. M. Dumas is one of the lesser-known collectors of natural history
items in the former Dutch East Indies at the end of the 19th and beginning of
the 20th centuries. We have been able to follow his activities between the ages of
38 and 55. In so doing, we have discovered that he interacted widely with other
expeditions and collectors active in the area at that time and that his significant
career can only be developed by summarising his involvement with many other
people.

Many zoological collectors ventured into the islands of what is now Indonesia in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. Often their specimens were sold through dealers that
specialised in natural history items to private or public collections, with few data available
concerning the collector himself. Lord Walter Rothschild, whose large private collection
was being assembled at this time, was an exception to this usual practice. Although he, too,
purchased through dealers, whenever possible he had the collector send specimens directly
to him. After selecting the specimens he wanted to purchase, the remainder were sent to
dealers to sell for the collector (Rothschild 1983: 157-158). Rothschild and his bird curator,
Ernst Hartert, were meticulous about crediting collectors for the bird specimens they
studied, providing information in this respect that is often not available in other reports
of the time. Most of these early collectors also collected mammals and other animals, but
these collections are less well documented. Plant collectors, many of whom were the same

Figure 1 . Map of main areas visited by J. M. Dumas, keyed to numbers within brackets in text and Gazetteer.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Figure 2. J. M. Dumas in Netherlands New Guinea
(from Fotobureau, Koninklijk Instituut voor de
Tropen, Amsterdam)

Figure 3. J. M. Dumas in Netherlands New Guinea
(from Fotobureau, Koninklijk Instituut voor de
Tropen, Amsterdam)

individuals, were thoroughly documented by van Steenis-Kruseman (1950). Appendix B
provides coordinates for the localities mentioned in the text, while the localities shown in
Fig. 1 are noted by numbers in brackets in the text and in the Gazetteer.

The collector we follow here is Johannes Maximiliaan Dumas, one of the lesser known
of these intrepid men, but one who traveled widely as a collector and frequently interacted
with other collectors of the period. He probably had more and wider experience in former
Dutch New Guinea, now Papua Province, Indonesia, than any other single collector. 'Jan'
Dumas was born on 22 June 1856 at Bagelen, Java, the son of Louis Maximiliaan Dumas.
He attended school in Batavia (now Jakarta), but at the age of 16 quit school and became
a planter at various locations in eastern Indonesia, later following a life of traveling,
especially as a collector of natural history specimens (Dumas & Dumas 1997). Smythies
(1957: 541) described Dumas as 'a Eurasian who travelled extensively (mostly in New
Guinea) collecting birds and insects; he owned land in North Borneo [now Sabah], the
tenants of which did not have to pay him rent, but in return yearly a dozen of them had to
follow him on his travels — a delightfully feudal arrangement!'

As a bird collector, Dumas first came to our attention as an assistant to Alfred H.
Everett, a well-known collector. It is not known exactly when Everett hired Dumas or
whether they had been acquainted prior to the actual hiring. The fact that both Dumas and
Everett had ties to Sabah in northern Borneo would indicate that this is a possibility.

Everett collected widely in the Philippines, supported by and reported on by the
Marquis of fweeddale (mite Viscount Walden / Arthur Hay) in a series of 12 articles in
volumes of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London between 1877 and 1879. Everett
certainly hired 'native collectors' during this period, but Tweeddale only once mentioned
that Everett had been 'assisted' by his brother, Harold H. Everett, on Bohol Island. After
I weeddale's death in 1878 (Sharpe 1879b), Everett apparently continued to send specimens
to the Natural I listory Museum (formerly the British Museum (Natural I listory), London,

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Figure 4 Type specimen of Greater Melampitta Mellopitta (now Melampitta ) gigantea Rothschild, 1899
(Matthew Shanley / American Museum of Natural Fiistory, New York)

Figure 5. Type specimen of Burn Thrush Geocichla (now Zoothera) dumasi Rothschild, 1899 (Matthew Shanley
/ American Museum of Natural History, New York)

BMNH). Beginning in 1876, Sharpe had begun a series of publications in Ibis on Everett's
collections from Borneo that continued intermittently until 1894. Everett's 'hunters' are
sometimes mentioned, but if Dumas was among them, he was not mentioned by name
(Sharpe 1876, 1877, 1879a, 1888, 1894). In the last reference, Sharpe noted that Everett
collected in the Sulu archipelago around July 1893, saying that he had been very ill on
Sibutu Island and that the sexing had been done by his native hunters, but there was no
mention of an assistant.

In late 1893, Lord Walter Rothschild was informed by Charles Hose, an explorer of
inland areas of Sarawak, of Everett's plans to collect in the Natuna Islands. Rothschild
(1894: 467) thereupon made arrangements with Everett to forward his collections directly
to him for study. During this period, Rothschild was adding specimens of birds, mammals
and butterflies to his growing private collection at his home in Tring, England, and had
just begun publishing his own journal, Novitates Zoologicae (in 1894). The first collections
Rothschild purchased from Everett were those from the Natuna Islands of Sirhassen and
Bunguran, made in September and October 1893 (Rothschild 1894: 467). There was no
mention of an assistant in the articles reporting on the bird and mammal collections (Hartert
1894, Thomas & Hartert 1894).

In his own report on the birds he collected on Balabac Island in December 1893 to
early January 1894 and at Rocky Bay, Palawan Island, Philippines, during the latter half

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of January and the beginning of February 1894, Everett (1895) noted 'native collectors' but
made no mention of an assistant.

November-December 1894 The second collection that Rothschild purchased from
Everett comprised a small collection of birds from northern Mindoro Island and from
Laguna de Bay, near Manila, Luzon Island, Philippines, made at the end of November and
part of December 1894, and reported on by Ernst Hartert (1895a, 1895b). It was on this trip
that Everett seriously injured his leg and was forced to return to his home on Labuan Island,
Sabah (Hartert 1895a: 64), and to subsequently seek treatment in London. He met with
Rothschild at this time and Hartert (1895b: 486) noted that Everett had recovered his health
and had begun 'collecting again in other quarters.' It was shortly after this that Dumas
was first mentioned, and we think that he was probably hired at this time because Everett
needed assistance in the field, particularly at high altitudes, due to his leg injury. Dumas
would have been 38 years of age at this point.

September-October 1895 The 'other quarters' proved to be southern Celebes (now
Sulawesi) Island, Indonesia, where Everett collected from September to October 1895
(Hartert 1896a). Here Everett mentioned his assistant, Dumas, who had three Borneo men
with him (presumably his own tenants). On Sulawesi, Everett remained at the relatively
low-altitude camp at Indrulaman, and it was Dumas and his men who established a base
camp at the village of Tasoso, the highest village in the district, and collected above there
at higher altitudes, 'for the most part between 6000 and 7000 feet, and not at all below 5600
feet' for 23 days. These specimens are labelled 'Bonthain Peak.' Everett filled in the front of
the label, but the reverse is labelled 'Tasoso' by Dumas. Later, Everett said that it was his
habit to add 'Nat. Coll.' (= native collector) next to the sex symbol on the label unless the
specimen had been sexed by himself or his assistant. In the latter case there is no annotation
after the sex symbol (Hartert 1897c: 514). Because Everett was extremely careful about the
sexing of his specimens, the implication is that he placed a great deal of trust in Dumas
by accepting his sexing of the specimens. Dumas, being a native Dutch speaker, was also
probably additionally useful in dealing with Dutch authorities in various localities.

Dumas and his men were undoubtedly also collecting mammals, as Everett (in Hartert
1896a: 150) noted a number of mammals seen but not collected on the mountain and other
mammals expected but not seen. Publication of these sight records indicates that Everett
trusted Dumas' accuracy. We have not found a publication on the mammals collected.

While on Bonthain Peak (now known as Mount Lompobatang [1]), Dumas collected
on the crest above Tasoso known as Buah Kraiing (Hartert 1896b: 149-150), and there he
encountered Paul and Fritz Sarasin, who were also collecting on Sulawesi. In his report
to Hartert, Everett included altitude and temperature readings given to Dumas by these
collectors. The Sarasins (1905: 325-331) published a two-volume account of their travels
and were at Tasoso on 28-30 October 1896 but did not mention meeting Dumas, nor
was he mentioned by Meyer & Wiglesworth (1896) who reported on their collection,
with new forms from the high altitudes first described by those authors. Because the
new forms collected by the Sarasins were published first (Hartert 1896b: 149), fewer of
the forms collected by Dumas proved to be undescribed. Nevertheless, Hartert (1896a,b)
described four new forms based on material collected by Dumas and his men on Mount
Lompobatang, and Stresemann (1931: 80) subsequently described another from Dumas'
specimens (see Appendix A). Dumas and his men also must have assisted in the collecting
at Indrulaman when they were not at the mountain camp, but only the Tasoso specimens
can be with certainty credited to Dumas, as Everett himself wrote the labels on all of the
specimens. Altogether, 165 species were collected on southern Sulawesi.

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November 1895 Everett then sent his men (presumably including Dumas) ahead to the
island of Saleyar (now Selajar [2]), and later followed them there (Hartert 1896b: 165). The
specimens are dated November 1895.

December 1895 Specimens were also collected in December 1895, on Djampea (now
Tanahjampea [3]) and Kalao [4] islands. Many new forms were described from these
collections (Hartert 1896b: 165) but Everett filled in all of the labels, and it is not possible to
identify any Dumas specimens from these islands.

May-June 1896 Everett next collected on Lombok Island [5] in May and June 1896
(Hartert, 1896c). Even though a thorough collection was made, no new taxa resulted as
William Doherty's collection from Lombok had arrived in the Rothschild Collection prior
to Everett s. Although Everett wrote to Hartert that he had new men with him on Lombok
because the men who had been with him on Sulawesi and the other islands had struck for
higher wages than he was prepared to pay, Dumas remained his assistant (Hartert, 1896c:
592). Dumas ascended Mount Rinjani, in the northern mountains, and viewed the main
crater of the volcano from the Sengkarien summit, second in height to Rinjani Peak, and his
detailed description of the crater lake is included by Hartert (1896c: 592). Dumas has noted
'Sankarean, 4000' on the reverse of these specimens. A total of 103 species was collected on
Lombok, and the presence of a large duck on the crater lake was reported, undoubtedly by
Dumas.

August-September 1896 Hartert (1897b) then reported on Everett's collection of 51
species (plus an additional four species reported as sight records) from Savu (now Sawu
[6]) Island, made in August and September 1896. Everett collected on both the east and
west ends of the island and at an intermediate station, but gave no information concerning
an assistant. However, because Dumas was with Everett on Flores (see below), he was
probably also on Sawu.

October 1896 Everett had landed briefly at Endeh (now Ende), southern Flores Island,
in August 1896, but had not been permitted to go inland and had only collected a few
common birds. After collecting on Sawu, he returned to Flores in October 1896 (Hartert
1897a,c, 1898a). His headquarters were at a locality called 'Nanga Ramu' or 'Nanga Roma',
which is the same as Nanga Ramut [7] (Mees 2006: 12-13, 229) on the south coast of
Manggarai in western Flores. Here his 'hunters' succeeded in collecting up to c. 1,525 m, but
the lawlessness of the interior prevented his sending them further inland. The whole of his
party was ill with dysentery and fever. Hartert (1897c: 514) quoted Everett: 'With regard to
the sexing of the specimens, as on previous occasions the abbreviation 'nat. coll.' signifies
that the native collector is solely responsible for its correctness, and where my initials follow
the sex-symbol it means that I sexed such specimens with special care myself, and where the
symbols appear alone the sex has been checked by my assistant or myself.' The 'assistant'
is not named, but Mount Repok [8] was the mountain collecting locality, and this locality
is written in Dumas' hand on the reverse of the labels on higher altitude specimens. A total
of 114 species was collected, with 11 new forms based on Dumas' specimens (see Appendix
A).

September-December 1896 In September, October and December 1896 (Hartert 1898d:
466), Everett visited Sumba Island [9] and later twice sent a 'trained native' to Surnba, where
he made a successful collection on the first visit but was less successful on the second visit
and was dismissed. While Dumas may have been with Everett when he visited Sumba, the
dismissed collector was 'a Sumbanese'.

April-May 1897 Everett collected on Pantar Island [10] in April 1897, on Alor Island [11]
(chiefly at Irana) in March-May 1897, and on Lomblen Island [12] for four days in May 1897.
Hartert (1898c: 455) quoted Everett: 'I got a severe attack of intermittent fever (malaria), and

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when off my head I think I must have kicked violently against something with my damaged
leg— anyhow I burst a vein and the leg swelled to an enormous size. It was kept bandaged
with ice for a week, and ultimately I was taken to the hospital in Makassar, where I am now
slowly recovering from an operation.' There is no mention of Dumas relative to collecting
on these islands (Hartert 1898c), but Everett must have been incapacitated during this time
and would have needed an assistant.

July-August 1897 Everett made an abortive attempt to collect on Timor in 1897 (Hartert
1898b: 112). He arrived at Atapupu [13] on 8 July 1897 and sent his men (unnamed)
and supplies into the interior, to Fileran, with an interpreter. The interpreter apparently
misrepresented Everett's purpose and as a result the local inhabitants were afraid to allow
collecting, so he had to give up penetrating the mountains. A few specimens were collected
at Fileran, but he had to withdraw his party quickly. Most collecting was done near
Atapupu. All of his party were ill during this trip, and Everett noted (Hartert 1898b: 111):
'My servant [presumably Dumas] is down with strong fever, which does not seem inclined
to get better, and I am not well myself.'

February 1898 In February 1898 (Hartert 1900b: 549-550), Everett, who was in the
hospital in Singapore and already suffering from his fatal illness, sent some of his 'trained
Bornean bird-skinners' to the Lingga Islands to collect. The labels of the 39 species collected
bear the date, sex and locality. Everett filled them in, but the collecting was probably done
under Dumas' direction because the sex annotation is not followed by 'Nat. Coll.'.

August-September 1898 Prior to his death in June 1898 in London (Anon. 1898: 606),
Everett sent Dumas to collect on Buru Island, a collection made in August and September
1898 (Hartert 1899, 1900a, Stresemann 1914: 361). In Rothschild's partial list of his purchases
(Archives, Dept, of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, AMNH) is a
notation that he purchased 110 Buru specimens on 14 February 1899, whether directly
from Dumas or from a dealer is not mentioned. This was apparently an approximate
number, or others were purchased later, for there are now 113 specimens of 49 species in
AMNH. They were collected mostly on Mount Mada (now Kapalatmada [14]) at about
915 m and bear Everett's printed labels with the locality, altitude, sex, iris colour and date
written on the back in Dumas' hand, the front filled in by Hartert. Hartert thought Dumas
should have gone higher, but noted that he sent a large collection of well-made bird skins
with 'a surprising number of new forms'. Hartert was disappointed that often only single
specimens of the new birds were obtained. Some specimens were also obtained at Kayeli
on the east coast in October 1898 and a few from Bara on the north-west coast in September
1898. This collection was reported on by Rothschild (1899b) and Hartert (1899, 1900a).
Hartert's (1900a) paper included specimens collected by William Doherty in March 1897
near the coastal town of Kayeli as well as those collected by Dumas. Fifteen new forms were
described based on Dumas' specimens (see Appendix A).

Late 1898 Rothschild noted in his 'Purchases' that on 8 March 1899 he selected 107 bird
skins, plus 'two extra' (presumably bird skins) and one mammal (a cuscus) collected by
Dumas on Morty (now Morotai [15]) Island. There was no indication whether he purchased
them from Dumas or from a dealer. There are now 109 specimens of 66 species from
Morotai in AMNH; the types of three new forms were Dumas specimens (see Appendix A).
None of the Morotai specimens has original labels or dates and only the locality and Dumas'
name were included on the Rothschild printed label. There are also 28 Dumas specimens
from Morotai in the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis (formerly Rijksmuseum
van Natuurlijke 1 listorie, RMNH), Leiden, purchased on 28 February 1899 from D. W.

1 lorst, resident in Amboina; 45 Morotai specimens were purchased by BMNI I from Gerrard

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in 1899 (Sharpe 1906: 361), but were said to have been collected by Everett (long after his
death); and other specimens are widely scattered in many other collections.

Although we have been unable to document this, it seems likely that Dumas at this
time became associated with C. W. R. van Rennessee van Duivenbode, a successful trader
in many items including natural history specimens for scientific study and bird of paradise
skins for the plume trade. His Nieuw Guinea Handelsmaatschappij (New Guinea Trading
Company) headquarters were on Ternate Island, but he had a wide network of collectors
working for him (Wichmann 1910-12: 172, Swadling 1996: 118). It was also at this point that
Dumas was no longer using Everett's labels.

January 1899 In January 1899, Dumas was collecting on the Vogelkop, western New
Guinea, which at that time was administered by the Netherlands East Indies Government
and is today the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). These specimens have
printed labels, signed by Dumas and annotated 'Mt. Maori', 'Maori Mt.', 'Mt. Moari' or
'Moari Mt.', 3,000 feet, with the sex usually given. These specimens caused Rothschild and
Hartert much confusion over many years.

On 24 June 1899, Rothschild noted in his 'Purchases' book that he 'Selected from Arfak
skins, etc.' 68 bird skins and two mammals from C. W. R. van Renesse van Duivenbode. This
purchase is also mentioned by Rothschild & Hartert (1901: 60). Despite Rothschild's entry
and perhaps because some of the specimens were so labeled, they decided that this locality
was near Humboldt Bay, now Yos Sudarso Bay, on the north coast of New Guinea rather
than on the Vogelkop (Rothschild 1899a: 137) and might represent a hitherto unknown
avifauna from the Cyclops Mountains (Haffer 2007: 65). It was not until Ernst Mayr
collected in the Arfak Mountains and in the Cyclops Mountains in 1928 (Mayr 1930) that
it was finally proven that Dumas had collected in the Arfak Mountains: 'J. Dumas made a
small collection on the eastern slopes of the Arfak Mountains [16], going up from Oransbari
to Mt. Moari (called Mori by Salvadori), which Lord Rothschild and I erroneously believed
to be near Humboldt Bay.' (Hartert 1930: 18). [Cape] Oransbari is just east of the coastal
locality of Moari [17], We think that Dumas' label locality actually meant the mountain near
Moari, which also would have placed it in the Arfak Mountains.

Of the 68 bird skins purchased, 63 specimens of 40 species are now in AMNH.
Rothschild's (1899a) publication of a new species from 'Mt. Moari', said there by him to be
near Humboldt Bay, probably caused van Steenis-Kruseman (1950: 145) to list Humboldt
Bay (now Yos Sudarso Bay [18]) as an 1899 collecting locality for Dumas. However, van
Steenis-Kruseman (1950: 145) also noted that Dumas visited the Cyclops Mountains [19]
in 1899, making it possible that some Humboldt Bay specimens were collected by Dumas
in 1899 and were included with the Arfak specimens, although we have not been able to
otherwise document this. We have found only two new forms described from the Arfak
Mountains collection (see Appendix A).

1900 A collection of birds made by Dumas in '1900' on the Lawas River, Brunei, northern
Borneo, is now in the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB) (Kloss 1930: 396). Forty-nine
specimens listed on the current MZB spreadsheet are dated February 1900, and Dumas
could not personally have collected them, as he was at that time on the Mamberamo River
(see below). The date may represent when the collection was received or accessioned by the
MZB. The collector apparently sexed them. Also, this is the year that Dumas established
himself at Metu Debi [18], an island between Jotefa Bay [18] and Humboldt Bay, to hunt for
birds (Wichmann 1910-12: 172, Galis 1955: 14).

January 1900 On 14 April 1900, Rothschild noted in his 'Purchases' that he bought
46 bird skins from van Renesse van Duivenbode, but the collector was not mentioned.
This purchase was of Dumas' specimens from the Mamberamo River [20], known then as

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the Ambernoh River (Rothschild & Hartert 1901: 60). These specimens were not labelled
or dated, the locality having been provided by van Renesse van Duivenbode, and also
probably included specimens from Humboldt Bay. While Rothschild & Hartert (1903: 105-
106) felt that Dumas was 'unaware of the importance of localities' and combined specimens
from several places, Dumas, due to his long association with Everett, would have certainly
been aware of the importance of localities. It is more likely that the confusion was due to
van Renesse van Duivenbode, who was sometimes careless or misleading about localities in
order to protect his own interests (Swadling 1996: 73-74). Of the 46 specimens purchased,
there are 41 now in AMNH labeled 'Ambernoh River'. An additional 27 are labelled 'North
Coast' or 'nr. Humboldt Bay'. The locality and date are uncertain, and Rothschild probably
purchased additional specimens that are not noted in his 'Purchases'. Four new forms were
based on Dumas' specimens from the Mamberamo River or the north coast (see Appendix
A).

Dumas' stay on the Mamberamo River was documented by Wichmann (1910-12: 711-
712) in an interview with Dumas. On a voyage in the Camphuys in January 1900, Dumas was
put ashore with 30 Dyak helpers and eventually set up camp near Havik Island, apparently
with the notion of establishing a trading post. Following a severe outbreak of beri-beri
among the Dyaks, which proved fatal to eight, the party was picked up by the Camphuys
some 50 days later, where they recovered aboard the ship and went on to Humboldt Bay,
later returning to Java. This provided opportunity for specimens to have been collected
while the ship was at Humboldt Bay.

We have found no further evidence of purchases of Dumas material by Rothschild.
In 1932 the Rothschild Collection of birds was purchased by AMNH, and the Dumas
specimens in the Rothschild Collection referred to above are now in New York.

As was frequently the case, collectors sent their entire collections to Rothschild first, and
after selecting those specimens he wished to retain, he sent the remainder to dealers, usually
Edward Gerrard & Sons in London, to sell for the collector (Rothschild, 1983: 158). Most of
the specimens listed by Sharpe (1906: 360-361) as collected by Everett were purchased from
Gerrard and are in the bird collection of BMNH, now housed on the former Rothschild
estate at Tring, England. Sharpe probably would not have known of Dumas' involvement,
as Everett's labels have only his name on them. But Sharpe (1906: 342-343) listed two
purchases of Dumas' bird skins in 1899 and 1900 for a total of 94 specimens from northern
New Guinea, probably from among those turned over to Gerrard by Rothschild. One new
form was named by Ogilvie-Grant (1915: 163, see Appendix A) from among the BMNH
purchases. Many other museums also may have purchased earlier Dumas specimens from
Gerrard bearing only Everett's name, and other dealers probably became involved. There
are a few Dumas specimens in AMNH that were purchased by Leonard C. Sanford from
the dealer W. F. H. Rosenberg.

July-September 1901 In July 1901, L. A. van Oosterzee, Controleur van Noord-Nieuw-
Guinea, met Dumas on Metu Debi, where he had a trading post (Wichmann 1910-12:
768-769, Swadling 1996: 213). They made a trip inland with Lieutenant Schultz to Lake
Sentani [21 1 in order to ascertain its size, leaving the lake where it flows into the Djafuri
(now Jafuri) River at Pue and continuing on to the Tami River and back to Humboldt Bay.
On 12 September 1901, they made a second trip to Lake Sentani (Wichmann 1910-12: 769,
Lorentz 1905: 2-3, 63). The steamship on which van Oosterzee returned from Metu Debi
eventually reached Ternate on 15 October 1901 (Wichmann 1910-12: 769-770), and it is
possible that Dumas returned to Ternate at that time.

March-May 1902 After returning to Ternate from Humboldt Bay, Dumas went to
south-west New Guinea for the New Guinea Trading Company, arriving at Fak Fak [ 22 [ in

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March 1902 and travelling in the area between Cape Buru (which is probably at the mouth
of the Buru River) and the mouth of the Newerip River [23]. During this trip he found that
Mount Buru [24] was an isolated mountain and not part of the Charles Louis Mountains
and determined that the Utanata River was further west than the location established for
it by the Triton expedition in 1828. In addition to making observations along the coastline,
he got to know the coastal people, trading with them and publishing a Dutch-Mimika
wordlist (Dumas 1910). He made first contact with several local groups. Travelling by small
boat, Dumas entered the estuaries of many of the small rivers, and found that one could
travel this entire distance on interconnecting waterways without having to enter the ocean,
with local people assisting him from time to time in the shallow estuaries. Because he was
able to communicate with these people, he discovered that they moved inland during the
south-east monsoon to escape the stormy weather and the plagues of insects. Dumas spent
some time on the islands of Naurio and Puriri at the mouth of the Newerip hunting birds
of paradise (van Hille 1905: 318-321, Wichmann 1910-12: 793-794, van Steenis-Kruseman
1950: 145). Van Hille (1905) based his map no. 4 on Dumas' sketch of the area and noted
that when Dumas returned to Fak Fak in May 1902 following his explorations, he suffered
badly from malaria.

February-August 1903 The Wichmann Expedition, initiated by the Maatschappij ter
bevordering van Natuurkundig Onderzoek der Nederlandsche Kolonien (= Company for
the promotion of Biological Research of the Dutch Colonies, and sometimes referred to as
the Treub Company), was the first official expedition into Netherlands New Guinea, and
its purpose was to map the north coast, explore the area, search for coal, minerals and
forest products of commercial value, and make scientific studies. C. E. A. Wichmann (1917)
led the expedition and produced a detailed account of it: L. F. de Beaufort was zoologist;
H. A. Lorentz, ornithologist (assisted by J. W. van Nouhuys, commander of the steamer
Zeemeeuw that brought the party to Humboldt Bay); G. J. A. van der Sande, anthropologist
and ethnographer; and J. M. Dumas, bird collector. Wichmann (1917: viii) had met Dumas
in Ternate and he departed from there with the expedition.

In early 1903, Dumas left from Manokwari [25], on the coast of Geelvink (now
Cenderawasih) Bay and went to Humboldt Bay (Wichmann 1917: 96) ahead of the rest of the
expedition to make arrangements for an expedition camp at Metu Debi, an island between
Humboldt (now Yos Sudarso) Bay and Jotefa Bay, where he already owned a small house
from his previous travels (Wichmann 1917: 149). Dumas was on this trip to collect birds
(Wichmann 1917: 38), but after Wichmann arrived on 13 March 1903, he also assisted in the
movement of men and materials on the numerous inland journeys made to explore the area
(Wichmann 1917: 146-252). The fact that he also spoke various local languages and could
communicate with the indigenous people (Lorentz 1905: 16, 47) must have added greatly
to his value to the expedition. Dumas had brought with him 30 men from northern Borneo
(Dyaks) and the bird of paradise hunters Rassip and Maringi, the latter from Ternate. These
last two did most of the collecting during the trip; however, due to unrest in Ternate, they
left the expedition in June (Lorentz 1905: 3, 199).

A trip inland to Lake Sentani, carrying a boat with them, was accomplished with
Dumas' assistance. Many parts of the lake were explored and a list of specimens collected
is in Wichmann (1917: 208-210). Wichmann (1917: 187) also listed the plants and animals
collected on the Timena River. A route was pioneered to the Cyclops Mountains where
collecting was undertaken and a list of plants and animals collected was published
(Wichmann 1917: 194). Another trip was made along the coast to the Tami River [26] and on
to the village of Oinake, across the border into what was then German New Guinea (now
the village of Wutung [27] in Papua New Guinea). Animals collected on the Tami and the

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Moso rivers were also listed (Wichmann 1917: 228-230). This must have been a very difficult
trip. There are few details concerning the hardships, although Lorentz (1905: 3, 12) noted
that several Dyaks contracted beri-beri. Evelyn Cheesman (1941, 1949: 201-217) made this
same journey in 1938, and she provided details of this still little-known coastline. In May,
Dumas undertook an exploratory trip from Lake Sentani to the Tami River, through the
Sekanto River area and a list of animals collected is found in Wichmann (1917: 251). The
Jafuri area was also visited. Dumas' knowledge of the area from previous visits was of great
assistance on these exploratory journeys and Wichmann (1917: viii) considered himself
fortunate to have met Dumas in Ternate and to have had his expertise and experience
available. Dumas also took photographs during the expedition (Lorentz, 1905: 150) and
there are 131 photographs taken by Dumas between 1903 and 1910 at the KITLV / Royal
Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, Leiden.

The greater part of the bird collection was made near Humboldt Bay, where the
expedition remained four months, and was reported on by de Beaufort (1909). Dumas is
not mentioned in his report, but he was undoubtedly helping with the bird collecting. The
only mention we have come across is that he collected three Victoria Crowned Pigeons
Goura victoria, and the next day he went with de Beaufort to collect more birds (Wichmann
1917: 249), but he probably collected on all of the various excursions inland. He also
collected some plants after the departure of the plant collectors Atasrip and Djibja from
the expedition (van Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 145). Dumas remained with the Wichmann
expedition on its return, during which it made stops at some islands off northern New
Guinea and in Geelvink, now Cenderawasih Bay [28]. The 408 specimens from this
expedition were deposited in RMNH in October 1909.

On the return, the expedition stopped at Manokwari and ended at Ternate in August.
We were unable to find where Dumas disembarked or information on his whereabouts
between the end of the 1903 expedition and his joining the following expedition.

April-November 1907 In 1907, Dumas joined the first Netherlands South New Guinea
expedition, initiated by the Maatschappij ter bevordering van Natuurkundig Onderzoek
der Nederlandsche Kolonien and under the leadership of H. A. Lorentz, who would have
known Dumas from the 1903 expedition. G. M. Versteeg was the botanist on this expedition
and van Steenis-Kruseman (1950: 542-543) and Lorentz (1913: 2) gave details of the botanical
collections and an itinerary. From April to August 1907 they moved up the Noord River,
later renamed the Lorentz River and now known as the Unir River [29], going overland to
the Hellwig Mountains in September and making a further reconnaissance of the Reiger
and Dumas rivers in late September and early October. In November the expedition was
at Merauke.

E. D. van Oort (1909) reported on the 480 bird specimens collected, some of which were
collected at Merauke [30] between 6 and 25 November, at the end of the expedition. This
collection was deposited in RMNH. While Dumas is not mentioned by name in van Oort's
publication, he undoubtedly assisted in making the bird collection, and it was probably on
this expedition that the Dumas River was named for him.

Van Oort (1910a) reported on part of a collection made near Merauke between June
1907 and March 1908 by the Dutch Exploration Detachment. Twenty-nine specimens of 19
species from this collection were sent to van Oort by J. C. Koningsberger of the Museum
Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB) for identification, one of which was a new record for New
Guinea and another was described as a new subspecies. Apparently the remainder of the
collection was retained in MZB, where L. E. de Beaufort briefly examined it and reported
that it contained two cranes, at that time unreported from New Guinea. It is unclear from
van ( )ort s note whether the specimens he examined were retained in Leiden or returned to

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MZB, but the type of the new Oriolus sagittate! magnirostris is in RMNH (Dekker & Quaisser
2006: 54). The specimens were sexed, but undated. It is not certain that Dumas collected
these specimens, but he had returned to Merauke in November 1907 with the first Lorentz
expedition and left again in May 1908 to explore the Bloemen River (van Steenis-Kruseman
1950: 145), so it is probable that he did.

In July 1907, the Netherlands New Guinea government had begun a programme of
exploration 'the like of which New Guinea had never known before and would never
know again. The programme lasted seven years, cost 5,500,000 guilders, and involved
approximately 800 men' (Souter 1963: 131-132). The South New Guinea detachment began
by exploring the area around Merauke, then moved north-west along the coast, exploring
each major river as they came to it. Dumas became a part of this massive government
attempt to impose authority and discover possibilities for commercial development.

May 1908-January 1910 During this time, Dumas was a naturalist attached to the
government Exploration Detachment in southern Dutch New Guinea (van Steenis-
Kruseman 1950: 145). In May-June 1908, Dumas was on the Bloemen (Blumen) River, now
the Jatsy River [31] (between the Hellwig and Kasteel rivers), returning to Merauke on
15 June. From 29 June to 12 July 1908 his detachment went to the Utumbuwe River and
back to Merauke. They then made a 12-day reconnaissance between the Byan (now Bian)
River and the Merauke River [32], e.g. of the basin of the Kumbe River [33]. In September,
Dumas participated in more exploration of the same region until December 1908, when he
returned to Merauke. On 18 February-27 March 1909 he explored the basin of the Digul
River [34], tracing a path from the Digul to the Fly River and, subsequently, investigating
small tributaries of the lower Digul from April to July, under the leadership of L. Weber. It
was on this expedition that the snow atop Mount Juliana (now Mount Mendala [35]) was
first sighted. The one bird specimen in MZB collected by Dumas on the Digul River is dated
July 1909 and is listed both on the MZB spreadsheet and by Hartert (1932: 30). Beginning
in mid-November 1909, Dumas' detachment under the leadership of Captain A. B. W.
Schaeffer explored the region near and above the Kumbe River, but encountered difficulties
and its trip was aborted. Part of this detachment then went to the Eilanden River. Dumas
was with another part of the expedition under the leadership of Lieutenant van der Bie that
visited Frederik Hendrik (now Yos Sudarso) Island [36] on 19 January 1910 (Anon. 1916: 7,
van Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 145). We were unable to find documentation of any other bird
specimens collected by Dumas during this period.

Late 1909-1910 There were at least four expeditions collecting natural history
specimens in south-west New Guinea in late 1909-10. Lorentz was at the end of his second
expedition, the second Netherlands South New Guinea Expedition, during which his party
had entered the Lorentz River on 2 September 1909. Essentially following the path of the
first Lorentz expedition, they continued beyond and on 8 November 1909 (Lorentz 1911:
492) reached the snows of Mount Wilhelmina (now Mount Trikora [37]) in the Oranje (now
Jayawijaya) Range of the Snow (now Maoke) Mountains. G. M. Versteeg was the zoologist
and botanist on this expedition and D. Habbema was the commander of the military
detachment attached to it (van Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 209, Souter 1963: 133-135). Dumas
was not attached to this expedition, being on the Otakwa River at the time (see below). Van
Oort (1910b) described the new forms from this second expedition, and Junge (1937, 1939)
reported on all of the birds from the second Lorentz expedition.

Lorentz had been badly injured in a near-fatal fall when descending from the snows
of Mount Wilhelmina and spent many days of agonised travel back. On 15 December 1909
they reached Bivouac Island and awaited the arrival of the steamship Java (Lorentz 1911:

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

495), and 'after a short visit to the British expedition on the Mimika river [the Java] towed
us back to Java and safely landed us there' (Lorentz 1911: 479).

The British expedition Lorentz mentioned was the British Ornithologists' Union
Jubilee Expedition to New Guinea under the leadership of Walter Goodfellow, with A. F.
R. Wollaston as the zoologist. The Dutch authorities had agreed to allow them to enter the
Snow Mountains only after 1 January 1910 so as not to interfere with Lorentz's expedition,
and they had decided to explore the Mimika River [38] (Wollaston 1912: 2-3). Wollaston
(1912: 169) mentioned the visit to the British camp by Lorentz and his company on their
way back to Java, and Meek (1913: 211), Ogilvie-Grant (1915) and Souter (1963: 135-137)
provided information on the British expedition as well.

The Exploration Detachment set out on 9 April 1910 for the Otakwa River [39], going on
to the Carstensz Mountains (now the Jayawijaya Range) following the left tributary of the
Setekwa River, itself a tributary of the Otakwa. This expedition was under the command of
Captain J. J. van der Bie, with J. M. Dumas, surveyor and naturalist, three white sergeants
and approximately 50 native soldiers and convicts, and 20 Dyaks of north Borneo. The
Otakwa expedition of the Dutch was in the field for seven months in an attempt to cross
New Guinea via that river. Unfortunately, it led them to some of the highest mountains in
New Guinea. Because this route was not feasible, on 5 November 1910 the detachment was
withdrawn from the Otakwa and combined with another Dutch expedition already in the
field on the Eilanden River, probably that of Captain A. B. W. Schaeffer mentioned earlier,
arriving on 2 December 1910 (van Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 145, Wollaston 1912: 210).

With the Otakawa River Exploration Detachment was the Australian Albert S. Meek,
two assistants (probably the Eichhorn brothers), and ten men from the Australian part
of New Guinea. Meek had been allowed to join the Otakwa expedition and use the
government ship that supplied it. He left Merauke on 9 June 1910 to join the expedition and
made collections mostly at approximately 610 to 915 m on the Setekwa River, a tributary of
the Otakwa, where he set up his camp (Rothschild & Hartert 1913). Meek (1913: 209-213)
noted that he would have been unable to work there without the government force nearby,
because the local inhabitants were wild, nomadic and given to thievery. Meek undoubtedly
met Dumas during this period, but did not mention him by name in his book (Meek
1913). In 'December' 1910, Meek had a 'cordial offer' from the captain commanding the
Eilanden River Expedition to join his forces (Meek 1913: 216-217) and he left for the coast
on 16 'December' 1910 (probably November, the dates in Meek 1913 are unreliable; latest
specimen date from upper Setekwa is 16 November). Meek's collection was made for Lord
Walter Rothschild (see Rothschild & Hartert 1913) and the bird specimens are now in
AMNH.

Wollaston travelled from the site of the British expedition on the Mimika River to
Merauke in November 1910 on the Dutch government supply steamer, Valk, which serviced
various Dutch expeditions. En route they stopped at the Otakwa River to bring away the
Dutch Exploration Detachment that had been on that river. Wollaston (1912: 44) mentioned
that Mr Dumas of the Dutch expedition to the Utakwa (= Otakwa) River identified the slate
exposed on the face of Mount Carstensz (now Mount Jaya [40]) and that Meek 'had been
attached to the Dutch Expedition to make collections of birds and butterflies for a private
museum in England.' (Wollaston 1912: 210). All of the people from both parties were taken
aboard the Valk along with all their gear and live animals! Wollaston (1912: 212) particularly
mentioned the three cassowary eggs that Dumas brought aboard and that hatched on the
ship, and he was also impressed by the fine physical appearance and industriousness of the
Dyaks accompanying the Dutch detachment. Undoubtedly, it was a very heavily loaded
ship on its way to the Eilanden River.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

1910—11 The Eilanden (now Pulau [41]) River expedition had already been in the field
for some months, searching for a route across New Guinea that would intersect with an
upper tributary of the Sepik River, which flowed into the sea in German territory on the
north side of New Guinea. This attempt to cross the island was abandoned due to illness
(Wollaston 1912. 216—217) and the Vnlk left many of the men from the Otakwa expedition on
the Eilanden River, apparently to reorganise exploration. Dumas was among them and took
pait in exploration of the Eilanden River and 'A' and 'B' rivers, these last two apparently
tributaries of the Eilanden. This party returned to Merauke at the end of March 1911 (van
Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 145). Using the spreadsheet of Dumas skins from the Eilanden
River kindly provided to us by MZB and the Eilanden River specimens collected in 1911
and recorded by Hartert (1932) as being in MZB at that time, we have been able to compile
a list of 13 species collected by Dumas and his group in March and early April 1911.

Meek and his party were also left on the Eilanden River. He then went upriver c.240 km
by steamer to the boat moored there as a supply base for the Dutch expedition. After this
he went by launch for two days and then by canoe for four more days to 'Canoe Camp'.
Leaving supplies at the 'Canoe Camp' of the Dutch expedition. Meek traveled further
inland for four days to set up a mountain camp at approximately 1,980 m on Mount Goliath.
At this camp, with food not available from local people and supplies a four-day walk away,
Meek's hunters contracted beri-beri and three died. He broke camp and descended to the
coast apparently at the same time as the Dutch expedition. He left Dutch New Guinea
in March 1911 (Meek 1913: 230; latest specimen date 10 March). These specimens were
reported on by Rothschild & Hartert (1913) and are now in AMNH, but do not include any
Dumas specimens.

August 1911 In August 1911, and earlier, Dumas was involved in exploration of the 'A'
River, a tributary of the Eilanden River (this may be the river now known as the Brazza)
and the area west of it (van Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 145), but we have no information
on whether he was routinely collecting. There is, however, a specimen of Collared
Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus reported by both the MZB spreadsheet and by Hartert
(1932: 445) as having been collected by Dumas on the Eilanden River on 6 June 1911. This
shows that he was on the river prior to August.

Between 1911 (when he was 55 years old) and 1917, a further gap exists in our knowledge
of Dumas' activities. During this period, increased restrictions on the collection of birds of
paradise for the plume trade and the 1914 liquidation of van Renesse van Duivenbode's
company (Wichmann 1917: 387) along with the outbreak of World War I, which must have
led to a disruption in exploration of New Guinea by the Dutch government, probably
resulted in difficult times for Dumas. Very little is known about Dumas' later life.

1917 In approximately April-June 1917 when he was 61 years of age, Dumas was
in Palembang and Air Rawas, southern Sumatra, collecting plants for K. Heyne (van
Steenis-Kruseman 1950: 145). There is one undated Dumas bird specimen in MZB from
Tanjungkassau, Sumatra.

Dumas was employed c.1917 as a civil servant in the Dept, of Agriculture in Buitenzorg
(now Bogor), Java, and settled in that year at Tanahsareal, where he lived for the rest of his
life. Apparently, he continued to collect birds occasionally, as there are eight bird specimens
in MZB collected in 1923-24 from the vicinity of Bogor. Nothing is known about his first
marriage except that his wife was European and that they had one son, Charles Dumas
(1920-38). He married a second time, on 18 August 1921, to Philipina Tan Lien Nio (died
c.1938), of Chinese descent. Dumas died at Bogor at age 74 on 25 March 1931 (Dumas &
Dumas 1997).

Mary LeCroy & Justin J. F. J. Jansen

184

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Not only was Dumas a collector of natural history specimens, but his positions with the
various Dutch expeditions and with the Dutch Exploration Detachment included greater
responsibilities, based no doubt on his broad experience in the forests of New Guinea and
with the local inhabitants. His many journeys into difficult and unexplored areas, and the
respect of those who worked with him, as well as his continued employment by the Dutch
Exploration Detachment, point to him as an experienced and knowledgeable explorer.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Matthew Shanley for photographing the Dumas specimens illustrated, to E. C.
Dickinson for introducing the authors to one another, to Inge Fischer for translating from German some
of the material on Dumas, to S. Somadikarta and M. Irham for providing us with information on Dumas
specimens in MZB, to T. Trombone for a printout of Dumas specimens in AMNH, and to H. van Grouw and
S. van der Mije for providing access to relevant archives at RFINM. The following read an earlier draft of
this paper and offered many helpful and important suggestions for its improvement: R. W. R. J. Dekker, IT.
van Grouw, G. F. Mees, R. Prys-jones, S. Somadikarta and R. J. Vlek; we thank them most sincerely. Special
thanks to Paul Sweet and Elizabeth Frances who produced the map in Fig. 1.

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Addresses : Mary LeCroy, Dept, of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park W. at
79th St., New York, NY 10024, USA, e-mail: lecroy@amnh.org. Justin J. F. J. Jansen, Ravelijn 6, 5361 EJ
Grave, the Netherlands, e-mail: justin.jansen@gmail.com

Appendix A: types collected by Dumas

The following is a list of new taxa described, the types of which were collected by Dumas. This can only
be a very partial list, gleaned from new taxa from high altitudes when Dumas was the assistant to Everett
and from new taxa based on Dumas' later collections treated by Rothschild and / or Hartert, Stresemann,
Ogilvie-Grant and Vaurie. It is only a glimpse at the importance of the field prowess of Dumas and his men
and their contribution to ornithological knowledge at the him of the 20th century. Nomenclature follows
Dickinson (2003).

Bonthain Peak, Mount Lompobattang, southern Sulawesi

Spilospizias trinotatus haesitandus Hartert, 1896 [now Accipiter trinotatus Bonaparte, 1850]

Chlorocharis squamiceps Hartert, 1896 [now Lophozosterops s. squamiceps (Hartert, 1896)]

Cataponera turdoides Hartert, 1896 [now Cataponera t. turdoides Hartert, 1896]

Dendrobiastes hyperythra brunneicauda Stresemann, 1931 [now Ficedula hyperythra jugosae (Riley, 1921)]

Siphia bonthaina Hartert, 1896 [now Ficedula bonthaina (Hartert, 1896)]

Mount Repok, southern Flores

Pisorhina alfredi Hartert, 1897 [now Otus alfredi (Hartert, 1897)]

Pachycephala nudigula Hartert, 1897 [now Pachycephala n. nudigula Hartert, 1897]

Phyllergates everetti Hartert, 1897 [now Orthotomus cucullatus everetti (Hartert, 1897)]

Acanthopneuste floris Hartert, 1898 [now Phylloscopus presbytes floris (Hartert, 1898)]

Cryptolopha montis floris Hartert, 1897 [now Seicercus montis floris (Hartert, 1897)]

Pnoepyga everetti Rothschild, 1897 [now Pnoepyga pusilla everetti Rothschild, 1897]

Zoslerops superciliaris Hartert, 1897 [now Lophozosterops s. superciliaris (Hartert, 1897)]

Lophozosterops subcristatus Hartert, 1897 [now Lophozosterops dohertyi subcristatus Hartert, 1897]

Zosterops crassirostris Hartert, 1897 [now Fleleia crassirostris (Hartert, 1897)]

Brachypteryx floris Hartert, 1897 [now Brachypteryx montana floris Hartert, 1897]

Microeca oscillans Hartert, 1897 [now Rhinomyias o. oscillans (Hartert, 1897)]

Buru Island, Moluccas

Megapodius duperryi buruensis Stresemann, 1914 [now Megapodius forstenii buruensis Stresemann, 1914]
Reinwardtoena reimvardtii albida Hartert, 1900 [now Reinwardtoena r. reinwardtii (Temminck, 1824)]

Columba niada Hartert, 1899 [now Gymnophaps m. mada (Hartert, 1899)]

Prioniturus mada Hartert, 1900 [now Prioniturus mada Hartert, 1900]

Strix cayelii Hartert, 1900 [now Tyto sororcula cayelii (Hartert, 1900)]

Pachycephala melanura buruensis Hartert, 1899 [now Pachycephala macrorhyncha buruensis Hartert, 1899]
Rhipidura superflua Hartert, 1899 [now Rhipidura superflua Hartert, 1899]

Myiagra galeata buruensis Hartert, 1903 [now Myiagra galeata buruensis Hartert, 1903]

Phyllergates everetti dumasi Hartert, 1899 [now Orthotomus cucullatus dumasi (Hartert, 1899)]

Androphilus disturbans Hartert, 1900 [now Bradypterus castaneus disturbans (Hartert, 1900)]

Acanthopneuste buruensis Hartert, 1899 [now Phylloscopus poliocephalus everetti (Hartert, 1899)]

Geocichla dumasi Rothschild, 1899 [now Zoothera dumasi (Rothschild, 1899)]; cf. Fig. 5
Microeca addita Hartert, 1900 [now Rhinomyias additus (Hartert, 1900)|

Erythromyias buruensis Hartert, 1899 [now Ficedula b. buruensis (Hartert, 1899)]

Cinnyris zenobia buruensis Hartert, 1910 [now Cinnyris jugularis buruensis Hartert, 1910]

Morotai Island

Accipiter fasciatus mortyi Hartert, 1925 |now Accipiter novaehollandiae mortyi Hartert, 1925]

Myzomela simplex mortyana Hartert, 1903 [now Myzomela obscura mortyana Hartert, 1903]

Dicrurus hottcntottus morotensis Vaurie, 1946 [now Dicrurus bracteatus morotensis Vaurie, 1946|

Mount Moari, Vogelkop, west New Guinea

t rateroscelis rufobrunnea Rothschild & Hartert, 1900 [now Crateroscelis m. murina (P. L. Sclater, 1858)]
Mcllopitta gigantea Rothschild, 1899 [now Melampitta gigantea (Rothschild, 1 899) | ; cf. Fig. 4

Mamberamo River and north coast of west New Guinea

Nasiterna salvadorii Rothschild & 1 lartert, 1901 [now Micropsitta pusio beccarii (Salvadori, 1876)]

Fdoliisoma meyeri sharpei Rothschild & 1 lartert, 1903 [now Coracina incerta (Meyer, 1874)]

Poecilodryas brachyura dumasi Ogilvie-Grant, 1915 [now Poecilodryas brachyura dumasi Ogilvie-Grant, 1915]

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Dicaeum geelvinkianum diversum Rothschild & Hartert, 1903 [now Dicaeum geelvinkianum diversion Rothschild
& Hartert, 1903]

Appendix B: gazetteer

Coordinates are in degrees and minutes. Numbers in brackets refer to localities shown on the map (Fig. 1).

Air Rawas

02°42'S,

103U24'E

Alor Island [11]

08°15'S,

124°45'E

Ambernoh River, see Mamberamo River

Arfak Mountains [16]

01°05'S,

133°58'E

Atapupu [13]

09°00'S,

124°51'E

Bagelen

07°49'S,

110°01'E

Bara

03°08'S,

126°11'E

Barat River

05°23'S,

137°52'E

Batavia, see Jakarta

Bian River

08°07'S,

139°56'E

Bloemen River, see Jatsy River

Bogor

06°35'S,

106°47'E

Bonthain Peak, see Mount Lompobatang

Brazza River

05°21'S,

139°24'E

Buitenzorg, see Bogor

Buru Island

03°24'S,

126°40'E

Bum River

04°18'S,

134°56'E

Cape Oransbari

01°21'S,

134°15'E

Cenderawasih Bay [28]

02°30'S,

135°20'E

Cyclops Mountains [19]

02°32'S,

140°36'E

Digul River [34]

07°05'S,

138U42'E

Dumas River

05“00'S,

138°42'E

Eilanden River, see Pulau River

Ende Island

08°53'S,

121°32'E

Fak Fak [22]

02°55'S,

132°18'E

Frederik Hendrik Island, see Yos Sudarso Island

Geelvink Bay, see Cenderawasih Bay

Havik Island

02°20'S,

138°00'E

Hellwig River, see Barat River

Humboldt Bay, see Yos Sudarso Bay

Indrulaman

c.05°30'!

5, 120°05'E

Jafuri River

02°46'S,

140°44'E

Jakarta

06°10'S,

106°48'E

Jampea, see Tanahjampea

Jatsy River [31]

05°17'S,

137°45'E

Jayawijaya Range

04°30'S,

139°30'E

Jotefa Bay [18]

c.02°38'5

3, 140°44'E

Kalao Island [4]

07°18'S,

120"58'E

Kasteel River, see West Kasteel River

Kayeli

03°23'S,

127°06'E

Kumbe River [33]

08°21'S,

140°14'E

Labuan Island

05°19'N,

, 115°13'E

Lake Sentani [21]

02°36'S,

140°34'E

Lawas River

04°58'N,

, 115°25'E

Lingga Islands

00°00, 104°35'E

Lomblen Island [12]

08°25'S,

123H30'E

Lombok Island [5]

08°45'S,

116°30'E

Lorentz River, see Unir River

Mamberamo River [20]

01°26'S,

137°53'E

Mary LeCroy & Justin J. F. J. Jansen

188

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Manggarai District

08l,30'S,

120°15'E

Manokwari [25]

00l’52'S,

134°05'E

Merauke River [32]

cn

o

cp

oo

o

140°24'E

Merauke [30]

08o28'S,

140°20'E

Metu Debi [18]

c.02°37'!

5, 140”42'E

Mimika River [38]

04°42'S,

136°27'E

Moari [17]

01°21'S,

134°15'E

Morotai Island [15]

02°20N,

128l,40'E

Moso River

02”38'S,

140°56'E

Mount Buru [24]

04°14'S,

134°57'E

Mount Carstenz, see Mount Jaya

Mount Goliath

04°40'S,

139°52'E

Mount Jaya [40]

04"05'S,

137°11'E

Mount Juliana, see Mount Mandala

Mount Kapalatmada [14]

03°15'S,

126°09'E

Mount Lompobatang [1]

05°20'S,

119°55'E

Mount Mandala [35]

04°44'S,

140°20'E

Mount Repok [8|

08°45'S,

120°21’E

Mount Rinjani [5]

08U24'S,

1 16°28'E

Mount Trikora [37]

04°15'S,

138°45'E

Mount Wilhelmina, see Mount Trikora

Nanga Ramut [7]

c.08l’49T

3, 120"23'E

Newerip River [23]

04"52'S,

136°58'E

Noord River, see Unir River

Oinake, see Wutung

Oranje Range, see Jayawijaya Range

Otakwa River [39]

04°59'S,

137’13'E

Palembang

02°55'S,

104”45'E

Pantar Island [10]

08"25'S,

124l’07'E

Pue

02”42'S,

140U35'E

Pulau River [41]

05°50'S,

138‘T5'E

Puriri Island

04"55'S,

136l’53'E

Reiger River

04°52'S,

138"47'E

Sawu Island [6]

10°30'S,

12 P’54' E

Sekanto River

02°45'S,

140°48'E

Selayar Island [2]

06°05'S,

120U30'E

Setekwa River

04"54'S,

137°19'E

Sumba Island [9]

10°00'S,

120"00'E

Tami River [26]

02H37'S,

140”55'E

Tanahsareal

06"09'S,

106"48'E

Tanahjampea Island [3]

07"05'S,

120"42'E

Tanjungkassau

03°18'N

, 99°17'E

Tasoso

c.05°20'!

3, 119°55'E

Unir River [29|

05°23'S,

138°04'E

Utumbuwe River

05°30'S,

138°05'E

West Kasteel River

05°14'S,

137’40'E

Wutung [27]

02°35'S,

141l’02'E

Yos Sudarso Bay 1 18]

02'35'S,

140°45'E

Yos Sudarso Island [36]

07’50'S,

138‘30'E

© British Ornithologists' Club 201 I

Marc I. Forschler et al.

189

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Deuterium analysis reveals potential origin of the Fair Isle

Citril Finch Carduelis citrinella

Marc I. Forschler, Deryk N. Shaw & Franz Bairlein

Received 20 October 2010

Citril Finch Carduelis citrinella, one of Europe's few endemic birds, is restricted to the
continent's central and south-west mountains (Cramp & Perrins 1994). Eighty per cent of
the population is in Spain (Baccetti & Marki 1997), where it inhabits higher mountains from
the Pyrenees in the north over the Sistema Iberico in the centre to the Sierra Nevada in the
south. Elsewhere, Citril Finch occurs in the French Pyrenees, the Alps, the Black Forest,
the Vosges, the Jura, Mont Ventoux and the Massif Central / Cevennes (Cramp & Perrins
1994). Generally, it is rarely recorded far from its preferred habitat of semi-open montane
coniferous forests, especially those dominated by Pinus ssp. (Forschler & Kalko 2006).
Records of vagrants were summarised in Hyndman (2008). Most of the accepted records
are from areas close to the species' usual range and vagrancy potential must be considered
quite low, making it unsurprising that Citril Finch has never been recorded in Britain before.

Fiowever, on 6 June 2008 a Citril Finch arrived on Fair Isle, Shetland, and was well
documented with many photographs and video (Hyndman 2008). It remained there until
11 June. The bird was trapped and aged as an adult, based on Svensson (1992). All of the
greater wing-coverts were of the same age, fresh and green-fringed. Furthermore, the
rectrices were broad, rounded and fairly fresh, being more typical of older birds than first-
years. However it is known that some individuals have a complete post-juvenile moult
and would then resemble an adult, so the ageing of this individual cannot be absolutely
certain. Further details were presented in Hyndman (2008). The record was recently
accepted as involving a wild bird by the British Birds Rarities Committee (Hudson et al.
2010), and was placed in category A of the British list by the British Ornithologists' Union
Records Committee (BOURC 2011), who argued that the bird was wild because the species
is rarely kept in captivity and the individual showed no signs of captivity. A comparable
case was previously recorded in Finland, where an adult female was trapped with Siskins
Carduelis spinus in spring 1995 (Lindholm 1995). One of the Siskins had been trapped in
Italy before and the Citril Finch perhaps joined a flock of Siskins there, en route to Finland.
Nevertheless, this record was placed in category D by the Finnish rarities committee, due
to the lack of similar records elsewhere (Hyndman 2008).

To acquire some idea of the possible geographical origin of the Fair Isle bird, we
examined the deuterium values of several breast feathers shed during ringing. Using the
hydrogen isotope tracer method proposed by Bowen et al. (2005), we obtained a value
of 5 D = -92.43, which is equivalent to a deuterium value in the precipitation of 5 Dprec
= -66.5 (Bowen et al. 2005). Citril Finches moult on the breeding grounds. Therefore, we
used the Online Isotopes in Precipitation Calculator (Bowen & Revenaugh 2003, OIPC
2009) to compare this value with possible regions of provenance. We derived deuterium
precipitation values for 100 sites across the species' entire breeding range and ordered
them into six groups: (1) low mountains of the Sistema Iberico, Sistema Central, Cordillera
Cantabrica (77=17), (2) high mountains of the Western, Central and Eastern Pyrenees (77=22),
(3) low mountains of the Massif Central and Cevennes (77=13), (4) low mountains of the
Black Forest, Vosges and Jura (77=12), (5) high mountains of the Western and Mediterranean
Alps (77=10), and (6) high mountains of the Central and Eastern Alps (77=25). The Fair Isle
feather was assigned a probability of origin for each of the six breeding regions based on a

Marc I. Forschler et al.

190

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

khz

10

8

*

6

A

~ i t 3fc v« V* V* V* v* A tl

2

V ^ > * » * t * n v

o!5 L0 U5 2L0 2.5

3!o

3.5

Figure 1. Song and two alarm calls of the Fair Isle Citril Finch Carduelis citrinella taken from a video by Liz
Musser (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=35897570).

likelihood function (Wunder & Norris 2008). The assignment tests revealed high confidence
values. Of the 100 times repeated samples, 48% had probability values of originating from
the breeding region greater than 0.6, and 90% had probability values greater than 0.5. With
a probability of 93%, the Fair Isle bird's origin might be area 4 (Black Forest, Vosges and
Jura). Only 7% assigned it to area 6. Consequently, we may exclude that the bird originated
from the southern Spanish mountains, the higher Pyrenees, the Massif Central / Cevennes
and the Western Alps.

Analysis of the vocalisations of the Fair Isle bird revealed no clear pattern, because the
number of available recordings was too small. However, the short length of the song and
the compact trill at the beginning (Fig. 1) also favour a bird from more northerly breeding
sites. Indeed, very similar song structures can be found in the Black Forest population
(compare sonograms in Forschler & Kalko 2007).

That northern populations (areas 4-6) exhibit considerably stronger migratory
behaviour (Zink & Bairlein 1995) than southern populations additionally supports a
northern origin for the Fair Isle bird. Furthermore, the populations of area 4 are, with a min.
distance of 1,350 km, closer to Fair Isle than any other Citril Finch population. However, in
recent decades the species' populations in area 4 have declined dramatically (Forschler &
Dorka 2010) which should diminish their vagrancy potential. Alternatively, the occurrence
of an (apparent) adult in Scotland during the breeding season could even represent a sign
of progressive population disintegration.

In summary, our data indicate that the most likely area of origin of the Fair Isle Citril
Finch was the low mountains of the Black Forest, Vosges and Jura, in the north of the
species' range. Together with the immaculate plumage observed in the hand, the data
presented here argue in favour of it being a wild bird, as proposed by the BBRC (Hudson
et al. 2010) and BOURC (BOURC 2011). However, given that the longest migratory distance
recorded for Citril Finch is just 615 km (Cramp & Perrins 1994), it cannot be completely
excluded that the bird was caught in the wild and then illegally transported further north.

Acknowledgement

We thank Ivan Maggini for help with the deuterium analysis.

References:

Baccetti, N. & Marki, 1 1. 1997. Citril Finch Serinus citrinella. P. 711 in 1 lagemeijer, W. J. M. & Blair, M. ]. (eds.)

I hr F.BCC atlas of European breeding birds. T. & A. D. Poyser, London.

BOURC 2011. British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee: 39th Report (October 2010). Ibis 153:
228-229.

Bowen, C. J. & Revenaugh, J. 2003. Interpolating the isotopic composition of modern meteoric precipitation.
Water Resources Res. 39: doi: 1 0. 1 029/2003 WR002086.

Bowen, ]., Wassenaar, L. I. & Hobson, K. A. 2005. Global applications of stable hydrogen and oxygen
isotopes to wildlife forensics. Oecologia 143: 337-348.

( ramp, 5 & Perrins, C M (oils.) 1994, The birds of the Western Palearctic, vol. 8. Oxford Univ. Press.

Marc I. Forschler et al.

191

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Forschler, M. I. & Dorka, U. 2010. Citril Finch Carduelis citrinella faces extinction at the northern edge of its
distribution. Alaudn 78. 130-136.

Forschler, M. I. & Kalko, E. K. V. 2006. Breeding ecology and nest site selection in allopatric mainland Citril
finches Carduelis [citrinella] citrinella and insular Corsican finches Carduelis [ citrinella ] corsicanus. J. Orn.
147: 553-564.

Forschler, M. I. & Kalko, E. K. V. 2007. Geographic differentiation, acoustic adaptation and species
boundaries in mainland Citril finches and insular Corsican finches, super-species Carduelis [citrinella],
]. Biogeogr. 34: 1591-1600.

Fludson, N. & the Rarities Committee. 2010. Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 2009. Brit. Birds 210:
628-629.

Flyndman, T. 2008. The Citril Finch on Fair Isle - a new British bird. Birding World 21: 243-249.

Lindholm, A. 1995 Sitruunahemppo - kevaan yllattaja. Alula 1: 100-102.

OIPC. 2009. Online Isotopes in Precipitation Calculator, http://wateriso.eas.purdue.edu/waterisotopes/
pages/data_access/oipc.html (accessed 20 October 2010).

Svensson, L. 1992. Identification guide to European passerines. Fourth edn. Privately published, Stockholm.

VVunder, M. B. & Norris, D. R. 2008. Improved estimates of certainty in stable-isotope-based methods for
tracking migratory animals. Ecol. Appl. 18: 549-559.

Zink, G. & Bairlein, F. 1995. Zug europdischer Singvogel, Bd. 3. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden.

Addresses : Marc. I. Forschler & Franz Bairlein, Institute of Avian Research, An der Vogelwarte 21, 26386
Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Deryk N. Shaw, Fair Isle Bird Observatory, Fair Isle, Shetland ZE2 9JU, UK.

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Notes on the nests of five species in south-eastern Ecuador,
including the first breeding data for Black-and-white
Tody-Tyrant Poecilotriccus capitalis

by Guy M. Kirwan

Received 26 October 2010

Knowledge of the breeding ecology and seasons of Ecuadorian avifauna has increased
exponentially during the last decade, based almost entirely on the work of the Yanayacu
Natural History Research Group. Despite this increase in our understanding, many gaps
remain, some of which are even possible for the casual observer to fill through wholly
opportunistic observations. Here I describe breeding observations of five bird species,
all in the province of Zamora-Chinchipe, south-east Ecuador, made during the course of
other field work. For one species. Black-and-white Tody-Tyrant Poecilotriccus capitalis, the
information presented here appears to represent the first breeding data for this poorly
known bird. All measurements are estimates, unless otherwise stated.

STRIPED TREEHUNTER Thripadectes holostictus

A generally uncommon and somewhat patchily distributed Andean bird, from south-
west Venezuela to north-west Bolivia (Ridgely & Tudor 2009), the first description of its
nest and detailed breeding data were provided only very recently (Zyskowski & Greeney
2010). Together with J. Price, I discovered a nest of this species in a hole within a south-
facing earth bank, overhung and sheltered by rootlets, along the Quebrada Honda trail in
Tapichalapa Biological Reserve (04°30'S, 79o10'W), on 28 September 2010. Remarkably, the
first nest of this species to be described in the literature was found in a very similar situation
on the same trail, in November 2006 (Zyskowski & Greeney 2010). Precise measurements of
the hole were not taken but were clearly similar to those reported by Zyskowski & Greeney

Guv M. Kirvvan

192

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

(2010); however, the burrow we found was just c.l m above ground level. An adult flushed
from the nest as we walked the trail, whereupon we stationed ourselves c.10 m away and
waited for the bird to return in order to confirm identification. This it did after c.10 minutes,
albeit very cautiously, keeping low down in cover and moving slowly towards the nest
until it was directly opposite on the other side of the trail, then flying swiftly into the hole.
I had no further opportunity to conduct observations at this nest, and I am unaware of its
contents.

LINED ANTSHRIKE Thamnophilus tenuepunctatus

A relatively recently used but empty nest was seen at Copalinga Ecolodge, between Zamora
and Podocarpus National Park, on 1 October 2010; the user's identity was confirmed by
C. Witts (pers. comm.). The nest of this species has only been described once previously
(Greeney & Gelis 2007). That at Copalinga was very similar to the previous description,
including the 'tail' of hanging moss, but differed in being much lower above the ground,
just c.l m and was placed in the outer layer of a narrow ornamental hedge close to the
lodge's restaurant, which meant that people must have passed the nest several times per
day. Greeney & Gelis' nest (in north-east Ecuador) had eggs in late March; that discussed
here obviously more closely accorded with the general breeding periods for birds in the
south-east of the same country (Greeney et al. 2010).

BLACK-AND-WHITE TODY-TYRANT Poecilotriccus capitalis

Found across western Amazonia and adjacent foothills, from south-east Colombia south
to eastern Peru, disjunctly as far as dpto. Pasco, and in south-west Brazil at two localities
in Rondonia, as well as much more locally and sparsely across east Amazonian Brazil,
at single localities in northern Mato Grosso and south-east Para (Sick 1997, Zimmer et al.
1997, Walther 2004, Schulenberg et al. 2007). Its published altitudinal range reaches 1,350
m (Walther 2004, Ridgely & Tudor 2009), although the species is known to 1,500 m at
Wild Sumaco lodge, dpto. Napo, Ecuador (pers. obs.). The nest of P. capitalis is apparently
undescribed (Walther 2004; H. F. Greeney pers. comm.). On 4 October 2010, very close to
Cabanas Yankuam (04°14'54.03'S, 78°39'34.04'W), in the Cordillera del Condor near the
border with Peru, together with J. Price and S. Smith, I found a nest of this species under
construction. I discovered the nest when I heard this species' distinctive vocalisation and
shortly afterwards observed both members of a pair in the understorey a few metres distant.
After a few minutes, the male (this species is strongly sexually dimorphic in plumage) was
observed to visit the previously unseen nest, which was sited c.l. 3 m above ground in an
unidentified 2.5 m tall understorey tree. The general environs of the nest consisted of an
old treefall gap measuring c.10 m by 8 m, within old second growth with a canopy height
of c.25 m, and c.8 m from a stream. Immediately surrounding the nest tree was a dense
understorey with many fallen logs and large, exposed rocks. Dimensions of the nest (see
Fig. 1) were calculated using dial callipers and measured 143 mm top to bottom with a 'tail'
of vegetation extending an additional 120 mm below the main structure, and at its widest
point the nest measured 133 mm side to side. What was obviously the egg chamber was
sited in the upper half of the nest and measured 47.5 mm high by 55.0 mm wide externally.
I he nest was suspended from a very narrow branch, being sited approximately halfway
between the tree's main trunk and the branch's tip. It conformed to the type closed / ovoid
/ pensile, under the system proposed by Simon & Pacheco (2005) for describing nests of
Neotropical birds. Constituent materials included fine strips of bark, dark rootlets, living
and dead leaf parts, and rhizomorphs. Between 14.00 h and 15.00 of the same day, no
further activity was observed al the nest and the birds were silent.

Guy M. Kirwan

193

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Figure 1. Nest of Black-and-white Tody-Tyrant
Poecilotriccus capitalis, Cabanas Yankuam, prov.
Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador, 4 October 2010 (Guy
M. Kirwan)

Figure 3. Nest of Green-and-gold Tanager Tangarn
schrankii, with two nestlings, Copalinga Ecolodge,
prov. Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador, 1 October 2010
(Guy M. Kirwan)

Figure 2. Nest hole of White-thighed Swallow
Neochelidon tibinlis, Podocarpus National Park, prov.
Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador, 1 October 2010 (Guy
M. Kirwan)

Figure 4. Chicks of Green-and-gold Tanager Tangara
schrankii, Copalinga Ecolodge, prov. Zamora-
Chinchipe, Ecuador, 1 October 2010 (Guy M. Kirwan)

According to Walther (2004), the only species of Poecilotriccus for which breeding
data were previously available is Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher P. plumbeiceps, whose nest
(described from Argentina: de la Pena 1989) was broadly similar in being taller than wide,
with a 'tail' of vegetation dangling below it, and a more rotund egg chamber, as well as in
being suspended from a thin branch.

Guy M. Kirwan

194

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

WHITE-THIGHED SWALLOW Neochelidon tibialis

Rather local from eastern Panama, Colombia, southern Venezuela and the Guianas south
to northern Bolivia, as well as even more sparsely across Amazonia and in the Brazilian
Atlantic Forest (Ridgely & Tudor 2009). Turner (2004) mentioned that the species' breeding
biology is very poorly known, although the season appears to be January to May in
Colombia and Ecuador (cf. Hilty & Brown 1986, Cisneros-Heredia 2006), and February to
September in Panama (cf. Wetmore et al. 1984), while Kirwan (2009) described finding an
active nest in south-east Brazil in late February. I found a nest (Fig. 2) attended by both
adults along the trail into Podocarpus National Park along the rio Bombuscaro. The nest
was observed for a total of c.25 minutes, on 30 September and 1 October 2010; the adults
typically remained inside for 1-2 minutes, sometimes less, and one or other would visit
every 30 seconds to five minutes, always arriving and departing very rapidly. The nest itself
was located in a one-metre-tall bank beside the trail, c.75 cm above the ground, accessed via
a rather large near-circular hole, which became a tunnel, c.12 cm wide, and at least 1 m long,
which dipped slightly at the end (Fig. 2). The nest chamber itself was not visible. This is the
first nest to be found in Ecuador. That the species should also breed in the latter part of the
year in this part of the country is unsurprising, given that Greeney et al. (2010) assembled
breeding data for many birds in this region of Ecuador from the period August-December.
Other nests have also been in holes in banks, sometimes along rivers, as well as in old
woodpecker holes (Wetmore et al. 1984).

GREEN-AND-GOLD TANAGER Tangara schrankii

Nominate T. s. schrankii ranges across western Amazonia from south-east Colombia south
to northern Bolivia and east to northern Mato Grosso, Brazil (Ridgely & Tudor 2009).
Previously published breeding data for this species concern three nests, all found in eastern
Peru, in late July (eggs about to hatch), early August (eggs) and the second week of October
(under construction), the first of which was 75 cm above ground, the second 2 m above
ground in a small palm tree, and the last 1 m above ground (Marra 1990, Isler & Isler 1999).
C. Witts showed me a nest wherein the young had just hatched (probably the previous day),
placed c.1.7 m above the ground at the edge of a small, open-air orchidarium and >2 m from
the restaurant at Copalinga Ecolodge, between Zamora and Podocarpus National Park, on
29 September 2010 (Fig. 3). The nest was constructed in an unidentified tree c.6 m tall and
placed within (i.e. wholly supported by) a large, live bromeliad attached to the main trunk.
Many dead leaves (and some tiny living pieces), some green ferns, tiny particles of moss,
and some small sticks formed the outside of the nest; however, the nest was finely lined
with blackish and dark red fungal rootlets. The nest was well shaded by leaves from above.
From a few metres distance, while brooding the chicks, the adult was only just visible above
the nest's rim. The chicks were almost naked, with some fine dark grey down, principally
on the head and sides of the back (Fig. 4). On 1 October 2010, during a period when the
adult was away from the nest foraging, the nest was measured using dial callipers: outside
the cup was 120 mm by 97.5 mm at its widest, and 39.5 mm deep, while the egg cup was
39.4 mm by 42.5 mm, and 29.5 mm deep. Only one adult was ever observed in the vicinity
of the nest and feeding visits appeared to be irregular, based on my sporadic observations
over a three-day period. The only food proffered to the chicks appeared to be dark fruit
pulp, despite that the adult was regularly observed at the lodge's banana feeders. Following
each observed feed, the adult always brooded the chicks for at least ten minutes. Both chicks
fledged on 13 October 2010 and next day they were being fed by an adult at the lodge's
feeders (C. Witts in litt. 2010). It is worth remarking that C. Witts showed me an old nest

Guy M. Kirwan

195

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

of Green-and-gold Tanager, from the previous season, constructed just <10 cm above the
ground in a planted hedgerow near one of the visitor's cabins.

The timing of the Ecuador nest corresponds well with the previously available data
from Peru. Although Isler & Isler (1999) commented that the majority of Tangara construct
principally moss nests, Marra (1990) already demonstrated that this is not the case for
T. schrankii and Gonzaga & Castiglioni (2006) questioned whether it was really true for
some other species too, among them Brassy-breasted Tanager T. desmaresti. Nonetheless,
the preponderance of dead or dried material used in the nests of T. schrankii reported to
date, along with similar materials in nests of Lesser Antillean Tanager T. cucullata (Isler &
Isler 1999), does seem unusual. Wood et al. (1992), for instance, reported that a Paradise
Tanager T. chilensis nest in south-east Peru was principally, but not exclusively, constructed
of green moss. The use of fungal rhizomorphs as a lining material in Tangara nests was
already reported by Sick (1957) and confirmed by Gonzaga & Castiglioni (2006). Unlike the
observations reported by Gelis et al. (2006) at a nest of Golden Tanager Tangara arthus, visits
to feed the young were made by a single, silent adult, but the fledging period of c. 2 weeks
is similar in both species.

Acknowledgements

I thank D. Machin, J. Price and S. Smith for sharing some of the observations reported here, and Catherine
Witts for her hospitality and assistance at Copalinga. Harold Greeney provided a helpful critique of the
submitted manuscript.

References:

Cisneros-Heredia, D. F. 2006. Notes on breeding, behaviour and distribution of some birds in Ecuador. Bull.
Brit. Orn. Cl. 126: 153-164.

Gelis, R. A., Greeney, H. F. & Dingle, C. 2006. Cooperative breeding and first nest description for Golden
Tanager Tangara arthus. Cotinga 26: 79-81.

Gonzaga, L. P. & Castiglioni, G. 2006. Description of the nest and notes on the breeding behaviour of Brassy-
breasted Tanager Tangara desmaresti. Cotinga 25: 69-73.

Greeney, H. F. & Gelis, R. A. 2007. Breeding records from the north-east Andean foothills of Ecuador. Bull.
Brit. Orn. Cl. 127: 236-241.

Greeney, H. F., Juina J., M. E., Harris, J. B. C., Wickens, M. T., Winger, B., Gelis, R. A., Miller, E. T. & Solano-
Ugalde, A. 2010. Observations on the breeding biology of birds in south-east Ecuador. Bull. Brit. Orn.
Cl. 130: 61-68.

Hilty, S. L. & Brown, W. L. 1986. A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton Univ. Press.

Isler, M. L. & Isler, P. R. 1999. Tanagers. Second edn. Christopher Helm, London.

Kirwan, G. M. 2009. Notes on the breeding ecology and seasonality of some Brazilian birds. Rev. Bras. Orn.
17: 121-136.

Marra, P. P. 1990. Nest, eggs, and young of the Green-and-gold Tanager, with notes on timing of breeding.
Wilson Bull. 102: 346-348.

de la Pena, M. R. 1989. Guia de aves argentinas, vol. 5. Literature of Latin America, Buenos Aires.

Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 2009. Birds of South America: passerines. Christopher Helm, London.

Schulenberg, T. S., Stotz, D. F„ Lane, D. F., O'Neill, J. P. & Parker, T. A. 2007. Birds of Peru. Christopher Helm,
London.

Sick, H. 1957. RoRhaarpilze als Nestbau-Material brasilianischer Vogel. ]. Orn. 98: 421M31.

Sick, H. 1997. Ornitologia brasileira. Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro.

Simon, J. E. & Pacheco, S. 2005. On the standardization of nest descriptions of neotropical birds. Rev. Bras.
Orn. 13: 143-154.

Turner, A. K. 2004. Family Hirundinidae (swallows and martins). Pp. 602-685 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. &
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Walther, B. A. 2004. Black-and-white Tody-tyrant Poecilotriccus capitalis. P. 330 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. &
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Wetmore, A.'., Pasquier, R. F. & Olson, S. L. 1984. The birds of the Republic of Panama, pt. 4. Smithsonian
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Zimmer, K. J., Parker, T. A., Isler, M. L. & Isler, P. R. 1997. Survey of a southern Amazonian avifauna: the Alta
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Zyskowski, K. & Greeney, H. F. 2010. Review of nest architecture in Thripadectes treehunters (Furnariidae)
with descriptions of new nests from Ecuador. Condor 112: 176-182.

Address: 74 Waddington Street, Norwich NR2 4JS, UK, e-mail: GMKirwan@aol.com.

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Taxonomic notes on some Muscicapidae

by Dario Zuccon

Received 6 January 2011

The valid name of Slaty-backed Flycatcher

Pygmy Blue Flycatcher Muscicapella hodgsoni (Moore, 1854) is a tiny Oriental flycatcher.
Two independent studies, using in part different molecular markers, demonstrated that this
species is not related to the other blue flycatchers (Cyornis and Niltava), but instead belongs
to a clade including the majority of the Ficedula flycatchers and should be known as Ficedula
hodgsoni (Outlaw & Voelker 2006, Zuccon & Ericson 2010).

With the transfer of Muscicapella hodgsoni to Ficedula the name Ficedula hodgsonii (J.
Verreaux, 1871), in use for Slaty-backed Flycatcher, becomes preoccupied. Outlaw &
Voelker (2006) suggested that the valid name for Slaty-backed Flycatcher should be Ficedula
erithacus (Jerdon & Blyth, 1861). This does not appear to be correct.

Slaty-backed Flycatcher was originally described as Siphia erithacus Jerdon & Blyth,
1861, from a specimen collected in Sikkim (Jerdon 1862; holotype in the Natural Flistory
Museum [BMNH], Tring, examined: BMNH 1886.4.1.1913). This name is preoccupied by
Siphia erythaca Jerdon, 1847, currently a subjective junior synonym of Mugimaki Flycatcher
Ficedula mugimaki (Temminck, 1836). The names erithacus and erythaca differ only in the use
of i or y and according to Art. 58.2 of the International code of zoological nomenclature (hereafter
the Code, ICZN 1999) they are deemed variant spellings. The two names are thus primary
homonyms (Art. 53.3.1) and Siphia erithacus Jerdon & Blyth, 1861, is invalid.

The next available name is Siphia hodgsonii J. Verreaux, 1871, described from a single
male collected at Moupin (= Baoxing County, Sichuan) by A. David (Verreaux, 1872;
holotype in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle [MNF1N], Paris, examined: MNHN
CG. 1870-665).

During an expedition to the Naga Hills, Godwin-Austen (1874) collected four specimens
of Slaty-backed Flycatcher at Japvo Peak, Nagaland. The single male was identified as Siphia
erithaca but the three females were presumed to belong to an unknown form and they were
described as a distinct species, Erythrosterna sordida Godwin-Austen, 1874 (syntvpes in
BMNH examined: BMNH 1895.7.14.395, 1895.7.14.396, 1895.7.14.397).

Oates (1883, 1890) was the first to apply the trivial name hodgsonii as the valid name
to the Slaty-backed Flycatcher, recognising that Siphia erithacus Jerdon & Blyth, 1861, was
invalid due to primary homonymy and that Erythrosterna sordida Godwin-Austen, 1874, was
a junior synonym. The same treatment was followed by Sharpe (1903).

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Given that Siphia hodgsonii J. Verreaux, 1871, is preoccupied, the next available name is
Erythrosterna sordida Godwin-Austen, 1874, and the valid name for Slaty-backed Flycatcher
becomes Ficedula sordida (Godwin-Austen, 1874).

The valid subfamily name of the African forest robins assemblage

The African forest robins are a group of mostly forest-dwelling chats dominated by
the African genera Cossypha, Sheppardia, Stiphromis and Pseudalethe, but including also the
Palearctic Erithacus rubecula (Beresford 2003, Sangster et al. 2010, Zuccon & Ericson 2010).
According to the results of two recent studies (Sangster et al 2010, Zuccon & Ericson 2010),
the group forms a well-supported monophyletic clade.

Sangster et al. (2010) suggested that this clade deserves formal recognition as a distinct
subfamily. They proposed to resurrect the name Erithacinae G. R. Gray, 1846 (justified
emendation of the original spelling subfamily Erythacinae, p. 177, in agreement with
Art. 32.5.3: the type genus Erythacus 'Cuv.' G. R. Gray, 1846 is an unjustified emendation
of Erithacus Cuvier, 1800), but their choice does not appear to be correct. The name
Cossyphinae Vigors, 1825 (original spelling subfamily Cossyphina, p. 395, type genus
Cossypha Vigors, 1825) predates the name Erithacinae. Cossyphinae is available and would
be the valid name if the clade warrants a formal family-group name.

The valid generic name of some African forest robins

The genus Cossypha is polyphyletic (Beresford 2003, Sangster et al. 2010, Voelker et al.
2010). Investigating the phylogenetic relationships in a subgroup of African forest robins,
Voelker et al. (2010) identified a well-supported clade including three species of forest
robins. Cape Robin-Chat Cossypha caffra, Archer's Ground Robin C. archeri and Olive-
flanked Ground Robin C. anomala. These three species are sister to the genus Sheppardia and
removed from the other species usually included in Cossypha. Voelker et al. (2010) suggested
that the clade deserves recognition as a distinct genus and proposed resurrecting the genus
Callene, affirming that ‘Callene was used for the original description of anomala'. This choice
does not appear to be correct.

The genus name Callene Blyth, 1847, was proposed as a replacement name for
Cinclidium Blyth, 1842, on grounds of the use of Cinclidium Swartz in Schrader, 1803, in
botany. The replacement was unnecessary because zoological nomenclature is independent
from other systems of nomenclature (Art. 1.4) and the genus Cinclidium remains valid.
Notwithstanding any subsequent use, Callene Blyth, 1847, is an objective junior synonym of
Cinclidium Blyth, 1842, and has the same type species as the latter: Cinclidium frontale Blyth,
1842 (Art. 67.8). Therefore Callene is not applicable to the three Cossypha species.

Current understanding of the relationships within the African forest robins is far from
satisfactory and at the present stage any taxonomic change is unwarranted. All phylogenetic
analyses of this group to date have suffered from incomplete taxon sampling and the results
are surprisingly highly incongruent (Roy et al. 2001, Beresford 2003, Beresford et al. 2004,
Sangster et al. 2010, Voelker et al. 2010, Zuccon & Ericson 2010). On the basis of the results
presented by Voelker et al. (2010), the merging of the three Cossypha species in Sheppardia
would be equally plausible. But, should the three Cossypha species be found to deserve
separate generic status, the valid name is Caffrornis Roberts, 1922 (type species Motacilla
caffra Linnaeus, 1771). Caffrornis is masculine and the correct combinations would be
Caffrornis caffer, C. archeri and C. anomalus.

Dario Zuccon

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

The name of the Cyomis-Niltava group

The Old World flycatchers belonging to the subfamily Muscicapinae sensit Dickinson
(2003) are polyphyletic, forming three distinct clades nested within the chats, subfamily
Saxicolinae (Sangster et al. 2010, Zuccon & Ericson 2010). One of these clades comprises
the majority of the south-east Asian flycatchers, including the genera Cyanoptila, Cyornis,
Eumyias, Niltava and some species of Ficedula and Rhinomyias.

Sangster et al. (2010) proposed to recognise this clade as a separate subfamily. No names
appear to be available, and they erected the new name 'Niltavinae' for the Cyomis-Niltava
group. However, the description of the new subfamily does not meet the requirement of
the Code and the new subfamily name is not available. The Code requires that all family-
group names proposed after 1999 must fulfill three requirements to be available: (1) the new
name must include a statement that it is intended as new, such as 'fam. nov.' or equivalent
(Art. 16.1); (2) the type genus must be designated explicitly (Art. 16.2); and (3) the name
must 'be accompanied by a description or definition that states in words characters that
are purported to differentiate the taxon, or be accompanied by a bibliographic reference to
such a published statement, ... or be proposed expressly as a new replacement name (nomen
novum) for an available name ...' (Art. 13.1).

Although Sangster et al. (2010) fulfilled the first two requirements, they failed to
provide a diagnosis in the formal description of the new subfamily (p. 386). In the general
discussion of the Cyomis-Niltava group Sangster et al. merely stated that 'in these genera,
except F. moniliger and Rhinomyias, males of most or all species ( Niltava , Cyornis, Cyanoptila)
or both sexes (Eumyias) have blue upperparts' (p. 387). Although the sentence might be
mistaken for a valid diagnosis, it does not qualify as such. In fact the Code explicitly
requires that the diagnostic characters must differentiate the new taxon from other groups.
The blue upperparts are not shared by all members of the Niltava-Cyornis group, and this
character is not diagnostic of some of them to the exclusion of other Muscicapidae. Some
or all members of the genera Cinclidium, Ficedula, Myiomela, Myophoneus and Tarsiger also
possess blue upperparts, but they do not belong to the Cyomis-Niltava group. Hence the
name 'Niltavinae' is a nomen nudum and at present it is not available.

Acknowledgements

The staff of the Natural History Museum at Tring (Robert Prys-Jones, Mark Adams, Alison Harding) and of
the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris (Anne Previato) kindly permitted me to examine relevant
type material and helped access the historical literature. Comments from Edward Dickinson, Bob Dowsett
and Richard Schodde on the submitted manuscript are gratefully acknowledged.

References:

Beresford, P. 2003. Molecular systematics of Alethe, Sheppardia and some other African robins (Muscicapoidea).
Ostrich 74: 58-73.

Beresford, P., Fjeldsa, J. & Kiure, J. 2004. A new species of akalat (Sheppardia) narrowly endemic in the Eastern
Arc of Tanzania. Auk 121: 23-24.

Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn.
Christopher Helm, London.

Godwin-Austen, H. H. 1874. Fourth list of birds principally from the Naga Hills and Munipur, including
others from the Khasi, Garo, and Tipperah Hills. /. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 43: 151-180.

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological
nomenclature. Fourth edn. The International Trust of Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History
Museum, London.

Jerdon, I. C. 1862. The birds of India, vol. 1. Military Orphan Press, Calcutta.

Oates, E. W. 1883. A handbook to the birds of British Burntah, vol. 1. R. H. Porter, London.

Oates, L. W. 1890. rhe fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds, vol. 2. Taylor & Francis, London.
Outlaw, D. C. & Voelker, G. 2006. Systematics of Ficedula flycatchers (Muscicapidae): a molecular
reassessment of a taxonomic enigma. Mol. Pln/I. & Evol. 41: 1 18-126.

Dario Zuccon

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Roy, M. S., Sponer, R. & Fjeldsa, J. 2001. Molecular systematics and evolutionary history of akalats (genus
Sheppardia ): a pre-Pleistocene radiation in a group of African forest birds. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 18: 74-83.

Sangster, G., Alstrom, Pv Forsmark, E. & Olsson, U. 2010. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis of Old World
chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves:
Muscicapidae). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 57: 380-392.

Sharpe, R. B. 1903. A hand-list of the genera and species of birds, vol. 4. Trustees of the Brit. Mus., London.

Verreaux, J. 1872. Description des oiseaux nouveaux ou incompletement connus collectes par M. 1'Abbe
Armand David pendant son voyage dans le Thibet Oriental et la partie adjacente de la Chine. Nouv.
Arch. Mns. Hist. Nat. Paris VII, Bull : 25-66.

Voelker, G., Outlaw, R. K. & Bowie, R. C. K. 2010. Pliocene forest dynamics as a primary driver of African
bird speciation. Global Ecol. & Biogeogr. 19: 111-121.

Zuccon, D. & Ericson, P. G. P. 2010. A multi-gene phylogeny disentangles the chat-flycatcher complex. Zool.
Scripta 29: 213-224.

Address : UMS 2700, Service de Systematique Moleculaire, Departement Systematique et Evolution, Museum
National d Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier CP 26, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France, e-mail: dario.zuccon@
libero.it

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

A new name for the Montserrat Forest Thrush

by Dario Zuccon

Received 6 January 2011

Two independent studies analysed phylogenetic relationships in the genus Turdus and
related taxa, showing that the genera Cichlherminia, Nesocichla and Platycichla are deeply
nested within Turdus and should be merged in the latter (Voelker et at. 2007, Nylander et
al. 2008).

The subspecies of Forest Thrush endemic to Montserrat Island has consistently been
recognised as a valid taxon (Sharpe 1903, Hellmayr 1934, Bond 1956, Ripley 1964, Clement
& Hathway 2000, Dickinson 2003, Collar 2005) and is currently known as Cichlherminia
Iherminieri lawrencii Cory, 1891 (original combination Cichlherminia lawrencii Cory, 1891).
With the merging of Cichlherminia in Turdus, the name lawrencii becomes preoccupied by
Turdus lawrencii Coues, 1880. No junior synonyms exist for the Montserrat Forest Thrush
and I propose:

Turdus Iherminieri montserrati nom. nov.

as a replacement name for Cichlherminia lawrencii Cory, 1891. The name refers to the
subspecies' range.

References:

Bond, J. 1956. Check-list of birds of the West Indies. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

Clement, P. & Hathway, R. 2000. Thrushes. Christopher Helm, London.

Collar, N. J. 2005. Family Turdidae (thrushes). Pp. 514-811 in del Hoyo. J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.)

Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 10. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn.
Christopher Helm, London.

Hellmayr, C. E. 1934. Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands, pt. 7. Publ. Field Mus. Nat.
Hist. Zool. Ser. 13(7).

Nylander, J. A. A., Olsson, U., Alstrom, P. & Sanmartin, I. 2008. Accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty in
biogeography: a Bayesian approach to dispersal-vicariance analysis of the thrushes (Aves: Turdus). Syst.
Biol. 57: 257-268.

Johan Ingels et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Ripley, S. D. 1964. Subfamily Turdinae. Pp. 13-227 in Deignan, H. G., Paynter, R. A. & Ripley, S. D. (eds.)

Check-list of the birds of the world, vol. 10. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, MA.

Sharpe, R. B. 1903. A hand-list of the genera and species of birds, vol. 4. Trustees of the Brit. Mus., London.
Voelker, G., Rohwer, S., Bowie, R. C. K. & Outlaw, D. C. 2007. Molecular systematics of a speciose,
cosmopolitan songbird genus: defining the limits of, and relationships among, the Turdus thrushes. Mol.
Phyl. & Evol. 42: 422-434.

Address: Dario Zuccon, UMS 2700, Service de Systematique Moleculaire, Departement Systematique et
Evolution, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier CP 26, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France,
e-mail: dario.zuccon@libero.it

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Little Wood Rail Aramides mangle, a Brazilian endemic,

found in French Guiana

by Johan Ingels , Maxime Dechelle & Rasmus Bogh

Received 18 January 2011

Little Wood Rail Aramides mangle is the smallest (c.30 cm) of the seven Neotropical
Aramides species. It occurs in coastal eastern Brazil between approximately 00°S and 25°S,
i.e. from north-east Para to south-east Parana (Taylor & van Perlo 1998). An early claim of
its occurrence as far north as Guyana lacked evidence (Burmeister 1856), and following
Peters (1934) and Hellmayr & Conover (1942) subsequent authors have considered Little
Wood Rail as a Brazilian endemic (Meyer de Schauensee 1970, Taylor 1996, Taylor & van
Perlo 1998).

figure* I I ittle Wood Rail Aramides mangle, Kourou River, Kourou, french Guiana, 10 lulv 2010 (Maxime
Dechelle)

Johan Ingels et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

A. mangle occurs in dense coastal mangroves, swamps and nearby forest, although
it also occurs inland, with records from humid highland forest in the Serra do Mar and
northern Ceara, and in dense caatinga, sometimes far from water, in the interior from
Ceara to Bahia (Sick 1993, Taylor 1996, Taylor & van Berio 1998, Albano & Girao 2008,
Redies 2010). However, it is uncertain if the species is resident in the Caatinga, or whether
it departs in the dry season, as this wood rail probably undertakes local migrations (Sick
1993, Redies 2010).

Just one species of Aramides is known in French Guiana. Grey-necked Wood Rail A.
cajanea is a large wood rail (c.40 cm), widespread but local in marshy areas and along creeks
in lowland forest. Its head to upper mantle and breast is grey, and there is a faint to distinct
rufous patch on the occiput (Tostain et al. 1992, Taylor 1996, Taylor & van Perlo 1998).
Undocumented records of the small Rufous-necked Wood Rail A. axillaris (Tostain et al.
1992) are now considered unreliable and the species is excluded from the avifauna of French
Guiana by the Comite d'Homologation de Guyane (CHG) (O. Claessens & A. Renaudier
pers. comm.). A. axillaris is only slightly larger than Little Wood Rail, and its head, neck and
ventral plumage are typically bright chestnut.

On 10 July 2010 at 10.47 h, MD photographed a wood rail (Fig. 1) foraging at low
tide in mangrove along the Kourou River near the port in the centre of Kourou (05°09'N,
52°39'W), c.l km from the Atlantic coast. MD identified the bird as a Grey-necked Wood
Rail, but when RB saw the photographs, he identified it as A. mangle, which was confirmed
by JI. Little Wood Rail differs from all congeners in having a red base to the maxilla, and in
the grey hindneck and rufous lower foreneck. These are the main diagnostic characters for
identification. Moreover, rufous on the belly extending to the lower breast and therefore not
forming a clear-cut 'band' distinguishes it from Grey-necked Wood Rail. The record was
validated by the CHG as the first documented record of Little Wood Rail for French Guiana
and the Guiana Shield (O. Claessens & A. Renaudier pers. comm.).

The discovery of Little Wood Rail so far north of the Amazon was most unexpected.
The distance along the Atlantic coast between its northernmost Brazilian locality, Vista
Alegre do Para, near Marapanim (00°39'S, 47°45'W) in extreme north-east Para (Novaes
1981), and Kourou at 05°N in French Guiana, is c.900 km. Further observations are needed
to establish whether resident populations of Little Wood Rail occur in Amapa (Brazil) and
French Guiana, or whether this bird was a vagrant. The latter hypothesis seems more likely,
considering the species' known range. If so, the occurrence of a Little Wood Rail so far from
its breeding grounds and north of the Amazon illustrates the species' dispersive capabilities,
as already noted for other Rallidae (Remsen & Parker 1990). Should a resident population
in French Guiana be confirmed, then this Aramides would no longer be a Brazilian endemic.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Alexandre Renaudier, Olivier Claessens and the Comite d Homologation de Guyane for
information concerning the record's validation. We are obliged to Frederick Brammer, Olivier Claessens and
Des Jackson for providing important literature and for helpful comments on the manuscript.

References:

Albano, C. & Girao, W. 2008. Aves das matas umidas das serras de Aratanha, Baturite e Maranguape, Ceara.
Rev. Bras. Orn. 16: 142-154.

Burmeister, H. 1856. Systematische Uebersicht der Thiere Brasiliens, welche wdhrend einer Reise durch die Provinzen
von Rio de Janeiro und Minns geraes gesnnuuelt odcr beobachtet warden, Teil 3. Verlag Geoig Reimer, Beilin.
Hellmayr, C. E. & Conover, B. 1942. Catalogue of birds of the Americas and adjacent islands, pt. 1(1). Publ.
Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 13(1).

Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1970. A guide to the birds of South America. Livingston Publishing, Wynnewood, PA.
Novaes, F. C. 1981. Sobre algumas aves do litoral do Estado do Para. Anais Soc. Sul-Riogrand. Orn. 2: 5-8.
Peters, J. L. 1934. Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 2. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, MA.

Mateo Lopez-Victoria et al.

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Redies, H. 2010. Little Wood Rail Aramides mangle in the Caatinga: vocalisations and habitat. Cotinga 32:
137-141.

Remsen, J. V. & Parker, T. A. 1990. Seasonal distribution of the Azure Gallinule (Porphyrula flavirostris), with
comments on vagrancy in rails and gallinules. Wilson Bull. 102: 380-399.

Sick, H. 1993. Birds in Brazil: a natural history. Princeton Univ. Press.

Taylor, P. B. 1996. Family Rallidae (rails, gallinules and coots). Pp. 108-209 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. &
Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Taylor, B. & van Perlo, B. 1998. Rails. A guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules and coots of the world. Pica Press,
Robertsbridge.

Tostain, O., Dujardin, J.-L., Erard, C. & Thiollay, J.-M. 1992. Oiseaux de Gayane. Societe d'Etudes
Ornithologiques, Brunoy.

Addresses: Johan Ingels, Galgenberglaan 9, B-9070 Destelbergen, Belgium, e-mail: johan.ingels@skynet.be.
Maxime Dechelle, 34ter rue de Villandry, F-37130 Lignieres de Touraine, France, e-mail: anubisl8mx@
hotmail.fr. Rasmus Bogh, Asgaardsvej 20, DK-8700 ITorsens, Denmark, e-mail: rasmus_boegh@yahoo.
dk

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Unusual offshore record of Snail Kite
Rostrhamus sociabilis on Malpelo Island, Colombia,

Eastern Tropical Pacific

by Mateo Lopez-Victoria , Oliver Kroll & Felipe A. Estela

Received 1 February 201 1

Snail Kite Rostrhamus sociabilis is a highly specialised predator that feeds primarily
on freshwater snails of the genus Pomacea, but occasionally on other prey (i.e. Marissa
snails, crayfish and freshwater crabs: Sykes et al. 1995). The species is widely distributed in
wetlands from Florida to northern Argentina. Although Snail Kite is not considered a long-
distance migrant, there are well-supported data concerning dispersal events on the Florida
peninsula and between Florida and Cuba (Takekawa & Beissinger 1989, Angehr 1999).
Furthermore, in many areas it has established new populations prior to significant changes
in the ecological integrity of the wetlands and the appearance of Pomacea. Most ecological
changes are related to pollution or other strong perturbations, which promote the presence
of freshwaters snails that live in water highly saturated with organic loads (Angehr 1999,
Estela & Naranjo 2005).

Malpelo Island is 1.6 km long, with a max. width of 700 m and max. altitude of 300
m, and lacks any permanent fresh water. The island lies c.380 km off the Pacific coast of
Colombia, it is of volcanic origin and is almost completely devoid of plants (Lopez-Victoria
& Rozo 2006). Although species richness is low, the island harbours three endemic lizard
species, one endemic land crab, and >80 other invertebrates, including two species of land
snails (cf. Subulinidae and cf. Thysanophoridae). Seven seabird species breed and 53 other
bird species have been recorded, some only as vagrants (Lopez-Victoria & Estela 2007).

During a field trip to Malpelo on 13-17 February 2010, MLV & OK observed six
Snail Kites (Fig. 1). They were positively identified by their red i rides, white under- and
uppertail-coverts, long slender and strongly decurved black bill, longish square tail, and
orange-red legs and cere in males (Fig. lb). The kites started flying around at 09.00 h daily,
when air temperatures increased, and remained on or above the summit of the island
most of the day. We climbed Malpelo's peaks on four occasions to photograph them and

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

to document their various plumages. We
regularly observed the kites drinking water
at a small temporal pond near the summit,
at 250 m elevation. During more than eight
hours of observations we never saw any
of the kites feeding on the ground, but we
photographed two individuals carrying
land crabs in their talons, which suggests
they were feeding on them (Fig. lc). Five
months later (8 July to 4 August 2010) FAE
returned to Malpelo but did not observe
any Snail Kites.

Recent records of Snail Kites outside
the species' previously known range have
been related to climatic conditions (e.g.,
in South Carolina: Dias 2007). However,
the greater number of 'accidental'
occurrences could also be due to the
species' increasing populations, or to a
larger numbers of observers over wider
areas (i.e. in El Salvador: Herrera et al.

2006). Although Peregrine Falcon Falco
peregrinus and Osprey Pandion haliaetus
have been recorded on Malpelo during the
boreal winter and on many other islands
(Lopez-Victoria & Estela 2007), this is the
first record of Snail Kite on an oceanic
island in the Pacific. It also provides an
example of how this specialised bird
species survives, at least during migration
or for short periods, feeding on alternative
prey available on remote islands.

Small, highly isolated oceanic islands
have low species richness and few, if
any, sources of fresh water (Whittaker
& Fernandez-Palacios 2007), thus Snail
Kites are unlikely to establish viable local
populations. Requirements for a species
to successfully colonise a remote island
include, among others: (a) sufficient
individuals of both sexes to guarantee
genetic variability to maintain the incipient population, (b) sufficient suitable food, and
(c) suitable environmental conditions for breeding (Whittaker & Fernandez-Palacios 2007).

We consider that the birds we recorded on Mapelo were migrants, probably en route
from Central America to South America, which were displaced from the main overland
route by a storm or strong winds. Similar, long-distance accidental dispersal of other
raptors has been suggested as the main process responsible for species diversification
('migration dosing'; Bildstein 2004). To our knowledge, this record on Malpelo is the longest

Figure 1. Snail Kites Rostrhamus sociabilis on Malpelo
Island, Colombia: (a) juvenile in flight, (b) adult
male at rest with a Nazca Booby Sulci grand in the
background, and (c) female in flight carrying a land
crab (Mateo Lopez-Victoria)

Mateo Lopez-Victoria et al.

204

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

movement recorded for Snail Kite, and it illustrates an example of long-distance dispersal
to habitat unsuitable for the species.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the financial and logistical support provided by the Dept, of Animal Ecology at Justus-

Liebig University, the Marine and Coastal Research Institute (INVEMAR), the Colombian Ministry of the

Environment, Housing and Territorial Development, the Malpelo Foundation (Seascape Scientific Cruises)

and the Colombian navy. In particular, we acknowledge the field support provided by navy personnel on

Malpelo, and E. Tompkins and S. Seipke for reviewing the manuscript. This is the contribution no. 1079 of

INVEMAR.

References:

Angehr, G. R. 1999. Rapid long-distance colonization of Lake Gatun, Panama, by Snail Kites. Wilson Bull.
Ill: 265-268.

Bildstein, K. L. 2004. Raptor migration in the Neotropics: patterns, processes, and consequences. Orn. Neotrop.
15 (Suppl.): 83-99.

Dias, N. 2007. Everglade Snail Kite discovered near Rimini, SC. www.crbo.net/SC_SnailKite.html (accessed
January 2011).

Estela, F. A. <& Naranjo, L. G. 2005. Segregacion en el tamano de caracoles depredados por el Gavilan
Caracolero ( Rostrhamus sociabilis) y el Carrao (Aramus guarauna) en el suroccidente de Colombia. Orn.
Colombiana 3: 36-41 .

Herrera, N. A., Rivera, R., Ibarra-Portillo, R. & Rodriguez, W. 2006. Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El
Salvador. Bol. Soc. Antioquefia Orn. 16: 1-19.

Lopez-Victoria, M. & Estela, F. A. 2007. Una lista anotada de las aves de la Isla Malpelo. Orn. Colombiana 5:
40-53.

Lopez-Victoria, M. & Rozo, D. 2006. Model-based geomorphology of Malpelo Island and spatial distribution
of breeding seabirds. Bol. Invest. Marinas y Costeras 35: 111-131.

Sykes, P. W., Rodgers, J. A. & Bennetts, R. E. 1995. Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis). In Poole, A. & Gill, F.
(eds.) The birds of North America, no. 171. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia & American Ornithologists'
Union, Washington DC.

Takekawa, J. E. & Beissinger, S. R. 1989. Cyclic drought, dispersal, and the conservation of the Snail Kite in
Florida: lessons in critical habitat. Conserv. Biol. 3: 302-311.

Whittaker, R. J. & Fernandez-Palacios, J. M. 2007. Island biogeography: ecology, evolution, and conservation.
Oxford Univ. Press.

Addresses: Mateo Lopez-Victoria, Marine and Coastal Research Institute (INVEMAR), Santa Marta, Colombia,
and Dept, of Animal Ecology, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany, e-mail: gfl617@uni-giessen.
de. Oliver Kroll, Systematics and Biodiversity Group, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany,
e-mail: kroll.oliver@gmx.de. Felipe A. Estela, Dept, of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem,
NC, USA, and Asociacion para el Estudio y Conservacion de las Aves Acuaticas en Colombia (Calidris),
Cali, Colombia, e-mail: felipe.estela@gmail.com

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Bismarck Crow Corvus ( orru ) insularis warrants

species status

by Guy Outsort, Phil Gregory & Walter Boles

Received 17 February 201 1

The crow on Papua New Guinea's Bismarck islands (New Britain and New Ireland,
including Umboi, Sakar, Witu, Lolobau, Watom, Duke of York, New Hanover and Djaul)
has conventionally been treated as a subspecies of Torresian Crow Corvus orru insularis
(e.g., Goodwin 1976, Madge & Burn 1994). However, Finch & McKean (1987) and Storer &
Eastwood (1991) proposed that C. o. insularis is closer to Bougainville Crow C. mecki than

Guy Dutson et al.

205

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

to C. orru, and Jones & Lambley (1987) treated it as a separate species. Based on our field
experience, examination of specimens in the Australian Museum, Sydney, and The Natural
History Museum, Tring (including 17 insularis), and the biometrics in Rowley (1970), we
here compare C. o. insularis with New Guinea C. o. orru and Australian C. o. cecilae, which
is similar but slightly longer tailed and winged. C. o. latirostris of Tanimbar and Babar is
conventionally included within C. orru but Madge & Burn (1994) and White & Bruce (1986)
suggested that C. o. latirostris may be a separate species; we are unfamiliar with this taxon
in the field, and it is not considered further here.

The most distinctive feature of C. o. insularis is its call. Most commonly, it repeats short
nasal calls e.g., khah, kor or khot; in many areas, its local name is kotkot. These calls sound
very different from typical calls of C. o. orru, being higher pitched, shorter, more clipped
and more rapidly repeated. Moreover, C. o. insularis very rarely gives longer more drawn-
out calls at the end of series, as commonly heard from C. o. orru. As with C. o. orru, it has
a range of other less common calls, including a much deeper raven-like repeated ank and,
rarely, a popping call, and slurred khe-aarh. Typical C. o. insularis calls are shorter and less
rolling than those of C. meeki, which in turn are distinct from those of White-billed Crow C.
woodfordi on islands east of Bougainville.

C. o. insularis has a relatively short tail. The wing/tail ratio averages 2.0 (n = 9; SD =
0.083) whereas that of C. o. latirostris is 1.82 (n = 2; SD = 0.02), C. o. orru is 1.86 (n = 21; SD
not given but estimated as 0.04 from data in Rowley 1970), C. o. cecilae is 1.80 (n = 162; SD
estimated as 0.06) and C. meeki is 2.67 (n = 2; SD = 0.01).

C. o. insularis has pale grey feather bases, intermediate between the clean white bases
of C. o. orru and C. o. cecilae, and the grey bases of C. meeki and various Australian 'raven'
species, as well as a slightly but consistently different wing formula from C. o. orru and C. o.
cecilae. The bill dimensions, structure and extent of feathering over the bill and proportions
of the throat hackles are similar to C. o. orru and C. o. cecilae. C. o. insularis has pale blue
irides at all ages (Heinroth 1903; pers. obs.). Juvenile and immature C. o. orru and C. o.
cecilae have dark irides but adults possess white irides, or these are pale blue in parts of
western and northern New Guinea (Coates 2001). Adult C. meeki has dark brown irides,
whereas juveniles have pale blue-grey to mid-brown irides. All C. woodfordi specimens and
observations, which exclude young juveniles, have pale blue or white irides.

The flight action of C. o. insularis is distinctive, with rather deep but curiously hesitant
wingbeats interspersed with short glides on wings held below the body, unlike the more
typically crow-like flight of C. o. orru and C. o. cecilae, and the fluttering flight with shallow
wingbeats of C. meeki and C. zooodfordi.

C. o. insularis is common in edge and open habitats including towns and oil palm
plantations, habitats used by C. o. orru, C. o. cecilae and occasionally C. meeki, but rare in
closed-canopy forest, the primary habitat of C. meeki and C. zooodfordi. It forages in the
canopy and on the ground, whereas C. o. orru and C. o. cecilae forage mostly on the ground,
and C. meeki and C. zooodfordi feed exclusively in the canopy. C. o. insularis often roosts
communally in large numbers as evidenced by large pre-roost flights. C. o. orru and C. o.
cecilae often occur in small foraging flocks and sometimes larger roosting flocks; C. meeki
and C. zooodfordi do not flock. All of these taxa often shuffle their wings on alighting, in a
similar fashion to cuckoo-shrikes Coracina spp. An equivalent of the display flight of cecilae
has not been recorded for C. o. orru, C. o. insularis, C. meeki or C. woodfordi.

C. o. insularis is the sole host for three species of Myrsidea feather mites; one other
species is known from C. o. orru and two from C. o. cecilae (Klockenhoff 1980).

Tobias et al. (2010) proposed an objective scoring system for taxa of unknown species
status. Although calls have not been subject to detailed analysis in this case, they are

Steven M. S. Gregory

206

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

estimated as scoring 2, wing / tail ratio as 2, plumage differences as 2+2, and ecological and
behavioural differences as 0. The total score of 8 is above the threshold of 7 which usually
indicates full species status. Given the range of differences discussed above, which are of
a similar magnitude to those between various Australian Corvus species (Rowley 1970),
we propose that C. o. insularis is best treated as a full species. This proposal was already
accepted by dos Anjos et al. (2009) and subsequently Clements et al. (2011) and the IOC (Gill
& Donsker 2010).

Acknowledgements

Bruce Beehler, Stephen Debus, Mary LeCroy and Frank Steinheimer kindly commented on the manuscript.

References:

dos Anjos, L., Debus, S. J. S., Madge, S. C. & Marzluft", J. M. 2009. Family Corvidae (crows). Pp. 494-640 in
del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 14. Lynx Edicions,
Barcelona.

Clements, J. F., Schulenberg, T. S., lliff, M. J., Sullivan, B. L. & Wood, C. L. 2011. The Clements checklist of
birds of the world. Version 6.5. www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist (accessed 8 February 2011).

Coates, B. J. 2001. Birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck archipelago. Dove Publications, Alderley.

Finch, B. W. & McKean, J. L. 1987. Some notes on the birds of the Bismarks [s/c]. Muruk 2: 3-28.

Gill, F. & Donsker, D. (eds.) 2010. IOC world bird names (version 2.7). www.worldbirdnames.org (accessed
8 February 2011).

Goodwin, D. 1976. Crows of the world. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London.

Heinroth, 0. 1903. Ornithologische Ergebnisse der 1. Deutschen Suddsee-Expedition von Br. Mencke. /. Orn.
51: 69-71.

Jones, R. & Lambley, P. W. 1987. Notes on the birds of New Ireland. Muruk 2: 29-33.

Klockenhoff, H. F. 1980. Myrsidea karyi (Mallophaga: Menoponidae), a new species from Corvus orru
(Passeriformes: Corvidae). Pacific Insects 22: 115-122.

Madge, S. & Burn, H. 1994. Crows and jays: a guide to the crows, jays and magpies of the world. Christopher Helm,
London.

Rowley, I. 1970. The genus Corvus (Aves: Corvidae) in Australia. CSIRO Wildl. Res. 15: 27-71.

Storer, P. & Eastwood, C. H. B. 1991. Notes on the birds of New Britain. Muruk 5: 27-31.

Tobias, J. A., Seddon, N., Spottiswoode, C. N., Pilgrim, J. D„ Fishpool, L. D. C. & Collar, N. J. 2010.
Quantitative criteria for species delimitation. Ibis 152: 724-746.

White, C. H. M. & Bruce, M. D. 1986. The birds ofWallacea: an annotated check-list. BOU checklist no. 7. British
Ornithologists' Union, London.

Addresses : Guy Dutson, Biodiversity Solutions, 15 Wills Close, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset BH21
3SR, UK, e-mail: guydutson@gmail.com. Phil Gregory, Cassowary House, P.O. Box 387, Kuranda,
Queensland 4881, Australia, e-mail: info@sicklebillsafaris.com. Walter Boles, Australian Museum, 6
College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia, e-mail: Walter.Boles@austmus.gov.au

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

The authorship of the generic name Argusianus

by Steven M. S. Gregory

Received 21 February 2011

Femminck (1807: 149) employed the name Argus for his species Argus gigautcus, a
synonym of Phasinnus argus Linnaeus, 1766. Argus Temminck, 1807, is, however, a junior
homonym of Argus Bohadsch, 1761 [Gastropoda] and Argus Scopoli, 1777 [Lepidoptera].
A new name was therefore required. For many years, at least since Ogilvie-Grant's (1893)
volume of the Catalogue of birds in the British Museum to Dickinson (2003: 61), this has usually

Steven M. S. Gregory

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

been cited as Argusianus Rafinesque, 1815, but as long ago as 1908 Richmond demonstrated
that this was erroneous. The case is here reviewed.

History

Rafinesque, on p. 69 of his Analyse de la nature, used the name 'Argus' as a nomen nudum,
placing it between Phasianus and Tetrao. In his famous unpublished card index, now housed
at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, Richmond wrote 'Possibly
Phas. Argus -' (i.e. Phasianus argus Linnaeus, 1766), but this was pure conjecture. Later, on p.
219 (Additions et Corrections), Rafinesque employed the name Argusianus for the first time.
It, too, is a nomen nudum as it is introduced merely as a new name for 'Argus R[afinesque]'.
With no diagnosis, included species or indication to other authors, there is no proof that this
was ever intended as a nomen novum for Argus Temminck, 1807.

Billberg, recognising that Argus Temminck, 1807, was unavailable, introduced Bremus
Billberg, 1828. It transpired, however, that this name was also unavailable, being the junior
homonym of Bremus Panzer, 1805 [Hymenoptera]. Richmond's card on this states 'as there
is no other available name, we shall have to adopt Argusianus from Gray 1855, who appears
to have been the first author to employ it in an intellig [sic] orthodox manner.' One is left
to speculate whether the humour in this statement was intentional, but it represents one
of Richmond's rare slips in that an earlier introduction by G. R. Gray existed, although in
fairness it is not at all easy to recognise. Both Schulze et al. (1926: 270) and Neave (1939: 291)
in their respective nomenclators credit the first valid use of Argusianus to Gray's Genera of
birds, where in vol. 3, appendix p. 47, we find a footnote to the index entry for Argusianus,
[p.] 496, which reads 'Rafinesque (1815). Synonfymous]. with Argus.' While this may seem
insubstantial by modern standards, it must be taken in conjunction with the text to Argus
Temmfinck]. on p. [496] (the pages were retroactively numbered by the index). There,
Gray stated: 'The magnificent type of this genus is found in the dense forests of the Indian
Archipelago, where it lives in pairs. A. giganteus Temm. — Phasianus argus Linn.' This is
quite sufficient to link Argusianus with a type species by monotypy. It should be noted that
the name Argusianus itself does not appear on p. [496] and that, therefore, 1849 — the date of
the appendix, part 49 — and not 1845 for part 18 (Zimmer 1926: 269), is the correct date for
the establishment of this genus.

Conclusion

The following then should be taken as the point of introduction of Argusianus, with the
correct citation as follows:

Argusianus G. R. Gray, 1849. The genera of birds [vol. 3], pt. 49, appendix p. 47.

Type by monotypy, A[rgus]. giganteus Temm[inck], = Phasianus argus Linnaeus, 1766.
Argusianus argus (Linnaeus, 1766).

Nomen novum for Argus Temminck, 1807, nec Argus Bohadsch, 1761 [Gastropoda], nec Argus
Scopoli, 1777 [Lepidoptera].

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Edward Dickinson for considerable help in unravelling the complexities of Gray's Genera of
birds and Alan P. Peterson for the invaluable opportunity of being able to access 'The Richmond Index'. Also
to Frank Steinheimer for improving the presentation during the course of refereeing this papei.

References:

Billberg, G. J. 1828. Synopsis faunae scandinaviae, vol. 1(2). Second edn. C. Doleen, Stockholm.

Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn.
Christopher Helm, London.

Michael S. L. Mills & Alexandre Vaz

208

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Gray, G. R. 1849. The genera of birds: comprising their generic characters, a notice of the habits of each genus, and
an extensive list of species referred to their several genera, vol. 3. Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans,
London.

Gray, G. R. 1855. Catalogue of the genera and subgenera of birds contained in the British Museum. Trustees of the
Brit. Mus., London.

Linnaeus, C. A. 1766. Systema naturae, vol. 1. Twelfth edn. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm.

Neave, S. A. 1939. Nomenclator zoologicus, vol. 1. Zool. Soc., London.

Temminck, C. J. 1807. Catalogue systematique du Cabinet d'Ornithologie. C. Sepp Jansz, Amsterdam.

Rafinesque, C. S. 1815. Analyse de la nature ou tableau de I'univers et des corps organises. Jean Barravecchia,
Palermo.

Richmond, C. W. 1908. Generic names applied to birds during the years 1901 to 1905, inclusive with further
additions to Waterhouse's "Index Generum Avium". Proc. US Natl. Mus. 35: 583-655.

Richmond, C. W. n. d. 'The Richmond Index'. Images of the cards in the Richmond Index, Bird Division,
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, accessed via http://www.zoonomen.net [16
May 2009],

Schulze, F. E., Kiikenthal, W., Heider, K. & Kuhlgatz, T. 1926. Nomenclator animalium generum et subgenerum,
vol. 1. (A-B). PreuSischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin.

Zimmer, J. T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Pt. 1. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist.,
Zool. 16: 1-364.

Address : 35 Monarch Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN2 6EH, UK, e-mail: sgregory.avium@
ntlworld.com

© British Ornithologists' Club 201 1

The nest and eggs of Margaret's Batis Batis margaritae

by Michael S. L. Mills & Alexandre Vaz

Received 9 March 2011

Margaret's Batis Batis margaritae was first collected, by R. & L. Boulton, on 24 February
1931, at Mount Moco, Angola (Boulton 1934). Subsequently, the species was also found
at one locality in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (Schouteden 1971) and the
species is fairly widespread in north-west Zambia where it can be common in Cryptosepalum
forest (Dowsett et al. 2008). However, little is known of its behaviour, and the nest and eggs
have never been described (Urban et al. 1997, Dowsett et al. 2008).

At around midday on 17 July 2010 we were in the largest forest patch on Mount Moco,
known as Luanda (Mills et al. 2011), when we spotted a small, cup-shaped nest in the
fork of a sapling within an area of relatively dense undergrowth at 2,390 m (12°42'557"S,
15°17'711"E). The nest contained two eggs. We retreated c.10 m and waited motionless in
the undergrowth. After a couple of minutes a pair of Margaret's Batis (Fig. 1) approached
the nest. They remained within 20 m for 5-10 minutes, after which one bird briefly perched
on the nest, confirming its ownership. To minimise disturbance, we briefly photographed
the nest and eggs after the birds had moved away, and then departed.

Twenty-one days later, on 7 August, we revisited the nest but found it empty. There
were no obvious signs of predation or disturbance, making us uncertain as to whether or
not the attempt had been successful. With a typical fledging period of 1 5—1 7 days for Batis
spp. ( I arboton 2001), it is possible that the eggs hatched shortly after our observation and
that the young had Hedged shortly before our second visit. Because the nest was no longer
in use, we collected it together with the branch on which it was placed, and have deposited
it in The Natural I listory Museum, Tring, UK (Nl 1M N/201 1.2.1).

Michael S. L. Mills & Alexandre Vaz

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Figure 1 (left). Adult female Margaret's Batis Batis
margaritae near its nest, Luanda forest. Mount Moco,
Angola, July 2010 (A. Vaz)

Figure 2 (below, left). Nest of Margaret's Batis Batis
margaritae, Luanda forest. Mount Moco, Angola, July
2010 (A. Vaz)

Figure 3 (below, right). Nest and eggs of Margaret's
Batis Batis margaritae, Luanda forest, Mount Moco,
Angola, July 2010 (A. Vaz)

Description of the nest and eggs

Following the nomenclature of Simon & Pacheco (2005), the nest can be described as a
'high cup/fork', since nest height is greater than diameter, and it was placed in the fork of
a sapling (Fig. 2).

Location. — The nest was placed c.90 cm above the ground, in the fork of a sapling c.l
m tall. The sapling was 7-8 mm in diameter at the fork. The location was in dense forest
undergrowth below closed-canopy Afromontane forest, c.20 m from the forest edge.

Clutch size.— Two eggs; although we are uncertain if this was a complete clutch, the
usual clutch size in most Batis spp. is two eggs (Tarboton 2001).

E£8s-~~ Not handled, so not measured. Description taken from photographs (Fig. 3).
Background colour creamy white, with dark and pale brown blotching scattered over the
entire surface, albeit concentrated at the larger end. Markings similar to those of other Batis
spp. (Tarboton 2001).

Michael S. L. Mills & Alexandre Vaz

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Nest materials. — The inside of the cup was lined with very fine grass, whereas the
outer surface comprised fine grass and mosses bound with spider's web, and covered
with small pieces of lichen attached with spider's web. The construction seems typical for
members of the genus Batis (Tarboton 2001).

Dimensions. — Height 9.0 cm, depth 3.0 cm, outer diameter / width 8.0 cm, outer
diameter / breadth 7.0 cm, inner diameter / width 5.0 cm, and inner diameter / breadth 4.5
cm. These dimensions are very similar to those of other Batis (Tarboton 2001).

Acknowledgements

Douglas Russell of The Natural History Museum, Tring, commented on an earlier draft of the manuscript
and supplied some relevant references. Richard Dean and Michel Louette kindly refereed the article. Funding
for the field trip was provided by Tasso Leventis of the A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, the
Rufford Small Grants Foundation and DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of
African Ornithology. Juliet Mills and Tim Seccombe joined us on our second visit and helped collect the nest.

References:

Boulton, R. 1934. New birds from Angola. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 47: 45M8.

Dowsett, R. J., Aspinwall, D. R. & Dowsett-Lemaire, R. D. 2008. The birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves,
Liege.

Mills, M. S. L., Olmos, F., Melo, M. & Dean, W. R. J. 2011. Mount Moco: its importance to the conservation of
Swierstra's Francolin Pternistis sivierstrai and the Afromontane avifauna of Angola. Bird Conserv. Intern.
doi: 10.101 7/S095927091 0000493.

Schouteden, H. 1971. La faune ornithologique de la Province du Katanga. Mus. Roy. Afr. Centr., Doc. Zool.
17: 1-248.

Simon, J. E. & Pacheco, S. 2005. On the standardization of nest descriptions of neotropical birds. Rev. Bras.
Orn. 13: 143-154.

Tarboton, W. 2001. A guide to the nests & eggs of Southern African birds. Struik, Cape Town.

Urban, E. K., Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) 1997. The birds of Africa, vol. 5. Academic Press, London.

Addresses: Michael S. L. Mills, A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, P.O. Box
13404, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria; DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute,
University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa, e-mail: michael@birdingafrica.com.
Alexandre Vaz, Av. Almirante Reis 197, 4° Esq., 1000-048 Lisbon, Portugal.

© British Ornithologists' Club 201 1

Status of wood rails ( Aramides ) in mangroves in

north-west Peru

by Gary R. Graves

Received 9 April 2011

Wood rails ( Aramides ) were unknown from the Pacific coast of Peru until Graves
(1982) reported a sight record of a Brown Wood Rail Aramides wolfi in mangroves at Puerto
Pizarro, dpto. Tumbes. Here I review this report, the only record for Peru, and update the
status of Aramides wood rails in Tumbes.

On 26 September 1977, I encountered a wood rail at low tide at the margin of extensive
mangrove forest. I wrote a description and penned a drawing of the rail in my notes
later that afternoon (Graves 1982": 237); 'I cornered the rail in an isolated mangrove and
approached it within 3 meters. The chicken-sized, " Aramides-type" rail had a rather stout
yellowish bill, dark olivaceous brown upperparts and pale gray throat. The unbarred
breast, belly, and flanks were brown, slightly lighter in shade than the upperparts; the iris

Gary R. Graves

211

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

was dull reddish-orange and the legs were dusky coral pink. After clambering on the stilted
mangrove roots for a minute or so, the rail ran across the mud flat, taking flight just before
it reached the mangroves. The primaries were reddish-brown.'

At the time, there were no previous records of wood rails along the Pacific coast of Peru,
but both A. ivolfi and Rufous-necked Wood Rail A. axillaris had been reported from south-
west Ecuador (Chapman 1926, Meyer de Schauensee 1970, Ripley, 1977). In fact, both species
had been collected at La Chonta (03°35'S, 79°53'W), prov. El Oro, Ecuador (Chapman 1926),
c.57 km east of Puerto Pizarro. On returning to the USA several months after the sighting,
I compared my notes with plumage descriptions and Landsdowne's illustrations of both
species in the recently published Rails of the world (Ripley 1977). In the era prior to field
guides, Landsdowne was the first to illustrate A. wolfi, which was rare in museum collections
and has a restricted geographic range in Ecuador (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001) and Colombia
(Hilty & Brown 1986). The Puerto Pizarro wood rail resembled Landsdowne's illustration
and Ripley's description of A. wolfi but bore little similarity to those of A. axillaris. However,
Ripley's monograph did not describe or illustrate either species' immature plumage.
My identification was based largely on the illustrations in Ripley's monograph. Recent
photographs of an adult A. wolfi (Karubian et al. 2011) show that Landsdowne's depiction
of soft-part colours based on old museum specimens was inaccurate in lacking a prominent
fleshy red orbital ring and red spot at the rictus. These soft-part characters may be absent in
the immature plumages of A. ivolfi, which are undescribed. In any case, the Puerto Pizarro
wood rail lacked a red rictal spot and fleshy orbital ring, indicating that it was not an adult
A. ivolfi. To add to the confusion, some immature plumages of A. axillaris (Sharpe 1894)
superficially resemble A. ivolfi, which is only slightly larger in linear dimensions (Ripley
1977). Given the uncertain appearance of immature plumages of A. ivolfi, and the superficial
similarities between A. wolfi and immature plumages of A. axillaris, my Puerto Pizarro
sighting provided insufficient evidence for the occurrence of A. ivolfi in Peru.

The status of Ar amides in north-west Peru has been clarified considerably in the past
30 years. In February 1986, several adult A. axillaris with downy chicks were observed in a
wooded ravine at El Caucho, dpto. Tumbes (Parker et al. 1995). In July 1988, A. axillaris was
found to be relatively common in the mangroves of Puerto Pizarro, dpto. Tumbes, where
as many as nine were counted simultaneously as they foraged on exposed mudflats (Parker
et al. 1995). A photograph and several additional sight records (July 1995-April 2000) were
published by Valqui & Walker (2002), who noted that 4,814 ha of mangroves remained in
dpto. Tumbes. More than half of this area (2,972 ha) is now protected within the Santuario
Nacional Manglares de Tumbes. The presence of A. axillaris in Peru was finally documented
by specimen evidence in 2009 when a joint expedition by the Museum of Natural Sciences
of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, the Centro de Ornitologia y Biodiversidad,
Lima (CORBIDI), and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (USNM),
found the species to be common in mangrove forest near the mouth of the rio Tumbes (see
specimens).

No additional records of A. ivolfi have been reported from dpto. Tumbes or in the
adjacent Ecuadorian provinces of El Oro and Loja (Ridgely & Greenfield, 2001). However,
the species was sighted as recently as 1989 in mangroves at Manglares Churute Ecological
Reserve, prov. Guayas (02°30'S, 49°42'W) (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001), c.120 km north-east
of the mouth of the rio Tumbes.

Specimens: (a) LSUMZ uncatalogued, male, 1 June 2009, coll. Brian K. Schmidt (prep.
C. Sanchez 167), c.29 km north-east of Tumbes (03°27'S, 80°18'W), 260 g; (b) USNM 643854,
male, 2 June 2009, coll. Brian K. Schmidt, c.29 km north-east of Tumbes (03°27'S, 80°18'W),
218 g; (c) CORBIDI uncatalogued, male, 13 June 2009, coll. Thomas Valqui, Santuario

Alexander C. Lees & Eric A. VanderWerf

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Nacional de Manglares de Tumbes (03°27'S, 80°17'W), 140 g; (d) CORBIDI uncatalogued,
male, 26 June 2009, coll. Jacob R. Saucier, Santuario Nacional de Manglares de Tumbes
(03°25'S, 80°17'W), 133 g; (e) USNM 643934, male, 27 June 2009, coll. Christopher C.
Milensky, Santuario Nacional de Manglares de Tumbes (03°25'S, 80°19'W), 230 g; (f)
CORBIDI uncatalogued, male, 26 July 2009, coll. Jacob R. Saucier, Santuario Nacional de
Manglares de Tumbes (03°25'S, 80°19'W), 210 g; (g) LSUMZ uncatalogued, female, 26 July
2009, coll. Walter Vargas (prep. D. Schmitt 6516), Santuario Nacional Los Manglares de
Tumbes (03U29'S, 80°18'W), 260 g. All specimens are in immature plumage.

Acknowledgements

I thank Brian Schmidt, Chris Milensky, Dan Lane, Jacob Saucier, Thomas Valqui and Walter Vargas for
making a special effort to document Aramides in the Tumbes mangroves. Thomas Valqui and Cesar Sanchez
provided information and CORBIDI assisted with collecting permits issued by INRENA.

References:

Chapman, F. M. 1926. The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 55: 1-784.

Graves, G. R. 1982. First record of Brown Wood Rail ( Aramides wolfi) for Peru. Gerfaut 72: 237-238.

Hilty, S. L. & Brown, W. L. 1986. A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton Univ. Press.

Karubian, J., Carrasco, L., Mena, P., Olivo, J., Cabrera, D., Castillo, F., Duraes, R. & El Ksabi, N. 2011. Nesting
biology, home range, and habitat use of the Brown Wood Rail ( Aramides wolfi) in northwest Ecuador.
Wilson J. Orn. 123: 137-141.

Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1970. A guide to the birds of South America. Livingston Publishing Co., Wynnewood,
PA.

Parker, T. A., Schulenberg, T. S., Kessler, M. & Wust, W. H. 1995. Natural history and conservation of the
endemic avifauna in north-west Peru. Bird Conserv. Intern. 5: 201-231.

Ridgely, R. S. & Greenfield, P. J. 2001. The birds of Ecuador. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY.

Ripley, S. D. 1977. Rails of the world: a monograph of the family Rallidae. D. R. Godine, Boston.

Sharpe, R. B. 1894. Catalogue of the Fulicariae (Rallidae and Heliornithidae) and Alectorides (Aramidae, Eurypygidae,
Mesitidae, Rhinochetidae, Gruidae, Psophiidae, and Otididae) in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees
of the Brit. Mus., London.

Valqui, T. & Walker, B. 2002. Importance of mangrove forests in Peru with notes on Bare-throated Tiger-
heron Tigrisoma mexicanum and Rufous-necked Wood-rail Aramides axillaris. Cotinga 18: 58-61.

Address: Dept, of Vertebrate Zoology, MRC-116, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington DC 20013-7012, USA.

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

First record of Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii

for Micronesia

by Alexander C. Lees & Eric A. VanderWerf

Received 21 April 2077

The systematic recording of vagrants from remote oceanic islands can offer unique
insights into rates of dispersal, colonisation (and subsequent endemism) and shed light
on competing hypotheses used to explain vagrancy events. Pipits (Anthus) appear to
be amongst those avian genera most prone to long-distance vagrancy, being frequently
recorded as inter-continental or oceanic island vagrants. Well-documented records
of 'extreme vagrancy' in this genus include Olive-backed Pipits A. hodgsoni in the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Pyle 1984) and Mexico (Hamilton ct id. 2000), and Red-
throated Pipits A. cervinus in Ecuador (Brinkhuizen et til. 2010) and Australia (Carter 1997).

Alexander C. Lees & Eric A. VanderWerf

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Here we present a description and photographic documentation for the first record of
Blyth's Pipit A. godleivskii for Micronesia and the Pacific, and discuss its significance in
understanding avian vagrancy.

Blyth's Pipit on Palau

The Palau Islands are the westernmost Micronesian archipelago and consist of more
than 350 volcanic and coralline islands. The first detailed treatment of their avifauna was
prepared by Baker (1951), while a handful of other reports, e.g., Pratt et al. (1980), Engbring
(1983, 1988, 1992), and Pratt & Etpison (2008) have provided additional information on
resident breeding species, and others have contributed new records of migrants and
vagrants. In the most recent checklist of Micronesian birds. Wiles (2005) reported 148
species in Palau, including 50 resident breeders, 67 migrants and 31 vagrants. More
recently, VanderWerf et al. (2006) and Buden & Retogral (2010) each added a presumed
vagrant to the list, and Pratt et al. (2010) added at least ten new vagrants or rare migrants,
and reassigned a previously recognised vagrant— Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus— to
hypothetical status. In April-May 2005, surveys focusing on Palau's resident birdlife were
organised by the Palau Conservation Society and conducted by EAV, G. J. Wiles, A. P.
Marshall and M. Knecht (VanderWerf et al. 2007). Incidental observations of migrant and
vagrant taxa observed were published in VanderWerf et al. (2006). The most important
concerned a Richard's Pipit Anthus richardii present at Malakal sewage treatment ponds
(07°19'41.88"N, 134°27'03.91"E) on 23 and 28 April 2005. Two photographs and a brief
description were presented in VanderWerf et al. (2006). These authors solicited opinions on
the identity of the bird and these favoured Richard's Pipit (a single vote for Blyth's Pipit
A. godleivskii from P. Alstrom came too late for publication as such). This represented the
first record of any Targe pipit' of the Richard's complex in Micronesia. The record went
unquestioned until ACL independently came across VanderWerf et al. (2006), in 2011, while
undertaking a literature survey of records of Siberian vagrants in the Pacific. Reasonably
familiar with the species from the Indian Subcontinent and as an autumn vagrant to the
UK, he immediately suspected that the bird was a Blyth's Pipit based on structural features
evident in the two low-resolution images published. After soliciting the original images
from EAV and correspondence with colleagues also familiar with the species, a consensus
was reached that the bird was identifiable as the first Blyth's Pipit for Micronesia and the
easternmost record to date.

Field identification

It would be near-heretical to say that the identification of Blyth's Pipit is 'straightforward',
but increased experience of the species amongst Holarctic ornithologists has permitted
refinement of identification criteria that has led to field identification of autumn vagrants
in Europe-once thought impossible (e.g. Baker 1926) -to become relatively routine. The
bird initially attracted ACL's attention by its distinctive compact jizz short tail, shoit
cone-shaped (deep-based) bill, small head, short legs, and apparently short hind-toe, which
combine to give the bird a structure closer to Tree Pipit A. trivialis than Richard s Pipit.
However, many of these structural features are also shown by smaller races of Richard s
Pipits such as southern Chinese A. v. sinensis (Alstrom & Mild 2003). The higher resolution
photographs made it possible to confirm these and other pro-Blyth s features. The bud
exhibits the classic 'capped appearance' typical of Blyth s, the result of the densely streaked
crown and nape. The streaks are evenly spaced and lack the dark coagulation ( sensu Dupi iez
& Millington 2010) of Richard's Pipit. The superdlium is rather short, and is clean above and

Alexander C. Lees & Eric A. VanderWerf

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Figures 1-3. Adult or first-summer Blyth’s Pipit Anthus godlewskii, Palau, 23 April 2005 (Eric VanderWerf)

★

Figure 4. Global distribution map of Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii with breeding area marked in yellow,
wintering area in blue, and countries with extralimital records denoted by red stars. Tire Palau record is
circled.

immediately behind the eye, whereas elsewhere it is sullied buff. The breast is quite heavily
streaked but the lower breast and flanks are unmarked, unlike Richard's Pipit, which is
often streaked over the flanks. Nor is there any evidence of significant contrast between the
coloration of the breast and flanks, as is often the case in Richard's Pipit. Furthermore, spring
Richard's Pipits do not exhibit such a strongly streaked mantle and crown, nor are they so
sandy overall (P. Adriaens in litt. 2011). On the mantle, the broad dark feather centres that
afford the bird its streaked appearance are also typical of Blyth's. The precise pattern of the
adult median coverts is a diagnostic feature separating the two species, and this individual
clearly shows the distinctive 'apricot buff' median covert with a dark 'curly bracket' outline
(Dupriez & Millington 2010). The median covert tips form broad creamy wingbars typical of
spring Blyth's. The hindclaw is visibly short, approximately the same length as the hind-toe
and quite strongly curved; although there is some overlap between Blyth's and Richard's,
this individual's relative claw length and curvature suggests Blyth's. Unfortunately, the
bird's vocalisations— another diagnostic feature separating the two species— were not
sound-recorded, although the call transcription as a soft chill probably better fits Blyth's
and could hi1 analogous to the 'type 2' call of Blyth's transcribed by Alstrbm & Mild (2003)
as chop. Separation from Tawny A. campestri s and Paddyfield Pipits A. nifulus is relatively
easy using a combination ol structural and plumage features, most obviously the dark lores

Alexander C. Lees & Eric A. VanderWerf

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

of both species. Taken together, the structural and plumage features eliminate all confusion
species and establish the identification as an adult or first-summer Blyth's Pipit.

Vagrancy in Blyth's Pipits

Blyth's Pipit breeds from southern Transbaikalia and eastern Manchuria south to Tibet
and winters mainly in the Indian subcontinent and adjacent Myanmar (Alstrom & Mild
2003). As knowledge of salient field identification criteria has solidified (Williamson 1977,
Bradshaw 1994), Blyth's Pipit has become an annual vagrant to Western Europe, with
records from all Atlantic / North Sea-facing countries from Norway to Portugal, as well
as Switzerland and Finland (Williamson 1977, Fremont 1999, Alstrom & Mild 2003, Dies
et al. 2007, Matias et al. 2007). Further east, Blyth's Pipits have reached Cyprus, Turkey,
Israel, Kuwait and Bahrain (Alstrom & Mild 2003, Richardson 2008, Slack 2009, Priinte et
al. 2010), and are sufficiently regular in the United Arab Emirates to be considered a scarce
winter visitor (Alstrom & Mild 2003). East of their regular breeding / wintering range,
Blyth's Pipits are vagrants to Japan (Brazil 2009), South Korea (Moores 2007), Taiwan (P.
Morris in lift. 2011), Thailand (Perlman 2001), Hong Kong (Anon. 2004) and the Andaman
Islands (Grimmett et al. 1998). Fig. 4 depicts the distribution of these records on a global
pseudo-cylindrical projection, together with the species' normal migration route (headings
between 170° and 250° from the centroid of the breeding range). This in comparison with
birds reaching the Middle East, which must have departed on headings between 270°
and 290° (assuming a rhumb line) and those arriving in Europe between 290° and 320°.
To the east, departing vagrants must head between 110° (Japan) and 160° (Thailand).
This scatter of records in a 'great semi-circle' between 110° and 320° (Fig. 4) mimics the
'normal distribution' of headings frequently found in analysis of ringing recoveries or in
Emlen Funnel experiments (e.g. Wernham et al. 2002) and is not suggestive of a 'reverse
great circle route' as has often been hypothesised to account for Siberian vagrancy (e.g.
Rabol 1976). Hypothetically, this great 'semi-circle' of vagrant records could be 'filled in' if
observer coverage increased at high latitudes, showing a scatter of records of vagrants in all
compass directions (cf. Alerstam 1990, Gilroy & Fees 2003). However, the absence of records
of Blyth's and Richard's Pipits from the Alaskan islands (St. Lawrence, Aleutians and the
Pribilofs) in this case may be noteworthy. These areas do not lack observer coverage, with
teams of experienced observers regularly searching for Siberian vagrants at appropriate
seasons. Thus, occurrence patterns of Richard's and Blyth's Pipits show no support for the
'migration shadow' paradigm ( sensu Cottridge & Vinicombe 1996): a reverse projection of
both species' regular migratory trajectories (south and south-west) would take vagrants
over northern and eastern Siberia and the Aleutians.

It is also noteworthy that Blyth's and Richard's Pipits (the latter the second commonest
Siberian 'vagrant' to Europe after Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus) appear
reticent to embark (or poor survivorship) on long over-water crossings. There are no
records of either species from any of the oceanic Atlantic Islands (Azores, Madeira, Canary
Islands, Faeroes, Jan Mayen) or Iceland, despite records of Yellow-browed Warblers
and other scarcer Siberian species on all of these. There are, however, many records
from continental islands between Sandoy Ona (Norway) and the Berlengas aichipelago
(Portugal), which individuals must have made short to moderate oceanic crossings. For
example, birds arriving on the Shetland Isles, UK, must make an over-water flight of >300
km from Norway, i.e. considerably less than the 870 km required to make landfall on Palau,
but nonetheless demonstrating that long over-water crossings are not beyond the species'
physiological capacity. Short of direct experimental manipulation (cf. Moore et al. 2008) it is
difficult to speculate on the physiological capacities for flight in vagrants when it may be a

Alexander C. Lees & Eric A. VanderWerf

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

behavioural reticence to embark on over-water flights rather than physiological incapacity
(cf. Lees & Gilroy 2009).

Timing-wise, the mid-late April occurrence of the species in Palau (which presumably
overwintered locally, rather than being freshly arrived) is not exceptionally late for a
wintering bird, as the bulk of the population departs India in late April / early May, and
spring (vagrant?) Korean records fall between 30 April and 19 May (Moores 2007). The
lack of previous records of Blyth's or Richard's Pipits from Micronesia is probably best
attributed to rarity and lack of observer coverage. However, the paucity or lack of records of
Blyth's from the broader South-East Asia / Australasian region might also reflect observers'
unfamiliarity with the species, which easily could go undetected amidst the commoner
Paddyfield and Australian Pipits A. novaeseelandiae. The future extralimital occurrence of
Blyth's and Richard's Pipits as far south as Australasian 'vagrant traps' such as Ashmore
Reef and Christmas Island should thus be considered a possibility.

Acknowledgements

EAV's original field work was financially supported by BirdLife International through a grant to the Palau
Conservation Society (PCS), the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Seaworld-Busch Gardens Conservation
Fund (via the US Peace Corps). ACL thanks Peter Adriaens, Chris Batty, Anthony McGeehan, James Gilroy,
Stuart Piner and Roger Riddington for comments on the identification of the pipit or the manuscript, and the
referees Chris Bradshaw, Don Buden and Gary Wiles. EAV thanks Anu Gupta and PCS for organising the
surveys and logistical support in Palau.

References:

Alerstam, T. 1990. Bird migration. Cambridge Univ. Press.

Alstrom, P. & Mild, K. 2003. Pipits and wagtails. Christopher Helm, London.

Anon. 2004. Hong Kong Records Committee Statement No. 1. http://dev.hkbws.org.hk/rc/statement.html
(accessed 18 April 2010).

Baker, E. C. S. 1926. The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Birds, vol. 3. Second edn. Taylor &
Francis, London.

Baker, R. H. 1951. The avifauna of Micronesia, its origin, evolution, and distribution. Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus.
Nat. Hist. 3: 1-359.

Bradshaw, C. 1994. Blyth's Pipit identification. Brit. Birds 87: 136-142.

Brazil, M. 2009. Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, japan, and Russia. Christopher Helm, London.
Brinkhuizen, D. M., Brinkhuizen, L., Keaveney, A. & Jane, S. 2010. Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus : a new
species for South America. Cotinga 32: 15-17.

Buden, D. W. & Retogral, S. 2010. Range expansion of the White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
into Micronesia. Wilson /. Orn. 122: 784-788.

Carter, M. 1997. Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus in Australia. Australian Bird Watcher 17: 3-10.

Cottridge, D. & Vinicombe, K. 1996. Rare birds in Britain and Ireland: a photographic record. HarperCollins,
London.

Dies, J. I., Lorenzo, J. A., Gutierrez, R., Garcia, E., Gorospe, G., Marti-Aledo, J., Gutierrez, P. & Vidal, C. 2007.

Observaciones de aves raras en Espana, 2005 Ardeola 54: 405-446.

Dupriez, Q. & Millington, R. 2010. Blyth's Pipit: an identification refresher. Birding World 23: 399—105.
Engbring, J. 1983. Avifauna of the Southwest Islands of Palau. Atoll Res. Bull. 267: 1-22.

Engbring, J. 1988. Field guide to the birds of Palau. Conservation Office, Koror, Palau.

Engbring, J. 1992. A 1991 survey of the forest birds of the Republic of Palau. US Fish & Wildlife Service, Honolulu,
HI.

Fremont, J. Y. 1999. Premiere donnee automnale du Pipit de Godlewski Anthus godlewskii en France. Ornithos
6: 137-138.

Gilroy, J. J. & Lees, A. C. 2003. Vagrancy theories: are autumn vagrants really reverse migrants? Brit. Birds
96: 427-438.

Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. & Inskipp, T. 1998. Birds of the Indian subcontinent. Christopher Helm, London.
Hamilton, R. A., Pike, J. E., Wurster, T. E. & Radamaker, K. 2000. First record of an Olive-backed Pipit in
Mexico. Western Birds 31: 117-119.

Lees, A. C. & Gilroy J. J. 2009. Vagrancy mechanisms in passerines and near-passerines. Pp. 1-23 in Slack,
R. Rare birds, where and when: an analysis of status and distribution in Britain and Ireland, vol. I. Rare Bird
Books, York.

Mafias, R., ( a try, I’., Costa, I L, Elias, C., Jara, )., Moore, C. C. & Tome, R. 2007. Lista sistematica das aves de
Portugal Continental. Anudrio Orn. 5: 74-132.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Moore, R., Robinson, W., Lovette, I. & Robinson, T. 2008. Experimental evidence for extreme dispersal
limitation in tropical forest birds. Ecol. Lett. 11: 960-968.

Moores, N. 2007. Selected records from Socheong Island, South Korea. Forktnil 23: 102-124.

Perlman, Y. 2001. Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii : a new species for Thailand. Forktail 17: 115-116.

Pratt, H. D., Engbring, J., Bruner, P. L. & Berrett, D. G. 1980. Notes on the taxonomy, natural history, and
status of the resident birds of Palau. Condor 82: 117-131.

Pratt, H. D. & Etpison, M. T. 2008. The birds and bats of Palau. Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, HI.

Priinte, W., Vohwinkel, R., Karaardi?, H. & Erdogan, A. 2010. First record of Blyth's Pipit, Anthus godlewskii
(Taczanowski, 1876), from Turkey. Zoo/. Middle East 50: 129-131.

Pyle, P. 1984. Observations of migrant and vagrant birds from Kure and Midway atolls, 1982-1983. 'Elepaio
44: 107-111.

Rabol, J. 1976. The orientation of Pallas's Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus proregulus in Europe. Dansk. Orn. Foren.
Tidsskr. 70: 6-16.

Richardson, C. 2008. Cyprus Bird Report 2007. BirdLife Cyprus, Cyprus.

Slack, R. 2009. Rare birds, where and when: an analysis of status and distribution in Britain and Ireland, vol. 1. Rare
Bird Books, York.

VanderWerf, E. A. 2007. 2005 bird surveys in the Republic of Palau, final report. Unpubl. rep. to US Fish &
Wildlife Service and Palau Conservation Society. Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, HI.

Vanderwerf, E. A., Wiles, G. J., Marshall, A. P. & Knecht, M. 2006. Observations of migrants and other birds
in Palau, April-May 2005, including the first Micronesian record of a Richard's Pipit. Micronesica 39:
11-29.

Wernham, C. V., Toms, M. P., Marchant, J. H., Clarke, J. A., Siriwardena, G. M. & Baillie, S. R. 2002. The
migration atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and Ireland. T. & A. D. Poyser, London.

Wiles, G. J. 2005. A checklist of the birds and mammals of Micronesia. Micronesica 38: 141-189.

Williamson, K. 1977. Blyth's Pipit in the Western Palearctic. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 97: 60-61.

Addresses: Alexander C. Lees, Dept, of Zoology, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, C.P. 399, CEP 66040-
170, Belem, Para, Brazil, e-mail: alexanderlees@btopenworld.com. EricVanderWerf, Pacific Rim
Conservation, 3038 Oahu Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA, e-mail: ewerf@hawaii.rr.com

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

Expansion of the known range of Tawny Piculet
Picumnus fulvescens including the south bank of the
Sao Francisco River in north-east Brazil

by Juan Ruiz-Esparza, Patricio Adriano da Rocha, Adaiito de Souza Ribeiro,
Stephen F. Ferrari & Helder F. P. Araujo

Received 28 April 2011

Tawny Piculet Picumnus fulvescens is a small-bodied Picidae, with predominantly tawny-
coloured plumage and ferruginous, white-speckled underparts. Males are distinguished
from females by the red forehead (Sick 1997). The species is currently listed as Near
Threatened, due primarily to extensive and ongoing habitat loss within its range (BirdLife
International 2008). The species occurs predominantly in Caatinga scrub, but also in drier
forests of the Atlantic Forest domain. Like other piculets, P. fulvescens appears relatively
tolerant of habitat disturbance, and is often found in second growth, where it feeds on
insects, particularly the larvae and pupae of ants (Sick 1997).

P. fulvescens is endemic to north-east Brazil, in the northern Caatinga east to the coastal
Atlantic Forest. Prior to the present study, the species' known range (cf. Ridgely et al. 2007)
encompassed a relatively limited area parallel to the left (north) bank of the Sao Francisco
River in the states of Alagoas, Ceara, Pernambuco and south-east Piaui (Fig. 1).

Juan Ruiz-Esparza et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

"O'O’S

-6°0'0"S

-8°0'0”S

-10 WS

-12°0'0"S

-14,,0,0',S

42°0’0"W

40”0'0”W

38”0'0"W

36'0’0'W

Figure I. Distribution of Tawny Piculet Picumnus fulvescens in north-east Brazil. The grey shaded area is the
range defined by Ridgely et al. (2007), with localities marked by white circles. Stars represent new localities
recorded by the present study and triangles sites mentioned in the literature or based on the Federal
University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, ornithology collection. Sites numbered as in Table 1. Brazilian
states: AL = Alagoas; BA = Bahia; CE = Ceara; MG = Minas Gerais; PB = Paraiba; PE = Pernambuco; PI = Piaui;
RN = Rio Grande do Norte; SE = Sergipe.

During field work at the Serra da Guia in western Sergipe, an adult male P. fulvescens
(Fig. 2) was captured in a mist-net at 17.00 h on 19 December 2008. The trapping site
(09 '58'55"S, 37°52'06"W) is located within an enclave of cloud forest in an area of arboreal
caatinga, 750 m above sea level. In October 2010, the species was observed during field
work at a neighbouring site in western Sergipe (09°45'22"S, 37051'12"W), 430 m above sea
level.

Juan Ruiz-Esparza et al.

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Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

TABLE 1

Geographic localities identified for Tawny Piculet Picumnus flavescens during the present study. Brazilian
states listed by locality: AL = Alagoas; CE = Ceara; PB = Parafba; PE = Pernambuco; RN = Rio Grande do
Norte; SE = Sergipe. Habitats: CA = Caatinga; AF = Atlantic Forest.

Site

Locality

Coordinates

Habitat

Source

1

Piagabugu (AL)

10°16'S, 36°22"W

AF

Cabral et al. (2006)

2

Murid (AL)

09°19'S, 35°56'W

AF

Roda (2003)

3

Quebrangulo (AL)

09°19'S, 36°28'W

AF

Roda (2003)

4

Sao Jose da Laje (AL)

09°01'S, 36°03'W

AF

Roda (2003)

5

Palmares (PE)

08°41'S, 35°35'W

AF

Roda (2003)

6

Buique (PE)

08°27'S, 37°15'W

CA

Farias (2009)

7

Brejao (PE)

09°01'S, 36°34'W

CA

Roda & Carlos (2004)

8

Floresta (PE)

08°36'S, 35°34'W

AF

UFPE specimen

9

Sertania (PE)

08°58'S, 38°13'W

CA

UFPE specimen

10

Caruaru (PB)

08°17'S, 38°13'W

CA

UFPE specimen

11

Sertania (PE)

08°04'S, 37°15'W

CA

UFPE specimen

12

Sao Vicente Ferrer (PE)

07°35'S, 35°26'W

AF

Roda & Carlos (2004)

13

Betantia (PE)

08°18'S, 38°12'W

CA

Farias et al. (2006)

14

Ico Mandante (PE)

08°52'S, 38°17'W

CA

Farias (2007)

15

Brigida (PE)

08°28'S, 39°32'W

CA

Farias (2007)

16

Apolonio Sales (PE)

08°54'S, 38°14'W

CA

Farias (2007)

17

Coremas (PB)

07°03'S, 37°53'W

CA

Pinto & Camargo (1961)

18

Santa Teresinha (PB)

07°01'S, 37°24'W

CA

Telino-Junior et al. (2005)

19

Curimatau (PB)

06°40'S, 35°45'W

CA

Farias et al. (2006)

20

Areia (PB)

06°58'S, 35°44'W

CA

H. F. P. Araujo pers. obs.

21

Mataraca (PB)

06°33'S, 34°58'W

AF

Araujo et al. (2010)

22

Mamanguape (PB)

06°43'S, 35°10'W

AF

Almeida & Teixeira (2010)

23

Sume (PB)

07°40'S, 36°57'W

CA

Araujo (2009)

24

Matureia (PB)

07°15'S, 37°12'W

CA

H. F. P. Araujo pers. obs.

25

Sao Jose da Lagoa Tapada (PB)

06°57'S, 38°10'W

CA

H. F. P. Araujo pers. obs.

26

Serra Negra (RN)

06°34'S, 37°30'W

CA

Nascimento (2000)

27

Chapada do Araripe (CE)

07°14'S, 39°56'W

CA

Nascimento et al. (2000)

28

Pedra Branca (CE)

05°40'S, 39°38'W

CA

Olmos et al. (2005)

29

Mombasa (CE)

05°40'S, 39°41'W

CA

Olmos et al. (2005)

30

Milagres (CE)

07°22'S, 38°58'W

CA

Olmos et al. (2005)

31

Jati (CE)

07°42'S, 39°01'W

CA

Olmos et al. (2005)

32

Serra da Guia (SE)

09°59'S, 37°52'W

CA

Present study

33

Capim Grosso (SE)

09°45'S, 37°51'W

CA

Present study

As these records represent a considerable expansion of the species' known range, we
reviewed the literature and consulted specimens in the ornithological collection of the
Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) in Recife (Table 1). As a result, we identified an
additional 28 localities for P. fulvescens, extending the limits of its known range in almost
all directions, except west and north-west (Fig. 1). Three of these 'new' localities are on the
left (north) bank of the Sao Francisco River in Alagoas and Pernambuco.

In addition to confirming that P. fulvescens occurs over a much wider area than
previously thought (Ridgely et al. 2007), our records from Sergipe confirm its presence
south of the Sao Francisco River, a major physical barrier to small-bodied forest-dwelling
birds (Welty & Baptista 1988). It is therefore possible that the species is more widespread in
Sergipe and even Bahia, although the current lack of records may at least partially reflect its

Juan Ruiz-Esparza et al.

220

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

rarity therein (Wege & Long 1995, BirdLife
International 2008).

The records reported here support the
recent reclassification of P. fulvescens as
Near Threatened rather than Vulnerable
(BirdLife International 2008). In fact, this
review suggested that the species may even
warrant downlisting to Least Concern, and
our study would support this, given the
considerable expansion of this piculet's
range. However, while the species is now
known to occur over a relatively wide area,
including a number of protected areas.
Tawny Piculet does appear to be relatively
rare throughout its distribution.

Figure 2. Adult male Tawny Piculet Picumnus
fulvescens, Serra da Guia, Sergipe, Brazil, 19 December
2008 (Juan Ruiz-Esparza)

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Sergipe state environment ministry (SEMARH), FAPITEC-Sergipe, CAPES
and CNPq (project nos. 302747/2008-7 and 476064/2008-2). We are especially grateful to Zefa da Guia, and
we thank also Raone Beltrao, Eduardo Marques, Juliana Cordeiro, Douglas Matos, Thiago Bicudo, Sidney
Gouveia and Validineide Santana for their practical help. We are grateful to Weber Silva and Sidnei Dantas
for their helpful comments on the submitted version of this manuscript.

References:

Almeida, A. C & Teixeira, D. 2010. Aves da Reserva Biologica Guaribas, Mamanguape, Paraiba, Brasil. Rev.
Nordestina Biol. 19: 3-14.

Araujo, H. F. P. 2009. Amostragem, estimativa de riqueza de especies e varia^ao temporal na diversidade,
dieta e reproduijao de aves em area de caatinga, Brasil. Ph.D. thesis. Universidade Federal de Paraiba,
Joao Pessoa.

Araujo, H., Mariano, E., Toledo, G., Vieira Filho, A. & Hernandez, M. 2010. Avifauna de floresta de restinga
em um complexo de minera<;ao no litoral norte da Paraiba, Brasil. Rev. Nordestina Zoo/. 4: 46-56.
BirdLife International. 2008. Picumnus fulvescens. In IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of threatened species.
Version 2010.4. www.iucnredlist.org.

Cabral, S. A. S., Azevedo Junior, S. M. & Larrazabal, M. E. 2006. Levantamento de aves da Area de Prote^ao
Ambiental de Piagabuipr, no litoral de Alagoas, Brasil. Ornithologia 1: 161-167.

Farias, G. B. 2007. Avifauna em quatro areas de caatinga strictu senso no centro-oeste de Pernambuco, Brasil.
Rev. Bras. Orn. 15: 53-60.

Farias, G. B. 2009. Aves do Parque Nacional Pernambuco, Brasil. Atualidades Orn. 147: 29 [www.ao.com.br],
Farias G. B., Girao e Silva, W. A. & Albano, C. G. 2006. Diversidade de aves em areas prioritarias para
conservagao de aves da Caatinga. Pp. 204-226 in Araujo, F. S., Rodal, M. J. N. & Barbosa, M. R. V.
(eds.) Andlise das variagdes da biodiversidade do bioma caatinga. Suporte a estrategias regionais de conservagdo.
Ministerio do Meio Ambiente, Brasilia.

Nascimento, J. L. X. 2000. Estudo comparative em duas Estates Ecologicas da Caatinga: Aiuaba e Serido.
Melopsittacus 3: 1 2-35.

Nascimento, J. L. X., Nascimento, L. S. & Azevedo-Junior, S. M. 2000. Aves da Chapada do Araripe (Brasil):
biologia e conserva^ao. Ararajuba 8: 115-125.

Olmos, F., Girao e Silva, W. A. & Albano, C. G. 2005. Aves de oito areas de Caatinga no sul do Ceara e oeste
de Pernambuco, Nordeste do Brasil: composigao, riqueza e similaridade. Pap. Avuls. Zoo/., Sdo Paido 45:
179-199.

Pinto, O. M. O. & Camargo, E. A. 1961. Resultados ornitologicos de quatro recentes expediyoes do
Departamento de Ornitologia ao nordeste do Brasil, com a seis nova subespecies. Arp. Zoo/., Sdo Paulo
11: 193-284.

Ridgely, R. S„ Allnutt, T. F„ Brooks, T„ McNicol, D. K„ Mehlman, D. W„ Young, B. E. & Zook, J. R. 2007.
Digital distribution maps of the birds of the Western Hemisphere, version 3.0. NatureServe, Arlington,
VA.

Roda, S. 2003. Aves do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco: composiyao, biogeografia e conservayao. Ph.D.
thesis. Universidade Federal do Para, Belem.

David G. Norton

221

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

Roda, S. A. & Carlos J., C. J. 2004. Composigao e sensitividade da avifauna dos brejos de altitude do Estado de
Pernambuco. Pp. 211-228 in Porto, Kv Cabral, J. & Tabarelli, M. (eds.) Brejos de altitude: historic natural,
ecologia e conservagao. Ministerio do Meio Ambiente, Brasilia.

Sick, H. 1997. Ornitologia brasileira. Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro.

Telino-Junior, W. R„ Lyra-Neves, R. M. & Nascimento, J. L. X. 2005. Biologia e composigao da avifauna em
uma Reserva Particular de Patrimonio Natural da caatinga paraibana. Ornithologia 1: 49-57.

Wege, D. C. & Long, A. J. 1995. Key Areas for threatened birds in the Neotropics. BirdLife International,
Cambridge, UK.

Welty, J. C. & Baptista, L. 1988. The life of birds. Fourth edn. Saunders College Publishing, New York.

Addresses: Juan Ruiz-Esparza, Graduate Program in Ecology and Conservation, and PRODEMA, Universidade
Federal de Sergipe, Av. Marechal Rondon s/n, 49.100-000 Sao Cristovao, Sergipe, Brazil, e-mail:
juancolorado21@hotmail.com. Patricio Adriano da Rocha, Graduate Program in Zoology, Universidade
Federal da Paraiba, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil. Adauto de Souza Ribeiro & Stephen F. Ferrari, Dept, of
Biology, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Sao Cristovao, Sergipe, Brazil. Helder F. P. Araujo, Dept, of
Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil.

© British Ornithologists' Club 2011

The availability and validity of the name
Forpus flavicollis Bertagnolio & Racheli, 2010,
for a parrotlet from Colombia

David G. Notion

Received 19 May 2011

The recent description of the Yellow-necked Parrotlet Forpus flavicollis Bertagnolio &
Racheli, 2010, from a photograph taken in Colombia has generated extensive discussion
among ornithologists about methods of description through illustrations and lack of
deposited type specimens. This note aims to clarify these issues on the availability and
validity for this scientific name.

In zoological nomenclature there is an important distinction in the meaning of the
technical terms 'availability' and 'validity'. Available names are those which must be taken
into account as a part of zoological nomenclature. Names that are not available effectively do
not exist for the purposes of zoological nomenclature; they cannot enter into synonymy or
homonymy, and cannot be used as the names of taxa. In contrast, a valid name is the name
that is currently thought to be the correct name for a taxon, i.e. the oldest available name of a
name-bearing type specimen that falls with an author's concept of the taxon. Consequently,
a name may be available but not valid, e.g. a junior synonym. A valid name must be one
selected from the available names in zoological nomenclature. A species should have only
one valid name but may have many invalid names, e.g. as junior synonyms. This should not
be confused with the technical use of the word valid when applied to publications, when it
means the work complies with Art. 8 of the Code (ICZN 1999).

After examining the evidence, it appears that the name F. flavicollis is available in the
technical sense for zoological nomenclature. It meets the requirements of the ICZN Code
for establishing a new name. However the validity of the name remains a decision for
taxonomists. They must decide whether the recognition of this species is justified or not,
based on their assessment of taxonomic evidence and their taxonomic philosophy. If it is not
felt that this name represents a valid species, then the name is a synonym or the taxon may

David G. Norton

222

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

be considered nomen dubium (of unknown or doubtful application). Some ways to establish
its validity are explained below in the section 'What happens next to Forpus flavicollis ?'

More extensive discussions of the distinction between nomenclature and taxonomy,
and on the use of illustrations to depict types can be found on the ICZN FAQs: http://iczn.
org/category/faqs/frequently-asked-questions. The full text of the fourth edition of the
ICZN Code (1999, here referred to as the Code) is available online at the Commission's
website http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/. All the Articles mentioned here can
be found in full on the website.

The availability and validity of the name Forpus flavicollis

The Code-compliance of descriptions based on photographs of specimens has been
discussed at length, both pro and anti (e.g., Polaszek et al. 2005, on behalf of the ICZN,
Dubois & Nemesio 2007, Donegan 2008, Nemesio 2009). Each instance is slightly different,
and in this case it appears that the name F . flavicollis is available because:

A photograph or holograph in itself cannot be a type, but the specimen (or specimens)
depicted can be. This is covered in the ICZN FAQs: http://iczn.org/content/can-photograph-
or-holograph-be-type-specimen.

Art. 72.5.6 establishes quite clearly that new species names can be based on illustrations of
syntypes (as was the case for F. flavicollis) as well as on holotypes (Art. 74.4 is particularly
pertinent in this context, because lectotype designations from illustrations require that it is
possible to establish syntypes through illustrations).

Bertagnolio & Racheli (2010) mention the application of Art. 73.1.4 on the designation of
holotypes depicted in illustrations. This is irrelevant here because their types are syntypes.

A live specimen can be a type (or part of a name-bearing type in the case of syntype series).
Art. 72.5, which defines what can be a type (or part of a type), makes no distinction between
live or dead specimens, so a live specimen can be a type. There is no distinction elsewhere
in the Code.

Syntypes are explicitly fixed for F . flavicollis in Bertagnolio & Racheli 2010, p. 129 (in
agreement with Art. 16.4.1).

In my opinion, the syntypes are not extant specimens, so a statement of intent to
deposit does not need to be made (Art. 16.4.2).

The Code does not appear to provide a satisfactory definition of the word specimen
but the Chambers Dictionary (a common reference for UK English) states, among other
definitions, that a specimen is an 'object serving for the purpose of study', and this
utilitarian definition is in tune with the practical nature of the Code.

If the birds are released and their fate unknown, they can hardly be said to be
specimens as they cannot still serve in any practical sense as objects of study, being lost,
unlabelled and unrecognisable, and since they are not then specimens, neither can they be
extant specimens.

The previous discussion has focused on whether the specimens are 'extant' (existing)
or not, rather than whether the types are 'extant specimens' (existing in a way that they
can serve as objects of study) and this is what has caused problems. Determining whether
a type(s) which has been released live is extant (existing) or not extant at the time of
publication in the absence of means to determine its status is often quite impractical, and in
my opinion is not what is meant by 'extant specimen' in the Code, whereas determining if
it is a an 'extant specimen' is more straightforward.

The distinction of whether the specimen is alive or dead is also of no relevance here,
since either can serve as an extant specimen, i.e. extant means existing and dead things can
still exist, just as a wooden table exists, although it is no longer part of a living tree.

David G. Norton

223

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

It is worth noting that the Code has two definitions of extant: (1) for taxa: having living
representatives (extant as commonly used by palaeontologists) and (2) of specimens: still
in existence. These two definitions are quite different and may be a cause for confusion; for
the current question it is clearly definition (2) that is relevant.

What happens next to Forpus flavicollis?

While this means that the name Forpus flavicollis Bertagnolio & Racheli, 2010, is an
available name, the obvious step to end the current controversy will be to search for
specimens and determine if it really is a new or an already known species.

If it is a variety of a species that already has a pre-existing valid name, then the name
F. flavicollis will become an invalid junior synonym. For instance, it is possible that the bird
in question is a common species which has had its appearance altered by being dyed or
painted, a practice used to make birds more desirable for sale.

If it is a new species or subspecies and it can be recognised, the nam e flavicollis will
remain valid at the appropriate rank with its original authorship.

If it might be a new species or subspecies but an argument can be made that the type is
inadequate to permit recognition, then an application can be made to the ICZN to have the
types (currently depicted in an illustration) set aside and to designate a neotype based on
a specimen which can be deposited in a museum. The validity of the name F. flavicollis will
then depend on the identity of the neotype.

If no specimens can be found and the placement of the species is unclear, it can be
considered invalid as a nomen dubium and set aside for taxonomic purposes until the
meaning of the name F. flavicollis becomes clear.

Overview

While the description of Forpus flavicollis is Code compliant, the description does not
appear to have followed good taxonomic practice. A group of specimens in a cage shown in
a grainy photo provides very little replicable evidence for other scientists. There are many
ways the description could have been improved without depositing type specimens in a
museum. The authors should have examined and described the plumage of individuals
with reference to a standard colour chart, selected one specimen to serve as a holotype to
avoid ambiguity, provided clear figures, taken standard measurements, feather, blood or
other tissue samples, or mentioned behavioural or auditory characters even if collecting
sonograms was beyond their field capabilities. The authors should also have attempted
to keep track of the birds and their subsequent fates. The ICZN cannot prescribe specific
taxonomic characters that should be collected for responsible species description, but it
should be evident that a minimum amount of information needs to be presented to support
the possibility that taxonomy can be pursued as a science with examination and criticism
of data, not merely assertion of opinion. Proposals for changes to the Articles for the fifth
edition of the Code are always welcome; however, I believe that it is important to retain the
option to describe new species using photographs as a practical measure, as has been well
argued by Donegan (2008) and others.

Responsibility for good taxonomic practice rests with the authors, editors, their peer
reviewers and scientific colleagues. Unfortunately, the ICZN cannot police this because
this is outside its remit as explained in the Preface to the fourth edition of the Code.
Furthermore, it would be a practical impossibility because there are tens of thousands of
nomenclatural acts in zoology per annum, and policing names requires some taxonomic
expertise; the ICZN lacks the staff to tackle such problems. The ICZN does recommend that

David G. Norton

224

Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(3)

authors publish nomenclatural acts in mainstream taxonomic journals with robust peer
review and that editors act as responsible gatekeepers for publication. This means editors
should be informed on the core tenets of good taxonomic and nomenclatural practice. As
well as resulting in better papers, this will give the author's research greater status and
wider circulation, improving taxonomic practice and decreasing the need for nomenclatural
intervention by the ICZN.

Disclaimer

This paper is an informal view provided for guidance by the ICZN Secretariat enquiry

service and is not an official opinion of the Commission.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Edward Dickinson for drawing the Forpus flavicollis paper to the attention of the ICZN; this article

is based on my e-mail correspondence with him. Additional thanks are due to Thomas Donegan, Ellinor

Michel, Svetlana Nikolaeva, Jon Todd and Steven Tracey for useful discussions.

References:

Bertagnolio, P. & Racheli, L. 2010. A new parrotlet from Colombia, Forpus flavicollis. Avicult. Mag. 116:
128-133.

Donegan T. M. 2008. New species and subspecies descriptions do not and should not always require a dead
type specimen. Zootaxa 1761: 37-48.

Dubois, A. & Nemesio, A. 2007. Does nomenclatural availability of nomina of new species or subspecies
require the deposition of vouchers in collections? Zootaxa 1409: 1-22.

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological
nomenclature. Fourth edn. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History
Museum, London.

Nemesio, A. 2009. Nomenclatural availability of nomina of new species should always require the deposition
of preserved specimens in collections: a rebuttal to Donegan (2008). Zootaxa 2045: 1-14.

Polaszek, A., Grubb, P., Groves, C., Ehardt, C. L. & Butynski, T. M. 2005. Response. Science 309(5744):
2164-2165.

Address: ICZN Secretariat, c/o the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK, e-mail:
iczn@nhm.ac.uk

© British Ornithologists' Club 201 1

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Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club
ISSN 0007-1595
Edited by Guy M. Kirwan
Associate Editor: Frank D. Steinheimer

Volume 131, Number 3, pages 137-224

CONTENTS

Club Announcements 137

RODRIGUEZ, B., SIVERIO, F., SIVERIO, M. & RODRIGUEZ, A. Variable plumage coloration of
breeding Barbary Falcons Falco (peregrinus) pelegrinoides in the Canary Islands: do other Peregrine

Falcon subspecies also occur in the archipelago? 140

DOWSETT-LEMAIRE, F., DEMEY, R. & DOWSETT, R. J. On the voice, distribution and habitat of

Baumann's Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni 154

CARLOS, C. J. & VOISIN, J.-F. Charadrius wilsonia brasiliensis Grantsau & Lima, 2008, is a

junior synonym of Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1825 165

LECROY, M. & JANSEN, J. J. F. J. Joannes Maximiliaan Dumas, bird collector in the East Indies and

New Guinea 171

FORSCHLER, M. I., SHAW, D. N. & BAIRLEIN, F. Deuterium analysis reveals potential origin of the

Fair Isle Citril Finch Carduelis citrinella 189

KIRWAN G. M. Notes on the nests of five species in south-eastern Ecuador, including the first

breeding data for Black-and-white Tody-Tyrant Poecilotriccus capitalis 191

ZUCCON, D. Taxonomic notes on some Muscicapidae 196

ZUCCON, D. A new name for the Montserrat Forest Thrush 199

INGELS, J., DECHELLE, M. & B0GH, R. Little Wood Rail Aramides mangle, a Brazilian endemic,

found in French Guiana 200

LOPEZ-VICTORIA, M., KROLL, O. & ESTELA, F. A. Unusual offshore record of Snail Kite

Rostrhamus sociabilis on Malpelo Island, Colombia, Eastern Tropical Pacific 202

DUTSON, G., GREGORY, P. & BOLES, W. Bismarck Crow Corvus ( orru ) insularis warrants species

status 204

GREGORY, S. M. S. The authorship of the generic name Argusianus 206

MILLS, M. S. L. & VAZ, A. The nest and eggs of Margaret's Batis Batis margaritae 208

GRAVES, G. R. Status of wood rails ( Aramides ) in north-west Peru 210

LEES, A. C. & VANDERWERF, E. A. First record of Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii for Micronesia 212

RUIZ-ESPARZ A, J., DA ROCHA, P.A., RIBEIRO, A. D„ FERRARI, S. F. & ARAUJO,

H. F. P. Expansion of the known range of Tawny Piculet Picumnus fulvescens including the

south bank of the Sao Francisco River in north-east Brazil 217

NOTTON, D. G. The availability and validity of the name Forpus flavicollis Bertagnolio & Racheli,

2010, for a parrotlet from Colombia 221

EDITORIAL BOARD

Murray Bruce, R. T. Chesser, Edward C. Dickinson, Franqoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Steven M. S. Gregory,
Jose Fernando Pacheco, Robert B. Payne, Pamela C. Rasmussen, Cees Roselaar, Thomas S. Schulenberg,
Lars Svensson

Authors are invited to submit papers on topics relating to the broad themes of taxonomy, nomenclature and
distribution of birds. Descriptions of new species are especially welcome and will be given priority to ensure
rapid publication, subject to successful passage through the normal peer review procedure, and wherever
possible should be accompanied by colour photographs or paintings. On submission, manuscripts, double-
spaced and with wide margins, should be sent to the Editor, Guy Kirwan, by e-mail, to GMKirwan<®aol.com.
Alternatively, two copies of manuscripts, typed on one side of the paper, may be submitted to the Editor,
74 Waddington Street, Norwich NR2 4JS, UK. Where appropriate half-tone photographs may be included
and, where essential to illustrate important points, the Editor will consider the inclusion of colour figures (if
possible, authors should obtain funding to support the inclusion of such colour illustrations). Review, return
of manuscripts for revision and subsequent stages of the publication process will be undertaken electroni-
cally. For instructions on style, see the inside rear cover of Bulletin 131(1) or the BOC website.

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