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Wy oe ee I noe : oN ie alte ‘ ‘ A a G8 28 . oe a at pm ay VS at : ¥ Fe ah Se ae ” wear oe te th is 5 iia ei ailing Sande Se ore a fis ot SL rea SN ee merece ary fe r irs i aegh Te oe oes a rT cera fae Ser eae ne ie ne SE cas SR RE se Lae ers Son peer lye et a fa) Wer “0 acer Linets eee ah i in a rive oh wt i ag i British Ornithologists’ Club HISTORY MUSEUM 17 MAR 2008 PRESENTLD Se RL EE ETT 8 5 x SAR Tne, oe Volume 128 No. 1 March 2008 MEETINGS are normally held in the Sherfield Building of Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7. The | nearest Tube station is at South Kensington; a map of the area will be sent to members, on request. (Limited car parking | facilities can be reserved [at a special reduced charge of £5.00], on prior application to the Hon. Secretary.) The cash bar is open from 6.15 pm, and a buffet supper, of two courses followed by coffee, is served at 7.00 pm. (A_ vegetarian menu can be arranged if ordered at the time of booking.) Informal talks are given on completion, commencing at about 8.00 pm. ( Dinner charges are £22.50 per person (since 1 January 2007). FORTHCOMING MEETINGS See also BOC website: http://www.boc-online.org Unless advised to the contrary, the meetings for March, April, July and =e no will be held in the Rector’s’ Residence of Imperial College, 170 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington. 11 March 2008—Lars Svensson—Warblers in the Caucasus. Lars Svensson is the author of Identification guide to European passerines (1992), co-author of Collins bird guide (1999), and Philip’s guide to birds of Britain and Europe (2007). He has written numerous identification papers, and published Soviet birds (1984; a cassette with recorded bird voices) and Figelsang i Sverige (1990; ‘Bird Song of Sweden’, a CD and booklet treating 90 common Swedish species). Editor of Var Fagelvarld, the periodical of the Swedish Ornithological Society, 1971-74, he founded the Swedish rarities committee and was its chairman 1972-86. He has been a member of the Taxonomic Sub-Committee of the British Ornithologists’ Union since 2005 and has conducted extensive taxonomic research in museum collections and in the field. Lars is also an ‘Honorary Ringer’ of the British Trust for Ornithology, holds an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University and is an honorary member of the Spanish Ornithological Society. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 26 February 2008 29 April—Annual General Meeting at 6.00 pm, followed by a Club Social Evening. There will be no booked speaker, but members are invited to bring along one or two slides, a short PowerPoint presentation or a specimen (!) of a bird or ornithological subject of topical interest, and to speak for not more than 5-10 minutes about it. The aim will be to generate discussion and to facilitate the exchange of information between members. Applications to. Hon. Secretary (address below) by 15 April, CUES, subjects to be raised and any special facilities (e.g. a laptop) computer) required The following dates have been selected for the remainder of 2008: 21 June (Saturday from 10.00 am)—a special extra meeting at Tring Museum. During the visit, the Revd. Tom Gladwin| will talk about the naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) 8 July—speaker to be confirmed 23 September—Richard Price—Birds of Morocco 4 November—speaker to be confirmed e-mail: boc.sec@bou.org.uk). Sia ES SSSR Bulletin of the ] PRESENT 0 BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Vol. 128 No. 1 Published 5 March 2008 HSTCAY MUSEUN | ~ Club Announcements ih Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) 17 MAR 2008 CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS Committee welcomes the following new members who have recently joined the Club: Mr R. Caliman (Brazil) and Ms J. Portmann (Switzerland). | Members are reminded that subscriptions for 2008 were due on 1 January and are kindly asked to check that any -standing orders with their banks are recorded at the correct amount (£20 p.a.). Regrettably, several members are - still paying incorrect subscription rates which causes the Club unnecessary time and expense in administration duties. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING | The Annual General Meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Club will be held in the Rector’s Residence, Imperial College, 170 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London SW7 at 6.00 pm on Tuesday 29 April 2008. DAWN i} Ye | 4 | }] AGENDA Minutes of the 2007 Annual General Meeting (see Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 127: 86-88). Chairman’s report. Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for 2007 (both to be distributed at the meeting). The Bulletin Editor’s report—G. M. Kirwan. Publications report—Revd. T.W. Gladwin, Chairman JPC. The election of Officers. The Committee proposes that: (i) MrS. A. H. Statham be re-elected as Hon. Secretary. (ii) Mr D. J. Montier be re-elected as Hon. Treasurer. (iii) One appointment to committee to be made (vice Dr J. P. Hume) from the following nominations: M. J. Walton. No other changes to the committee are proposed, as all other members are eligible to serve at least one more year in office. Ex-officio members (in continuation): Revd. T. W. Gladwin (Chairman Joint Publications Committee), Prof. R. A. Cheke (Hon. Publications Officer), S. P. Dudley (Hon. Website Manager) and G. M. Kirwan (Hon. Editor). Any other business, of which advance notice has been given. The 946th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 25 September 2007, in the Sherfield Building Annexe, Imperial College, London. Twenty-nine members and 18 guests were present. Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), D. N.S. ALLEN, Miss H. BAKER, Sir D. G. /BANNERMAN, Mrs D. M. BRADLEY, D. R. CALDER, Dr M. J. CARSWELL, Dr N. J. COLLAR, Dr J. H. COOPER, Ear! of CRANBROOK (Speaker), E. C. DICKINSON, J. B. FISHER, F. M. GAUNTLETT, A. GIBBS, Revd. T. W. GLADWIN, D. GRIFFIN, K. HERON, Dr C. F. MANN, D. J. MONTIER, Mrs A. M. MOORE, P. J. OLIVER, R. C. HPRICE, Dr R. P. PRYS- -JONES, R. J. PRYTHERCH, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R. STOREY, P. J. WILKINSON and M. W. WOODCOCK. Guests attending were: Lady M. P. BANNERMAN, M. BRADLEY, Mrs J. CALDER, Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, Mrs B. H. FISHER, Sir A. C. GALSWORTHY, A. GATHORNE-HARDY, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J. GLADWIN, I. GORRINGE, Ms B. HAMMOND-GIBBS, Mrs M. MONTIER, Dr A. POLASZEK, J. SIMPSON, C. E. TAN, Mrs F. WESTON, Dr D. WHITELAW and Mrs B. J. WOODCOCK. After dinner, under the title Swiftlets: retrospect and prospects, Lord Cranbrook recounted his 50-year ‘ involvement with the Collocaliini (Apodidae). The 27 currently recognised species range from the Mascerenes to the south-west Pacific, with biodiversity peaks in the Philippines, New Guinea, and Malaysia and western \{ndonesia. The Himalayan population of one species is migratory; others are resident, though individuals do idisperse long distances. Their taxonomy is complicated by high levels of morphological similarity. In Sarawak, in 1956, in the inland caves four nest types were known but only three species had been distinguished. Evidence that E.. Club Announcements 2 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(pdo!” | | the type of nest was taxonomically significant resolved nomenclatural confusion. In 1956, Novick in Sri Lan| ef working with Indian Swiftlet Collocalia unicolor and Medway in Sarawak with the Black-nest Swiftlet Aerodram| areas independently showed that they orientate in darkness by echolocation. Based on subseque 0 demonstrations of specific variation in the capacity to echolocate, in 1972 Brooke proposed the present gene] classification, separating Collocalia, Aerodramus and Hydrochous. It is now known that, uniquely in the gent Collocalia troglodytes also echolocates. Sonographic analyses show that all echolocating calls consist of short burs of mixed frequencies concentrated around 2-5 kHz. Trials show that the echolocating call is useful only for dar orientation and swiftlets depend on vision to hunt. | Breeding studies in Sarawak (around 03°N) reveal three annual peaks in laying by Black-nest Swiftlets, wi June-August witnessing minimal activity. A parallel study of White-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus (f.) vestitus show that laying commenced in September, with three distinct annual peaks and a quiescent period in June—mid Augu| Be Swiftlets lay one or two eggs. Incubation period and subsequent nestling life are long and variable: Black-nd ‘gy Swiftlet, nest life (as egg and nestling) c.87 days, White-nest 70 days, Edible-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagy ae germani 69 days and White-bellied Swiftlet Collaocalia esculenta 64 days. Slowed metabolic rate would account f the long duration and variability of these life stages. \ : The nest cement of swiftlets (the edible component) is produced by paired salivary glands, which becor}} engorged when active and degenerate at other times. In Sarawak, a single annual moult begins in the primary traile in November and continues progressively through the year. Peaks of feather replacement and breeding alterna|ge4 emphasising the narrow balance of resources and metabolic demands in the humid equatorial environmet, f Studies reveal that swiftlets feed selectively with variation in prey reflecting the available resource. All can | _ understood as selective adaptations to the safe nesting site provided by the darkness of caves. But, due to hum! aM exploitation, no cave is now ‘safe’. Despite many regulations for the exploitation of natural colonies of edible-ne¢ species across south-east Asia, over-exploitation is rife. Theft is a severe problem for cave owners or managers. new phenomenon is the emergence of ‘house-farming’. Although for more than a century swiftlets hal spontaneously used man-made structures, recent developments have been spectacular. Initially, operators in Ja) ; used Linchi Swiftlets Collocaiai linchi to foster Aerodramus fuciphagus eggs and young. This led to the transportati¢ ~ of eggs to places beyond the natural range of this taxon. In the past two decades, there has been a revolution in t] ul behaviour of the swiftlets themselves. So many have now been reared in houses that they seek houses as nest sitdeci Birds’-nest capitalists build vast swiftlet ‘condos’, where the constant repetition of recordings of the birds’ ca| attracts new colonists. This phenomenon merits scientific input to understand the biological background and }, assist in the safe and sustainable management of the living resource, the swiftlets themselves. 7@ I ba The 947th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 6 November 2007, in the Rector’s Residence, 170 Queen’s Gall! Imperial College, London. Twenty-three members and 12 guests were present. : Es Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), Miss H. BAKER, K. F. BETTON, Mrs D. Mth BRADLEY, D.’R. CALDER, Dr J. H. COOPER, Dr C. T. FISHER, D. J. FISHER (Speaker), Pav GAUNIMEESay | GIBBS, D. GRIFFIN, Dr J. P. HUME, R. R. LANGLEY, D. J. MONTIER, Mrs M. N. MULLER, R. C. PRICE, Dr R. PRYS-JONES, R. J. PRYTHERCH, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R. STOREY, M. J. WALTON and P| ["" WILKINSON. ‘¢ Guests attending were: Mrs G. BISHOP, D. BRADLEY, M. BRADLEY, Mrs J. CALDER, Mrs C. fal CASEMENT, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Ms B. HAMMOND-GIBBS, Mrs M. MONTIER, C. A. MULLER, N. PEAC(! E. PRICE and W. PRICE. lt After dinner, David Fisher gave a talk on the Birds of Australia and how its avifauna relates to that of the re, of the world. David reviewed the families of birds that occur in Australia by showing photographs he had také of one species from each family, and explained how many species in each of these families occur in oe . Following this, he explained the various theories that had been put forward to explain the evolution of tIP& Australian avifauna, including the most recent and most convincing, which is that the bulk of Australia’s avifaunyg, evolved there from the families that had inhabited Gondwana prior to the break up of the ancient continent. Dav] } went on to explain and illustrate that this is why the closest living relatives of many distinctive Australian bire such Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae, Magpie Goose Anseranas semipalmata, Plains-wanderer Pedionomus torquatul megapodes (Megapodiidae) and frogmouths (Podargidae), are found in South America. nt § doram Shirihai 3 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) ‘tediscovery of Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, and other 4 observations of tubenoses from the Bismarck archipelago, Papua New Guinea Hadoram Shirihai Received 31 December 2007 is) Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki is considered ‘maybe extinct’ (Bretagnolle et al. 1998), “| “exceedingly rare’ (Brooke 2004), and is treated by BirdLife International (2004) as “tically Endangered. It is known solely from two specimens collected in 1928 and 1929, “}d several recent unconfirmed sight records, the palichisy of which were questioned by 1 ley & Scofield (2007). Here I announce the species’ unequivocal rediscovery, including a alite substantial breeding population (indicated by recently fledged juveniles). I also sal- “zed a freshly dead fledgling at sea. I discuss first the background to the field work, then ‘: identification and behaviour of becki, and finally I present other interesting tubenose i ords made during my research. et ‘| Background and Methods "| Field identification of tubenoses presents a great challenge in many parts of the world, At is the subject of a forthcoming monograph of the group (Shirihai & Bretagnolle in prep.). if ‘ticularly in recent years, I have commenced detailed research into the tropical-water «ecies, especially those in the Pacific. My first visit to the Bismarck archipelago, in ‘l'y-August 2003, was to search, successfully, for Heinroth’s Shearwater Puffinus heinrothi ‘jirihai 2004). I also observed two other interesting petrels, Beck’s and Fiji Petrel P. legillivrayi- like birds, which inspired me to return to the area. (For details of the 2003 sur- 7, see Shirihai 2004.) Thus, on 27 July-8 August 2007 I chartered the 24-m FeBrina to cover | seas between New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville, and some small island groups N ther north (see Fig. 1). During the c.1,400-km voyage, with constant observation en route ween ‘hotspots’, “chumming’ was performed for 67 hours, using four tons of grated fish | ie mixed with very dense fish oil and frozen in 20-kg blocks. These were prepared by cal fish factory and were kept on board in a special freezer. By using frozen blocks, the jal floats longer, permitting petrels to take the food before it sinks. Especially Pterodroma -|1 Pseudobulweria petrels are more easily attracted to floating material of a certain size (per- ‘ting more prolonged and closer views). I chose areas to ‘chum’ based on underwater “ography (along contour lines and over seamounts), or close to islands with high moun- ais cloaked in forest, with constant cloud cover at their summits, where such petrels might weed. The petrels largely appeared to avoid the FeBrina and thus, when sea conditions were s ourable, I used a 5-m skiff to permit closer observations and photography. ‘| Following the 2007 voyage, I visited the American Museum of Natural History ‘MINE, New York, to examine the two specimens collected by Rollo Beck and to prepare “(nparative morphometric data. Tissue samples from the fledgling I salvaged have been uiuysed by Bretagnolle et al. (in prep.), wherein the evolution and taxonomy of the genus 7 udobulweria will be discussed. _ lI also documented my observations of Beck’s Petrel in 2007 photographically, taking figes of 30+ individuals at sea, using a Canon DS1 camera with ImageStabiliser 300 and i} mm lenses. in / | | Hadoram Shirihai 4 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Survey area The Bismarck archipelago, north-east of Papua New Guinea, represents the above-sur- face portion of a complex oceanic ridge that runs north-west to south-east, and is almost | semi-circular, partially enclosing the Bismarck Sea, and extending south to the Solomons. | Most islands are mountainous, covered by tropical forest (replaced locally by plantations), ‘ and surrounded by extensive reefs that harbour the world’s highest underwater wildlife diversity. Nevertheless, as Hadden (1981), Coates (1985) and Beehler et al. (1986) have noted, observations on seabirds in this region have been predictably few. Beck’s Petrel and its rediscovery ! The two specimens in AMNH are: a female, taken at 03°S 155°E, east of New Ireland and | north of Buka, Papua New Guinea, on 6 January 1928 by Rollo Beck, the principal collector of the Whitney South Sea Expedition; the second, a male, was taken east of Rendova, Solomon Islands, on 18 May 1929, also by Beck. The species was described, in Pterodroma, by | Murphy (1928), who in comparing it to P. rostrata specified that “The size distinction being | ereater than any yet recognized as subspecific among petrels, I have assigned specific rank A Manus Island Beck's type locality <—— 03°S 155°E 04°50'S, ~° C ape 153°01'E Bougainville Island St George ‘\Papua New Guinea Solomon Sea 04°50'S, 153°01'E Figure 1. Map of the route followed by the FeBrina in July-August 2007. Departed Kimbe Bay, New Britain, on the night of 26/27 July, then partially circumnavigated New Ireland from the north-east, visiting islands to the north, | including the Feni group, and the type locality, eventually reaching the northern end of Bougainville, before jf cruising north through St George’s Channel, and off Cape Lambert; and docking at Rabaul, New Britain on 8 August. Note the Beck’s Petrel ‘hotspot’ off Cape St George, and the montane forest ridges in southern New Ireland | where Beck’s Petrel might breed (bottom right). | Hadoram Shirihai 5 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) to the new form.” He named it for Beck thus: ‘It seems appropriate that the name of Rollo H. Beck, who has collected more Tubinares than any other man, should be commemorated within the group, and the receipt of this very interesting undescribed petrel gives an oppor- tunity to pay him a well-deserved tribute.’ Beck was also the first ornithologist to use ‘chum’ to attract tubenoses (Mearns & Mearns 1998), which method proved the key to rediscover- ing ‘his’ petrel. Despite having positively identified Beck’s Petrels in the Bismarcks in August 2003 (Shirihai 2004: see Appendix), I consider the 2007 voyage to mark the certain rediscovery of the species, due to the salvaging of a third specimen. Based only on sightings it would never _be possible to prove the species’ continued existence, because Beck’s is fundamentally iden- tical to Tahiti Petrel P. rostrata, except in size. However, in 2007, it was possible for the first time to observe Beck’s and Tahiti Petrels side by side, and to establish some identification criteria for the former, as well as its abundance and behaviour. Close views revealed that many birds were post-breeding (moulting) adults or recently fledged juveniles. I also pin- pointed a suspected breeding locality for Beck’s Petrel based on the birds’ behaviour. My observations of Beck’s Petrels in July-August 2007 were as follows (along with those Tahiti Petrels seen on the same days). 30 July—Cape St George, southern New Ireland, at 04°50’S, 153°01’E. Two long “chumming’ sessions, in the morning and afternoon. Overall rather calm, but slightly stronger wind from mid morning to late afternoon. Totals of 20+ becki (max. 8 at one point/time, most being recently fledged juveniles) and six rostrata (two worn/moulting adults; four fresh juveniles). 31 July—Left Cape St George at 05.00 h, but a tropical storm forced a change of direction, towards the Feni Islands. Five becki around the same area as the previous day and seven at 04°46’S, 153°01’E (max. 5, most apparently very fresh juveniles), and two rostrata (appeared evenly feathered, i.e. probably fresh juveniles) in latter locality. 3 August—Arrived at c.06°00’S, 154°22’E, west of Buka Island, at 06.00 h, and ‘chummed’ until 15.00 h, at three main localities with water depths of 1,000—2,000 m. Moderate sea conditions. Three becki (one adult; two fresh juveniles) and five rostrata (one adult; rest fresh juveniles). 4 August—Reached southern tip of New Ireland, near Cape St George, at 04°50’S, 153°01’E, at 05.30 h; ‘chummed’ on and off all day. Rather windy. At least 30 becki (max 16; mostly fresh juveniles, but some very worn/moulting adults). One freshly dead bird that had recently fledged was collected, and is now held at The Natural History Museum (NHM), Tring (BMNH 2008.1.1). Just two rostrata (a worn/moulting adult and a fresh juvenile). 5 August—’Chumming’ all day at 04°50’S, 153°01’E. Very calm in the morn- ing but strong wind in the afternoon: 20+ becki (max 11; mostly fresh juveniles, some very worn/moulting adults) and eight rostrata (max 3; two worn/moulting adults and six fresh juveniles). 6 August—’Chumming’, between Cape St George and the Feni Islands, at 04°37'S, 153°10’E, 06.00-08.00 h, but no birds attracted; then moved into St George’s Channel to reach off Cape Lambert. Five lone becki, mostly in the channel. 7 August—'Chumming’ in two loca- tions, 06.00-08.30 h and 12.00-16.00 h, roughly off Cape Lambert. Light wind in morning, but very calm from midday. Five becki (two very worn adults in moult and three juveniles) at 03°54’S, 151°29’E, and seven (two very worn adults in moult and five juveniles) at 03°51'S, 151°31’E. In the first location, one rostrata (very worn adult in moult) and in the other two rostrata (a very worn adult in moult and a fresh juvenile). In sum, Beck’s Petrels were observed on seven of the 13 days of the expedition, in at least four different, well-separated localities. Thus, the species appears quite widespread in | the area, albeit with Cape St George being the most favoured location. Tahiti Petrel was also ' present at most of the same localities, but in smaller numbers, though this might partially be explained by its tendency to keep further from the boat and / or ‘chum’. P. rostrata also tends to congregate less than Beck’s, which appears to more freely form small groups, espe- | Hadoram Shirthai 6 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) cially at food. However, in many instances the two were seen close together, sometimes side by side at the ‘chum’ or when attracted to floating objects. Nevertheless, they never | appeared to truly mix, and in some instances they even appeared to avoid each other. At - two localities I observed Tahiti Petrels alone: two off Kimbe Bay and one off the Feni Islands | (03°30’S, 154°19’E) on 27 July. Only once were there more Tahiti (five) than Beck’s Petrels | (three) present, on 3 August, off Buck Island. That Beck’s Petrel went unknown for so long | was due to its virtually identical appearance to Tahiti Petrel, but my observations suggest | not only that Beck’s Petrel is rather frequent in a certain sea area, but that it outnumbers | Tahiti Petrel in the same region, at least seasonally. Abundance of Beck’s and Tahiti Petrels in the Bismarcks Hadden (1981), Coates (1985), Beehler et al. (1986) and Marchant & Higgins (1990) all sug- | gest that Tahiti Petrel is the most frequent gadfly petrel in the region. Marchant & Higgins | (1990) also state that becki is known only from the two specimens and ‘recent sightings’ (but | without details). Coates (1985, 2001), who regards Beck’s as a race of Tahiti Petrel, considers | the latter ‘uncommon’ around Papua New Guinea, including the Bismarcks and Solomons, | with records in most months. Coates (1985) also mentions that ‘becki occurs in the north-east, | and rostrata presumably in the south and probably elsewhere’, though again his basis is | unclear. Also included therein is a photograph of a bird trapped in Port Moresby, in May 1970, which was certainly rostrata based on its long wings. Coates & Swainson (1978) state | that Tahiti Petrels were especially common in late February/early March 1975, between |; Wewak and Wuvulu. Bourne & Dixon (1971) suggested that a flock of ten birds observed by — D. M. Simpson off the Wuvulu Islands, north-east of New Guinea, on 12 April 1969, may have been this species, as they were far from the known range of any similar petrel. There are also 19th century and other recent reports of petrels from this area that could have been | becki (W. R. P. Bourne, G. Dutson and M. Imber in litt. 2008), but none possesses any docu- mentation. Finally, Brooke (2004) added ‘groups of up to 250 seen near the Solomons and the Bismarck Archipelago were perhaps this species (BirdLife International 2000)’. | However, the origin of the record of 250 birds is a trip report, by A. Richards and R. | Rowland, who counted 250+ Tahiti Petrels, between Madang and Wasu, on 16 November | 1992 (Richards & Rowland 1995). Nevertheless, it is impossible to determine to what degree }; these past records of “Tahiti Petrels’ might include Beck’s Petrel, whilst the basis for presum- | ing that some of the earlier records from north-east New Guinea were becki appears to be primarily that they were made close to the type locality, as characters for separating becki and rostrata at sea were unknown until now, and it seems to have gone unappreciated that they do overlap in range. Already, c.10 years ago, M. Imber (unpubl. ms.) suggested that becki might be found in the Bismarcks and Solomons, and speculated that some published | records of rostrata might actually pertain to becki, but he also stated ‘there is a need to exam- | ine one or more in the hand so that this can be determined’. Given my 2007 findings, it remains impossible to be sure whether past records of Tahiti Petrel were actually Beck’s Petrel, but the fact that I found becki more abundant locally than | rostrata, and that their at-sea separation was unknown, it seems probable that some (perhaps | even most) previous records of Tahiti Petrel involved Beck’s. There is no correlation between daily numbers of the two species but, at least off Cape | St George, Beck’s is distinctly more abundant and regular than Tahiti (80-90% of the total i numbers observed), and at this locality my impression is that Tahiti Petrels are perhaps | ; mostly transiting the area. Cape St George was also the site of my 2003 observation of Beck’s | (Shirihai 2004; see Appendix), and the same day I also recorded 20 Tahiti Petrels, but these | were mostly further south and offshore. SeiedoranShirihai 7 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) It is interesting to speculate whether only Beck’s Petrel breeds in this region and, if so, to understand the origin of those Tahiti Petrels seen in the area. If both species breed there, _ do they segregate, or breed in mixed colonies? My 2007 observations suggest that they have rather parallel moult and, thus, perhaps breeding cycles. However, this alone cannot serve _as indication that both breed in the region, and this question is one that particularly _demands further and more detailed investigation. Where does Beck’s Petrel breed? Beck’s Petrel is probably nocturnal at the nesting sites and thus difficult to find, especially given that numerous potential breeding sites on atolls and islands exist. Brooke (2004) described the distribution of Beck’s as presumably seas around the Solomons and general- ly north-east of Papua New Guinea, whilst Bourne (1965) speculated that higher hills in the ‘Solomons represent a possible nesting locality. | would also highlight the following possi- bilities. J. Diamond (Auk 99: 821), in his review of Hadden (1981), wrote that that on Bougainville, including Mt Balbi, local villagers know of a dark bird the size of a small duck that apparently lives in burrows and whose local name, ‘kikariko’, derives from its voice. However, M. Imber (in litt. 2008) suggests that the vocalisations and behaviour of these birds appear to better fit a small shearwater than a petrel. During 2007 I visited the type locality, at 03°S 155°E, very close to the flattish coralline Nuguria Islands, but failed to find Beck’s Petrel in the area and the islands appeared unsuit- able for burrow-nesting petrels. North of New Ireland I also failed to find Beck’s Petrel, except seven birds south of the Feni Islands. Of all the islands north of New Ireland, the main island in the Feni group is the only one with substantial montane forest. No petrels were seen visiting the island at dusk on 1 August and native people confirmed that they have never seen such birds there. Nevertheless, close to Cape St George, I found a concen- tration of Beck’s Petrels particularly close to land, involving recently fledged juveniles and a few moulting adults. Especially the adults came very close inshore in the early morning and, particularly in late afternoon and evening, sometimes even to within 1.5 km. Together with the discovery in the same locality of the freshly dead fledgling (with still a few single remnant downy feathers on the crown and chest), it seems plausible that becki breeds in the nearby montane forests of southern New Ireland, e.g. around Mt Gilaut (c.2,400 m) at 04°37’S, 152°52’E, around the peaks further east at 04°38’S, 152°58’E, and north at c.04°26'S, AS2°97°E, including the Hans Meyer Range (max. c.2,400 m). Conservation Like other tubenoses, Beck’s Petrel is potentially threatened by introduced cats and rats at its breeding sites, although until these have been identified this possibility remains specu- lative. A more germane threat to any breeding petrels in this region, and to the land avifau- na, is mass logging and clearance for oil-palm plantations, especially by foreign companies and particularly in New Britain (Buchanan et al. 2008). International and regional conserva- tion bodies must act in order to protect forests in the Bismarcks and elsewhere in New | leninea. | Description Beck’s Petrel is essentially a miniature version of Tahiti Petrel. Here I describe its characters “and compare them with those of Tahiti Petrel. | isize proportions and flight Measurements of the freshly dead becki collected on 4 August 2007 are compared with the two becki collected in 1928-29 in Table 1 (see also Fig. 3). Hadoram Shirihai TABLE 1 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Measurements (mm) of Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki (three, the NHM bird measured prior to specimen preparation, by HS), and Tahiti Petrel P. rostrata (nominate and trouessarti, after Villard et al. 2006). Pseudobulweria becki Pseudobulweria rostrata BMNH 2008.1.1 AMNH 235376 AMNH 220826 Rostrata trouessarti type, ? cy Polynesia—Marquesas (skins) | New Caledonia (alive) 4 August 2007 6 January 1928 18 May 1929 range; mean + sd range; mean + sd oot (n=15)) 92 (n=14)) "| toul(n—si) 2 9(n=29) Wing 25k R 244; R 240; 278-307 285-308 274-318 282-318 L 250 L 243 L 242 297.0 8:4 2944 + 6:0 3024725) 1 9297.5) = 8.6 Tail 100 98 99.3 114-130 115-128 114-133 113-128 119.8 243 120.2 2 4 D2 Os 0A Ae5 Bill 29 DDS Dp) 33.7-38.2 33.1-37.4 35.2-39.9 32. 25-39.6 CoA calle soy ae IY? 374+ 1.2 35.4413 Bill depth (at 15 12 14.5 base of nostril) Bill depth 13 1-6 15 13.2-15.4 — 12.9-15.0 12.7-16.5 13.5-15.45 (at gonys) 14.6206) 4 13.9105 15.4 + 0.6 14.4 + 0.49 Tarsus 39.5 36.5 38.2 43.3-50.2 43.4-51.0 47.2-52.95 45.8-50.85 A7.9+2.0 474421 50.2 + 1.4 AS T/itaalely/) Moult and Very fresh, Evenly feathered Evenly feathered wear and evenly remiges and remiges and feathered coverts, and coverts, and juvenile generally quite generally quite worn and bleached, suggesting almost one year old juvenile fresh or slightly worn, suggesting a few months old juvenile Measurements of the three are clearly complementary, with no apparent overlap between them and published measurements of either race of rostrata. Moreover, the former is smaller by c.15% in wing and tail measurements, but even smaller (c.25%) in bill and tarsus lengths. During August 2007 I observed Beck’s and Tahiti Petrels side by side and, in such situations, the former appears 10-20% smaller with a shorter wingspan. Proportionately, Beck’s also appears narrower winged. I measured the wingspan of the fresh juvenile several times (by stretching the wings, but not to their absolute maximum), achieving a mean of 84 cm. I have never measured the wingspan of live or freshly dead Tahiti Petrels, but it is interesting to note that Harrison (1983) (and apparently all subsequent authors, e.g. Marchant & Higgins 1990, Doughty et al. 1999, Onley & Scofield 2007) gives a wingspan of 84 cm for Tahiti Petrel, which appears far too short. My impression is that Tahiti’s wingspan is probably only slightly shorter than those of White-necked Petrel Pterodroma cervicalis and Wedge-tailed Shearwater Puffinus pacificus. M. Carter & P. Walbridge (in litt. 2008) estimate the wingspan of Tahiti Petrel as c.1 m (based on two specimens and birds photographed at sea off Australia). Beck’s is usually visibly (often obviously) shorter winged than all the latter three species (in direct comparison), and the wingspan appears similar to those of Mottled Pterodroma inexpectata and Soft-plumaged Petrels P. mollis, or even Phoenix Petrel P. alba, or perhaps midway between Black-winged P. nigripennis and Tahiti Petrels. Doughty et al. (1999) and Onley & Scofield (2007) described the bill of Beck’s as being ‘proportionately smaller’ or ‘less robust’ than that of Tahiti, but the bill of Beck’s is still rel- atively deep-based though distinctly shorter (see Table 1). Thus, in relation to overall size, | - Hadoram Shirihai 9 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Figure 2a. Recently fledged juvenile Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, off Cape St George, New Ireland, Papua ‘New Guinea, August 2007, showing the slighter and slimmer body than Tahiti Petrel P. rostrata (note the ‘long/slender wings and elongated body); otherwise the two are virtually identical in shape and are identical in plumage. Note the evenly very fresh wing-feathers and mostly dark underwing-coverts (as in some populations of ‘Tahiti Petrel P. rostrata, the underwing-coverts become whiter with age, forming a variable white band) -(Hadoram Shirihai) Figure 2b. Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, off Cape St George, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, August 2007: note the paler uppertail-coverts, similar to Tahiti Petrel P. rostrata, which in both species vary individually and with wear and bleaching; apparently an adult or immature due to appearance of some moult limits and feather bleaching (Hadoram Shirihai) Hadoram Shirihai 10 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Figure 3. Comparison of the bill dimensions of Beck’s Pseudobulweria becki (top) and Tahiti Petrels P. rostrata. Such distinctive differences in bill size support specific status for becki, but the field observer should bear in mind that these differences are not easily appreciated at sea. Specimens at AMNH, New York (Hadoram Shirihai) Figure 4a. Fresh juvenile Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel Figure 4b. Adult Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma Oceanodroma matsudairae, off Cape St George, New matsudairae in extensive post-nuptial moult of the tail- Ireland, Papua New Guinea. August 2007 (Hadoram and flight-feathers, off New Ireland, Papua New Shirihat) » Guinea. August 2007 (Hadoram Shirihai) ~ Hadoram Shirihai et Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Beck’s appears to have a rather bulbous bill, which can seem confusingly ‘massive’ at sea (see Fig. 2). Jizz and flight—Beck’s shares many structural characters, flight modes and behaviour with rostrata. Both possess an elongated body, long tapering tail, long neck but relatively small head, and bulbous bill. Both fly on long, narrow wings that, when gliding into the wind, tend to be held rather stiff and seemingly straight, but which in head-on or back views can be seen to be held in a shallow arc. Both have characteristic ‘relaxed’ wingbeats, but due to its shorter and narrower winged appearance, in Beck’s the looser, languid and more elastic -wingbeats appear more pronounced, sometimes even bringing to mind the display-flight of Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula. Beck's also appears plumper bodied than Tahiti. In some instances, Beck’s has clearly more rapid wingbeats and shorter, more swooping glides, sometimes with more erratic changes of direction, whilst when arcing/banking these actions are often distinctly shorter and steeper, almost like a mid-sized Pterodroma petrel. In comparison, especially larger and heavier individuals of Tahiti Petrel are clearly stronger built, fly on longer and stiffer wings, with much gliding and long arcs, at greater speed, thereby affording an almost miniature albatross-like impression. Furthermore, both in 2003 and 2007, I observed Beck’s in very calm conditions flapping their wings very rapidly, almost like Cookilaria petrels, or even a large storm petrel (or marsh tern flying close to the surface), especially around floating objects. Even for an experienced seabird observer, it can require time, practice and, especially, direct comparisons to appreciate the structural and flight differences between Tahiti and Beck’s Petrels. However, once these are learned, it can be rather straightforward to correct- ly identify many birds. Nevertheless, the following pitfalls demand mention. (1) Tahiti Petrel can appear misleadingly smaller and slighter, like Beck’s, whilst geographical varia- tion in size across the range of rostrata is poorly known due to the lack of specimens. It is important to note that populations of Tahiti Petrel do vary, even quite substantially, in size, with some populations being smaller and shorter winged (Bretagnolle & Shirihai in prep.). In consequence, sometimes the two species can be less appreciably different in size. Also, as in other petrels, bear in mind that individual and sexual size differences (Bretagnolle & Shirihai in prep.) could obscure differences between taxa (e.g. a larger male Beck’s and ‘smaller female Tahiti could differ less distinctly in size at sea). Fortunately, at least in the Bismarcks, the slightly larger race trouessarti of Tahiti can be more obvious to eliminate on ‘size. (2) Also bear in mind the enormous effects of wind strength and direction on flight mode, as well as the bird’s behaviour, e.g. if the bird is in direct flight or foraging, which all affect a bird’s apparent size and shape. Thus, in certain circumstances, the flight of Beck’s ‘can appear slower and heavier, and the bird seem confusingly larger. On the other hand, a ismaller Tahiti Petrel when feeding or flapping over a floating object can appear misleading- ly smaller, and closer to Beck’s. ‘Plumage—A BirdLife International press release (www.birdlife.org /news/news/ 2006/06/becks_petrel-html) claimed that beck differs from rostrata in having a paler throat or whiter underwing-coverts (based on R. Baxter’s claim, see Appendix). This is incorrect. ‘Beck’s and Tahiti Petrels are identical in plumage and both appear to vary similarly with lage and wear (though see below). Both possess a uniform dark sooty-brown hood reaching to the breast and sharply demarcated from the white underparts, as well as, often, a variable ‘paler brown transition on the lower breast (Fig. 2). The latter can appear more pronounced jand frequent in Beck’s, but there is much overlap. The upperparts, including wings, back ‘and tail, are very dark brown to almost blackish brown, whilst the uppertail-coverts are Faby paler. The vent, basal and central undertail-coverts are mostly white, but the outer | Hadoram Shirihai 12 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) coverts and their tips are always washed brown. Variable brown smudges on the body-sides | and, especially, upper flanks, often merge broadly with the brown breast. The underwings | of Beck’s (as in some/most Tahiti populations) vary from uniform blackish brown to having | a pale central area. My observations of Beck’s in the Bismarcks, and Tahiti Petrel there and elsewhere in the © Pacific, suggest that both vary in similar ways with age and feather wear. The underwing- | coverts of juvenile Beck’s are initially mainly dark, without or with only a limited pale wash — to the edges of the coverts on the central underwing, whilst adults develop broader and whiter feather centres which, due to wear and bleaching, form a large central belt across the underwing (subject to much individual variation). This also seems true of some/most pop- — ulations of rostrata, but variation (both age-related and geographical) in the underwing- coverts of Tahiti is subject to ongoing study (Bretagnolle & Shirihai in prep.). In both Beck’s and Tahiti the paler uppertail-coverts are most obvious in worn plumage | and appear most pronounced in adults/immatures (much less so in fresh juveniles). In | August 2007 two main moult types were evident in both species: evenly fresh-feathered juveniles, and adults in different stages of feather wear and post-nuptial moult of body-, tail- and flight-feathers. This suggests that both species have rather parallel moult cycles, and thus feather wear and moult pattern cannot be used to distinguish them. Extremely worn adults, of both species, show some exposed white basal feathers on the upperwing | and a pale central throat/breast area, as well as often-obvious moult limits and gaps in the | wings. Bare parts.—Both species have the bill and irides blackish, whilst at sea the feet and tarsi in close views may appear predominantly pinkish or dull flesh-coloured. The tarsi of the fresh juvenile Beck’s were mostly bluish-pink with a dark brownish-black outer side; the feet and webs were mainly dark brownish black with a pinkish lower base and basal corner to the inner web (forming an oval patch). No Tahiti Petrels at the same stage have been examined for comparison. Final remarks.—To positively identify Beck’s Petrel, attempt to compare the bird/s in question with other petrels and shearwaters in the vicinity, preferably with Tahiti Petrel. With experience, it should be possible to reliably identify the distinctly smaller and lighter built Beck’s from the larger Tahiti Petrel, especially in the Bismarcks. Suspected Beck’s | Petrels away from the core range will be extremely difficult to prove (see Appendix), unless directly and closely compared with Tahiti Petrel, and preferably well photographed. The occurrence of smaller Tahiti Petrels must also be kept in mind. Thus, only if obvious overall size differences and the shorter but relatively stubbier bill of Beck’s are evident will certain identification be possible. Few medium-sized white-bellied gadfly petrels might be confused with Beck’s (and Tahiti) Petrels, e.g. Phoenix Petrel, but these are readily distinguished, if seen well, by plumage characteristics and shape (e.g. Phoenix has a | diagnostic whitish leading edge to the underwing). | Foraging behaviour and response to boat | Beck’s Petrel differs from rostrata in several respects. Whilst both are generally rather shy of | boats (i.e. usually avoiding or only briefly investigating them), and rarely follow boats for | extended periods, unlike, e.g., Providence Pterodroma solandri and Murphy’s Petrels P. ulti- | ma, Beck’s Petrel to some degree is more tolerant of vessels. It was observed to approach the bows closer and, perhaps, more frequently than Tahiti whilst transiting the area, but still only briefly. When the FeBrina was stationary at ‘chum’ far greater numbers of Beck’s came to investigate (four of ten birds) than Tahiti Petrels (1/10). In most instances Beck’s still | | Hadoram Shirihai 13 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) tended to keep at least 300 m distant from the boat, but Tahiti remained even further away and made briefer and more ‘hesitant’ approaches. In response to the skiff more obvious dif- ferences between the two were observed: Beck’s was noticeably more attracted to the ‘chum’, sometimes coming just a few metres from the skiff, whereas Tahiti always main- - tained at least c.50 m from the boat. Beck’s was observed to remain at the ‘chum’ for an aver- _age 1-2 minutes (sometimes five minutes), and often patrolled the slick several times, but Tahiti usually checked the ‘chum’ more briefly and directly (without the zigzagging flight | of Beck’s). Thus, at least in the Bismarcks and at this season, Beck’s seems to better tolerate boats and to be more attracted to ‘chum’ than Tahiti. Both, however, have a similar feeding technique, collecting food from the surface in flight. It should be emphasised that these behavioural differences are related to a specific time and locality, and should not be used to “support identification. It is probable that elsewhere and in other circumstances the two species will behave differently. For instance, off Southport, Queensland, Tahiti Petrels are highly attracted to shark liver (but not other ‘chum’), when they sometimes approach to within 1 m of a large boat, even flying over the deck (M. Carter in litt. 2008). Systematics and taxonomy The present work has elucidated evidence that becki and rostrata differ considerably in size and behaviour at sea, and that becki appears to warrant specific status. Some authors (e.g. Brooke 2004, Onley & Scofield 2007) recently considered becki to be a separate species, but this was not based on analyses of DNA or biology. Bretagnolle et al. are currently examin- ing the molecular characteristics of the two. Fiji-like Petrel Both in 2003 and 2007 I observed dark Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi-like birds in the Bismarcks, as follows: 2003—One, on 14 August, off Kimbe Bay, New Britain, Papua New Guinea (Shirihai 2004). 2007—One, on 31 July, between the southern end of New Ireland and the Feni Islands (c.04°20’S, 153°18’E), with a similar bird, also on 7 August, off ‘Cape Lambert (at 03°51’S, 151°31’E), which investigated the ‘chum’ for two minutes at the same time as two Beck’s Petrels. _ All three birds had a similar structure to Pseudobulweria petrels, especially Beck’s in shape, but two birds seemed to be slightly smaller overall, despite appearing to have a more robust body, larger head and heavier bill, more rounded wings, and shorter and squarer tail. At certain angles, overall jizz and flight silhouette approached those of Bulweria petrels. ' Their plumage was predominantly or uniformly dark chocolate-brown, with a slightly dark- ‘er head or face, no, or only a fractionally paler, upper wingbar (in one, slightly paler second- ary-coverts were seen, perhaps attributable to feather wear). The basal remiges and larger wing-coverts from below were tinged greyer (rather obvious in sunlight). | Mainly due to the lack of comparative photographic references or even a description of the species’ appearance and behaviour at sea, I regard these records as uncertain for now, especially as these birds could even represent an undescribed Pseudobulweria. Another sus- pected Fiji Petrel was observed, on 12 April 2007, north of Bougainville, at c.01°50’S, 9 153°59’E (S. N. G. Howell pers. comm.; www.wildwings.co.uk), but no detailed description ; is presently available of this bird. -| Fiji Petrel was discovered by Dr F. M. Rayner aboard the Herald, at Gau in October 1855, “and was described by G. R. Gray, in honour of the expedition’s other naturalist, John | MacGillivray. The species went unrecorded until 1985, when Dick Watling captured an _ adult and a fledgling on Gau (Watling & Lewanavanua 1985). Since then, there have been | several more records from the same island, mostly of birds attracted to lights at night (D. | Hadoram Shirthai 14 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Watling pers. comm.). Thus, other than my putative records from the Bismarcks, this petrel | is known solely from Fiji. However, further research might easily prove these birds to be | regular in the Bismarcks (given the extremely limited attention devoted to pelagic species in | the archipelago to date), and I will be returning there in 2008 to try and relocate these birds. Other possible new tubenoses for Papua New Guinea waters Providence Petrel Pterodroma solandri One on 4 August 2003, c.17 km off Buka Island, | Bougainville (Shirihai 2004), apparently is the first record for Papua New Guinea (Beehler et al. 1986, Coates 1985, 2001). Given that it breeds relatively close by, principally on Lord Howe Island, and is at least a partial transequatorial migrant (Brooke 2004), the species has probably been overlooked previously in the area and might well prove to be regular in the | Bismarcks. Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis One off the Feni Islands (at 03°45’S, 153°50’E), on | 1 August 2007, is apparently the first record for Papua New Guinea (Beehler et al. 1986, | Coates 1985, 2001). Given that the species breeds reasonably close by in the central Pacific, it is again unsurprising that it should occur in the Bismarcks. Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma matsudairae During 13 days at sea in July-August 2007, the species was identified and photographed (Fig. 4) on seven days at well-separated | localities, as follows. 28 July.—Off New Ireland, at 02°23’S, 150°52’E, five adults in extensive | moult, especially their primaries (most with gaps in the remiges and a few old outer primaries and broken tail-feathers). 29 July.—Otff New Ireland, at 02°17’S, 152°04’E, three adults in extensive moult (as above). 30 July—Near Cape St George, at 04°50’S, 153°01’E, a | fresh juvenile. 1 August—Off the Nuguria Islands, one at 03°36’S, 153°58’E and another at 03°28’S, 154°27’E. 2 August.—East of the Nugurias, four observed (some adults in moult). 3 August.—West of Buka Island, north of Bougainville, in waters 1,000—2,000 m deep, 12, with max. 4 at one location, all adults in moult. 7 August.—Off Cape Lambert, at c.03°51’S, 151°31’E, a fresh juvenile. Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel is apparently unrecorded in Papua | New Guinea’s waters (Beehler et al. 1986, Coates 1985, 2001), although Bourne (1998) | mentions a report of two large dark storm petrels, thought to be this species, seen between | Manus and New Guinea, on 6 August 1997. With up to 12 birds at one locality, the species | is apparently not rare here, albeit perhaps only seasonally. My observations might seem | unsurprising, given the chronic lack of previous work on pelagic seabirds in this region. | Nevertheless, in August 2003 I did not see any Matsudaira’s Storm Petrels in the area, so the | numbers in July-August 2007 might be exceptional. The migrations of O. matsudairae are not well known (Brooke 2004), especially its at-sea range during post-breeding and moulting | dispersal, making my observations of especial interest. However, it does appear quite likely | to be found on migration in August in the region, en route to its Indian Ocean winter quarters, having been recorded around Wallace’s Line and south to north-west Australia | (Bailey et al. 1968, Brooke 2004). Acknowledgements To Hans Jornvall, especially, for supporting the planning of the voyage in 2007, as well as proffering encourage- ment and practical ideas concerning this and other similar voyages we have made in many of the world’s oceans. The owners of the FeBrina, Max Benjamin and Cheryll & Alan Raabe, made enormous logistical preparations for the trip; without their enthusiasm and understanding, as well as that of the crew, my work would never have been so successful. Robert Prs-Jones (NHM, Tring), Max Benjamin and Alan Raabe effected the transfer of the dead | juvenile Beck’s Petrel to NHM, and Robert Pr¥ys-Jones also assisted with references. Paul Sweet and Margaret Hart (AMNH) assisted my examination of petrels at that institution. Vincent Bretagnolle provided useful discussions prior to this paper’s submission and helped locate some important references. Stuart Butchart, Christine Alder and Hadoram Shirihai 15 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Kerry Start (all BirdLife International), as well as Guy Dutson, Walter Boles, Tony Pym and Alison Harding helped | with references and records of petrels from New Guinea. Guy Dutson also commented on the manuscript. Bill | Bourne and Mike Imber provided many useful comments and ideas for improving the paper. Mike Carter kindly _ sent comments on identification and, together with P. Walbridge, provided notes about wingspan of Tahiti Petrel. | Tony Palliser shared his observations from the Bismarcks and, as always, was very encouraging. Steve Howell and { John Brodie-Good shared their observations from ‘The Western Pacific Odyssey 2007’. Guy Kirwan made many } constructive editorial comments and improvements. Finally, I would like to dedicate the rediscovery of P. becki to ' Bill Bourne, in recognition of his enormous contribution to our knowledge of the life histories and taxonomy of | petrels, as well as his ‘The Missing Petrels’ paper, which urged continued hope for the feared ‘lost’ species. I, for | : . . bla 5 - one, will continue searching for the ‘missing petrels’. | : q | ( References: ' Bailey, R. S., Pocklington, R. & Willis, P. R. 1968. Storm-petrels in the Indian Ocean. [bis 110: 27-34. ; Beehler, B. M., Pratt, H. D. & Zimmerman, D. A. 1986. Birds of New Guinea. Princeton Univ. Press. _ BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. ' Bourne, W. R. P. 1965. The missing petrels. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 85: 97-105. _ Bourne, W. R. P. 1998. Observations of seabirds. Sea Swallow 47: 23-36. - Bourne, W- R. P. & Dixon, T. J. 1971. Observations of sea birds 1967-1969. Sea Swallow 22: 29-60. ' Bretagnolle, V., Attié, C. & Pasquet, E. 1998. Cytochrome-b evidence for validity and phylogenetic relationships of | Pseudobulweria and Bulweria (Procellariidae). Auk 115: 188-195. _ Bretagnolle, V. & Shirihai, H. In prep. Variation in Tahiti Petrels. Brooke, M. 2004. Albatrosses and petrels across the world. Oxford Univ. Press. Buchanan, G. M., Butchart, S. H. M., Dutson, G., Pilgrim, J. D., Steininger, M. K., Bishop, K. D. & Mayaux, P. 2008. t Using remote sensing to inform conservation status assessment: estimates of recent deforestation rates on | New Britain and the impacts upon endemic birds. Biol. Conserv. 141: 56-66. _ Coates, B. J. 1985. The birds of Papua New Guinea, vol. 1. Dove Publications, Alderley. | Coates, B. J. 2001. Birds of Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago: a photographic guide. Dove Publications, . | Alderley. ‘Coates, B. J. & Swainson, G. W. 1978. Notes on the birds of Wuvulu Island. PNG Bird Soc. Newsletter 145: 8-10. | Doughty, C., Day, N. & Plant, A. 1999. Birds of the Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caladonia. Christopher Helm, London. |} Hadden, D. 1981. Birds of the northern Solomons. Wau Ecology Institute Handbook 8. , Hadden, D. 1987. Adventures in Papua New Guinea. OSNZ News 6: 2. ~ Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an identification guide. Croom Helm, Beckenham. D Marchant, S. & Higgins, P. J. (eds.) 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, vol. 1. Oxford Univ. ay Press. | Means, B. & Mearns, R. 1998. The bird collectors. Academic Press, London. » Murphy, R. C. 1928. Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. IV. Amer. Mus. Novit. 322. . Palliser, T. 1987. Papua New Guinea. Report on a birding trip July-December 1987. Unpubl. _ Onley, D. & Scofield, P. 2007. Field guide to the albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of the world. Christopher Helm, mM London. Richards, A. & Rowland, R. 1995. List of birds recorded in Papua New Guinea during the period 16 October to 29 D November 1992. Muruk 7: 75-95. 4 Shirihai, H. 2004. Voyage of discovery. Birdwatch 143: 36-39. , Shirihai, H. & Bretagnolle, V. In prep. Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of the world: a handbook to their taxonomy, ‘ | identification, ecology and conservation. Christopher Helm, London. j Watling, D. & Lewanavanua, R. F. 1985. A note to record the continuing survival of the Fiji (MacGillivray’s) Petrel a Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi. Ibis 127: 230-233. i) Villard, P., Dano, S. & Bretagnolle, V. 2006. First data on the breeding biology of the Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria | rostrata. Ibis 148: 285-291. Address: E-mail: albatross_shirihai@hotmail.com . Appendix: Other claimed records of Beck’s Petrels. ely, on checking TP’s field notes, I strongly suspected that this bird was a Beck’s Petrel. However, it has never ” ‘peen claimed by the observer as a Beck’s and T. Palliser (pers. comm.) requests that it should be regarded as Hadoram Shirthai 16 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) ‘Tahiti/Beck’s’ or possible ‘Beck’s’. It was not observed with another species to permit an accurate size comparison, thus the record should be treated as ‘unconfirmed’ or ‘possible’ Beck’s Petrel. August 2003.—Three Beck’s Petrels, on 5 August 2003, 2-6 nm off Cape St George, New Ireland (Shirihai 2004), were observed in very good conditions, once even from just 100 m (a concise description can be found in Shirihai 2004). Initially, I identified them as Beck’s Petrels, mainly based on their size and different flight behaviour, compared to the few Tahiti Petrels observed simultaneously. However, I published the record (Shirihai 2004) as ‘possible Beck’s’ because I could not compare my observation with any others, leading me to be cautious. That these three were observed in the same place as some of my August 2007 observations strongly suggests that they were indeed becki, but I still prefer to regard the observations reported in this paper as constituting the official rediscovery of the species. April 2007.—‘A small, short-winged Tahiti-type off the west coast of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, on 11 April was strongly suspected to be this species’ (J. Brodie-Good & A. Roadhouse; www.wildwings.co.uk). JB-G wrote in the voyage diary: ‘A few minutes later a more urgent shout “possibie Beck’s Petrel on the sea ahead!” From the bridge you could see [it] settled on the water ahead but [ .. . ] it was a long way away. [... ] It got up and flew [...] away with a number of people getting very excited [ ... ]. For me and many others it was simply just too far away to call such a major bird [... ]. During the last hour of the day at least two Tahitis were seen and three Tahiti- types [which] did appear to be shorter winged and flying like shearwaters but with such little wind it was far from easy to be conclusive. [ . . . | it seemed the bird just as we stopped was [.. . ] the strongest claim but I feel some caution is required [ . . . ]. It was distant and when pressed for a written description the next morning a number of the observers concerned “backed down” somewhat. The relative size comparison with a noddy seemed to be the main crux but Brown Noddy and Tahiti Petrel have the same wingspan and Beck’s is only supposed to be 15% shorter. At the distance and intense light, with almost no wind, it’s a very subjective call, certainly far from enough to get a record past a rarities committee [ . . . ] (Steve Howell is still adamant about this bird).”. I find it useful to quote these words as they precisely illustrate the challenge that even highly experienced observers can encounter when trying to separate Beck’s and Tahiti. Nevertheless, in May 2007, S. Howell (pers. comm.) provided me with a brief verbal impression of the bird, which appeared noticeably small and slight, and sounded convincing for Beck’s (the locality is also close to where I found Beck’s frequently in August 2007). 2. Recent claimed record outside the Bismarcks R. Baxter submitted a description and photograph to the “Birds Australia Rarities Committee’ of a bird believed to be a Beck’s Petrel in Australia’s Coral Sea, off Queensland, on 7 November 2005 (http://users.bigpond.net.au/ palliser /barc/SUMM489.htm). However the record was not accepted as the committee felt that it was impossible to truly ascertain size and structure from the photograph. It is very difficult, and often impossible, to gain a true impression of size and structure from a single photograph, especially if the bird is distant and the photograph is not the best quality. Furthermore, two issues support non-acceptance, namely that RB was unable to directly compare his bird with rostrata, and that he rather strongly based his identification on the pale throat. It is now clear that this character is invalid (see Plumage). Given that I have found, in both the western and central Pacific, smaller Tahiti Petrels, and that variation within the latter is subject to ongoing research (Bretagnolle & Shirihai in prep.), much caution is required to claim Beck’s outside its core range. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Editor’s note.—Like Whitney’s (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 125: 108-113) first field observations of the almost unknown in life and globally threatened Rond6nia Bushbird Clytoctantes atrogularis, Shirihai’s unequivocal rediscovery of the | arguably even poorer known Pseudobulweria becki has been fast-tracked for publication, in the belief that swift — communication and disemmination of such findings are particularly important for the conservation of ‘lost’ birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. will continue to prioritise publication of such rediscoveries in the future, subject to the usual constraints of the refereeing process. James W. Wiley et al. 17 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) The bird collections of Cuba by James W. Wiley, Rafaela Aguilera Roman, Alfredo Rams Beceria, Carlos Pefia Rodriguez, Arturo Kirkconnell, Antonio Ortega Piferrer & Martin Acosta Cruz Received 1 December 2006 Although substantial collections of birds have been made from the many islands of the Caribbean, most specimens were acquired by visiting ornithologists or their collectors and now reside in foreign institutions. Further, many ornithologists who resided in the islands _ transferred their collections abroad; e.g. while at the College of Agriculture and Mechanical _ Arts at Mayagiiez, Puerto Rico (1926-38), Stuart T. Danforth (1900-38) collected extensively in Puerto Rico and other West Indies. He amassed c.3,000 specimens, but only six remain in | Puerto Rico, whereas the bulk went to the US National Museum of Natural History (USN- MNF). similarly, William T. March (c.1796-1872), a resident of Jamaica, contributed more than 1,100 specimens to the USNMNH alone; today, none remains in Jamaica. Raffaele _Ciferri (1897-1964), who resided for many years in the Dominican Republic, sent 345 speci- _mens to the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milan, leaving none in country. Although a few collections were established in the islands, unfortunately several were lost to catastro- phes, including the Haitian material of Michel Etienne Descourtilz (1775-1836) and Félix Louis l’Herminier’s (1779-1833) Guadeloupe collection, both lost in fires. Cuba was unusual in that several collections were established and maintained there. Felipe Poey y Aloy (1799-1891), the Cuban naturalist who established the first museum of natural history in Cuba (1839), stated that ‘a modern city can not be considered culturally developed if it lacks a natural history museum.’ He and other resident naturalists gathered specimens that were retained in Cuba, rather than sending them to institutions abroad. Notable amongst those naturalists was Juan (Johannes) Gundlach (1810-96), who spent 57 years collecting in Cuba. Despite incentives to disperse his material amongst foreign insti- tutions, Gundlach’s aspiration was to maintain his substantial collections in Cuba. He lived to see that wish fulfilled; in 1892, Spanish authorities authorised by Royal Decree in Madrid the payment of $8,000 Pesos gold for the Gundlach collections, which contain many types, co-types and unique specimens. His birds, molluscs, insects and mammals were established in the museum of the Instituto de Segunda Ensenanza de La Habana. Though they moved among several institutions, the Gundlach material has been maintained largely intact in Cuba through the present, most recently in the Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica. Several other institutional and private collections of birds were developed, primarily from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries; e.g., Gaston S. Villalba (fl. 1930s), Stephen C. Bruner (1891-1953), Joaquin Fernando de la Vara (1893-1981) and José H. Bauza (fl. 1920s to mid-1960s). In addition to substantial historic collections, several new collections have been estab- lished. Most recently, Orlando H. Garrido (b. 1931) has added substantial numbers of bird | specimens, primarily to the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba. Subsequent to the Cuban Revolution (1959), specimens from some historic collections were distributed among newly developed institutions (e.g., Museo de Historia Natural ‘Tranquilino Sandalio de Noda’ in Pinar del Rio). At other post-Revolution museums (e.g., Museo Provencial | ‘Arcadio Leyte Vidal Delgado’ in Mayari), representative specimens of Cuban birds were collected. Many of these collections, recent and old, have been maintained in several insti- tutions and privately within Cuba. | We examined extant collections throughout Cuba and Isla de Pinos (now Isla de la Juventud), with the objective of developing an electronic catalogue of specimens as the ini- | | | { James W. Wiley et al. 18 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) tial step in improving communication and resource-sharing among Cuban collection man- agers and to facilitate international exchange. Here we report on the nature of these collec- tions, their holdings, condition and importance to our understanding of Cuba’s biodiversi- y ty. Methods From 1995 through 2006, Wiley visited 18 collections in Cuba (Table 1). Through the text, we abbreviate the names of institutions and individual collections. Full titles of institu- tions and collections owned by individuals are presented in Table 1. Working with local curators, Wiley examined catalogues and other written records for specimens in those col- lections. Data were entered into standardised database files (Claris FileMaker Pro) for each collection. Further data available on specimen labels were added to the database. Specimens in most collections were examined to confirm existence and to assess their condition. Some catalogue entries for eggs include multiple clutches (e.g., 32 eggs under one cata- logue number). Where possible, such combinations were identified as multiple clutches. Otherwise, the catalogue sets were not divided into individual clutches in the summary, but were maintained as one data entry. Many collections included foreign specimens obtained by local curators or private col- lectors through purchase or exchange. We present data for all specimens (including foreign- obtained individuals) in our analysis of total collection holdings. In our analysis of Cuban specimens, we have excluded foreign specimens, as well as individuals for which no local- ity data were available, and for which the origin could have been other than Cuba; e.g., Greater Antillean Grackle Quiscalus niger, a West Indian endemic, but occurring outside Cuba. Where locality data were not found but evidence was available to determine that the specimen was collected in Cuba, we assigned the specimen to that country; e.g., date and collector information gave verification of origin, although no locality data were available in the catalogue or specimen label. Those specimens for which no evidence of origin was deter- mined were excluded from our tabulations. Condition was assessed for all examined specimens and individuals were assigned to one of three categories: Good—no or minor deterioration, specimen intact, with good plumage, and with no more than light mould or slightly soiled; Fair—specimen with some problems, but retaining all parts, though some (e.g., tail or wing) may be partially detached from body, and plumage may have moderate mould or dirt; Poor—specimen missing body parts (e.g., leg, head), is heavily soiled, or has substantial mould. Nomenclature follows the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list (1998) and! subse- quent supplements (Banks et al. 2000-06) or, where the Check-list did not cover the species, we referred to Howard & Moore (1991). We followed BirdLife International (2000) for species status, but also relied on Gonzalez Alonso (2002) for a local appraisal. All categories of threat follow the criteria of BirdLife International (2000). Because of space limitations, several tables describing specimens in the Cuban collec- tions are not included here, but are available from the corresponding author. Results After completing acquisition and cleaning of data, they were transferred into two addi- tional software realms: MS Excel (spreadsheet) and MS Access (database) for greater flexi- bility in use by local curators. These files were provided to all collection curators and are available for other interested workers in Cuba. 7 _ James W. Wiley et al. 19 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) TABLE 1 Names of 18 examined Cuban collections, with their locations, abbreviations, and curators. ‘Cuqui Bosch’ Museo de Historia Natural ‘Dr. Antonio Nunez Jiménez’ Museo Provencial ‘Arcadio Leyte Vidal Delgado’ Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba Coleccion Didactica — Pedro Regalado — INDAF Museo de Historia Natural “Tranquilino Sandalio de Noda’ Museo de Historia Natural ‘Charles T. Ramsden’ Museo de Historia Natural de Sancti Spiritus Museo General de Caimito! Museo “Oscar Maria de Rojas’ Nueva Gerona, Isla de Pinos Mayari La Habana Camagtey Pinar del Rio Santiago de Cuba Sancti Spiritus Caimito, La Habana Cardenas Ensenanza Isla de Pinos Mayari MNHNC Regalado Pinar del Rio Ramsden Sancti Spiritus Caimito Cardenas ' In 2007, we learned that this collection was destroyed by Hurricane Dennis (2005). / | | | | } } i | i] if { ] } Name of collection Location Abbreviation Curator José H. Bauza Collection Museo Nacional de Historia Bauza Arturo Kirkconnell Natural de Cuba, La Habana Museo Tomas Romay Santiago de Cuba BioEco Omar Melian Museo Provencial Ignacio Camagtiey Camagiiey Leonardo Pareta Agramonte Carlos Wotzkow Private In home, La Habana Wotzkow Carlos Wotzkow Collection (in exile) Museo de Historia Natural Universidad de La Habana, __ Felipe Poey Martin Acosta Cruz ‘Felipe Poey’ La Habana Museo de Historia Natural Gibara Gibara Antonio Ortega ‘Joaquin Fernandez de la Vera’ Piferrer Museo de Historia Natural Holguin Holguin Alfredo Rams Becenia ‘Carlos de la Torre y Huerta’ Instituto de Ecologia y La Habana IES Rafaela Aguilera Sistematica Roman Instituto de Segunda Ensenanza Santiago de Cuba Instituto Segunda Ana Nydia Alvarez Lissett Macia Teresa Garcia Guerrero Arturo Kirkconnell Pedro Regalado Alexis Plasencia Gerardo Hechevarria José M. Ramos Hernandez William Suarez Lazaro Miranda Of the specimens determined from available records, including catalogues and speci- men labels (N=12,600), we were able to examine (counting specimens verified by the Camagiey curator) 11,055 individuals, including foreign-obtained specimens (Table 2). Although we were not permitted to examine specimens in the Camaguey collection, the curator provided an assessment of specimen condition and status of 349 (202 Cuban speci- mens) of the 579 specimens, though he could not provide information on the means of preservation (mounts or study skins) for individuals. James W. Wiley et al. 20 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) TABLE 2 Numbers of bird specimens catalogued and examined in 18 Cuban collections, divided by preservation method and type of preserved material. Analysis includes foreign and Cuban-collected specimens. Number (%) Class of Cuban and foreign specimens Cuban specimens Specimen type All specimens! Examined? All specimens! Examined? Undetermined’ 1,402 349 (3.2) 1,006 201 (1.9) Study skins 6,138 5,931-(63:6) 6,008 IID (ESL9) Mounts 3,954 3,695 (33.4) 3,540 3,350 (32.2) Eggs 1,032 1,006 (9.1) O19 1,000 (9.6) Nests 44 44 (0.4) Al 40 (0.4) Skeleton 3 37(30!1) 3 3 (<0.1) Alcoholics 2 DOs) 2 2 (<0.1) Fossils DS 25 (0.2) 25 25 (0.2) Totals 12,600 11,055 (100) 11,644 10,416 (100.0) ' Includes specimens examined, as well as those listed in recent catalogues but not located or discarded before we completed our survey. ° Excludes specimens listed in recent catalogues but not found, or examined in our early visits to collections but discarded before completion of the survey. ° Undetermined category includes specimens listed in recent collection catalogues and not found by us, as well as specimens in the Camaguiey museum, where we unable to examine the birds (see main text). The collections of all specimens, Cuban and foreign, contain representatives of 25 orders and 80 families, and a total 485 species. Among those specimens collected in Cuba, 21 orders, 63 families and 352 species are represented. A total of 10,416 extant specimens col- lected in Cuba was tallied (Table 2), including 19 holotypes and 30 paratypes. The majority (57.5%) of specimens was collected in the latter half of the 20th century, whereas 36.5% were collected in the first half, and 6% in 1850-99 (96% of these by Gundlach) (Fig. 1). Few spec- imens have been collected since the 20th century, in part due to economic constraints that limit field work by local scientists, but also because of a shift in interest to other aspects of ornithology, especially ecological studies. The largest collection is in the Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica in La Habana (31.0% of all specimens), which houses the original Gundlach ‘Historic’ collection (565 specimens) and ‘Basic’ (more-recently acquired) collection. The other major collections are the Museo de Historia Natural ‘Felipe Poey’ of the Universidad de La Habana (23.4%), Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba in La Habana (11.3%) and Museo de Historia Natural ‘Charles T. Ramsden’ (Santiago de Cuba; 9.4%). Specimens are preserved primarily as study skins (56.6%) and mounts (33.3%), though substantial numbers of egg sets are also held in the Ramsden and Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica collections. Several collections, meant pri- marily for public display, consist solely of mounted specimens (e.g., Bauza and Isla de Pinos). Several collections contain substantial numbers of foreign specimens (2=4.8%, overall), obtained through trades and donations, including Holguin (19.5%), Pinar del Rio (37.2%) and Camagtiey (42.4%). As additional public museums were created in Cuba after the Revolution, many of the foreign specimens in pre-established collections were distributed James W. Wiley et al. Zi Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) - to the new institutions for display. Most recent collections have concentrated on acquiring | native species. EN 33 Passenger Pigeon Ectopistes migratorius EX EX 5 Grey-fronted Quail-Dove Geotrygon caniceps = VU 23 Blue-headed Quail-Dove Starnoenas cyanocephala e VU De) Cuban Macaw Ara tricolor EX EX 1 Cuban Parakeet Aratinga euops = VU 49 Cuban Parrot Amazona leucocephala - We! 126 Stygian Owl Asio stygius 5 VU 27 Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae “le VU 42 Fernandina’s Flicker Colaptes fernandinae EN VU 32 Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis CR CR 19) Giant Kingbird Tyrannus cubensis EN EN 43 Thick-billed Vireo Vireo crassirostris = CR 10 Cuban Palm Crow Corvus minutus 2 VU 2 Zapata Wren Ferminia cerverai EN 11 Cuban Solitaire Myadestes elisabeth - VU 4] Bicknell’s Thrush Catharus bicknelli VU Bahama Mockingbird Mimus gundlachii - VU Bachman’s Warbler Vermivora bachmanti CR GR 14 Bananaquit Coereba flaveola - VU Black-faced Grassquit Tiaris bicolor - VU + Zapata Sparrow Torreornis inexpectata EN VU 48 Painted Bunting Passerina ciris 5 VU 17 ‘Status: EX = Extinct, CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable. Categories follow BirdLife International (2000). James W. Wiley et al. 23 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) TABLE 4 Cuban bird specimens in collections in several European and US institutions. Name of collection No. of Cuban specimens EUROPE Institut fiir Zoologie, Halle 657 | Natural History Museum, Tring 414 | Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris 360 _ Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Neuchatel 158 Staatliches Museum ftir Naturkunde, Karlsruhe 56 Liverpool Museum 23 Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Geneva 16 Zoologisches Museum, Universitat Hamburg 13 Natural History Museum Bern 8 Natural History Museum of St Gallen, Switzerland 4 The Manchester Museum 2 Universiteit van Amsterdam 1 Subtotal tel UNITED STATES OF AMERICA US National Museum of Natural History! 3)227, American Museum of Natural History Tai Field Museum of Natural History 1,044 Carnegie Museum 1,008 Museum of Comparative Zoology 858 Peabody Museum, Yale University 676 University of Michigan 274 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 235 Louisiana State University 23i1 Cornell University 208 University of Florida 165 Delaware Museum of Natural History 75 Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California 18 San Diego Museum of Natural History 6 California Academy of Sciences 5 Los Angeles County Museum 1 Subtotals 9343 Total O55 -* Not all Cuban specimens have been catalogued in the USNMNH collection. isolated) researchers aware of the potential data currently in museum collections (Beolchini 2002, Green & Scharlemann 2003). In addition, electronic databases greatly facilitate collec- tion management (Green & Scharlemann 2003). With current technology and interest, the /vision of a virtual world museum, providing a globally distributed biodiversity information network, is attainable (Cooper & Steinheimer 2003, Peterson et al. 2003). | The survey we have completed and the resulting electronic database will serve to ‘improve data exchanges among Cuban scientists, and between them and international | workers (Alberch 1993, Cooper & Steinheimer 2003, Peterson et al. 2005, Watkins & Donnelly 2005). Due to past communication difficulties in Cuba, there has been little inter- | institutional interaction or resource-sharing. In fact, some collections have gone essentially ‘unknown in recent years; e.g., the Instituto de Segunda Ensenanza, which contains several James W. Wiley et al. 24 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) specimens of special concern in Cuba, was unknown to curators of the other Cuban collec- tions until 2006 when we ‘rediscovered’ it. Cuban collections have many national and international values. Collections are a rich source of information on the natural history, ecology, systematics and conservation of birds (Fitzpatrick 1985, Remsen 1995). Specimen collections are important depositories of the bio- diversity of regions and nations, providing information on spatial and temporal variation in species, and thereby serving as a vital tool for inventorying biological diversity (Alberch 1993, Davis 1996, Mehrhoff 1996, Stork et al. 1996, Winker 1996, Shaffer et al. 1998, Taub 1998, Brooke 2000, Krishtalka & Humphrey 2000, Roselaar 2003, Watkins & Donnelly 2005), a process that has been initiated in Cuba recently. Collar & Rudyanto (2003) noted that muse- ums also hold contentious specimens that require re-evaluation. Moreover, Cuban collec- tions have an important role in the natural and national heritage of the island. The bird collections in Cuba are substantial, totalling 10,415 Cuban specimens. A curso- ry survey of several European and US collections with Cuban specimens yielded a total of 11,055 skins, mounts and eggs (Table 4), slightly greater than the number of Cuban speci- mens in the island. Most avian collections have acquired few new specimens in recent decades relative to the rates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Remsen 1995, Winker 1996, Green & Scharlemann 2003). Thus, the specimens that exist now in museums are large- ly irreplaceable (Rasmussen & Pry¥s-Jones 2003). The value of the present collections in Cuba is considerable, especially given the unlikely prospect of adding substantial numbers of specimens in the future. Unfortunately, the specimens in Cuban collections often are missing complete or, indeed, any data. Specimens lacking data certainly are not unusual in collections and do possess value (Rasmussen & Prys-Jones 2003). As often the case (Rasmussen & Pr¥s-Jones 2003), older specimens in Cuban collections (all of those from Gundlach) have few or no associated data. Gundlach, like other early collectors, was apparently unaware of the impor- tance of date and specific locality data, and, regrettably, no field journals are known from his work. Nevertheless, Olson (1986) demonstrated that a specimen without data may turn out to be something as valuable as a unique type, even if it takes 160 years for someone to recognise the fact. . Many of the Cuban collections included here are quite small, yet several hold specimens important to our understanding of species’ status and distribution; e.g., the Mayari muse- um, with just 46 specimens, contains one the country’s two specimens of Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus and one of the three specimens of Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus. Small provincial institutions can play an important conservation role in Cuba. As suggest- ed by Hromada et al. (2003) and Cheke (2003), even small regional museums may have local expertise, ability to respond quickly to local issues and collect significant conservation data. In our inventory, we found that several collections contained specimens of species (n=36) of local or international concern. Adams e¢ al. (2003) emphasised the importance of publishing museum holdings of extinct and endangered species, which they considered a valuable contribution to conservation information. Although the Gundlach collection has remained mostly intact within Cuba, many of the specimens formerly housed in Cuban institutions were dispersed outside the country. For example, the important Charles T. Ramsden (1876-1951) collection, which contained the best representation of forms from the Oriente (P. Bartsch in litt. to A. Wetmore, 25 November 1952), was given to USNMNH by Ramsden’s widow, Emereciana Cristina Ferrer Joli de Ramsden, shortly after his death. Some 1,773 bird skins, 75 skeletons and 243 eggs were retained by USNMNH, whereas 476 specimens were returned to Cuba because they lacked complete data. The residual collection was donated to the Universidad de Oriente by James W. Wiley et al. 25 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) _ Ramsden’s widow and Concepcion Ramsden Ferrer de Bueno, where it was initially well curated by Manuel Diaz-Piferrer, a biology professor. After Diaz-Piferrer left the university, _and until recently, however, the collection received little attention. Sadly, many bird speci- mens suffered substantial deterioration and were discarded, as was the bulk of the precious egg collection. Fortunately for Cuban biologists, several important collections have been maintained in Cuba because access to foreign collections, particularly in the US, where 43.5% of Cuban | specimens are housed, has been limited due to political tensions. Still, the Cuban collections have not been widely used, or indeed known, among Cuban workers. We trust that present efforts will help to correct that situation. | | Conservation needs In the current period of economic hardship, all Cuban natural history institutions and collections require international assistance in improving facilities for the maintenance of specimens. Whereas the MNHNC has received good cabinets through a donation from North American institutions and the collection facility is climate controlled, this is a unique situation. All other collections are in need of improved storage facilities and climate control. All require regular pest control, which has not been available in the island in recent years. Additionally, many Cuban collections are unorganised or only poorly arranged and man- aged, and only a few have a dedicated computer and associated software for use in manag- ing the collections. Furthermore, most collections are in need of a thorough survey to prop- erly identify specimens and to standardise nomenclature. Several collections examined have been neglected for long periods. The practice of dis- carding damaged or ‘useless’ specimens continues in some collections, although such spec- imens and their associated data are still valuable as vouchers and to the assessment of the country’s biodiversity. The specimens forming the bird collection in the Museo “Tomas Romay’ were salvaged from a trash bin after being discarded by another institution! Even more tragically, some important collections have already been lost; e.g., Wiley arrived at the Escuela ‘Rafael Maria Mendive’ (Colegio Dolores) collection in May 2006 only to learn that it had been destroyed (except for four severely damaged specimens) during renovations the year before. Sadly, that collection reportedly had contained several important specimens, including an example of the extinct Cuban Macaw and Critically Endangered Cuban race of Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis bairdii. Only 19 specimens of the macaw are known, with the only individual in Cuba held in the Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica. We appeal to the international community for assistance in ensuring that the avian collections of Cuba survive. Acknowledgements _ Wiley was supported at the American Museum of Natural History by a Frank M. Chapman Fund grant, facilitat- 2d by Rosemarie S. Gnam. His work at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was supported by an Academy grant, provided by Frank Gill. We thank the many curators and collection managers of the institutions visited, including Storrs L. Olson, Craig Ludwig, Richard C. Banks and James Dean (US National Museum of Natural History); Dean Amadon, Rosemarie S. Gnam, Mary K. LeCroy, Francois Vuilleumier and Paul Sweet , American Museum of Natural History); Frank Gill, David j. Agro and Christine Bush (Academy of Natural | 5ciences of Philadelphia); Kenneth C. Parkes and Robin K. Panza (Carnegie Museum of Natural History); David | \N illard and Mary Hennen (Field Museum of Natural History); Tom Webber (Florida Museum of Natural History); |. Van Remsen and Steven Cardiff (Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State Museum); the late Raymond A. / Paynter, Douglas Siegel-Causey, Fred C. Sibley and Alison Pirie (Museum of Comparative Zoology); Carla Cicero ; Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley); Janet Hinshaw, Robert B. Payne and Laura P ayne (Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan); Gene Hess and Jean Woods (Delaware Museum of Natural istory); Robert Y. McGowan (National Museums of Scotland); and Friederike Woog (Staatliches Museum fir James W. Wiley et al. 26 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Naturkunde, Stuttgart). We thank Dietrich Heidecke (Institut ftir Zoologie der Universitat Zoologische Sammlungen, Halle) for information on Cuban specimens collected during the Alexander von Humboldt Expedition (1967-68). Wiley was assisted at Tring by Robert Prfs-Jones, Douglas Russell and Mark Adams; Eric Pasquet provided support at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturalle, Paris, as did Federic Gehringer at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Neuchatel. We thank Lloyd Kiff and Travis Rosenberry of The Peregrine Fund for help in obtaining literature. In Cuba we thank the following curators, collection managers, institutional administrators and colleagues for their assistance: Orlando H. Garrido, William Suarez and Stephen Diaz (Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba); Naomi Cuervo, Barbara Sanchez, Hiram Gonzalez Alonso and J. M. Fernandez Milera (Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica); Dennis Denis (Museo de Historia Natural ‘Felipe Poey’); Alina Pérez and Moraima Contreras Lopez (Museo Nacional de la Historia de Ciencia de Cuba “Carlos J. Finlay’); Margarita Escalona (Museo de Historia Natural ‘Joaquin Fernandez de la Vara’); Carlos Navarro, Amador E. Ruiz Baliu, Gerardo Gabriel Hechevarria, Nidia Garcia Sarimiento, Margarita Hernandez Garrido and Yoandri Suarez Megna (Museo de Historia Natural ‘Charles T. Ramsden’, Universidad de Oriente); Omar Melian and Nicasio Vina (BIOECO—Museo de Historia Natural “Tomas Romay’); Leonardo Pareta and Sonia Gonzalez Quirds (Museo Provencial ‘Ignacio Agramonte’, Camagiiey); Lissett Macia, Juana Maria Salomon Terry, Aira Luz Hernandez Fuentes and Delkis Arias (Isla de la Juventud—Museo de Historia Natural); Teresa Garcia Guerrero, Roquel Ruiz Reyes and Elvira Estupinan Leyva (Museo Municipal ‘Aradio Leyte Vidal’); Nils Navarro (Museo de Historia Natural ‘Carlos de la Torre’); Pedro Regalado (Colecci6n Didactica—INDAF); Ana Nydia Alvarez (Instituto de Segunda Ensenianza ‘Cuqui Bosch’); Ernesto Aramis Alvarez Blanco and Lazaro Miranda (Museo ‘Oscar Maria de Rojas’); Abel Hernandez Munoz (Museo de Historia Natural de Sancti Spiritus); and Juan Francisco Santos Estévez, Mercedes Cabera Cruz, Jenisey Camero Rabrador and Alexis Plasencia (Museo de Historia Natural “Tranquilino Sandalio de Noda’). Above all, Wiley acknowledges the warm friendship and able assistance in obtaining permits to work in Cuba and the many institutions provided by Dra. Maria Elena Ibarra, Carmen Duranza Martinez and Ariel Ruiz, Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de La Habana. References: Adams, M. P., Cooper, J. H. & Collar, N. J. 2003. Extinct and endangered (‘E&E’) birds: a proposed list for collec- tion catalogues. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 338-354. Alberch, P. 1993. Museums, collections and biodiversity inventories. Trends Ecol. & Evol. 8: 372-375. American Ornithologists’ Union. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edn. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington DC. Banks, R. C., Cicero, C., Dunn, J. L., Kratter, A. W., Ouellet, H., Rasmussen, P. C., Remsen, J. V., Rising, J. D. & Stotz, D. F. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 117: 847-858. Banks, R. C., Cicero, C., Dunn, J. L., Kratter, A. W., Rasmussen, P. C., Remsen, J. V., Rising, J. D. & Stotz, D. F. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 119: 897-906: , Banks, R. C., Cicero, C., Dunn, J. L., Kratter, A. W., Rasmussen, P. C., Remsen, J. V., Rising, J. D. & Stotz, D. F. 2003. Forty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 120: — 923-931. | Banks, R. C., Cicero, C., Dunn, J. L., Kratter, A. W., Rasmussen, P. C., Remsen, J. V., Rising, J. D. & Stotz, D. F. 2004. Forty-fifth supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 121: 985-995. Banks, R. C., Cicero, C., Dunn, J. L., Kratter, A. W., Rasmussen, P. C., Remsen, J. V., Rising, J. D. & Stotz, D. F. 2005. Forty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 122: — 1026-10312 Banks, R. C., Cicero, C., Dunn, J. L., Kratter, A. W., Rasmussen, P. C., Remsen, J. V., Rising, J. D. & Stotz, D. F. 2006. | Forty-seventh supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 123: | 926-936. | Beolchini, F. 2002. A relational database for the management of the collections housed in the G. B. Grassi Museum |! (University of Rome “La Sapienza”): a general survey. Rend. Fig. Acc. Lincei 13: 65-69. | BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened birds of the world. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Brooke, M. D. 2000. Why museums matter. Trends Ecol. & Evol. 15: 136-137. Cheke, A. S. 2003. Treasure Island—the rise and decline of a small tropical museum, the Mauritius Institute. Bull. ) Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 197-206. | Collar, N. J. & Rudyanto. 2003. The endangered ark: bird specimen data in conservation status assessment. Bull. | Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 95-113. | James W. Wiley et al. 27 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) ) Cooper, J. H. & Steinheimer, F. D. 2003. Why museums matter: report from the workshops 14-15 November 1999 | ‘Increased cooperation between bird collections.’ Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 355-360. Davis, P. 1996. Museums, biodiversity and systematics. Pp. 128-145 in P. Davis (ed.) Museums and the natural envi- | ronment. Leicester Univ. Press, London. Fitzpatrick, J. W. 1985. The role of scientific collections in ecological morphology. Pp. 195-208 in Miller, E. H. (ed.) Museum collections: their roles and future in biological research. British Columbia Provincial Mus. Occas. Pap. 25, Vancouver. Gonzalez Alonso, H. J. (ed.). 2002. Aves de Cuba. Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica, La Habana. Green, R. E. & Scharlemann, J. P. W. 2003. Egg and skin collections as a resource for long-term ecological studies. BulleBrib Orn. Els 123A: 165-176. Howard, R. & Moore, A. 1991. A complete checklist of the birds of the world. Second edn. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. | Hromada, M., Kuczynski, L., Skoracki, M., Antczak, M. & Tryjanowksi, P. 2003. The value of the bird collections and associate data in regional museums: Lanius excubitor specimens in Sarisské Museum, Bardejov, Slovakia. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 226-233. Krishtalka, L. & Humphrey, P. S. 2000. Can natural history museums capture the future? BioScience 50: 611-617. Mehrhoff, L. J. 1996. Museums, research collections, and the biodiversity challenge. Pp. 447-466 in Reaka-Kudla, M. L., Wilson, D. E. & Wilson, E. O. (eds.) Biodiversity I: understanding and protecting our biological resources. A. Joseph Henry Press, Washington DC. Olson, S. L. 1986. An early account of some birds from Mauke, Cook Islands, and the origin of the ‘Mysterious Starling’ Aplonis mavornata Buller. Notornis 33: 197-208. Peterson, A. T., Cicero, C. & Wieczoreck, J. 2005. Free and open access to bird specimen data: why? Auk 122: 987-990. Peterson, A. T., Vieglais, D. A., Navarro Sigtienza, A. G. & Silva, M. 2003. A global distributed biodiversity infor- mation network: building the world museum. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 186-196. Rasmussen, P. C. & Pr¥s-Jones, R. P. 2003. History vs mystery: the reliability of museum specimen data. Bull. Brit. Oni GI 235: 66-94. _ Reaka-Kudla, M. L., Wilson, D. E. & Wilson, E. O. (eds.) 1997. Biodiversity II: understanding and protecting our biolog- ical resources. A. Joseph Henry Press, Washington DC. Remsen, J. V. 1995. The importance of continued collecting of bird specimens to ornithology and bird conservation. Bird Conserv. Intern. 5: 145-180. Roselaar, C. S. 2003. An inventory of major European bird collections. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 123A: 253-337. Shaffer, H. B., Fisher, R. N. & Davidson, C. 1998. The role of natura! history collections in documenting species declines. Trends Ecol. & Evol. 13: 27-30. Stork, N. E., Samways, M. J. & Eeley, H. A. C. 1996. Inventorying and monitoring biodiversity. Trends Ecol. & Evol. | 11: 39-40. Taub, L. 1998. On the role of museums in history of science, technology and medicine. Endeavour 22: 41-43. _ Watkins, G. B. & Donnelly, M. A. 2005. Biodiversity research in the Neotropics: from conflict to collaboration. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sct. Phil. 154: 127-136. Winker, K. 1996. The crumbling infrastructure of biodiversity: the avian example. Conserv. Biol. 10: 703-707. _ Addresses: James W. Wiley (corresponding author), 1120 Trigg Hall, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess | Anne, Maryland 21853, USA, e-mail: jwwiley@mail.umes.edu. Rafaela Aguilera Roman, Coleccion de Juan Gundlach, Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica, La Habana, Cuba. Alfredo Rams Becena, Museo de Historia Natural ‘Carlos de la Torre y Huerta’, Holguin, Cuba. Carlos Pena Rodriguez, Centro de Investigaciones y Servicios Ambientales y Tecnologicos, Holguin, Cuba. Arturo Kirkconnell, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba, La Habana, Cuba. Antonio Ortega Piferrer, Museo de Historia Natural ‘Joaquin Fernandez de la Vara’, Gibara, Cuba. Martin Acosta Cruz, Museo de Historia Natural ‘Felipe Poey,’ Universidad de La Habana, La Habana, Cuba. _ © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 28 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Natural history data for the canopy-dwelling purpletufts Iodopleura (Cotingidae), and first documentation of Dusky Purpletuft I. fusca for Brazil by Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan Received 14 December 2006 Purpletufts lodopleura Lesson, 1839, belong to the exclusively Neotropical family, Cotingidae, which includes some of the most diverse, colourful and spectacular passerines in South America, if not the world. However, as currently recognised, the family comprises diverse genera that are only dubiously included within it. The extreme diversity in form, plumage and behaviour suggests that Cotingidae has become a ‘dumping ground’ for sev- eral unrelated lineages with tyrannoid ancestors (Snow 2004). Initially, Sibley & Ahlquist (1990) postulated that the genera Tityra, Schiffornis and Pachyramphus form a distinct group, which they considered to be most closely related to the Tyrannidae, and which became known as the Schiffornis group. By the start of the next decade, work by Prum et al. (2000) wrought a change, with the result that genera Tityra through Phibalura were placed tenta- tively in Cotingidae. However, further genetic studies (Irestedt et al. 2002, Chesser 2004) have confirmed that the genera Tityra through at least Pachyramphus form a monophyletic group, which Chesser (2004) considered to be more closely related to manakins (Pipridae) than to cotingas. In consequence, many authors now treat Tityra, Schiffornis, Laniocera, lodopleura, Lantisoma, Xenopsaris, Pachyramphus and Piprites as Incertae Sedis. The genus lodopleura occurs only east of the Andes where it is represented by three allopatric canopy species, Dusky Purpletuft I. fusca, White-browed Purpletuft I. isabellae and Buff-throated Purpletuft I. pipra. Their English name derives from the males’ long silky and glossy, purple to lilac upper-flank (pectoral) tufts, which are white or absent in females. I. isabellae is the best known and most widespread of the genus, being fairly common over much of Amazonia, from the west of the basin and upper rio Orinoco drainage in southern Venezuela, south-east Colombia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru to extreme northern Bolivia (Pando) and Brazil (east to Para and Maranhao) (Sick 1993, Snow 2004). I. fusca replaces I. isabellae in the Guianan Shield, over east and south-east Venezuela, the Guianas and adjacent northern Brazil, in Roraima and Amapa, and probably south to the | Manaus area (Snow 2004). These two species inhabit terra firme forest whilst I. pipra is restricted to the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil and is globally threatened (BirdLife | International 2004), with nominate I. p. pipra ranging from Espirito Santo south to Sao Paulo, whilst I. p. leucopygia occurs in north-east Brazil, from Paraiba and Pernambuco to Bahia | (Snow 2004). Dusky Purpletuft Iodopleura fusca First documented Brazilian record.—During field work on 11 June 2000, AW located three I. | fusca c.11 km north of Presidente Figueiredo, at Iracema Falls, Amazonas, Brazil (02°58’S, 60°02"W). Observations were made using 10x40 binoculars and a 35-60x telescope in excellent light, from a dirt road bisecting the forest. The purpletufts, as is typical of the | genus, were perched at 35-40 m in the crown of a tall emergent legume, in primary terra | firme forest. The birds uttered a thin but shrill repeated seeee which AW tape-recorded, and | is similar to I. isabellae calls (AW pers. obs.). This tape-recording represents the first | documentation for I. fusca in Brazil and is archived at both the Arquivo Sonoro Elias P. _ Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 29 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) / Coelho (ASEC), Universidade Federal do Rio Janeiro, Brazil, and at the British Library _ National Sound Archive (BLNS), London, UK. Records from Amazonas state.—The first Brazilian records of I. fusca involved a series of sightings c.80 km north of Manaus at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project -(BDFFP) in December 1984 (Stotz & Bierregaard 1989). In April 1985, Willis & Oniki (1988a) reported sightings of I. isabellae at Balbina, 130 km north-northeast of Manaus, but these almost certainly refer to I. fusca (pers. obs.). Subsequently, in 1987, AW and M. Cohn-Haft observed I. fusca at the same BDFFP reserve (see Cohn-Haft et al. 1997), in virgin terra firme; one pair, possibly two, on six dates between 20 October and 6 November, whilst on 21 _ August 2005, GMK located 1-2 birds. All these records are from the same general area as those made by Stotz & Bierregaard (1989). The BDFFP records, at 02°20’S, appear to represent the southernmost range limit of I. fusca. Status.—The Iracema records represent the rediscovery of I. fusca north of Manaus, following the initial reports in the 1980s. Despite extensive field work by multiple competent ornithologists in 1988-2000, in pristine purpletuft habitat in terra firme north of Manaus (where three canopy towers are located), no field records were made. Furthermore, research into the canopy avifauna by Naka (2004) from these towers (117 hours at each one) also failed to produce any sightings, strongly suggesting that the species is a rare resident that is patchily and very locally distributed in the Manaus region. Nonetheless, the species’ tiny size, canopy habitat and simple voice combine to make the birds difficult to detect. Further north (towards the centre of its distribution), we speculate that I. fusca may be more common and widespread than present knowledge suggests. For example, in Bolivar, south- east Venezuela, during two visits to terra firme c.20 km west of Santa Elena de Uairén, AW located two pairs of I. fusca on 2 April 2003 and 13 February 2004, on which date he tape- recorded a pair. The tape-recording appears to represent only the second confirmed Venezuelan record, following two specimens from a single locality in southern Bolivar (Hilty 2003), and is archived at BLNS. Presently, the species is considered uncommon to rare (Snow 2004), from a sparse number of field records and few specimens. Ridgely & Tudor (1994) suggested that I. fusca is less rare in French Guiana than elsewhere, as Tostain et al. (1992) reported numerous sightings from that country and J. Ingels (in litt. 2007) confirms, for instance, that it is seen regularly around the village of Satil, in the interior of the country. ‘Altitudinal range—AW’s Bolivar observations at c.900 m increase the known altitudinal range of I. fusca by some 400 m (Hilty 2003, Snow 2004). Plumage details—Prolonged studies of the three I. fusca at Iracema permitted AW to note the | following plumage variation. Two of the three were males, with striking purple upper-flank tufts, clearly visible through the telescope as a purple triangle on the sides of the upper _breast at the wing-bend. Although AW had previously searched very carefully for this field mark during all previous field encounters with I. fusca (many under excellent conditions), he had failed to observe this feature using binoculars. One of the males was more boldly marked below, with heavier horizontal flanks barring and more pronounced scaling on the upper breast. The female was noted to be overall slightly duller than the other two birds. I. | fusca is not known to be sexually dimorphic, except in the lack of pectoral tufts, and this individual was perhaps an immature or its plumage had faded. Juveniles, however, have been reported to have conspicuously white-tipped feathers (Snow 2004). On 26 September /2006 whilst closely observing a female through the telescope, AW noticed a distinct i symmetrical white throat stripe (c.0.5 cm wide and 1 cm long) from the bill base and an indistinct small white smudge in front of the eyes. Careful comparison of specimens may 1 | Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 30 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) shed light on any subtle sexual, individual or age-related plumage differences in the species, though no such is obvious in the seven specimens (three male, one of which is perhaps young, and four female) from British Guiana held at The Natural History Museum (Tring, UK) or those two (one male and one female) from Venezuela at the Collecci6n Ornitologia Phelps, Caracas (GMK pers. obs.). Feeding behaviour.—I. fusca were observed by AW sallying for flying insects from tree crowns using both vertical and horizontal upward-looping sally-flights of mostly 10-15 m, usually returning to the same perch or the same tree crown. Very similar foraging behaviour exists in Swallow-wing Chelidoptera tenebrosa, but the latter species’ sally-flights are frequently much longer and they occasionally visit the ground (AW pers. obs.). Purpletufts look very much like miniature Swallow-wings, especially when sallying, having similar (but much smaller) rather broad wings which are noticeable when gliding back to the perch. One I. fusca caught a c.1-cm moth after a successful upward sally which ended in the bird returning to the same dead canopy snag, where the prey was consumed. On 27 September 2006, at 17.40 h, a female was observed repeatedly sallying to catch c.1-cm winged termites (Isoptera) or Hymenoptera at a hatching event. The longest observed was a c.25 m vertical sally ending in an upward swoop to catch the insect, before landing in a nearby tree crown. Roosting behaviour.—On 11 June 2000, at 17.50 h, AW observed three I. fusca at Iracema going to roost in the crown of the legume where he originally discovered them. They were using the topmost, exposed and mostly bare branches at c.35—45 m, perching 0.5, 1.0 and 4.5 m apart. The tree offered little or no protection against the elements, as the twigs held only a few tiny leaves and some dried black seedpods. They perched motionless c.1 m from the top of the tree, very erect, like miniature Chelidoptera tenebrosa, with their tails held vertically down. On subsequent visits at dusk, in August 2000, 2001, 2003, June and August 2005 and September 2006, AW encountered presumably the same 2-3 birds on the same tree crown on four occasions, confirming that they used the same tree for roosting over at least six years. Voice.—At 17.45 h on 12 August 2005 AW tape-recorded three I. fusca chasing each other in the canopy, prior to roosting, uttering a more complex vocalisation that is possibly the song. It comprised a series of five short ‘jjingly trills’ uttered over a five-second period and repeated after 22 seconds. Unfortunately, he was unable to determine if any of the birds were displaying due to the poor angle and brief views. This call is included on a | commercially available CD (Stouffer et al. 2007) and is very similar to the display-song of I. isabellae on Marantz & Zimmer (2006), which AW has also tape-recorded along the rio Napo, dpto. Loreto, Peru, and near Parque Indigena do Xingu, Mato Grosso, Brazil. White-browed Purpletuft Iodopleura isabellae Nesting.—On 21 January 2001, from a canopy platform in terra firme at Loreto, Peru, AW observed a group of three I. isabellae, of which at least two, presumably a pair, were nest building. A 20-60x telescope permitted exceptional studies of their behaviour. We follow Simon & Pacheco’s (2005) standardisation of nest descriptions for Neotropical birds. The nest was being constructing in the canopy of an open-crowned legume, sparsely foliated with tiny compound leaves, and c.30-35 m tall. The nest was 4—5 m from the tree’s top on a small open, almost horizontal branch, apparently with a small knot hole, where the low |} cup/base nest was placed, saddling the branch 1 m from the tip, and looking somewhat like | a hummingbird nest. Within 30 cm of the nest were five 5-7 cm black bean pods, a feature we have also noted at nests of I. pipra in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states (AW & GMK _ Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 31 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) pers. obs.). The three birds repeatedly flew to the nest tree, where one bird (possibly a youngster from the previous nesting) would perch within c.1 m of the nest, and the pair _undertook their construction work. They repeatedly brought cobwebs in their bills, taking it in turn to land on top of the nest, then carefully rotating in a clockwise direction, slowly ‘padding’ with their feet whilst carefully placing the cobwebs in the shallow cup edge with their bills. Several times, AW observed both birds, especially the larger (presumably the male), defecating on the side of the nest then working the excrement into the nest with the bill. Once some sticky substance was seen in the bill of one bird; after landing on the nest it wiped its bill multiple times, working this also into the side of the nest. This substance may have been regurgitated sticky seeds, e.g. mistletoe (Loranthaceae), which is regularly taken by lodopleura (Snow 1982, 2004, Sick 1993), and may well help to ‘cement’ the nest. AW observed similar behaviour from Yellow-crowned Tyrannulets Tyrannulus elatus nest building in the canopy of an emergent in terra firme at Manaus, using their bills whilst in the nest to cement multiple yellow mistletoe seeds with either its own saliva or the natural sticky pulp of the seeds, by ‘gluing’ them to the nest rim (AW pers. obs.). Very similar behaviour was reported at the only other documented nest of I. isabellae (Sick 1979), in Para, Brazil, where, in November 1977, a pair was observed constructing a nest, a thin pad of spider’s webs on a slender horizontal branch. A third bird kept company but showed no interest in the construction. Two weeks later the nest appeared finished but no eggs had been laid; it was attached saddle-like and appeared like a cup-shaped hum- mingbird’s nest, measuring 3.0 x 3.4 cm, its depth barely 1 cm. Outside, it was coated so thickly with cobwebs that the underlying materials were invisible; the smooth surface resembled papier-maché. Sick suggested that saliva might have been used to mat the cob- webs together. AW’s observations confirm the suspicion that purpletufts do use other sub- stances, e.g. excrement, to help ‘cement’ the nest. The only other breeding data involve a stub-tailed fledgling observed on 20 November near Belém (Sick 1979), a female with active ovaries taken on 5 October in Amazonas, Brazil (specimen in the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro), three males from south-east Colombia that were in breeding condition in August-September (specimens in Coleccion Ornitologia Phelps, Caracas), and an unpub- lished observation (by J. Thompson and C. J. Sharpe) of a nest-building pair at a forest bor- der, at Junglaven, Amazonas, Venezuela, on 12 March 2004. Display.—During the nest-building observations, AW witnessed apparently the first documented display by any purpletuft in the field, from a male I. isabellae. After c.15 minutes observing the three purpletufts at the nest, two more birds approached, whereupon immediately one of the three chased the new arrivals, pursuing them through the treetops and away from the nest. Upon returning to the nest, it landed atop a nearby tree and engaged in a spectacular display, transforming itself by flaring its long, intense purple, upper-flank feathers over two-thirds of the breast, leaving only a small white centre. The purple feathers even curled around over the bird’s nape, forming a purple-collared effect in side view. This impressive display was emphasised by the sunlight, as the bird remained perched for c.30 seconds in the tree crown before flying off. _ We predict that males of both I. fusca and I. pipra use their long colourful, modified upper-flank feathers in a similar manner, in an as yet undescribed courtship display. It is also unknown if the shorter white flank-feathers of female purpletufts possess any function in courtship. Snow (1982) noted a male I. pipra, obtained alive, raising and spreading the vio- let flank feathers when aroused; when calm they were half-covered by the dark breast feath- ers. Snow further suggested that doubtless these modified feathers are used by the males in courtship, without offering details. | | Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 32 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Buff-throated Purpletuft Iodopleura pipra Plumage variation.—I. pipra comprises two subspecies: leucopygia differs from nominate pipra in having a broad white rump band and the buff throat purer (less suffused grey) and more extensive (Snow 1982, 2004). Nesting.—Previous breeding records of nominate I. pipra have all been from lowland Sao Paulo in late winter (Willis & Oniki 1988b), with a lone spring (October) record (Collar et al. 1992). AW and K. J. Zimmer found two nests of nominate I. pipra at Fazenda Capricérnio, Ubatuba, Sao Paulo. On 14 October 1994 they located a nest in a 20-m leafless legume within a shaded active cacao plantation, adjacent to virgin Atlantic Forest. The nest was c.15 m up and near the centre of the tree. The easily overlooked nest was a low cup/fork (see Fig. 2d in Simon & Pacheco 2005), hugging an almost horizontal branch in a gentle depression where three smaller, almost horizontal branches forked. It contained a three-quarters grown, partially feathered nestling which was being fed by at least two adults every few minutes. Adults were seen regurgitating small white berries near the nest. Some 200 m away, we encountered three more purpletufts, two of which were chasing each other in the canopy of a leafless 30-m tall tree with much wing- and tail-quivering. One engaged in highly exaggerated wing-lifting, holding the wings in a “V’. These observations may have been of a recently fledged youngster food-begging. On 15 October 1995, along the entrance road to Fazenda Capricornio, while observing a perched purpletuft through a 30x telescope during a rainstorm, AW noticed that the bird was brooding, as the bill of a single nestling was just visible amongst the brooding adult’s breast-feathers. The nest was so small and the brooding adult so erect as to make the nest practically invisible. Willis & Oniki (1988b) also noted that nestlings of I. pipra perfectly imi- tate the nest colour. This nest was c.17 m up in a bare legume, locally called “farinha seca’ and was also a tiny low cup/fork nest where four horizontal branches radiated. The nest was 1.5 m from the main trunk. Again, a second bird was noted perching motionless c.0.5 m above the nest for 3-4 minutes. On 22 October 1998, near Mambucaba / Perequé, Rio de Janeiro, GMK was shown an abandoned nest (active a week or so earlier) in a Cecropia (c.10 m tall), on one of the pair of topmost horizontal branches. The nest was positioned close to the end of the branch and was highly inconspicuous, looking almost like a bump on the bark, being scarcely a couple of cm high. On 21 September 2007, at Fazenda Angelim, Ubatuba, GMK observed two nests of I. pipra, at the edges of a clearing surrounded by an abandoned shade cacao plantation, situated c.400 m apart. The first nest was under construction, apparently solely by the female, though the male ‘stood sentinel’ and occasionally expanded the pectoral tufts as his mate collected nest material. It was sited at c.10 m above ground in a central two-way fork | within 2-3 m of the crown of a near-leafless legume. The female collected fresh lichens from | within 2 m of the ground in nearby trees. Subsequently, on 19 October 2007, the female was — observed at the nest, apparently incubating, several times during the day which was over- | cast with periodic rain showers, sometimes heavy. The male occasionally perched close by. The second nest, sited c.20 m above ground, also in a two-way fork, close to the topmost | branches of another leafless legume, already contained a single, several-day-old young, | being brooded by the adult female. The male again remained close by and both adults were | observed to agressively chase a Rufous-bellied Thrush Turdus rufiventris which approached — to within 1 m of the nest. However, a Green-headed Tanager Tangara seledon that perched a _ similar distance from the nest was not subject to such attention (see also Agonistic behav- | iour). On 19 October only the single young, by now adult-sized and similarly plumaged, but still perched on the nest was present. The nest tree was by this time in leaf. Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 33 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) GMkK has also observed different incubating birds at Fazenda Angelim, Ubatuba, in | October 2000 and August 2002. These nests matched the descriptions given above. Previous published nesting records for nominate I. pipra involve two (tiny cup) nests near Ubatuba, 20-25 m high in tall leafless leguminous trees, each with one young, on 10 _ August 1986; the nests were within 70 m of each other (Willis & Oniki 1988b). A three- quarters-grown chick was noted near Ubatuba, on 11 October 1991, in a nest 12 m above | ground in a bare tree within an overgrown cacao plantation (Collar et al. 1992). The only | known breeding datum for I. p. leucopygia comes from the highlands of Serra Branca, Murici, Alagoas, where on 10 May 1984 a nesting pair (originally ascribed to I. isabellae) was observed and the nest collected (Teixeira et al. 1987). The nest was positively compared with the description of Sick (1979) for that of I. isabellae, causing the initial misidentification to species, which the authors later corrected (Teixeira et al. 1990). We have also seen the pho- | tograph of another nest (posted at www.surfbirds.com), taken on 10 August 2005, by N. Athanas, which contained a downy young obviously at least several days old. Agonistic behaviour.—Approximately 30 cm below the I. pipra nest found on 14 October 1994, a pair of Crested Becards Pachyramphus validus was constructing a typical closed/globular nest of moss attached to a fork. One of the purpletufts remained perched in the same tree and c.5 m from the nest for five minutes. Almost every time the much larger becards (mostly the female) approached their nest with nesting material, the smaller purpletufts attempted to chase them off. Two days later, AW observed a pair of Iodopleura atop a legume chasing a Sayaca Tanager Thraupis sayaca within an overgrown cacao plantation, c.1 km from the active nest. Feeding behaviour.—AW has observed I. pipra at Ubatuba to engage in 2-5 m circular sallies for insects within the crown of a nesting legume. At Boa Nova, Bahia, on 2 February 1999, AW observed a lone I. p. leucopygia foraging from the top of a c.15 m legume at the edge of _acorridor of Atlantic Forest. The behaviour was very reminiscent of I. fusca and Chelidoptera tenebrosa, involving three c.10-15 m looping upward sallies to catch unidentified flying insects before returning to the same perch. We have numerous observations of perch- gleaning for mistletoe in clumps on larger trees, as well as taking small yellowish berries from a vine in the subcanopy. Mobbing behaviour.—During field work in remnant Atlantic Forest at Boa Nova, Bahia, AW _and K. J. Zimmer noted that I. p. leucopygia is readily located using either playback or by imitating the song of Brazilian Pygmy-owl Glaucidium minutissimum at forest edges with a clear view of the canopy. Purpletufts often approach to investigate an owl mobbing scene, perching in the tree crowns agitatedly giving a thin two-syllable whistle whilst raising the somewhat elongated crown-feathers. This method may prove useful to field workers seeking this species, which is easily overlooked, and it might also be considered by ornithologists in south-east Brazil searching for the Critically Endangered Kinglet Calyptura Calyptura cristata, whose voice is still unknown (Pacheco & Fonseca 2001) and is reminiscent of a miniature purpletuft in size. Altitudinal movements.—Breeding in coastal lowlands during winter and spring, I. pipra has been suggested to undertake altitudinal movements to higher elevations during the ‘summer, based principally on the observation of small flocks ‘migrating’ at 900 m in Espirito ‘Santo, in November (Sick 1993). In the north-east Atlantic Forest, however, it would seem _probable that subspecies lewcopygia is resident at highland localities based on available data (Teixeira et al. 1987, 1990, Collar et al. 1992; AW pers. obs., GMK pers. obs., E. Endrigo & L. E. Silveira in litt. 2006), especially given the almost total loss of lowland forest in this region Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 34 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) of Brazil, except in Bahia where some important remnants remain. Even in the range of nominate pipra, multiple recent observations in the lowlands of Sao Paulo, at Ubatuba, are available from all months, except June (GMK pers. obs., E. Endrigo, L. F. Silveira, C. Rizzo & J. Minns in litt. 2006), only records below 500 m are available from the environs of Parati, in nearby Rio de Janeiro state (Browne 2005), and there are records from highland localities between Sao Paulo and Espirito Santo at seasons other than summer (Camargo & Camargo 1964, Collar et al. 1992; E. O. Willis in litt. 2007), all of which casts some doubt on the migration theory. In this respect, it is perhaps worth noting that a record in the Collar et al. volume, that from Macaé de Cima, Rio de Janeiro, cited as being made in May 1986, is actually attributable to 6 March 1986 (J. F. Pacheco in litt. 2007). Willis has previously unpublished records from the (highland) Santa Teresa region, Espirito Santo, in early September 1989 and late July 1993. Around Perequé, Rio de Janeiro, R. Parrini (in litt. 2006) has records in June, July and November (in addition to the October nest record mentioned above), whilst in the Serra dos Orgaos, in the environs of Teresdpolis, the same observer has observed a single at 300 m (12 May 1996), a group of five at 700 m (27 December 1992), with another record at 900 m (date lost). These latter data might tend to support the migration hypothesis, but until more accurate information concerning the species’ overall range become available, based on more uniformly distributed observer effort, it might just as well signal that the species is more widespread than generally appreciated. Conservation.—That I. pipra may undertake altitudinal migrations, or perhaps more likely local movements, would have serious consequences for its conservation, as habitat requirements are twice as great as those for sedentary species, and would include both mid- elevation and lowland Atlantic Forest. It is, therefore, extremely important that research focuses on learning more about the movements, if any, of this poorly known bird, as it could be at greater risk than most endemics, particularly due to the loss of lowland Atlantic Forest. Acknowledgements We thank Edson Endrigo, Johan Ingels, Jeremy Minns, Fernando Pacheco, Ricardo Parrini, Carlos Augusto Rizzo, Chris Sharpe, Luis Fabio Silveira and Edwin Willis for kindly sharing their unpublished observations, and AW thanks Kevin Zimmer, Steve Hilty and Mario Cohn-Haft for their companionship during some field trips. David Snow and Johan Ingels refereed the manuscript. For affording travel opportunities, AW offers special thanks to Victor Emanuel, of Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, and Robert DeBellevue and Kinian Costner. GMK is grateful to staff members at The Natural History Museum (Tring), Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro) and Coleccion Ornitologia Phelps (Caracas) for access to relevant specimens. AW accords greatest thanks to his wife, Nadime, and children, Steven, Luana and Suzana, for their constant support and encouragement. References: BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Browne, P. W. P. 2005. The birds of Parati, south-east Brazil. Cotinga 24: 85-98. Camargo, H. F. A. & Camargo, E. A. 1964. Ocorréncia de Iodopleura p. pipra no estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil, e algu- mas notas sobre lodopleura isabellae (Aves, Cotingidae). Pap. Avulsos Dep. Zool. Sao Paulo 16: 45-55. Chesser, R. T. 2004. Molecular systematics of New World suboscine birds. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 32: 11-24. Cohn-Haft, M., Whittaker, A. & Stouffer, P. C. 1997. A new look at the “species-poor” Central Amazon: the avifau- na north of Manaus, Brazil. Pp. 205-235 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Collar, N. J., Gonzaga, L. P., Krabbe, N., Madrono Nieto, A., Naranjo, L. C., Parker, T. A. & Wege, D. C. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data book. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK. Ericson, P. G. P., Zuccon, D., Ohlson, J. I., Johansson, U. S., Alvarenga, H. & Prum, R. O. 2006. Higher-level phy- logeny and morphological evolution of tyrant flycatchers, cotingas, manakins, and their allies (Aves: Tyrannida). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 40: 471-483. Hilty, S. L. 2003. Birds of Venezuela. Princeton Univ. Press. Irestedt, M., Fjeldsa, J., Johansson, U. S. & Ericson, P. G. P. 2002. Systematic relationships and biogeography of the tracheophone suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 23: 499-512. Andrew Whittaker & Guy M. Kirwan 35 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Lanyon, S. M. 1985. Molecular perspective on higher-level relationships in the Tyrannoidea (Aves). Syst. Zool. 34: 404-418. Marantz, C. A. & Zimmer, K. J. 2006. Bird voices of Alta Floresta and southwestern Amazonian Brazil. Cornell Lab of @rny Ithaca, NY. Naka, L: N. 2004. Structure and organization of canopy bird assemblages in central Amazonia. Auk 121: 88-102. Pacheco, J. F. & Fonseca, P. S. M. 2001. The remarkable rediscovery of the Kinglet Calyptura Calyptura cristata. Cotinga 16: 48-51. _ Prum, R. O., Rice, N. H., Mobley, J. A. & Dimmick, W. W. 2000. A preliminary hypothesis for the cotingas (Cotingidae) based on mitochondrial DNA. Auk 117: 236-241. _ Ridgely, R.S. & Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. Sick, H. 1979. Zur Nistweise der Cotingidae lodopleura und Xipholena. J. Orn. 120: 73-77. Sick, H. 1993. Birds in Brazil: a natural history. Princeton Univ. Press. _ Sibley, C. G. & Ahlquist, J. E. 1990. Phylogeny and classification of birds. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT & London, WK - Snow, D. W. 1982. The cotingas. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. _ Snow, D. W. 2004. Family Cotingidae (cotingas). Pp. 32-108 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 9. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. _ Stotz, D. F. & Bierregaard, R. O. 1989. The birds of the fazendas Porto Alegre, Dimona and Esteio north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Rev. Bras. Biol. 49: 861-872. - Simon J. E. & Pacheco, S. 2005. On the standardization of nest descriptions of Neotropical birds. Rev. Bras. Orn. 13: 143-154. Stouffer, P. C., Naka, L. N., Cohn-Haft, M. & Whittaker, A. 2007. Voices of the Brazilian Amazon birds of the INPA reserves, Manaus, vol. 3. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus. Teixeira, D. M., Luigi, G. & Almeida, A. C. C. 1990. A redescoberta de lodopleura pipra leucopygia (Salvin, 1885) no nordeste do Brasil (Passeriformes, Cotingidae). P. 179 in Resumos, XVII Congr. Brasil. Zool., Univ. Estadual de Londrina. Teixeira, D. M., Nacinovic, J. B. & Pontual, F. B. 1987. Notes on some birds of northeastern Brazil (2). Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl, NO Neil _ Tostain, O., Dujardin, J. L., Erard, C. & Thiollay, J. M. 1992. Oiseaux de Guyane. Société d’Etudes Ornithologiques, Brunoy. Willis, E. O. & Oniki, Y. 1988a. Aves observadas em Balbina, Amazonas e os provaveis efeitos da barragem. Ciéncia e Cultura 40: 280-284. Willis, E. O. & Oniki, Y. 1988b. Winter nesting of Iodopleura pipra (Lesson, 1831) (Aves, Cotingidae) in southeastern Brazil. Rev. Brasil. Biol. 48: 161-167. | Addresses: Andrew Whittaker, Conj. Acariquara Sul, Alexio, Rua Samaumas 214, Manaus, AM 69085-053, Brazil, e- mail: andrew@birdingbraziltours.com. Guy M. Kirwan, 74 Waddington Street, Norwich NR2 4JS, UK, e-mail: GMkKirwan@aol.com _© British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Rosendo M. Fraga 36 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Invalid specimen records of Saffron-cowled Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus from Argentina and Paraguay by Rosendo M. Fraga Received 3 January 2007 Properly labeled museum specimens represent a principal data source for avian distri- butions. In the case of rare and threatened species, specimens document past localities and may provide evidence of historical range contractions (Collar et al. 1992), which is one of the main criteria for assigning threat status (Mace & Stuart 1991). Most reviews of the ranges of such taxa assume correct identification of skins, making it important to report incorrectly labelled museum specimens. Saffron-cowled Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus is currently considered Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2004). Five specimens attributed to this species held in the Instituto Miguel Lillo, Tucuman, Argentina, are misidentified. I personally checked the specimens and their labels on 9 November 2006. Specimen numbers are those of the Lillo collection. Specimen 02931 was collected by J. Esteban on 10 November 1944 at Colonia Dalmacia, prov. Formosa, Argentina, near the rio Monte Lindo. It is an immature male Unicoloured Blackbird Agelasticus cyanopus, of the nominate race, with a female-type plumage but black cheeks. This transitional plumage was described by Parkes (1966). Because of its yellow underparts the specimen was wrongly labelled by the collector as Saffron-cowled Blackbird. The specimen was reported by Esteban (1953) and included by Collar et al. (1992) as the only such record of X. flavus for prov. Formosa. Specimens 05108 (male) and 05109 (female) were collected by S. Pierotti on 4 November 1947 at San Cosme, prov. Corrientes. The specimens are typical adult male and female Unicoloured Blackbirds of the nominate race. Both were reported by Esteban (1953) and included by Collar et al. (1992). These were the only speci- men records of Saffron-cowled Blackbird for Corrientes west of the extensive Ibera marsh- es. On the other hand, there are several valid specimens of Saffron-cowled Blackbirds from eastern Corrientes, particularly in the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales (MACN), Buenos Aires (e.g. Darrieu & Camperi 1994). The remaining two specimens attributed to X. flavus are female Unicolored Blackbirds. Specimen 02941 was collected on 7 November 1903 by Venturi and Rodriguez at Mocovi, prov. Chaco, Argentina, according to the original label. However, M. Pearman (in litt. 2007) informs me than Mocovi is not in Chaco prov., but in north-east prov. Santa Fe, close to the provincial border. The specimen was not mentioned by Collar et al. (1992), though it was the only putative X. flavus specimen for prov. Chaco. Specimen 7914 was collected by ‘S. P.’ (S. Pierotti?), on 14 December 1944, at Rio Apa, dpto. Concepcion, Paraguay, on the border with Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. It was not mentioned by Collar et al. (1992) or any other similar source. The original labels of these five were subsequently corrected by anonymous hands to Agelaius cyanopus, and the specimens are now kept with others of Unicoloured Blackbird, but the corrections were not made public. It appears that the Lillo collection has no valid specimens of Saffron-cowled Blackbird. The persistent confusion of Saffron-cowled and Unicoloured Blackbirds was already mentioned by Hartert & Venturi (1909), but this comment was apparently ignored, perhaps because it was in French. Even the Swedish—Argentine ornithologist C. C. Olrog, who worked at the Lillo Institute, confused these icterids in his first field guide (Olrog 1959), as is evident from fig. 791. Olrog’s first guide was the only one available to Argentine field Rosendo M. Fraga 37 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) workers until 1978 (pers. obs.). Sight records of Saffron-cowled Blackbirds from Argentina in the 1960s and 1970s are therefore somewhat suspect. Another plausible outcome of my findings concerns the past distribution of Saffron- -cowled Blackbird in north-east Argentina. The existence of historical populations in Chaco and Formosa could be considered hypothetical, as there is no longer documentation for its presence there. The two valid specimens from Santa Fe in the Museo de Entre Rios (Freiberg 1943) were collected near the city of Santa Fe, c.380 km south of Mocovi and outside the Chaco biogeographical region (Fraga et al. 1998). There is no irrefutable evidence that Saffron-cowled Blackbird has retracted its range in the Claco in recent history. We therefore _have evidence of a range retraction only in prov. Buenos Aires, in the Pampas region; this drastic decline is evidenced by several correctly identified specimens (Collar et al. 1992, - Fraga et al. 1998). | Acknowledgements _ A. Echevarria and E. Fanjul kindly assisted my visits to the Instituto Lillo and took digital photographs of some - specimens. M. Pearman improved a previous draft of the manuscript. / References: BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Collar, N. J., Gonzaga, L. P., Krabbe, N., Madrono Nieto, A., Naranjo, L. G., Parker, T. A. & Wege, D. C. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data book. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK. Darrieu, C. A. & Camperi, A. R. 1994. Estudio de una coleccidn de aves de Corrientes: Thraupidae e Icteridae. | Neotropica 40: 49-55. Esteban, J. G. 1953. Nuevas localidades para aves argentinas. Acta Zool. Lilloana 13: 349-362. Fraga, R. M., Casafias, H. & Pugnali, G. 1998. Natural history and conservation status of the endangered Saffron- cowled Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus in Argentina. Bird Conserv. Intern. 8: 255-267. Freiberg, M. (1943) Enumeracion sistematica de las aves de Entre Rios. Mem. Mus. Entre Rios (Zool.) 21: 1-110. Hartert, E. & Venturi, S. 1909. Notes sur les oiseaux de la République Argentine. Novit. Zool. 16: 11-270. Mace, G. M. & Lande, R. 1991. Assessing extinction threats: toward a re-evaluation of IUCN threatened species cat- egories. Conserv. Biol. 5: 148-157. -Olrog, C. C. 1959. Las aves argentinas, una guia de campo. Instituto Miguel Lillo, Tucuman. Parkes, K. C. 1966. Geographical variation in Azara’s marsh blackbird, Agelaius cyanopus. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 79: 1-12. Address: Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas de Entre Rios (CICYTTP), Conicet, Espanta y Matteri, (3105) Diamante, Entre Rios, Argentina, e-mail: chfraga@yahoo.com © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 38 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Three new species and novel distributional data for birds in Uruguay by Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez Received 8 January 2007 Uruguay lies in the south-eastern South America Pampas biome (sensu Stotz et al. 1996) and its avifauna contains elements of diverse zoogeographic origin. Aside of typical Pampas birds, the country harbours Chaco and Atlantic Forest species, as well as migrants from dif- ferent parts of the Americas. Following pioneering studies in the 19th century, ornithologi- cal knowledge of Uruguay improved rapidly through the efforts of many workers, mostly since the 1950s. Cuello & Gerzenstein (1962) provided a comprehensive annotated list of the country’s birds and the first precise distributional data for most species. Numerous contri- butions (frequently targeting specific groups or geographic regions) have updated or com- plemented the data therein but, surprisingly, no recent publication has provided detailed information (i.e. localities and dates) on the distribution of birds throughout Uruguay (though see Arballo & Cravino 1999 for a projected work). Following a substantial increase in the number of professional and amateur ornitholo- gists in the last 20 years, a significant number of new species have been added to the coun- try’s avifauna. Most were included in general lists of Uruguay’s birds (Azpiroz 1997, Arballo & Cravino 1999, Azpiroz 2001, Claramunt & Cuello 2004), but specific data for only a few have been published. Here we update the status and distribution of 45 species, i.e. c.10% of the total avifauna, based on our own field work and by many others throughout Uruguay (Fig. 1). Species treated here occupy three main categories: a) those with no previ- ously published records; b) species recently discovered in Uruguay with only very few records; and c) species with few or no recent observations (i.e. post-1980) in-country. Wherever possible, especially for difficult to identify species, we provide details of available evidence (e.g. specimens, recordings). Specimens, as well as copies of many other support- ing materials mentioned in the text, have been deposited at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural y Antropologia (MNHN), Montevideo. In the accounts, our own observations are presented first, followed by those of others. The relevance of new records is discussed vis a vis previous data and against distribution and status in adjacent southernmost Brazil (i.e. Rio Grande do Sul) and eastern Argentina where relevant. Sequence follows that of Bencke (2001), whilst subspecies names are taken from Claramunt & Cuello (2004). Species accounts BROWN TINAMOU Crypturellus obsoletus obsoletus On 25 February 1999, c.1 km south of Paso Centurion, dpto. Cerro Largo, three singles were seen (perhaps the same individual) in gallery forest. Next day one was heard in the same place (ABA). In 2006, C. obsoletus was seen and heard repeatedly in gallery forest along the rio Yaguaron, between Paso Centurion and Paso Paiva, on 27-28 February (JLM), 18-19 June (ABA, JLM), 27 August LM), 15 and 17 October (JLM), 8 November (T. Rabau in litt. 2006) and 8-10 December (ABA, JLM). It was not found at Paso de Melo, also on the Yaguaron, in January 2000 (ABA). C. obsoletus was first recorded in Uruguay in December 1997, at Picada de Felipe, also on the Yaguar6n, dpto. Cerro Largo (Arballo & Cravino 1999), where relocat- ed subsequently (Rocha 2003). Our records are c.10 km to the south-east. Brown Tinamou is Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 39 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) wea oP ONE S ~ |. aN | | @ 6launcss SO BA 5 ~~ . a | JI = > nt |. 100 KM i N at - TREINTA V TRES Xs DURAZNO 7 AA eo vi le Safes } RocHs2 gt Figure 1. Localities mentioned in the text. Artigas: 1. Bella Union; 2. Estancia San Pedro; 3. Diego Lamas. Salto: 4. Termas del Arapey; 5. Lavalleja; 6. Paso de las Piedras, rio Arapey Grande; 7. Salto Grande dam; 8. Salto city; 9. San Antonio; 10. Boquer6én de Canfas; 11. Cerros de Vera; 12. Arerungua. Paysandii: 13. Chapicuy; 14. Termas de Guaviyty; 15. Establecimiento Santo Domingo; 16. Tres Arboles. Rio Negro: 17. Paso de las Cadenas, arroyo Negro; 18. Establecimiento Los Cedros; 19. Estancia Mbopicua. Soriano: 20. Arroyo Colol6; 21. Establecimiento Don Siba. Flores: 22. Cuchilla Marincho. Colonia: 23. Conchillas; 24. Punta Artilleros. San José: 25. Libertad; 26. Playa Pascual; 27. Playa Penino. Montevideo: 28. Montevideo city. Canelones: 29. Carrasco International Airport/Bafiados de Carrasco; 30. Solymar; 31. Pando city; 32. Laguna del Cisne. Florida: 33. Estancia Pastorini. Maldonado: 34. Punta Colorada, 35. Punta Negra; 36. Sierra de Caracoles; 37. San Carlos; 38. Laguna del Diario; 39. Arroyo Maldonado "marshes; 40. Cuchilla Maldonado; 41. Laguna José Ignacio; 42. Gruta de Salamanca. Rocha: 43. Laguna de Rocha; 44. Sierra de Chafalote; 45. Laguna de Castillos; 46. Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos; 47. Cabo Polonio; 48. Valizas; 49. Aguas Dulces; 50. Balneario La Esmeralda; 51. Laguna Negra; 52. Colonia Vacacional Don Bosco; 53. Potrerillo de Santa Teresa; 54. Fortaleza de Santa Teresa; 55. Baniado de los Indios; 56. Chuy; 57. San Miguel “National Park; 58. Bafiado Tres Bocas; 59. Estero de Pelotas; 60. Cebollati; 61. Isla del Padre. Treinta y Tres: 62. ie Martinez; 63. Treinta y Tres city; 64. Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos. Cerro Largo: 65. Cerro Guazunambi; 66. Sierra de Rios; 67. Paso Paiva; 68. Paso Centuri6n; 69. Paso de Melo. Durazno: 70. Cuchilla de los _Manantiales; 71. La Paloma; 72. Picada de Oribe. Tacuarembo: 73. Rinc6n de Zamora; 74. Rincon de Vassoura. Rivera: 75. Masoller; 76. Valle del Lunarejo. Boxes A and B refer to the Arerungua and Centurion areas (see text) = Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 40 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) common in eastern Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994) and is known Loirn the Brazilian side of the Yaguar6n (Mauricio & Dias 2001). LITTLE BLUE HERON Eeretta caerulea In dpto. Rocha, on 14-15 September 2002, single adults (probably the same) were seen in the vicinity of Valizas and Laguna de Castillos, respectively (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006), whilst on 13 September 2004 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006) and 9 July 2005 (G. Cortés in litt. 2006) an immature and adult, respectively, were near Valizas. Three pre-1920 records (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962), with more recent observations from arroyo Valizas (September 1997) and Lascano (November 1994), dpto. Rocha, and isla Sauzal (March 1998) dpto. Soriano (Gambarotta et al. 1999, Arballo & Cravino 1999). Gore & Gepp (1978) suggested it might be a summer vagrant, but records are now also available for autumn/winter. Few observations in Rio Grande do Sul, most in autumn/winter (Belton 1994, Mauricio & Dias 1996, 2000). In Argentina also rare with few records, mostly in the north (Mazar Barnett & Pearman 2001). MUSCOVY DUCK Catrina moschata On 7 November 1996, nine were near the rio Uruguay, at estancia San Pedro (Arrocera Conti), c.18 km north-west of Colonia Palma, dpto. Artigas (ABA). Local people stated that the species formerly bred on isla del Zapallo in the same river. On 25 February 1999, five flew over the rio Yaguar6n, c.1 km south of Paso Centurién, dpto. Cerro Largo, with two pairs in the same area next day (ABA). On 20 July 2000, one flew over Balneario La Esmeralda, dpto. Rocha (ABA). On 27 November 2006, one was over Rincon de Zamora, just north of Paso Ramirez, dpto. Tacuaremb6 (ABA). On 7 December 2006, a pair was observed over the Yaguar6n at Paso Paiva (ABA, JLM). Frequently noted on the rio Cebollati, around Enrique Martinez, dpto. Treinta y Tres, in April-September 1984 (J. C. Gambarotta in Iitt. 2006). On 4 December 1999, two females were seen on isla del Padre, on the rio Cebollati, dptos. Treinta y Tres / Rocha (C. Calimares in litt. 1999). Though more widespread former- ly (Tremoleras 1920, Arballo & Cravino 1999), in the last 20 years it was reported only on the rios Negro, Tacuaremb6, Tacuari and Uruguay (Arballo & Cravino 1999). Cuello & Gerzenstein (1962) and Gore & Gepp (1978) commented on the lack of records for southern Uruguay. Ours are the first for dpto. Rocha (the only recent record in southern Uruguay) and for the Yaguaré6n. BICOLOURED HAWK Accipiter bicolor pileatus Observed on 16 December 1995 and 25 February 1996, in gallery forest along arroyo Gajo del Lunarejo, c.10 km south-east of Masoller, dpto. Rivera (ABA); the only observations dur- ing a 14-month survey involving 4-5-day monthly visits, in February 1995—March 1996 (ABA), to the Valle del Lunarejo. On 10 June 2005, an adult was in arroyo Guaviyu, establec- imiento Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho, dpto. Paysandu, with a juvenile Accipiter, probably also A. bicolor seen there on the same day (ABA). On 11 November 2005, an active nest, initially found on 5 November (A. Ocampo pers. comm. 2005), was observed in arroyo Itapebi Grande, just east of San Antonio, dpto. Salto (ABA). The nest was regular- ly visited in early December 2005 but the birds were not seen again (A. Ocampo & G. Cortés pers. comm. 2005). In November 2003 and 2004, a pair was seen at a nest c.8-10 m atop a tall tree along the rio Uruguay, at estancia Mbopicua, 10 km east of Fray Bentos, dpto. Rio Negro (J. Villalba Macias in litt. 2006). In late January 2004 three young were noted there and in January 2005 two. Several weeks later, all had left the site. During spring 2005 they were recorded again in the same area, but did not use the nest, which had been partially een nna Timmermans seemed ee em a mmm cee eee ean aa ea aa Saale amma caiman temas anaes amammaeaemmmmmaaemeartaar_._ __ siatanamememmmapansl a pmenemmeememeemeeetaen eee emma Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 41 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) destroyed by strong winds (J. Villalba Macias in litt. 2006). The only Uruguayan specimens _ are an immature taken at San Diego, near the Yaguaroén, dpto. Cerro Largo, in April 1960 (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962), and another from San Gregorio, dpto. Artigas, in December - 1980 (Huertas 1985). Also known from scattered sites in the north and east (Anon. 1998, _ Arballo & Cravino 1999), its range can now be extended to western Uruguay (first records for dpto. Rio Negro) and we present the first evidence of breeding. Suspected to be resident _ in Uruguay (Arballo & Cravino 1999), with records in December-—April and once in winter _ July 1995 in Salto), our records support the notion that at least some are sedentary. Considered rare in Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994) and in Entre Rios, Argentina (de la Pena 1997). ~ SWAINSON’S HAWK Buteo swainsoni Recorded at many sites between January 1995 and December 2006 (by ABA unless other- wise stated): dpto. Canelones (Carrasco International Airport); dpto. Colonia (near Conchillas; S. Alvarez in litt. 2006); dpto. Cerro Largo (c.10 km west of Paso Centurion); dpto. Durazno (5 km north of Sarandi del Yi and the environs of Cuchilla de los Manantiales); dpto. Flores (Route 3 km 227-230, Cuchilla Marincho); dpto. Maldonado (Sierra de Caracoles; ABA, and around San Carlos, Cerro de Eguzquiza and environs of Cuchilla de Maldonado; T. Rabau in litt. 2006, 2007); dpto Paysandu (around Tres Arboles, establecimiento Santo Domingo, and Route 3, km 465); dpto Rio Negro (Route 3 km 314; T. Rabau in litt. 2006); dpto Rocha (Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos; J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006, and isla del Padre, rio Cebollati; C. Calimares in litt. 1999); dpto. Salto (5 km south- east of San Antonio, 5 km west of Boqueron de Canas; ABA, and around Salto; T. Rabau in litt. 2006); dpto. San José (Playa Penino); and dpto. Treinta y Tres (Route 8 km 260). Observations fall between 4 November and 27 February, with most (19) in December. Although many records involved singles (27 observations), several were of groups of 10-50. The largest flocks were in December 2000 (>100) at arroyo del Sarandi, establecimiento santo Domingo, dpto. Paysandu, and on 19 (>100) and 23 December 2005 (>150) in an area of rolling grassland and woodland along Route 3, at Cuchilla Marincho, c.15 km south of Andresito, dpto. Flores. Prior to the 1980s there were only three reports in Uruguay (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962), but c.20 observations have been published since 1987 (Arballo & Cravino 1999, Gambarotta et al. 1999, Anon. 2000). We present the first records for dptos. Treinta y Tres, Flores and Paysandu, it being a regular visitor to sites in the latter two, and the largest flocks yet reported for Uruguay, suggesting that substantial numbers use the country’s open habitats in winter. -YELLOW-BREASTED CRAKE Porzana flaviventer flaviventer At least two flushed in a shallow marsh surrounded by tall grassland, on 5 November 2000, at establecimiento Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho, western dpto. Pasysandtii (ABA). Just three previous records in Uruguay: one found dead at the rio Cebollati, near the town of Cebollati, dpto. Rocha, May 1960 (Vaz-Ferreira & Gerzenstein 1961), whilst Arballo & Cravino (1999) referred to observations near Juan Lacaze, dpto. Colonia (undated), and Punta del Este, dpto. Maldonado (November 1994). Ours is the first record in northern Uruguay. No records in Entre Rios, Argentina (de la Pena 1997), and just | two in Rio Grande do Sul (Mauricio & Dias 2000). BLACKISH OYSTERCATCHER Haematopus ater i On 6 July 2005 one photographed at Cabo Polonio, dpto. Rocha (ABA), with a single in the same place on 19 September 2004, 23 August 2005, 8, 22, 30 January and 30 March 2006 (J. Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 42 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006, C. Calimares in litt. 2006), all perhaps the same bird. American Oystercatcher H. palliatus was also present. H. ater was seen at Aguas Dulces, dpto. Rocha, in April 1995 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006), and also by C. Calimares (in litt. 2006) on 22 and 30 January and 30 March 2006. Previous records involve one, in February 1981, between Punta del Marco and Punta de Castillo, dpto. Rocha (Osorio 1981), and perhaps the same in August 1981 at arroyo Valizas (Escalante 1983), as these sites are within 2 km. Roballo Vargas & Amaro Padilla (2000) reported observations of singles at Punta del Este, dpto. Maldonado, in September 1999 and June 2000. Smith (1927) reported breeding on islands off La Coronilla, dpto. Rocha, which was questioned by Cuello & Gerzenstein (1962), whilst Gore & Gepp (1978) considered it a rare winter visitor. Apparently an occasional visitor which may remain relatively long periods. Occasional in coastal prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina (Narosky & Di Giacomo 1993). WHIMBREL Numenius phaeopus hudsonicus Singles at Laguna de Rocha, on 30 May 1997 (ABA), Chuy, 16 December 1990 (pho- tographed by E. G6mez-Haedo; S. Claramunt in litt. 2006), Aguas Dulces, 19 October 1996 (C. Calimares in litt. 2006), Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, 11 April 2000 J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006), all dpto. Rocha; arroyo Maldonado, c.5 km south of San Carlos, dpto. Maldonado, 22 October 1993 (T. Rabau in litt. 2006); Playa Carrasco, dpto. Montevideo, 3 April 2003 (F. Garcia Olaso in litt. 2007); Solymar, dpto. Canelones, 11 October 2004 (C. Guadalupe pers. comm. 2004); and Punta Carretas, dpto. Montevideo, 4 November 2004 (D. Caballero in litt. 2007). An observation reported by M. Huertas lacks details (Huertas 1988). Not included by Gore & Gepp (1978) or Cuello (1985), the only pub- lished records were provided by Morrison & Ross (1989), who reported singles between Chuy and Punta del Barco and at Laguna de Rocha. Rare on Argentine coasts (Narosky & Yzurieta 2003) but small numbers in November-—April in Rio Grande do Sul (Lara Resende & Leeuwenberg 1987). LEAST SEEDSNIPE Thinocorus rumicivorus rumicivorus On 17 July 1998, a male and two females were at Laguna de Rocha, dpto. Rocha (ABA). On 24 April 2004, one at Sierra de Caracoles, 20 km north of San Carlos, dpto. Maldonado (W. Cabrera in litt. 2006). Few records for Uruguay, including old ones for dptos. Canelones, Colonia and San José (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962). Also observed in several consecutive years, from 1971, in dpto. Maldonado (Gore & Gepp 1978). A rare winter visitor (Gore & Gepp 1978, Azpiroz 2001). PALE-VENTED PIGEON Columba cayennensis sylvestris On 8 December 2006 three in the environs of Paso Centurion, dpto. Cerro Largo (ABA, JLM), of which one was closely observed, permitting all of the salient features to be seen. Two other records of singles: one collected by E. Gomez-Haedo on 6 August 1999 near Colold, dpto. Soriano (MNHN 5839), the other seen on 19 May 2000 at Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, dpto. Rocha (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006). One previous published report: a bird taken at Laguna del Diario, dpto. Maldonado, in February 1958 (Vaz-Ferreira & Gerzenstein OIL). GREY-FRONTED DOVE Leptotila rufaxilla reichenbachii Found on 15-17 October (JLM) and 8-10 December 2006 (ABA, JLM), in gallery forest along the Yaguaron, near Paso Paiva and Paso Centurion, dpto. Cerro Largo. Several were heard daily and tape-recorded. Apparently fairly common but significantly outnumbered by _ Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 43 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) | White-tipped Dove L. verreauxi. Claramunt & Cuello (2004) included dpto. Cerro Largo | within the species’ range based on specimens in MNHN (S. Claramunt in litt. 2006). Very few previous detailed reports: singles taken in dpto. Paysandti (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962), - at Tambores, dpto. Tacuarembé, in April 1958, and arroyo La Invernada, dpto. Artigas, in February 1954 (Vaz-Ferreira & Gerzenstein 1962), with reports from the rio Arapey, dpto. Salto, in June 1988, at Paso Almeria, rio Cebollati, dpto. Lavalleja, in October 1988, and at _ the mouth of the rio Cebollati, dpto. Rocha, in June 1989 (Arballo 1990). As L. rufaxilla and the far commoner and more widespread L. verreauxi can be difficult to separate in the field (see Belton 1984), future reports should specify how L. rufaxilla is identified and, where pos- sible, be accompanied by evidence (e.g. recordings). Our observations are the first for 15 years. Common resident in Rio Grande do Sul, but recorded only twice within 70-100 km _ of the Uruguayan border (Belton 1984, Mauricio & Dias 2001). BURROWING PARROT Cyanoliseus patagonus patagonus On 29 July 1989, one was by a minor road just south of Libertad, dpto. San José (ABA). On 22 October 1990, two were at Punta Artilleros, dpto. Colonia (G. Geymonat in litt. 1994). On 22 January 1996, two were photographed at Punta Colorada, dpto. Maldonado (J. Abente in litt. 2006). On 14-15 April 2000, two were observed at Punta Gorda and Playa Carrasco respectively, dpto. Montevideo (S. Alvarez in litt. 2006), and a pair on 25-26 February 2005 in downtown Montevideo (J. C. Mazzulla in litt. 2006). The few records for Uruguay were summarised by Bucher & Rodriguez (1986), who considered it probably a rare and infre- quent winter visitor to the south-west. Former winter visitor to north-east prov. Buenos Aires. Populations were thought to have declined in recent decades, but may be increasing again (Narosky & Di Giacomo 1993). Some observations reported here may have involved escapees, especially those in Montevideo city and those seen in summer. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO Coccyzus americanus americanus One in Montevideo’s Botanical Garden, dpto. Montevideo, on 28 April 2002 (C. Calimares in litt. 2006); at least one on 10-22 February 2004 at arroyo Frasquito, Pando, dpto. Canelones (E. Méndez in litt. 2006); and a single on 3 December 2006 at Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, dpto. Rocha (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006). Previously known from three specimens, taken in February 1921 near the rio Negro, dpto. Rio Negro (Wetmore 1926), in February 1960 at San Gregorio, near the rio Uruguay, dpto. Artigas (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962), and at arroyo de las Limetas, Martin Chico, c.7 km west of Conchillas, dpto. Colonia, on 25 March 1967 (J. Abente in litt. 1994), with a sight record in January 1975 at Balneario Solis, dpto. Maldonado (Gore & Gepp 1978). Scarce summer visitor to Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994) and northern Argentina (Narosky & Yzurieta 2003). _~ASH-COLOURED CUCKOO Coccyzus cinereus On 31 December 2004, one at a nest with a feathered chick, at Parque Rodo, dpto. Montevideo (ABA). The nest was at c.8 m in an exotic tree and was initially located on 7 December when two birds were nest building (G. Betarte in litt. 2006). They were filmed by J. C. Mazzulla and tape-recorded (JLM); also found there in 1994 (G. Geymonat in litt. 2006). Singles at Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, dpto. Rocha on 11 October 1992, 11 November 1996, 18 February 2003, 3 November 2004 and 30 October 2006, with a pair seen ‘tepeatedly i in January-February 2005 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006). Singles also recorded elsewhere in dpto. Rocha: at Aguas Dulces on 15 December 1997, at Colonia Vacacional Don Bosco, Laguna Negra, on 27 October 2004 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006), around Cerro Picudo, San Miguel National Park, on 15 November 2003 (T. Rabau in litt. 2006), and at isla 1 \ 1 | | Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 44 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) del Padre, in the rio Cebollati, on 4 December 1999 (C. Calimares in litt. 1999). Few pub- lished records for Uruguay (Azpiroz 2001). Sanborn (1929) found it at estancia Concordia, on the rio Uruguay, south-west of Dolores, dpto. Soriano, in January 1927. Cuello & Gerzenstein (1962) reported three specimens taken in dptos. San José (January 1959), Treinta y Tres (December 1959) and Colonia (January 1960), and one was seen in Montevideo city in December 1966 (Gore & Gepp 1978). Given the numerous recent observations, it is prob- ably more common than thought and is certainly a summer resident, as in Rio Grande do Sul (Mauricio & Dias 2000). SMOOTH-BILLED ANI Crotophaga ani Observed in dpto. Paysandt as follows: 9 January and 25 March 1997 and 13 September 2005, at establecimiento Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho (ABA); 19 December 1998, at Canada Jacinta, 10 km south of Salto (T. Rabau in litt. 2006); with sever- al records for dpto. Rocha: 25 November 1998, Laguna de Rocha (ABA); 30 November 1998 (photographed), Route 10 just north of Valizas (ABA); 30 November 2006 (photographed), Route 9, km 303, around Fortaleza de Santa Teresa (ABA); 18 November 2001, Laguna de Rocha (S. Alvarez in litt. 2006); and 14 May 2005, Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006). A group of four seen repeatedly from March 1994 by the rio Olimar, Treinta y Tres city (C. Prigioni in litt. 1999); five, on 10 April 2006, near the rio Uruguay, north of Bella Union, dpto. Artigas (JLM); one, on 27 November 2006, at Rincén de Zamora, just north of Paso Ramirez, dpto. Tacuaremb6 (ABA); singles observed repeat- edly on 6 December 2002-4 January 2003 and 5 December 2003, at establecimiento La Goyaviere, 3 km south-east of San Carlos, dpto. Maldonado (T. Rabau in litt. 2006); and one, on 15 April 2006, at Arenitas Blancas, Salto city, dpto. Salto (J. C. Mazzulla in litt. 2006). The only previous reports for Uruguay were from dptos. Soriano and Rivera pre-1960 (see Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962). GREATER ANI Crotophaga major Recorded daily (1-3) on 16-18 November 1994, with two on 5 November 1996, in gallery for- est at estancia Cuar6, c.20 km north of Diego Lamas, dpto. Artigas (ABA); at least one in mid November (JLM) and on 20 December 2005 (ABA) in gallery forest near the rio Arapey Chico, estancia Malacara, c.25 km north-west of Lavalleja, dpto. Salto, where also recorded in mid-April 1995 (L. Alfaro pers. comm.). On 11 April 2006 one close to the rio Uruguay, c.8 km north of Bella Union, dpto. Artigas (JLM). A juvenile was photographed at establec- imiento La Goyaviere, 3 km south-east of San Carlos, dpto. Maldonado, on 1 June 1995 (T. Rabau in litt. 2006). Known from three other localities in dpto. Artigas (see Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962), but rare in Uruguay (Gore & Gepp 1978, Azpiroz 2001), with almost all records in November—April (Cuello & Zorilla de San Martin 1960), and probably a summer resident. The juvenile in Maldonado was perhaps on post-breeding dispersal and had wan- dered outside its normal range. Other extralimital observations are from prov. Buenos Aires, La Pampa and La Rioja, Argentina (Canevari et al. 1991). Scarce summer resident in Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994), where probably declining (Bencke et al. 2003). Also migra- tory in at least parts of northern Argentina (Canevari et al. 1991). COMMON POTOO Nyctibius griseus griseus On 16 November 2004 it was recorded at Paso de las Piedras, rio Arapey Grande, c.25 km north of Colonia Itapebi, dpto. Salto ILM). At 22.00 h one responded to playback and was subsequently seen and tape-recorded. Another was heard simultaneously further away. An individual which first responded to playback was later seen and recorded on 21 March 2005, eee a Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 45 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) at the confluence of arroyo Cambara and the rio Arapey Grande, c.40 km west of Masoller, dpto. Salto (JLM). Another observed on 14 November 2005 at estancia Malacara, dpto. Salto, was initially heard, then moved closer in response to playback. It was filmed by D. Presa and its voice recorded (JLM). The species was again observed there on 21-22 December 2005 (ABA). It was also recorded on 26 February (JLM), 15-16 October (JLM) and 8-10 December 2006 (both authors), at Paso Paiva, on the rio Yaguar6n, usually in response to playback. Previously known from dptos. Artigas, Salto and Cerro Largo (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962, Belton 1994). Probably a widespread and relatively common summer resident in gallery forests of northern Uruguay. Also fairly common in Rio Grande do Sul, where apparently also a summer resident (Belton 1994), and a rare resident in Entre Rios (de la Pefia 1997). » PAURAQUE Nyctidromus albicollis derbyanus | On 23 February 1999, one at the rio Yaguar6n, 1.5 km south of Paso Centurion, dpto. Cerro _ Largo (ABA), and next day a male (MNHN 5920) was taken by C. Prigioni nearby. On 17 _ June 2006 an apparent N. albicollis was observed at dusk at Rincén de Paiva, south of Paso Centurion (ABA, JLM). On 15 October 2006 at Paso Paiva, two were seen and tape-record- ed along the Yaguaron (JLM), and next evening one was heard in the same area, and it was heard and seen again on 8-10 December 2006 (ABA, JLM). The two sites lie 3 km apart. Though included in general lists of the birds of Uruguay, based on the 1999 observations (Azpiroz 2001, Claramunt & Cuello 2004), details had not previously been published. N. a. derbyanus ranges across central and south Brazil, north and east Bolivia, Paraguay and north-east Argentina, where apparently sedentary (Cleere & Nurney 1998). Infrequent in Argentina (Narosky & Yzurieta 2003), with no specific records for Entre Rios (de la Pena 1997), and scarce in Rio Grande do Sul, with no records near the Uruguayan border (Belton 1994). SWIFT Streptoprocne sp. On 11 February 1995, 4-5 large swifts with the white collar diagnostic of Streptoprocne were seen over Treinta y Tres city (C. Prigioni in litt. 1999). Belton (1994) considered White-col- lared S. zonaris and Biscutate Swifts S. biscutata impossible to distinguish in the field under most conditions. As their range and status in southernmost Brazil are apparently similar, and they form mixed flocks (Belton 1994), those seen in Treinta y Tres must remain uniden- tified. In Uruguay, a specimen of S. zonaris was collected in 1934 in the environs of Montevideo city (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962). _WHITE-FRONTED WOODPECKER Melanerpes cactorum Recorded at establecimiento Los Cedros, c.20 km north-west of Young, dpto. Rio Negro on 12 April 2002 (two, of which one was tape-recorded and filmed: JLM, D. Presa); 12-13 October 2002 (three, and two in old-growth Espinal woodland 2 km from Los Cedros: JLM); 28 June 2003 (at least two: ABA); 24 October 2003 (one: D. Presa). Also found repeatedly c.120 km to the north in dpto. Salto: on 1 October 2004 two (one photographed) at the Estacion Regional of the Facultad de Agronomia, 5 km south-east of San Antonio; the pair _was recorded frequently in October-November 2004, roosting in a hole c.4 m high in a large ornamental tree, and again in late September-October 2005 (ABA). Additionally, one (MNHN 4768) was taken by D. Mailhos at Paso de las Cadenas, arroyo Negro, dpto. Rio | Negro, in September 1992. It was seen entering a tree roost with five others (data on speci- | men label). On 21-22 October 1994, also observed at arroyo Colol6, estancia La Sirena, 35 km north-east of Mercedes, dpto. Soriano. Tremoleras (1920) included it for Uruguay but provided no specifics. By the 1960s there were still no specimens or observations (Cuello & | | | Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 46 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Gerzenstein 1962), and Gore & Gepp (1978) omitted the species. Scarce resident in Entre Rios, with records in the west, north and south-east (de la Penta 1997). YELLOW-BROWED WOODPECKER Piculus aurulentus A male in gallery forest by the rio Yaguar6n near Paso Paiva, dpto. Cerro Largo, on 16 October 2006 (JLM, J. Abente, S. Alvarez), was tape-recorded in response to playback. Tremoleras (1920) mentioned P. aurulentus for dptos. Paysandu and Salto, but Cuello & Gerzenstein (1962) suggested a misidentification of Veniliornis spilogaster. The first con- firmed record for Uruguay and the southernmost ever. Uncommon resident in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, mostly known from the north-east, with scattered records elsewhere (Belton 1994, Mauricio & Dias 1998), the closest site (Cerro das Almas) being c.100 km north-east of Paso Paiva (Mauricio & Dias 2001). CREAM-BACKED WOODPECKER Campephilus leucopogon On 23 March 1986 a pair was beside the rio Arapey Chico at estancia Luis Maria (=Malacara), dpto. Salto, with a pair also there on 30 March 1988 (ABA), but not observed in April 1995 and November—December 2005. On 15 April 1992 a male observed and tape- recorded near the rio Arapey at Paso de las Piedras, c.30 km north of Colonia Itapebi, dpto. Salto (ABA), and a female collected by J. Cabrera (MNHN 4767). On 28 March 1994 a male was foraging in the same area, but the species was not seen there in November 2005. Also recorded at Termas de Guaviyu, dpto. Paysandu and Termas del Arapey, dpto. Salto. At the former a pair was seen on 15 October 1993 (E. Méndez in litt. 2006). At the latter it was recorded repeatedly: 28 March 1994, a male along the rio Arapey Grande; 23-24 October 1997, three (probably a pair and juvenile) in a plantation (mainly Eucalyptus and Grevillea spp.); 2 September 2002, one in the camping area; and 28 August—2 September 2006, female photographed (G. Acosta y Lara in litt. 2006). Two were filmed on 14 July 2006 at Parque del Lago, north of Salto city, dpto. Salto (E. Munoz pers. comm.). Finally, a pair was pho- tographed at Pinguino, c.10 km north of Nuevo Berlin, dpto. Rio Negro, on 10 February 2007 (N. Zaldua in litt. 2007). Relatively few records for Uruguay. One, from southern dpto. Rio Negro, involved a specimen, shown to Aplin (1894), and taken at estancia Santa Florencia, with observations from dptos. Artigas (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962) and Salto (Arballo 1990). Our observations include the first for Paysandu. SCALLOPED WOODCREEPER Lepidocolaptes falcinellus On 24 February 1999 and 8 December 2006 singles were seen in gallery forest beside the rio Yaguaron, 1 km south of Paso Centurion (ABA). On 8-9 April 1999, one was heard at arroyo Sarandi, Sierra de Rios, with another seen and tape-recorded there next day (ABA). On 24-29 January 2000, at Paso de Melo, on the Yaguaron, several were seen or heard (ABA) and two were collected (MNHN 5913-14). On 25-28 February 2006 it was heard or seen daily at Paso Paiva and nearby (JLM). Finally, one was observed on 8 December 2006 1 km south of Paso Centurion (both authors). All these records lie within less than 30 km, in dpto. Cerro Largo, where the species appears locally fairly common, albeit less so than Olivaceus Woodcreeper Sittasomus griseicapillus. During two trips in June and August 2006 to Paso Paiva and Paso Centurion, it was not recorded. Narrow-billed Woodcreeper L. angu- stirostris, which is fairly common in western Uruguay (Azpiroz 2001), does not inhabit this region. Though L. falcinellus was mentioned for Uruguay by Arballo & Cravino (1999), Azpiroz (2001) and Claramunt & Cuello (2004), no details were published. A common resi- dent in Rio Grande do Sul, mainly in the north and east (Belton 1994), including the Serra do Sudeste, near the Uruguay border (Mauricio & Dias 2001). _ Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 47 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) » OLIVACEOUS WOODCREEPER Sittasomus griseicapillus sylviellus _ Found at several sites in dpto. Cerro Largo. On 24 February 1999, near Paso Centurion, two were seen and their contact calls recorded, with two heard in the same area next day (ABA). On 26 February one was taken by C. Prigioni (MNHN 5923) and three tape-recorded in the vicinity (ABA). On 7-9 April 1999, several were recorded along arroyo Sarandi, in the Sierra de Rios (ABA). Several were observed daily on 24-29 January 2000, at Paso de Melo, rio Yaguaron (ABA). On 25-28 February 2006 several were heard or seen at Paso Paiva and environs (JLM). At this site, and near Paso Centurion, several seen or heard on 17-19 June (both authors), 26 August 2006 (JLM), 15-17 October (JLM) and 8-10 December 2006 (both authors). The only previous record for Uruguay was a specimen taken on 7 October 1997 at Paso Centurion (Claramunt 1998). The new data reveal that it inhabits the same general area as L. falcinellus in Uruguay, and is a fairly common resident. A common resident over much of Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994), including the Serra do Sudeste, near the Uruguayan bor- der (Mauricio & Dias 2001). PALE-BREASTED SPINETAIL Synallaxis albescens australis One heard, seen (JLM) and filmed (by D. Presa), on 13 October 2002, near establecimiento Los Cedros, c.20 km north-west of Young, dpto. Rio Negro. Old-growth patches of Espinal woodland characterised the area (subsequently cleared). Another was heard and seen, on 15 November 2005, at estancia Malacara, rio Arapey Chico, dpto. Salto (JLM), at the transition from grassland to open woodland. Previously known from only two localities in Uruguay: establecimiento El Espinillar, dpto. Salto, and Cuevas de San Antonio, just north of Salto city, dpto. Salto (Claramunt & Mazzulla 2002). At the latter site it was also recorded on 29 September 2002 and 27 December 2003 (J. C. Mazzulla in litt. 2006). The species was also found in 2002 and 2004 at Corralitos, just south of Salto J. C. Mazzulla unpubl.), and on 3 January 2003 at Salto Grande dam, north of Salto (J. C. Mazzulla in litt. 2006). Our observa- tions extend the known range in the country 150 km south and 75 km east. We follow Claramunt & Mazzulla (2002) in assigning our observations to S. a. australis. Scarce resident in Entre Rios (de la Pena 1997) and rare in Rio Grande do Sul (Bencke ef al. 2003). STRAIGHT-BILLED REEDHAUNTER Limnoctites rectirostris Recorded by ABA (unless otherwise stated) as follows: Playa Penino, dpto. San José (October-November 1988); Laguna José Ignacio (14 May, 3 June, 2 July 1994), and Laguna del Diario (October 1994), dpto. Maldonado; Sierra de Chafalote (December 1988—-May 2001), Laguna de Castillos, Route 9, km 245 (December 2000), Bafado de los Indios, Route 14, km 487-488 (regular 1997-2001), Route 9, km 216 (8 October 1998), estero de Pelotas, near Laguna Merin (December 1998), the rio Cebollati, near Laguna Merin (9 December 1999), _Banado Tres Bocas, Route 15, km 148 (February and April 1996), c.8 km south-west of Cebollati, dpto. Rocha (April 2005); Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos, dpto. Treinta y Tres (June 2001); Paso Centurion (February 1999), environs of Cerro Guazunambi (June 2001), and Paso Paiva, dpto. Cerro Largo (February, June, August 2006; JLM); and Laguna del Cisne, dpto. Canelones (January 2006). Most observations involved pairs or singles, but _ several were seen in southern and eastern dpto. Rocha. Elsewhere in dpto. Maldonado, the species was recorded repeatedly in patches of Eryngium sp. at Cuchilla de Maldonado, c.5 _km west of Laguna José Ignacio, in August 1999-November 2006 (T. Rabau in litt. 2006); at _ marshes along the arroyo Maldonado, in August 2003—-February 2005 (T. Rabau in litt. 2006); and, on 22 September 2006, two (one of them nest building) were at Gruta de Salamanca, _c.20 km north-east of Aigua (G. Cortés in litt. 2006). Considered uncommon in Eryngium pan- i] | 1] | } l] { danifolium and marshy vegetation in the south and east of the country (Azpiroz 2001), amost Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 48 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) all previous detailed records were pre-1978 (Escalante 1956, Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962, Gerzenstein & Achaval 1967, Gore & Gepp 1978), except those in January 1994 at estancia El Porord, dpto. Lavalleja (Anon. 1998), in July 1999, at Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos (Gambarotta & Calimares 2000) and in December 1999, in Sierra de Chafalote (Azpiroz 2003). Darwin found Limnoctites and Curve-billed Reedhaunter Limnornis curvi- rostris at the same localities in dpto. Maldonado in 1833 (Gould 1839). Olson et al. (2005), however, suggested that they do not occur in proximity. In fact, Limnoctites and Limnornis do occur together at several sites throughout Uruguay. At Playa Penino, dpto. San José, both have been recorded (Limnornis on 2 July and Limnoctites on 9 October and 2 November 1988; ABA), and both were seen on 20 April 1996 at Banado Tres Bocas (ABA). At Banados de los Indios, which was regularly surveyed by ABA in 1997-2001, both species were recorded simultaneously on 22 April 1998, 1 July and 29 October 1999. At Laguna del Cisne, both were seen on 11 January 2006, and both have bred (a Limnornis nest was found in late December 1994 and a juvenile Limnoctites in mid-January 2006; ABA). Additionally, the two species have also been found at a marsh c.1 km east of Route 10, km 264.5, dpto. Rocha (C. Calimares in litt. 2006), and at Banados de Arazati, dpto. San José (Gore & Gepp 1978). Thus, the available data support Darwin’s assertion. RED-EYED THORNBIRD Phacellodomus (erythrophthalmus) ferrugineigula On 19 June 2006 two (one photographed) were observed in a riparian thicket (<6 m height) including several Erythrina cristagalli (Leguminosae), surrounded by marshy vegetation, especially Eryngium pandanifolium (Apiaceae), at Paso Paiva, dpto. Cerro Largo (both authors). Also there, two were seen on 25-28 August (JLM), 15-16 October (JLM) and 8 December 2006 (both authors). They were filmed by J. C. Mazzulla and their voices record- ed. Freckle-breasted Thornbird P. striaticollis, common throughout Uruguay, was also observed. Additional published records involve recent observations at four localities in dpto. Rivera (Cravino & Claramunt 2007). Usually considered a race of P. erythrophthalmus, but differences in morphology, habitat preferences and voice suggest it merits specific sta- tus (Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Remsen 2003). Those reported here match descriptions of ferrug- ineigula. Uncommon (and probably resident) in south and east Rio Grande do Sul, but not recorded <50 km from the Uruguayan border (Belton 1994); ours are the southernmost records. GREATER THORNBIRD Phacellodomus ruber On 10 April 2006 a pair was seen and tape-recorded in woodland near the rio Uruguay, just north of Bella Union, dpto. Artigas (JLM). Next day a single was at Parque Municipal Los Pinos, c.8 km north-west of Bella Union, near the confluence of the rios Cuareim and Uruguay. Recently found in dpto. Artigas (Claramunt & Cuello 2004). In Entre Rios, a scarce resident, mainly in the west (de la Pena 1997) and in Rio Grande do Sul an uncommon res- ident near the rio Uruguay (Belton 1994). RUFOUS GNATEATER Conopophaga lineata vulgaris On 27 August 2006 one was seen near Paso Paiva, dpto. Cerro Largo (JLM); it was filmed, and later mist-netted and photographed (J. Aldabe & J. C. Mazzulla). Another was found on 9 December 2006, c.1 km south of Paso Centurion, in the same area (both authors). On 7 October 1997 several were found in gallery forest along the rio Yaguaron at Paso Centurion on the Brazil-Uruguay border, including two on the Uruguayan side (Mauricio & Dias 2000). Paso Paiva is c.3 km south of Paso Centurion. Detected relatively recently at localities in neighbouring Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Mauricio & Dias 1998, 2001), the species is prob- Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 49 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) ably sedentary in the area, as at localities in southern Rio Grande do Sul where it appears uncommon or scarce (Mauricio & Dias 1998). OLIVACEOUS ELAENIA Elaenia mesoleuca Tape-recorded as follows: on 7 January 1995, at estancia Don Horacio, Rincén de Vassoura, dpto. Tacuarembo (ABA); on 20-22 November 2003, at arroyo Gajo del Lunarejo, 15 km south-east of Masoller, dpto. Rivera (JLM); and on 8-9 December 2006, c.1 km south of Paso Centurio6n, dpto. Cerro Largo (ABA, JLM). Ours are the first documented records for Tacuaremb6 and Cerro Largo. Previously, a specimen taken in January 2000 at arroyo Gajo del Lunarejo, dpto. Rivera (Claramunt & Rocha 2001), whilst Claramunt & Cuello (2004) included dptos. Cerro Largo and Montevideo in the species’ range. Our record from Paso Centurion is the southernmost ever. HIGHLAND ELAENIA Elaenia obscura sordida On 25-28 February (JLM), 18-19 June (both authors), 15-17 October (JLM) and 8-10 December 2006 (both authors), singles or pairs were observed around Paso Paiva and Paso Centurion, dpto. Cerro Largo. Birds were photographed (P. Rodriguez & L. Dono), filmed (D. Presa) and their voices recorded (JLM). Recently reported for Uruguay from Paso Centurion, and found repeatedly there in November 1997—April 1998 and October 1998—April 1999 (Rocha 2000). Because all these records were obtained in spring and sum- mer, Rocha (2000) considered it probably a summer resident. Our late autumn records sug- gest year-round presence, and in Rio Grande do Sul it is considered an uncommon resident (Belton 1994). CRESTED DORADITO Pseudocolopteryx sclateri One seen, on 2 November 1988, by a coastal lagoon at Playa Pascual, dpto. San José (ABA, 'G. Acosta y Lara), with another on 13 December 1998, at estero de Pelotas, dpto. Rocha, and a pair with two fledglings photographed there next day (ABA). At establecimiento Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho, dpto. Paysandu, singles on 3 November 2000 and 23 December 2005 (ABA). Two pairs seen on 14 November 2002 at Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, where it was also recorded regularly in late spring to summer 2005-06 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006). First reported for Uruguay by Huertas (1988), without details, _and also seen at Bafiados de India Muerta, dpto. Rocha, in 1997, at Playa Penino, in 1998, and at Laguna Merin, dpto. Cerro Largo, in 1997-99 (Rocha Sagrera 2000). Few records in (south-west and south-east) Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994) and rare in Entre Rios (de la Pena 1997). PEARLY-VENTED TODY-TYRANT Hemitriccus margaritaceiventer margaritaceiventer On 11-12 April 2006 two were observed (one tape-recorded) in dpto. Artigas (JLM), at Parque Municipal Los Pinos, c.8 km north-west of Bella Union, and just east of Bella Union near the rio Cuareim. Recorded in Uruguay recently (Lyons 1998), but no details published. A scarce resident in Entre Rios (de la Pefia 1997) and, although not recorded in Rio Grande do Sul, it very probably occurs on the Brazilian side of the Cuareim. (OCHRE-FACED TODY-FLYCATCHER Todirostrum plumbeiceps plumbeiceps ‘On 23-24 February 1999, at least 12 were seen and/or heard (two tape-recorded) in gallery Vorest beside the Yaguar6n c.1.5 km south of Paso Centurién, dpto. Cerro Largo (ABA). On 18 June 2006 two were found c.1 km south of Paso Centurién and on the same day and 19 June, singles were heard beside the rio Yaguaron at Paso Paiva (both authors). In the same | i | Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 50 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) area, birds were found at different sites in gallery forest and nearby forest patches on 15-17 October 2006 (JLM), but not in late August and early December 2006. The only previous detailed report for Uruguay was of two, taken on 6 October 1997, at Paso Centuri6n (Claramunt 1998). A common resident in Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1984) and Mauricio & Dias (2001) found it at Vila Basilio (c.70 km from the border with Uruguay), but did not report it for the Brazilian side of Paso Centurion. CHOCOLATE-VENTED TYRANT Neoxolmis rufiventris Observed repeatedly by ABA in dpto. Salto: 27 June 2003 (at least ten), 6.5 km east of Arerungua; 22 July 2004 (18 and eight), 16 March 2005 (one) and 15 and 18 July 2005 (c.30-50), estancia El Recreo, just west of Cerros de Vera; 17 March 2005 (one) and 28 May 2005 (c.30), estancia El Tapado; 21 March 2005 (one), 28 and 29 May 2005 (two and a flock of 12), estancia Los Venados. These three estancias are within a relatively small area near Arerungua and Cerros de Vera. Additionally, a flock was observed on 23 May 1988 at estancia Pastorini (Route 6, km 160), c.30 km west of Gallinal, dpto. Florida (A. Carriquiry in litt. 2001), and a single on 2 October 1991 at Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, dpto. Rocha (J. C. Gambarotta et al. 1999). Most previous records of this winter visitor to Uruguay were pre-1975. Cuello & Gerzenstein (1962) mentioned specimens taken in April 1960 at Campo Militar, dpto. Canelones, and in March 1959 at arroyo Tala de Salsipuedes Chico, dpto. Tacuaremb6o. Three additional specimens, deposited in MNHN, were taken at the rio San Salvador, Paso de las Tamberas, dpto. Soriano, in August 1967 and September and October 1970 (J. Cuello in litt. 2006). Gore & Gepp (1978) mentioned a flock of c.15 seen in April 1967 in dpto. Tacuarembo (no locality), one in May 1973 near Balneario Solis, dpto. Maldonado, and five in July 1974 between Young and Nuevo Berlin, dpto. Rio Negro. The only other report in the last 30 years involved a flock of 24 near arroyo El Tapado in August 1997 (Venzal & Mazzulla 2000), in the same general area as our recent records, which con- firm that it is a regular winter visitor to the Arerungua/El Tapado region, the only such area in Uruguay. Our observations include the earliest autumn record (16 March 2005) and the largest flocks for the country. BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER Myiarchus tyrannulus tyrannulus On 11 April 2006 one was seen and its calls recorded, in open forest near the rio Uruguay, 6 km north of Bella Union, dpto. Artigas (JLM). M. tyrannulus is morphologically very similar to Swainson’s M. swainsoni and Short-crested Flycatchers M. ferox; the former a fairly com- mon and widespread summer resident in Uruguay (Azpiroz 2001) and the latter hypothe- sised to occur (Joseph 2004). Voices of both differ from M. tyrannulus, being best described as whistles, but also including huit notes, rolls and rasps for M. swainsoni, and hiccups and rattles for M. ferox (Belton 1985, Joseph 2004). In the case of M. swainsoni’s huit notes, these are alternated with whistles and other complex phrases in its dawn song. Alternatively, huit notes are the most conspicuous element of M. tyrannulus’ repertoire. The huit notes record- ed at Bella Union were not part of a dawn song and match those of M. t. tyrannulus on Boesman (2006). The first report for Uruguay, but two other records in nearby areas: one taken at Barra do Quarai in 1928 and another seen in May 2001 in forest near the rio Cuareim; the only records for Rio Grande do Sul (Bencke et al. 2003). Fairly common in cen- tral and northern Argentina (Narosky & Yzurieta 2003). Subspecific assignment follows Belton (1985) and is also supported by vocal characters. | Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez Dil Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) -CHILEAN SWALLOW Tiachycineta meyeni _ At least two seen at close range at Barra de la Laguna de Rocha, dpto. Rocha, on 14 August 2000 (ABA). Unlike White-rumped Swallow T. leucorrhoa, T. meyeni lacks the white thin stripe on the forehead, present even in young T. leucorrhoa (Belton 1985). One was also seen at Refugio de Fauna Laguna de Castillos, dpto. Rocha, on 16 June 2006, with several T. leu- corrhoa (C. Calimares in litt. 2006), and 15 were observed there at close range on 13 August 2006 and a few days later (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006). The only detailed reports for Uruguay are those of Gore & Gepp (1978) for Balneario Solis, dpto. Maldonado (June 1970 and August 1974). Claramunt & Cuello (2004) included dpto. San José within its range based on specimens deposited at MNHN (S. Claramunt in litt. 2006). An uncommon winter visi- tor to Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994). SOUTHERN MARTIN Progne elegans A male near Punta Negra, dpto. Maldonado, on 31 December 2005 (ABA), where one was photographed feeding at least one feathered chick at a nest on a roof, on 13 January 2007 (ABA). Single males were observed in the outskirts of Pando on 11 December 1993 and at Banados de Carrasco on 30 November 2000, both in dpto. Canelones (E. Méndez in litt. 2006). Observations in dpto. Montevideo in November and December 1959 and 1960 (Cuello & Gerzenstein 1962) were the only published records for the country. Tremoleras (1920) cited it for dptos. Montevideo, Canelones and San José, but without details. Aplin (1894) referred to observations in Trinidad, dpto. Flores, but these probably were of Grey-breast- ed Martin P. chalybea, based on the site and numbers reported; the latter is common through- out the country. The observations reported here are the first for 45 years and provide the first evidence of breeding. OCHRE-BREASTED PIPIT Anthus nattereri This globally threatened species was found at several sites in central and northern Uruguay (ABA). First recorded at estancia Los Venados, dpto. Salto, on 26 September (one) and 5 October 2004 (three, at two sites), October-November 2004 (several), 20-21 January 2005 (one, though more were probably present), 14 July 2005 (at least 15 performing display- flights), 2 October 2005 (several heard), and October—-early December 2005 (many). Also recorded at nearby estancia El Recreo, just west of Cerros de Vera, on 19 October (two), 1 November (two) and 4 November 2004 (one), and October—-early December 2005 (one). Not found at Los Venados and El Recreo in March and May 2005. In 2005 found just north-east of San Antonio, dpto. Salto, as follows: 20-22 September (two), 5 October (one singing near a nest), and in October several were observed at two sites c.2 km apart, but none in November. Found at two localities in dpto. Durazno in 2006: 21-22 December (2+) and 28 December (3+), c.10 km south of Picada de Oribe; 27 (one) and 28 December (two), around arroyo del Estado, c.15 north-east of La Paloma. A. nattereri occurs sympatrically with other Anthus at all these sites, but is easily distinguished vocally and non-vocal individuals (except juveniles) can be identified by the yellowish-ochre underparts and boldly streaked upperparts (Ridgely & Tudor 1989, Narosky & Yzurieta 2003; ABA pers. obs.). Several were photographed in all four areas and the voices of two were recorded, at estancia Los Venados and south of Picada de Oribe. Several nests at estancia Los Venados (October-November 2004-05) and near San Antonio (October 2005). The first records for Uruguay and a several hundred km southward range extension. Our data suggest that Uruguayan birds depart the nesting grounds for several months post-breeding. It is rare in Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994) and very scarce in north-east Argentina (Narosky & Yzurieta 2003). | } | ] Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 52 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) GRASS WREN Custothorus platensis polyglottus One singing on 24-25 January 2005 at estancia Cerros del Tesoro, Chapicuy, dpto. Paysandu (ABA), where singles were also recorded on 25 March and 19 September 2005 (ABA). On 23 December 2005, an adult feeding a fledgling in a patch (>10 ha) of tall grass at establecimien- to Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho, dpto. Paysandu (ABA). Also found c.10 km south of Picada de Oribe, dpto. Durazno on 21 (one) and 28 (two) December 2006 (ABA). One at Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos on 28 October 2004 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006) and one filmed in midsummer 2005, at establecimiento Don Siba, c.30 km north-east of Risso, Cuchilla del Perdido, dpto. Soriano (D. Presa pers. comm.). Chebataroff reported it from Sierra de Mahoma, dpto. San José, pre-1963, but thereafter considered his observation ‘doubtful’ as he was unable to relocate it on subsequent field trips to the area (Chebataroff 1963, Chebataroff & Gerzenstein 1965). Previously reported from Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos, where seen on 8-9 July 1999 (Gambarotta & Calimares 2000, who refer to observations by J. Cravino in dpto. Tacuaremb6, without details). The observation above represents the first breeding for Uruguay. Infrequent in Argentina (Narosky and Yzurieta 2003) and rare in Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994). CINNAMON WARBLING FINCH Poospiza ornata One photographed (both authors), on 16 April 2005, at Carrasco Norte, just west of Carrasco International Airport, dpto. Canelones, showed no obvious signs of captivity. Included in recent lists of Uruguayan birds (Arballo & Cravino 1999, Azpiroz 2001), with a mapped record for dpto. Colonia in Azpiroz (2001) based on information provided by J. Cravino (in litt. 2001). Given that the species is illegally traded, the possibility of these being escapees must be considered. In Buenos Aires regular in the south and occasional in winter over the rest of the province (Narosky & Di Giacomo 1993). LESSER GRASS FINCH Emberizoides ypiranganus Observed by ABA as follows. The first record for Uruguay involved one photographed and tape-recorded, on 30 March 1999, in tall grass with shrubs near arroyo Tierras Coloradas, establecimiento Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho, dpto. Paysandu. Found at the same site on 22 December 2004. Also at Santo Domingo, in tall grass surrounding a marsh, one seen on 4 November 2000 and a pair at a nest on 15 September 2005. The nest had three eggs which hatched early next day. Photographs of adults, eggs and chicks were taken. On 23 December 2005 one was seen in the same area. Repeatedly recorded at estancia Cerros del Tesoro, near Chapicuy, also in dpto. Paysandu: on 25-26 November 2004 (sever- al), 23 March 2005 (two), 18 September 2005 (two pairs), 2 November 2005 (one pho- tographed), in patches of tall grassland between cropped fields and pastures. New records were also obtained in eastern Uruguay. Two (with C. Calimares) at Bafado de los Indios, dpto. Rocha, on 23 June 2001. On 16 and 19 June 2002 singles were at Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos, dpto. Treinta y Tres (ABA). Also, one and two at Banado de los Indios on 27 January and 13 February 2000, singles at Estacidn Biolégica Potrerillo de Santa Teresa on 13 and 20 August 2002 (C. Calimares in litt. 2006), seen at Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos, dpto. Treinta y Tres, on 25 October 2003 and 28 October 2004 (J. C. Gambarotta in litt. 2006), with one and two, on 28 December 2004 and 1 March 2005, at Corralitos, just south of Salto city, dpto. Salto (J. C. Mazzulla in litt. 2006). Readily separat- ed from Wedge-tailed Grass Finch E. herbicola by voice and plumage (Tobias et al. 1997). Previous published records refer to a few at Area Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos, on 5-9 July 1999 (Gambarotta & Calimares 2000). The new data indicate that it is relatively _—— —f § ¢€ widespread in Uruguay. The lack of reports pre-1999 but numerous reports since suggest it }' Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 53 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) _ isa recent arrival. The only other site where it is confirmed to breed is Reserva El Bagual in eastern Formosa, Argentina, where active nests have been found from 7 October—25 March (Di Giacomo 2005). Our observations extend its known nesting period by c.1 month. Uncommon in Rio Grande do Sul (Belton 1994), but not reported for Entre Rios (de la Pena 1997). PURPLE-THROATED EUPHONIA Euphonia chlorotica serrirostris A male at the rio Uruguay, on the outskirts of Bella Union, dpto. Artigas, on 10 April 2006 (JLM), was observed for 30 seconds before it flew. The bird’s head and throat were dark overall, except the yellow forehead, and its calls (bee..., bee...., bee) matched those of a record- ing of E. chlorotica (Straneck 1990). Barattini (1945) added this species to Uruguay’s avifau- na but, like Arballo & Cravino (1999), provided no details. The only common Euphonia in Rio Grande do Sul, but not found near the Uruguayan border (Belton 1994, Mauricio & Dias 2001). Its range in north-east Argentina includes southern Corrientes, adjacent to Bella Union (Narosky & Yzurieta 2003). CHESTNUT-BACKED TANAGER Tangara preciosa On 29 March 1988 a pair was seen in forest beside the rio Arapey Chico at estancia Luis | Maria (=Malacara), dpto. Salto (ABA). Next day a male was in the same area. On 9 June 2005 a pair was at arroyo Guaviyu, establecimiento Santo Domingo, c.25 km north-east of Quebracho, dpto. Paysandu (ABA), with a male c.1 km distant, in gallery forest along arroyo Guaviyu, the following day. Fairly common in eastern Uruguay (Azpiroz 2001), but no spe- cific reports from the west, and no detailed records from Entre Rios, Argentina (de la Pena 1997). AZURE JAY Cyanocorax caeruleus On 24 February 1999 two were seen and tape-recorded near the rio Yaguaron south of Paso Centuri6n, dpto. Cerro Largo (ABA). On 25 February two were heard along the Yaguaron, on the Brazilian border at Paso Paiva, 3 km south of the first site (ABA). Subsequently, sin- gles were seen by both authors in June (south of Paso Centuridn) and December 2006 (Paso Paiva). Reports of larger groups (Azpiroz 2001) were estimated from aural cues (i.e. uncon- firmed), but the species was not detected in February, August and October 2006 (JLM), nor was it observed at Sierra de Rios (April 1999) or Paso de Melo (January 2000), dpto. Cerro Largo (ABA). Flocks roam widely (Belton 1994), perhaps explaining the lack of further observations in this area. Resident in most of central and northern Rio Grande do Sul, but ~ recorded just once close to the Yaguar6n (Belton 1994). Concluding remarks | We added three new species (Piculus aurulentus, Myiarchus tyrannulus and Anthus nat- __ tereri) to Uruguay’s avifauna; provided evidence for year-round residency of Crypturellus . obsoletus, Sittasomus griseicapillus, Conopophaga lineata, Elaenia obscura, Todirostrum plumbei- ceps and Cyanocorax caeruleus; and the southernmost records for Nyctidromus albicollis, . Piculus aurulentus, Lepidocolaptes falcinellus, Phacellodomus erythrophthalmus, Elaenia mesoleuca _ and Anthus nattereri. The Arerungua and Centurion areas (Fig. 1) in northern and eastern - Uruguay are particularly important for the conservation of two distinct bird communities. _ The former provides breeding habitat for the globally threatened Anthus nattereri and the regionally scarce Neoxolmis rufiventris, as well as for other uncommon or rare grassland spe- tialists, e.g. Tawny-throated Dotterel Oreopholus ruficollis and Pampas Meadowlark Sturnella ' | | ! Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 54 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) defilippit (Azpiroz 2005). Gallery forests within the latter region are inhabited by Atlantic Forest elements, some of them at their southernmost limits. Current efforts to expand the country’s network of protected areas and to provide incentives for environmentally friend- ly land-use practices should view these areas as priorities, as their long-term conservation is highly desirable. Acknowledgements We are indebted to those who generously proffered their observations: José Abente, Gerardo Acosta y Lara, Leonardo Alfaro, Sebastian Alvarez, Graciela Betarte, Diego Caballero, Walter Cabrera, Carlos Calimares, Agustin Carriquiry, Gonzalo Cortés, Juan Carlos Gambarotta, Felipe Garcia Olaso, Giancarlo Geymonat, Caryl Guadalupe, José Carlos Mazzulla, Evaristo Méndez, Eduardo Munoz, Ariel Ocampo, Dardo Presa, Carlos Prigioni, Thierry Rabau, Juan Villalba Macias, and Natalia Zaldtia. D. Caballero and F. Garcia Olaso’s records were obtained whilst working for Averaves. We thank José Carlos Mazzulla who provided data from an unpublished manuscript; Juan Cuello and Santiago Claramunt for assistance with specimens and references at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural y Antropologia, Montevideo; Sebastian Alvarez for several other references; and Giovanni N. Mauricio, Rafael A. Dias and Glayson A. Bencke for sharing their knowledge of bird vocalisations in southern Brazil. Adriana Rodriguez-Ferraro, Santiago Claramunt, Juan Cuello and Rafael A. Dias provided useful comments on an early draft, and Santiago Claramunt, Guy Kirwan and an anonymous reviewer improved the final text. ABA’s field work was supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Neotropical Grassland Conservancy, Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, Cleveland Zoological Society and Neotropical Bird Club. Many records were obtained by ABA while working for PROBIDES. References: Anon. 1998. Observaciones de campo. Nuevos registros. Achara 1: 14-16. Anon. 2000. Salida de campo: Departamento de Colonia. Achara 3: 6-7. Aplin, O. V. 1894. On the birds of Uruguay. With an introduction and notes by P. L. Sclater. [bis 6(6): 149-215. Arballo, E. 1990. Nuevos registros para avifauna uruguaya. Hornero 13: 179-187. Arballo, E. & Cravino, J. L. 1999. Aves del Uruguay. Manual ornitologico. Ed. Hemisferio Sur, Montevideo. Azpiroz, A. B. 1997. Aves del Uruguay. Lista, estatus y distribucion. 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V Reunion Iberoamericana de Conservacion y Zoologia de Vertebrados, Montevideo. Programa de Publicacién de Restimenes: 15. Joseph, L. 2004. Brown-crested Flycatcher Myzarchus ferox. Pp. 434 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 9. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Lara Resende, S. & Leeuwenberg, F. 1987. Ecological studies of Lagoa do Peixe. Rep. WWF-US. Washington DC. Lyons, J. 1998. Aves del Uruguay: una vision extranjera. Achara 1: 8-9. Mauricio, G. N. & Dias, R. A. 1996. Novos registros e extensdes de distribucao de aves palustres e costeiras no litoral sul do Rio Grande do Sul. Ararajuba 4: 47-51. Mauricio, G. N. & Dias, R. A. 1998. Range extensions and new records for forest birds in southern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn: Cl. 118: 14—25. Mauricio, G. N. & Dias, R. A. 2000. New distributional information for the birds in southern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and the first record of the Rufous Gnateater Conopophaga lineata for Uruguay. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 120: 230-23 7- Mauricio, G. N. & Dias, R. A. 2001. Distribucao e conservacao da avifauna florestal na Serra dos Tapes, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Pp: 137-158 in Albuquerque, J. L. B., Candido, J. F., Straube, F. C. & Roos, A. L. (eds.) Ornitologia e conservacao: da ciéncia as estratégias. Ed. Unisul, Tubarao. _ Mazar Barnett, J. & Pearman, M. 2001. Lista comentada de las aves argentinas. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Morrison, R. I. G. & Ross, R. K. 1989. Atlas of Nearctic shorebirds on the coast of South America, vol. 1. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa. Narosky, T. & Di Giacomo, A. G. 1993. Las aves de la provincia de Buenos Aires: distribucion y estatus. AOP, Ed. Vazquez Mazzini & Literature of Latin America, Buenos Aires. Narosky, T. & Yzurieta, D. 2003. Bird of Argentina & Uruguay. A field guide. Ed. Vazquez Mazzini, Buenos Aires. Olson, S. L., Irestedt, M., Ericson, P. G. P. & Fjeldsa, J. 2005. Independent evolution of the two Darwinian marsh- dwelling ovenbirds (Furnariidae: Limnornis, Limnoctites). Orn. Neotrop. 16: 347-359. - Osorio, R. 1981. Avistamiento del Ostrero Negro Haematopus ater en el Uruguay (Charadriiformes: Haematopodidae). C.E.D. Orione, Contrib. Biol. 5: 10-11. de la Petia, M. 1997. Lista y distribucion de las aves de Santa Fé y Entre Rios. Literature of Latin America, Buenos Aires. _ Remsen, J. V. 2003. Family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). Pp. 162-357 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) . Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. . Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1989. The birds of South America, vol. 1. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. ~ Roballo Vargas, M. & Amaro Padilla, J. 2000. Ostrero Negro (Haematopus ater) en Maldonado. Achara 4: 19. } } | Adrian B. Azpiroz & José L. Menéndez 56 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Rocha, G. 2000. Primeros registros de Viudita Oscura (Elaenia obscura) para Uruguay. Achara 3: 9. Rocha Sagrera, G. 2000. Notas significativas sobre la presencia de algunas especies en la confluencia del rio Tacuari y Laguna Merin, Cerro Largo. Achara 4: 4—7. Sanborn, C. C. 1929. Some Uruguayan records. Auk 46: 251. Smith, H. M. 1927. The Uruguayan fur seal islands. Zooldgica 9(2): 271-294. Stotz, D. F., Fitzpatrick, J. W., Parker, T. A. & Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. Univ. of Chicago Press. Straneck, R. 1990. Canto de las aves de esteros y palmares. Cassette. Literature of Latin America, Buenos Aires. Tobias, J. A., Clay, R. P. & Lowen, J. C. 1997. Field identification of Lesser Grass-finch Emberizoides ypiranganus. Cotinga 8: 75-78. Tremoleras, J. 1920. Lista de aves uruguayas. Hornero 2: 10-25. Vaz-Ferreira, R. & Gerzenstein, E. 1961. Aves nuevas 0 poco conocidas de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. Com. Zool. Mus. Hist. Nat. Montevideo 5: 1-73. Venzal, J. M. & Mazzulla, J. C. 2000. Nuevos registros aves para el departamento de Salto. Achara 4: 14-16. Wetmore, A. 1926. Observations on the birds of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 133: 1-448. Addresses: Adrian B. Azpiroz, Department of Biology, R224, University of Missouri—St Louis, One University Boulevard, St Louis, MO 63121, USA, e-mail: abavg5@umsl.edu. José L. Menéndez, Florencio Sanchez 60, Paso Carrasco, Canelones, Uruguay, e-mail: josmenen@adinet.com.uy © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 | Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. oy Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Noteworthy records of birds from the Pantanal, Chiquitano dry forest and Cerrado of south-western Brazil by Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Leonardo Esteves Lopes, Diego Hoffmann, Luis Fabio Silveira & Fabio Schunck Received 16 January 2007 south-western Brazil is a very important area for birds in South America, with more than 700 species recorded (Dubs 1992, Tubelis & Tomas 2003), a richness explained by the presence of several major vegetation types (Brown 1986). The Pantanal is one of the largest floodplains in the world, located in the upper rio Paraguay basin (Alho & Gongalves 2005, Harris et al. 2005), and harbours an avifauna of more than 450 species (Tubelis & Tomas 2003), including 133 migrants (Nunes & Tomas 2004). The flora and fauna of the Pantanal possess biogeographical affinities with five South American ecosystems: Amazonia to the north; the Cerrado to the north, east and south; the Chiquitano dry forest to the west; the Chaco to the south-west; and the Atlantic Forest to the south-east (Brown 1986, Rizzini et al. 1991, Dubs 1992, Prado et al. 1992, Pott & Pott 1994, Rizzini 1997, Alho & Gongalves 2005, Vasconcelos & Hoffmann 2006). The Chiquitano is the largest patch of well-preserved dry forest in the Neotropics (Parker et al. 1993). This region was formerly considered as transi- tional between the Gran Chaco and Amazonia regions, but was recently recognised as a dis- tinctive vegetation type (Parker et al. 1993, Davis et al. 1997). The major part of the Chiquitano dry forest is in Bolivia, with only a very restricted area in extreme western Brazil (Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Vasconcelos & Hoffmann 2006, National Geographic Society 2007, WWE 2007). The Cerrado is by far the largest savanna formation in South America, being central in relation to other biomes in the continent (Rizzini 1997, Gottsberger & Silberbauer-Gottsberger 2006). It is distributed across much of central Brazil, but also reach- es extreme north-east Paraguay and eastern Bolivia (Rizzini 1997, Gottsberger & Silberbauer-Gottsberger 2006). Cerrado also occurs on the summits of isolated massifs of pre- Cambriam origin (morrarias in Brazil / serranias in Bolivia) along the rio Paraguay and with- in the Chiquitano dry forest region (Dubs 1992, Bates et al. 1992, Parker et al. 1993, Pott et al. 2000). Here, we present new and noteworthy records of birds from the Pantanal, Chiquitano dry forest and Cerrado of south-west Brazil, and comment on conservation, geographic ranges, migration and hybridisation of some species. Methods Birds were identified in the field visually and by their vocalisations. Tape-recordings were made using Sony TCM-5000 EV and Panasonic RQ-L31 tape-recorders and Sennheiser ME-66 and ME-88 microphones. Copies of all vocalisations have been deposited at the Arquivo Sonoro Prof. Elias Coelho (ASEC), Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Specimens were collected using shotguns and mist-nets, and are deposited at the Colecao Ornitologica do Departamento de Zoologia da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (DZUFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo (MZUSP), Sao Paulo, Brazil. Some were compared to those housed at the following institutions: American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH), Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (MZUSP), and Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém (MPEG). Systematic order and | | | | Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 58 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) nomenclature follow the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee (Comité Brasileiro de Registros Ornitoldégicos 2006). Field work was conducted in Corumba municipality, Mato Grosso do Sul, and in Pirizal, Nossa Senhora do Livramento municipality, and Fazenda Descalvados, Caceres, these last in Mato Grosso. Sites at Corumba were surveyed by MFV and DH on the follow- ing dates: 16-21 September 2005, 17-22 November 2005, 12-23 January 2006 and 13-18 May 2006. Sites at Pirizal were visited by LEL on 7-21 September 2005 and 7-13 February 2006. Several sites at and around Fazenda Descalvados were surveyed by LFS and FS on 1-9 September 2007. Field records were obtained at the localities detailed below. Coordinates were taken from GPS readings or obtained from online satellite images (http: / /earth.google.com). Retiro Novo (16°22’S, 56°18’W), Nossa Senhora do Livramento municipality: a cattle ranch located in the Pantanal floodplain (elevation 125 m). Moquém (16°23’S, 56°16’W), Nossa Senhora do Livramento municipality: abandoned pastures, semi-deciduous forests (locally known as mata de cordilheira), and seasonally flooded riparian forests along the right bank of the rio Piraim (125 m). Fazenda Descalvados (16°43’S, 57°44’W), Caceres municipality: a 19th-century farm on the right bank of the rio Paraguay, with Chiquitano dry forest, pastures, cultures, marshes and gallery forest (140 m). Assentamento Taquaral (19°08’-19°10'S, 57°41’-57°44’W), Corumba municipality: a settlement with many small properties, covered by pastures, cultures and fragments of Chiquitano dry forest (90-110 m). Fazenda Vale do Ribeiro (19°11’-19°12’S, 57°40’-57°41’W), Corumba municipality: a farm on the west slope of Morraria Tromba dos Macacos, covered mainly by Chiquitano dry forest (200-550 m). Macico do Urucum (Morro Sao Domingos) (19°12’S, 57°35’W), Corumba municipality: a spectacular massif rising from the lowlands of the Pantanal. The slopes are covered by Chiquitano dry forest, whereas the summit vegetation comprises Cerrado and gallery forests (1,010 m). Macico do Urucum (west slope) (19°14’S, 57°38’W), Corumba municipality: an area covered by Chiquitano dry forest (165-210 m). Fazenda Figueirinha (19°15’-19°17'S, 57°39’-57°41’W), Corumba municipality: a cattle ranch covered by Pantanal and Chiquitano dry forest (85-100 m). Parque Municipal Piraputangas (19°16’S, 57°35’W), Corumba municipality: a reserve on the south-west slope of Macico do Urucum covered mainly by Chiquitano dry forest, with |! gallery forest along streams (130-230 m). Sitio Limaozinho (19°17’S, 57°35’W), Corumba municipality: an area close to Parque | Municipal Piraputangas, covered by second-growth Chiquitano dry forest, pastures | and agriculture (145 m). | Fazenda Monjolo (19°18’-19°20’S, 57°33’-57°35’W), Corumba municipality: a farm south of | Macicgo do Urucum, covered mainly by Chiquitano dry forest, with small lakes and | marshes (110-265 m). | ' Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 59 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) | Estacao Albuquerque (19°26’S, 57°30’W), Corumbaé municipality: a railway station with pastures and degraded areas of Pantanal wetland (85 m). Species accounts BARE-FACED CURASSOW Crax fasciolata Despite being a common species known from many sites in the Brazilian Pantanal (Dubs 1992, del Hoyo 1994, Tubelis & Tomas 2003, Antas & Palo Jr 2004), C. fasciolata is rare in the Bolivian Chaco and Chiquitano dry forest (Parker et al. 1993, Brooks et al. 2005). Parker et al. (1993) did not find it in the region of Cerro Mutun, at the border between Bolivia and Brazil, south of Puerto Suarez. A female was photographed by J. A. Ribeiro in 2004 (precise date unknown) in a Chiquitano dry forest at Fazenda Vale do Ribeiro, just 19 km east of Cerro Mutun. During 30 days of intensive field work in the Chiquitano dry forest of Corumba we failed to detect this curassow, but it is very common at Fazenda Descalvados, with 25+ birds during ten days of field work. Specimens taken at this locality (MZUSP 79216-17) agree with the widespread nominate race. The rarity of C. fasciolata in the Brazilian Chiquitano (and probably in adjacent Bolivia) is related to overhunting, as local people informed us that the species was more common in the past, but they still hunt it when they have the oppor- tunity. Another recent record from the Corumba region was presented by Mauro & Campos (2000). Clay & Oren (2006) recently suggested that the species should be considered Near Threatened due to the combination of hunting pressure and habitat loss. Like any large-bod- ied curassow, C. fasciolata is hunted in many places and also suffers from habitat destruc- tion. However, nominate Bare-faced Curassow has the largest distribution of any curassow, being common at numerous sites within its range, especially in the Brazilian Pantanal. Also, new populations appear to have become established in protected areas such as Serra da Canastra National Park (Bruno ef al. 2006). The conservation status of the nominate race deserves more objective monitoring, before listing this curassow as Near Threatened. LEAST BITTTERN Ixobrychus exilis Previously known in the Pantanal floodplain only from sight records along the Transpantaneira highway (Tubelis & Tomas 2003), though A. Whittaker (fide K. J. Zimmer in litt. 2007) has tape-recorded multiple individuals along the Transpantaneira whilst lead- ing birding groups there during various May visits in 2002-06. Some of these birds were also photographed by group participants. The first specimen record for the Pantanal is an adult male (DZUFMG 5089), collected by LEL in a marsh at Retiro Novo on 16 September 2005. The specimen had enlarged testes (7 mm) and was shot after it flushed from amidst clumps of Eichornia sp. (Pontederiaceae), in the margins of a natural lake (‘Bahia dos Coqueiros’). The species is very secretive, but apparently locally not uncommon. In three mornings of field work at this lake LEL flushed another two from aquatic vegetation. Similarly, A. Whittaker (fide K. J. Zimmer in litt. 2007) judges that the species is fairly com- mon along the Transpantaneira, but is apparently much more vocal in May than at other seasons, making the species easily overlooked. At Fazenda Descalvados and neighbouring Estagao Ecolégica Taiama the species is not rare, being vocal even during the hottest hours pe the day, and several were heard or seen by LFS, FS and Marcelo Padua. When attracted | pong playback, the birds usually did not fly towards the sound. MISSISSIPPI KITE Ictinia mississippiensis This raptor migrates from North America to Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia (White 1994, dick 1997, Baughman 2003). There are few records in Brazil: Anavilhanas, Amazonas (21 1 | | Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 60 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) November 1985), Poconé municipality, Mato Grosso (February 1996), Chapada dos Guimaraes, Mato Grosso (14 November 1996 and 14 October 1999), Transpantaneira high- way, Mato Grosso (17 October 1997 and 12 October 1999), Fazenda Jatoba da Mata, Minas Gerais (10 January 2003), Tailandia, Para (12 January 2006) and SESC Pantanal private reserve, Mato Grosso (in October, no specific date) (Stotz et al. 1992, Mazar Barnett et al. | 1999, Mazar Barnett & Kirwan 2000a,b, Antas & Palo Jr 2004, Kirwan et al. 2004, Olmos et al. © 2006). Whittaker et al. (in press) detail a number of additional records between 1996 and the | present, amongst them a flock of 67 north of Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul, on 17 October 2003. Videotape of this flock, by K. J. Zimmer, confirms the first record of Mississippi Kite for Mato Grosso do Sul, as well providing only the second physical evi- dence of the species for Brazil. On 17 January 2006, in the late afternoon (18.45 h), c.250 were observed by MFV flying over a Pantanal area at Fazenda Figueirinha, moving south-east to north-west. This appears to be the second record of I. mississippiensis for Mato Grosso do Sul. BLACK-BANDED OWL Strix huhula The first record for the Pantanal floodplain (Tubelis & Tomas 2003) is an adult male | (DZUFMG 5030), with slightly enlarged testes (4 mm), collected by LEL at Moquém on 13 © February 2006. It was taken in a disturbed gallery forest lining a small creek that discharges into the rio Piraim. This owl is poorly known, locally distributed across almost all of Brazil (Pinto 1978, Sick 1997, Gonzaga & Castiglioni 2004), but with only scattered records in adja- cent Bolivia (Remsen & Traylor 1983) and Paraguay (Lowen et al. 1997). BUFF-BELLIED HERMIT Phaethornis subochraceus This species’ known range is restricted to the Chiquitano dry forest and adjacent Pantanal (Vasconcelos & Hoffmann 2006), where it has been recorded from relatively few, sparsely distributed localities, and confirmed by very few specimens (Parker et al. 1993, Hinkelmann 1999). On 18 September 2005, a female (DZUFMG 4578) was collected by MFV and DH with- in a fragment of Chiquitano dry forest at Fazenda Monjolo. Another was observed by MFV, on 21 November 2005, taking insects from spiders’ webs in a legume at the edge of a Chiquitano dry forest, at Parque Municipal Piraputangas. On 15 January 2006 one was observed by MFV chasing another individual in the same area. Collecting localities of P. sub- ochraceus in Brazil are: Fazenda Sao Joao (AMNH 127387, locality written as ‘San Juan | Fazenda’ on the specimen’s label) and Descalvados (AMNH 149425, MZUSP 79290-91). | Other Brazilian locality records unsupported by specimens include: Recanto Passargada, | Porto Limao, the Serra da Bodoquena region and along the Transpantaneira highway | (Cintra & Yamashita 1990, Willis & Oniki 1990, Tubelis & Tomas 2003, Pivatto et al. 2006). A | record in the literature of Scale-throated Hermit Phaethornis eurynome from the Corumba | region (Mauro & Campos 2000) could pertain to a misidentification of P. subochraceus. P. | eurynome, normally associated with the Atlantic Forest, is unknown from the Chiquitano | dry forest, and the few records from the south-eastern Pantanal lack corroborative speci- mens (Dubs 1992, Tubelis & Tomas 2003). PICULET Picumnus ‘corumbanus’ | Lima (1920) described Picumnus lepidotus corumbanus based on a male from Corumba col- | lected in November 1917 by E. Garbe. The specimen (MZUSP 9902) has pale underparts | with very fine brownish bars and a few scales on the breast and flanks. Subsequently, in | August 1930, J. L. Lima collected five additional specimens of ‘corumbanus’ at Miranda, | Mato Grosso do Sul: a male (MZUSP 13150) and four females (MZUSP 13146-149). Plumage characters are not constant and these specimens show intermediate characters between P. | _ Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 61 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) -cirratus and P. albosquamatus, especially in the underparts. All of them present, to greater or lesser extent, the fine bars of the type, and scaly marks of P. albosquamatus, on the breast. Pinto (1978) considered P. 1. corumbanus a synonym of P. minutissimus albosquamatus. During our field expeditions to the Chiquitano dry forest of Corumba, two male Picumnus (DZUFMG 4582, 4780) were collected by MFV at Sitio Limaozinho, on 21 November 2005 and 15 January 2006, respectively. Additionally, six specimens—two males (DZUFMG 4747-48) and four females (DZUFMG 4749-52)—were taken by MFV and DH at Fazenda Monjolo on 18-21 January 2006. This series was compared directly to the six specimens of ‘corumbanus’ in MZUSP. All were extremely variable in the underparts, showing the same patterns observed in the MZUSP specimens. Short (1982) had previously pointed to the fre- quent interbreeding of P. cirratus and P. albosquamatus in southernmost Mato Grosso. We suspect that all specimens of ‘corumbanus’ held in MZUSP and DZUFMG are hybrids between the two species. If they are, this hybrid zone appears to have been stable for more than 70 years. Tissue samples were collected and molecular studies are recommended to understand the pattern of hybridisation by Picumnus at the ecotone between Chiquitano dry forest and Pantanal. Similarly variably-plumaged individuals were observed by MFV and DH at the following localities: Estacao Albuquerque (18 November 2005), Fazenda Figueirinha (19 November 2005, 14 and 16 January 2006), Assentamento Taquaral (20 November 2005, 17 January 2006 and 16 May 2006), Fazenda Vale do Ribeiro (16 January 2006), and the west slope of Macico do Urucum (15 May 2006). It is possible that the obser- vations of P. cirratus by Parker et al. (1993) in the adjacent forests of Cerro Muttn also relate to these hybrids. AMAZONIAN STREAKED ANTWREN Myrmotherula multostriata Only recently elevated to specific status, M. multostriata reaches its southernmost limits in aorth-east dpto. Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in the rio Guaporé drainage (Isler et al. 1999). On 15 May 2006, a singing individual was tape-recorded by MFV at the edge of a second-growth Chiquitano dry forest on the west slope of Macicgo do Urucum. The tape-recording was com- oared with those on Isler & Whitney (2002) and match the loudsongs of M. multostriata and the more northerly M. surinamensis, which are sister species (Isler et al. 1999). As the loud- songs of the two species are not diagnosably different (Isler et al. 1999, Zimmer & Isler 2003), yur identification of the Macico do Urucum bird as multostriata, as opposed to surinamensis, Which is known only from north of the rio Amazonas, is based on geographic proximity. Nonetheless, this is an unexpected record of an Amazonian bird in Chiquitano dry forest, and extends the species’ range more than 600 km to the south-east. Parker et al. (1993) also ound some Amazonian taxa of birds and mammals at other localities in the Bolivian -hiquitano dry forest. This is the first record of M. multostriata in Mato Grosso do Sul and n the rio Paraguay basin. Given the range disjunction and the habitat discrepancy present- »d by this record (Zimmer & Isler 2003), it would be desirable to collect specimens from the orests of Macico do Urucum and other localities in the Chiquitano dry forest, to evaluate dossible geographical variation in the plumage of this southern population. ?ALE-BELLIED TYRANT-MANAKIN Neopelma pallescens Despite being common virtually across the entire Cerrado, with scattered records to south- orn Guyana (Robbins et al. 2004), eastern Bolivia (Bates & Parker 1998), the Amapa savan- ras (Silva et al. 1997), the rios Tapaj6s and Amazonas, in the Amazon (Pinto 1944), and ‘oastal north-east Brazil (Pinto 1944, Pinto & Camargo 1961), the following is the first record or the Pantanal. On 9 February 2006, LEL collected an unsexed individual (DZUFMG 5097) 1 } Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 62 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) in a mata de landi, a seasonally flooded thicket, at Retiro Novo. The species is apparently common in the area. SUBTROPICAL DORADITO Pseudocolopteryx acutipennis 7 Recently recorded in Brazil in coastal Parana (Bornschein & Reinert 1999, Bornschein 2001) and twice in July 2002 and again in June 2003, on a river island in Rond6nia (Whittaker 2004). It is assumed that populations of P. acutipennis breeding in the Andes of Bolivia and Argentina migrate during the austral winter to the Chaco of north-west Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay (Fjeldsa & Krabbe 1990). Navas (2002) also presented data confirming that this species breeds in Argentina during spring and summer, including areas at low eleva- tions. His observations suggest that P. acutipennis from Argentina can also migrate north during autumn and winter. On 17 September 2005, a male (DZUFMG 4573) was collected by MFV and DH in a marsh with grasses, Typha domingensis (Typhaceae) and Ludwigia sp. (Onagraceae) in the environs of a Chiquitano dry forest at Fazenda Monjolo. The specimen was compared to one in MZUSP and with photographs of the entire series housed in AMNH. On 16 May 2006, another was observed by MFV in a Pantanal area at Fazenda Figueirinha and, on 8 September 2007, LFS, FS and Marcelo Padua observed a doradito with the characters of acutipennis at Fazenda Descalvados. These are the first published records of P. acutipennis for the Brazilian Pantanal (Tubelis & Tomas 2003, Nunes & Tomas 2004) and for Mato Grosso do Sul. It is possible that these birds belong to migrant populations from the south or from the Andes, as both these records were from between autumn and winter, outside the known breeding period of the species (Navas 2002, Bostwick 2004). The speci- men, an adult (skull fully pneumatised), was not in breeding condition (testes 0.6 x 0.4 mm). The occurrence of P. acutipennis in the Corumba region was expected, as the species is known from the adjacent Bolivian Chiquitano (Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Reichle e¢ al. 2003). PLAIN TYRANNULET Inezia inornata This species, reported to be ‘not well known in life’ by Ridgely & Tudor (1994), is only known in the Pantanal from its extreme western and southern borders (Tubelis & Tomas 2003). It was tape-recorded at various points along the Transpantaneira by T. A. Parker as long ago as August 1991, and A. Whittaker and K. J. Zimmer (in litt. 2007) have tape-record- ed multiple individuals near Pixaim during annual August and September visits in 1991-2006. G. M. Kirwan (in litt. 2007) recorded the species as late as October in the SESC Pantanal private reserve. It appears to be a fairly common austral migrant to this region, and is a regular member of mixed-species flocks of insectivores in gallery forest and adjacent scrubby borders during this period. An unsexed individual collected by LEL at Retiro Novo on 10 September 2005 (DZUFMG 5088) is the first specimen record for the northern Pantanal. The species was mist-netted in a mata de cambara, a seasonally flooded forest dom- inated by Vochysia divergens (Vochysiaceae). Additional specimens (two males) were collect- ed by MFV at Fazenda Figuerinha on 19 November 2005 (DZUFMG 4581) and 16 January 2006 (DZUFMG 4755). Both were taken after being attracted by imitating the song of Ferruginous Pygmy-owl Glaucidium brasilianum. At Fazenda Descalvados, LFS and FS col- lected three (MZUSP 79346-48) in gallery forest beside the rio Paraguay, where the species is not rare, being easily located by its voice. Plain Tyrannulet is considered an austral migrant, also reaching the Cuiaba region and the states of Acre and Rondonia (Sick 1997), but records are in August-November/ December, including three taken at Urucum in late November 1913 (Naumburg 1930), suggesting that the species remains in Brazil longer than might be expected of a migrant. ee Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 63 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) ALDER FLYCATCHER Empidonax alnorum Only two records of this North American migrant (Baughman 2003, Farnsworth & Lebbin | 2004) are known for Brazil: a specimen from Santarém, Para (24 February 1978), and the sighting of a singing bird at Manaus, Amazonas (15 December 1984) (Stotz et al. 1992, _ Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Sick 1997). On 19 November 2005 an unsexed individual (DZUFMG _ 4580) was collected by MFV in a Pantanal area at Fazenda Figueirinha, in the edge of dense Parkinsonia aculeata (Leguminosae) scrub close to a marsh. It was compared to that from Santarém, held in MPEG, and with photographs of the entire series at AMNH. This is the first record for E. alnorum in Mato Grosso do Sul and the Brazilian Pantanal (Tubelis & Tomas 2003, Nunes & Tomas 2004), and the third for Brazil. It was expected to occur in _ south-west Brazil as the species is known from nearby eastern dpto. Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Parker et al. 1993, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Ayuso & Arambiza Segundo 2001, Reichle et al. 2003). CLIFF SWALLOW Petrochelidon pyrrhonota Known in the Pantanal only from a sight record along the Transpantaneira highway _(Tubelis & Tomas 2003). A young female (DZUFMG 5102) found dead, by LEL, on 17 September 2005, at Retiro Novo, is the first documented record for the Pantanal floodplain. - It apparently died after hitting a window. On the same day LEL also mist-netted a Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica. Cliff Swallow was only recently reported for Bolivia (Remsen & Traylor 1983). WHITE-RUMPED TANAGER Cypsnagra hirundinacea Known from sight records at the southern border of the Pantanal floodplain (Tubelis & Tomas 2003), thus the first documented record in the Pantanal wetland is of a female (DZUFMG 5067), collected by LEL, at Retiro Novo on 17 September 2005. It was associated _ with a mixed-species flock, from which Checkered Woodpecker Picoides mixtus (DZUFMG 5106), Campo Suiriri Suiriri s. affinis (DZUFMG 5126) and Black-throated Saltator Saltator atricollis (DZUFMG 5120) were also collected, in a wet savanna with forest islands on ter- mite mounds (campo de murundum). All of these are common constituents of mixed-species flocks in the central Brazilian Cerrado (Alves & Cavalcanti 1996, Ragusa-Netto 2000, Lopes 2005), and apparently occur only at the borders of the Pantanal floodplain (Tubelis & Tomas 2003, Tubelis 2007). BLUE FINCH Porphyrospiza caerulescens This Cerrado endemic (Silva 1995a,b, 1997, Silva & Bates 2002) is known from few records at the western edge of its range (Naumburg 1930, Willis & Oniki 1990, Parker & Rocha 1991, Bates et al. 1992, Parker et al. 1993, Tubelis & Tomas 2003, Maillard & Catari 2004). On 18 November 2005, MFV collected a male (DZUFMG 4579) in a campo sujo atop Macico do Urucum. The gizzard contained 80% dry seeds (45 seeds of grasses and two unidentified) and 20% arthropods (12 Lepidoptera larvae, five Coleoptera, one Formicidae and one | Araneae). There is an old record of this species at the same site (Salvadori 1900 in Naumburg 1930). Parker et al. (1993) observed P. caerulescens on the summit of Cerro Mutun, just 29 km from Macico do Urucum, but suspected that the closest populations would be further east, -at Serra da Bodoquena, though the species was not found there in a detailed survey recent- ly (Pivatto et al. 2006). These records demonstrate that island-like cerrados atop the ‘mor- rarias’ in the Pantanal and Chiquitano dry forest are important sites for the conservation of isolated populations of this Near-Threatened species (BirdLife International 2004). Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 64 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) DULL-COLOURED GRASSQUIT Tiaris obscurus The first probable locality for this species in Brazil was Chapada dos Guimaraes, Mato Grosso, where H. H. Smith collected two female grassquits, originally identified as T. fulig- inosus, in August 1885 (Bates 1997). Bates (1997), after re-examining these specimens, sug- gested that they instead represented the first Brazilian records of T. obscurus. The species was subsequently observed by A. Whittaker near Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, on 16 September 2000; by Braulio Carlos near Poconé, Mato Grosso, on 8 March 2002; and again by Braulio Carlos at Chapada dos Guimaraes, Mato Grosso, on 16 October 2002 (Whittaker & Carlos 2004). The first confirmed record for the country was of a bird found near Morro do Urucum, Mato Grosso do Sul, by K. J. Zimmer and A. Whittaker, and videotaped by Zimmer, on 13 October 2003 (Zimmer & Whittaker in press). On 19 September 2005 a spec- imen (DZUFMG 4745) was collected by MFV and DH in the same marsh where P. acutipen- nis was collected, at Fazenda Monjolo. It was compared to photographs of the series at AMNH. The specimen is an adult male (skull fully pneumatised; testes 1.0 x 0.5 mm) with a bicoloured bill (dark maxilla and pale pinkish-cream mandible), and is similar to a photo- graph of a bird trapped in Paraguay (Clay et al. 1998), as well as matching the description by Bates (1997) of the morph occurring in the eastern Andes south of dpto. La Paz to north- ern Argentina. This is the first specimen for Mato Grosso do Sul, though its occurrence is unsurprising, as the species is known from adjacent dpto. Santa Cruz, eastern Bolivia (Parker et al. 1993, Bates 1997, Ayuso & Arambiza Segundo 2001, Reichle et al. 2003, Brumfield et al. 2004). Another male (MZUSP 79424; skull fully pneumatised; testes 2 x 1 mm) was collected on 5 September 2007 by LFS and FS at Fazenda Descalvados. Migratory movements of this species in South America are still unknown, but ali records in low-alti- tude sites east of the Andes were during the austral winter (Bates 1997, Capper et al. 2001). The small testes of our specimens and that they were collected in the austral winter suggest the birds were wintering in the Brazilian Chiquitano and Pantanal regions, c.700 km east of the Andes. Acknowledgements We thank IBAMA for providing permission to collect specimens in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. We are indebted to CAPES, FAPEMIG, the Brehm Foundation, SETE and MCR for financial support during the study. We also thank those who enabled our studies of specimens in the following institutions: Luis Fabio Silveira and Erika Machado (MZUSP), Alexandre Aleixo (MPEG), Marcos Rodrigues (DZUFMG), and Joel Cracraft, Paul Sweet, Peg Hart, Camila Ribas and Merle Okada (AMNRF). Jorge Augusto Ribeiro kindly provided a photograph of Crax fasciolata taken at his property. The botanist and friend, Marcio de Souza Werneck, accompa- nied us during some field expeditions and discussed the phytogeography of the Brazilian Chiquitano dry forest and the Pantanal. MFV is especially grateful to AMNH for a Collection Study Grant to study specimens from Brazil. LFS receives a grant from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnol6gico (CNPq) and is an Associate Researcher of the World Pheasant Association. LEL thanks Tatiana Rubio, Bianca Bernardon and Raquel de Souza for their help during field work and specimen preparation. The work of LEL in Pirizal was only possible due to the invaluable assistance of Joao Batista de Pinho. Santos D’Angelo Neto, Luis Fabio Silveira, Erika Machado, Fernando Costa Straube and Alessandro Pacheco Nunes discussed our records. We also thank Karl Schuchmann, Marcos Rodrigues, José Fernando Pacheco, Marcos Maldonado-Coelho, Eustaquio Luiz de Vasconcelos, Bianca L. Reinert, Eduardo Lima Sabato, Edsel A. Moraes Junior, Darius P. Tubelis, Marcio de Souza Werneck, Patricia Lopes, Tania de Freitas Raso, Marcelo Padua, the staff of Fazenda Descalvados and the Fundacion para la Conservacion del Bosque Chiquitano for providing relevant bibliography. References: Alho, C. J. R. & Gongalves, H. C. 2005. Biodiversidade do Pantanal: ecologia e conservacao. Ed. Uniderp, Campo Grande. Alves, M. A. S. & Cavalcanti, R. B. 1996. Sentinel behavior, seasonality, and the structure of bird flocks in a Brazilian savanna. Orn. Neotrop. 7: 43-51. Antas, P. T. Z. & Palo Jr, H. 2004. 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Desafios para proteger o Pantanal brasileiro: ameagas e iniciativas em conservacao. Megadiversidade 1: 156-164. _Hinkelmann, C. 1999. Buff-bellied Hermit Phaethornis subochraceus. P. 545 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. | (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 5. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ‘del Hoyo, J. 1994. Bare-faced Curassow Crax fasciolata. P. 362 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) ) Handbook | of the birds of the world, vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Isler, M. L., Isler, P. R. & Whitney, B. M. 1999. Species limits in antbirds (Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae): the Mowamalneaa surinamensis complex. Auk 116: 83-96. | Isler, P. R. & Whitney, B. M. 2002. Songs of the antbirds. Cornell Lab. of Orn., Ithaca, NY. i | i Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 66 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Kirwan, G. M., Mazar Barnett, J., Vasconcelos, M. F., Raposo, M. A., D’Angelo Neto, S. & Roesler, I. 2004. Further | comments on the avifauna of the middle Sao Francisco Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 124: | 207-220. | Lima, J. L. 1920. Aves colligidas no Estado de S. Paulo, Mato-Grosso e Bahia, com algumas formas novas. Rev. Mus. | Paulista 12: 91-106. a Lopes, L. E. 2005. Dieta e comportamento de forrageamento de Suiriri affinis e S. islerorum (Aves, Tyrannidae) em |} um cerrado do Brasil central. Iheringia sér. Zool. 95: 341-345. . Lowen, J. C., Clay, R. P., Mazar Barnett, J., Madrofto N., A., Pearman, M., Lopez Lanus, B., Tobias, J. A., Liley, D. ¢ C., Brooks, T. M., Esquivel, E. Z. & Reid, J. M. 1997. New and noteworthy observations on Paraguayan avifau- | na. Bull Brit Ons Clel 73275293: , Maillard Z., O. & Catari, J. C. 2004. El Azulillo Brasilento (Porphyrospiza caerulescens) en la regi6n subandina de Bolivia. Orn. Neotrop. 15: 399-402. | Mauro, R. A. & Campos, Z. 2000. Fauna. Pp. 133-151 in Silva, J. S. V. (ed.) Zoneamento ambiental da borda oeste do Pantanal: Macigo do Urucum e adjacéncias. Embrapa Comunicacao para Transferéncia de Tecnologia, Brasilia. | Mazar Barnett, J. & Kirwan, G. M. (compilers) 2000a. Neotropical notebook: Brazil. Cotinga 13: 75. Mazar Barnett, J. & Kirwan, G. M. (compilers) 2000b. Neotropical notebook: Brazil. Cotinga 14: 106. Mazar Barnett, J., Kirwan, G. M. & Tobias, J. (compilers) 1999. Neotropical notebook: Brazil. Cotinga 11: 101. National Geographic Society. 2007. Terrestrial ecoregions of the world. www.nationalgeographic.com/wild- | world /terrestrial.html (accessed 9 January 2007). } Naumburg, E. M. B. 1930. The birds of Matto Grosso, Brazil: a report on the birds secured by the Roosevelt-Rondon | Expedition. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 60: 1-432. Navas, J. R. 2002. La distribucién geografica de Pseudocolopteryx acutipennis (Tyrannidae) en la Argentina. Hornero 17: 45-48. Nunes, A. P. & Tomas, W. M. 2004. Aves migratorias ocorrentes no Pantanal: caracterizacao e conservacao. Embrapa |} Pantanal, Corumba. ! Olmos, F., Pacheco, J. F. & Silveira, L. F. 2006. Notas sobre aves de rapina (Cathartidae, Acciptridae e Falconidae) | brasileiras. Rev. Bras. Orn. 14: 401-404. Olson, D. & Dinerstein, E. 1998. The Global 200: a representation approach to conserving the earth’s most biologi- | cally valuable ecoregions. Conserv. Biol. 12: 502-515. Parker, T. A., Gentry, A. H., Foster, R. B., Emmons, L. H. & Remsen, J. V. 1993. The lowland dry forests of Santa Cruz, Bolivia: a global conservation priority. Rapid Assessment Program Working Papers, vol. 4. Conservation International, Washington DC. Parker, T. A. & Rocha, O. 1991. La avifauna de Cerro San Simon, una localidad de campo rupestre aislado en el | Depto. Beni, noreste Boliviano. Ecol. Boliv. 17: 15-29. Prado, D. E., Gibbs, P. E., Pott, A. & Pott, V. J. 1992. The Chaco-Pantanal transition in southern Mato Grosso, Brazil. Pp. 451-470 in Furley, P. A., Proctor, J. & Ratter, J. A. (eds.) Nature and dynamics of forest-savanna boundaries. 4 Chapman & Hall, London. j i Pinto, O. M. O. 1944. Catalogo das aves do Brasil e lista dos exemplares existentes da colecao do Departamento de Zoologia. ) Segunda parte. Depto. Zoologia, Secretaria da Agricultura, Industria e Comércio, Sao Paulo. i Pinto, O. M. O. 1978. Novo catalogo das aves do Brasil. Primeira parte. Empresa Grafica da Revista dos Tribunais, Sao | Paulo. | Pinto, O. M. O. & Camargo, E. A. 1961. Resultados ornitol6gicos de quatro recentes expedicdes do Departamento | de Zoologia ao nordeste do Brasil, com a descricao de seis novas subespécies. Arq. Zool. Sao Paulo 11: 193-284. | Pivatto, M. A. C., Manco, D. D. G., Straube, F. C., Urben-Filho, A. & Milano, M. 2006. Aves do Planalto da \ Bodoquena, Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul (Brasil). Atualidades Orn. 129: 28. 1 Pott, A. & Pott, V. J. 1994. Plantas do Pantanal. Embrapa Pantanal, Corumba. | Pott, A., Silva, J. S. V., Salis, S. M., Pott, V. J. & Silva, M. P. 2000. Vegetacao e uso da terra. Pp. 111-131 in Silva, J. S. V. (ed.) Zoneamento ambiental da borda oeste do Pantanal: Macico do Urucum e adjacéncias. Embrapa Comunicagao | para Transferéncia de Tecnologia, Brasilia. Ragusa-Netto, J. 2000. Raptors and “campo-cerrado” bird mixed flocks led by Cypsnagra hirundinacea (Emberizidae: Thraupinae). Rev. Bras. Biol. 60: 461-467. Reichle, S., Justiniano, H., Vides, R. & Herrera, M. 2003. Aves del Bosque Chiquitano y Pantanal Boliviano. Ed. l Fundacion Amigos de la Naturaleza, Santa Cruz de la Sierra. | Remsen, J. V. & Traylor, M. A. 1983. Additions to the avifauna of Bolivia, part 2. Condor 85: 95-98. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. | Rizzini, C. T. 1997. Tratado de fitogeografia do Brasil: aspectos ecoldgicos, socioldgicos e floristicos. Ambito Cultural Ed., |} Rio de Janeiro. Rizzini, C. T., Coimbra Filho, A. F. & Houaiss, A. 1991. Brazilian ecosystems. Ed. Lyra & Ed. Index, Rio de Janeiro. Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 67 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Robbins, M. B., Braun, M. & Finch, D. W. 2004. Avifauna of the Guyana southern Rupununi, with comparisons to other savannas of northern South America. Orn. Neotrop. 15: 173-200. Short, L. L. 1982. Woodpeckers of the world. Monogr. Ser. 4. Delaware Mus. Nat. Hist., Wilmington. Sick, H. 1997. Ornitologia brasileira. Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro. Silva, J. M. C. 1995a. Biogeographic analysis of the South American Cerrado avifauna. Steenstrupia 21: 49-67. Silva, J. M. C. 1995b. Birds of the Cerrado Region, South America. Steenstrupia 21: 69-92. Silva, J. M. C. 1997. Endemic bird species and conservation in the Cerrado region, South America. Biodivers. Conserv. 6: 435-450. Silva, J. M. C. & Bates, J. M. 2002. Biogeographic patterns and conservation in the South American Cerrado: a trop- ical savanna hotspot. BioScience 52: 225-233. Silva, J. M. C., Oren, D. C., Roma, J. C. & Henriques, L. M. P. 1997. Composition and distribution patterns of the avifauna of an Amazonian upland savanna, Amapa, Brazil. Pp. 743-762 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Stotz, D. F., Bierregaard, R. O., Cohn-Haft, M., Petermann, P., Smith, J., Whittaker, A. & Wilson, S. V. 1992. The sta- tus of North American migrants in central Amazonian Brazil. Condor 94: 608-621. Tubelis, D. P. 2007. Mixed-species flocks of birds in the Cerrado, South America: a review. Orn. Neotrop. 18: 75-97. Tubelis, D. P. & Tomas, W. M. 2003. Bird species of the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Ararajuba 11: 5-37. Vasconcelos, M. F. & Hoffmann, D. 2006. Os Bosques Secos Chiquitanos também sao nossos! Atualidades Orn. 130: Oe, White, C. M. 1994. Mississippi Kite Ictinia mississippiensis. Pp. 117-118 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Whittaker, A. 2004. Noteworthy ornithological records from Rondonia, Brazil, including a first country record, comments on austral migration, life history, taxonomy and distribution, with relevant data from neightbour- ing states, and a first record for Bolivia. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 124: 239-271. Whittaker, A. & Carlos, B. 2004. Recent observations of Dull-coloured Grassquit Tiaris obscura in Mato Grosso rein- force its status as an austral migrant to south-west Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 124: 285-287. Whittaker, A., Zimmer, K. J. & Carlos, B. In press. The status of Mississippi Kite Ictinia mississippiensis in Brazil, including further documented records for the country. Cotinga 29. _ Willis, E. O. & Oniki, Y. 1990. Levantamento preliminar das aves de inverno em dez areas do sudoeste de Mato Grosso, Brasil. Ararajuba 1: 19-38. WWE. 2007. Chiquitano dry forests—a global ecoregion. www.panda.org/about_wwf/ where_we_work/ecore- gions/chiquitano_dry_forests.cfm (accessed 9 January 2007). Zimmer, K. J. & Isler, M. L. 2003. Amazonian Streaked Antwren Myrmotherula multostriata. P. 578 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the worid, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Zimmer, K. J. & Whittaker, A. In press. Additional records of Dull-coloured Grassquit Tiaris obscura from Brazil. Cotinga. _ Addresses: Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Leonardo Esteves Lopes and Diego Hoffmann, Pés-Graduagao em Ecologia, Conservacao e Manejo de Vida Silvestre, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, 30123- 970, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Luis Fabio Silveira and Fabio Schunck, Dpto. Zoologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, CP 11461, 05422-970, and Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, CP 42494, 04218-970, Sao Paulo, Brazil. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Alexander C. Lees & Carlos A. Peres 68 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) | i) A range extension for Curl-crested Aracari Pteroglossus beauharnaesii: implications for avian contact zones in ~ southern Amazonia by Alexander C. Lees & Carlos A. Peres Received 17 January 2007 The monotypic Curl-crested Aracari Pteroglossus beauharnaesii occurs south of the | Amazon from northern Peru (south of the rio Marafion) and western Brazil (north-east to | the mouth of the rio Madeira and south-east in a narrow tongue to the headwaters of the | upper rio Xingu), and south to northern and central Bolivia in Pando and Cochabamba | (Short & Horne 2002). Recent molecular analyses place it within the Red-necked Aracari P. | bitorquatus species-group (Eberhard & Bermingham 2005). ACL visited the Novo Progresso | region, southern Para, on 23-24 August 2006, to search for the enigmatic Golden-crowned | Manakin Lepidothrix vilasboasi. At 11.15 h on 23 August an adult P. beauharnaesti was | observed departing a tree cavity in moderately disturbed terra firme forest west of Novo | Progresso at c.07°13’S, 55°32’W. The bird did not return within the next hour, perhaps indi- cating it was merely prospecting suitable nest sites. Subsequently that day, four P. beauhar- | naesii were located with a mixed-species foraging flock of five P. bitorquatus reichenowi and | three Black-necked Aragaris P. a. aracari in Cecropia trees in the same area. ACL obtained dig- | ital images of one bird in poor light (Fig 1.). P. beauharnaesii was not recorded in this region | by a recent survey (Pacheco & Olmos 2005), but the species is patchily distributed around | Alta Floresta, northern Mato Grosso (Zimmer et al. 1997), and thus easily overlooked in | rapid avifaunal surveys. These records are the first of P. beauharnaesii in Para north of the Serra do Cachimbo (a Cerrado region that serves as a fair- ly important faunal barrier to forest species), and a range exten- sion of 260 km north-east from the nearest known site in south- ernmost Para, at 09°27’S, 56°01’W (ACL pers. obs.). Haffer (1974, 1997) used the Ramphastidae as a key family to illustrate distributional patterns of parapatry in Amazonian birds. The distribution of P. beauharnaesii was used as an example to illus- trate contact zones between birds in the Madeira—Tapajos inter- fluvium: ‘The northern portion of the ... interfluvium is inhab- ited by the Black-necked Aracari (P. aracari), which probably meets its southern representative [Pteroglossus beauharnaesii] in the same general area where the parrots Pionopsitta vulturina/P. barrabandi, as well as ... several other species pairs, several disjunct populations in north-central, east and south- east Brazil; in Amazonia, west to the rio Madeira, east to Maranhao and south to north-east to Mato Grosso and Goias (Short & Horne 2002). Our record of P. beauharnaesii extends the | area of known sympatry with P. aracari over a minimum 300 km-wide swathe of southern | Amazonia either side of the Serra do Cachimbo in northern Mato Grosso and southern Para, — south as far as Alta Floresta and north at least to Novo Progresso. These species were for- merly thought to occur sympatrically only in the southern Serra do Cachimbo (Haffer 1997). Further complicating the distribution patterns hypothesised by Haffer is the recent | description of Bald Parrot Gypopsitta aurantiocephala (Gaban-Lima et al. 2002), which has | Figure 1. Curl-crested Aracari | Pteroglossus beauharnaesti, near | ; : Novo Progresso, Para, Brazil, 23 | have established contact’ (Haffer 1997). P. a. aracari occurs in August 2006 (Alexander C. Lees) | Sa RI SE LR a TTT ~ Alexander C. Lees & Carlos A. Peres 69 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) been found sympatrically with Orange-cheeked Parrot G. barrabandi at Alta Floresta (R. Hoyer pers. comm.) and with Vulturine Parrot G. vulturina on the middle Tapajés (Gaban- Lima et al. 2002). The range of G. aurantiocephalia is still inadequately known but its prefer- ence for campinarana forest (Gaban-Lima et al. 2002) suggests it could occur sympatrically (but perhaps not syntopically) with either G. barrabandi or G. vulturina over a considerable _area. The contact zones hypothesised by Haffer for the Madeira—Tapajés interfluvium appear to be not only much broader, but perhaps more complex than previously imagined, as evidenced by recent observations of Pteroglossus and Gypopsitta. These discoveries do not invalidate the importance of the rio Teles Pires region as a contact zone, but do illustrate the difficulty of determining where such zones lie and how much overlap exists between para- patric taxa given the dearth of basic presence/absence information for avian distributions | in much of Amazonia. Acknowledgements The expedition to Novo Progresso was undertaken during the course of ACL’s Ph.D. field work which was sup- ported by a NERC studentship and a small grant from Conservation International. ACL thanks Geraldo Aratijo for assistance in the field over this period. We thank Kevin Zimmer for his critical review of the manuscript. _ References: Eberhard, J. R. & Bermingham, E. 2005. Phylogeny and comparative biogeography of Pionopsitta parrots and Pteroglossus toucans. Mol Phyl. & Evol. 36: 288-304. _Gaban- Lima, R., Raposo, M. A. & Hofling, E. 2002 Description of a new species of Pionopsitta (Aves: Psittacidae) endemic to Brazil. Auk 119: 815-819. - Haffer, J. 1974. Avian speciation in tropical South America. Publ. Nuttall Orn. Cl. 14. Nuttall Orn. Cl, Cambridge, MA. ' Haffer, J. 1997. Contact zones between birds of southern Amazonia. Pp. 281-305 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. _ Pacheco, J. F. & Olmos, F. 2005. Birds of a latitudinal transect in the Tapajos-Xingu interfluvium, eastern Brazilian : Amazonia. Ararajuba 13: 29-46. Short, L. L. & Horne, J. F. M. 2002. Family Ramphastidae (toucans). Pp. 220-266 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 7. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Zimmer, K. J., Parker, T. A., Isler, M. L. & Isler, P. R. 1997. Survey of a southern Amazonian avifauna: the Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Pp. 887-918 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honor- ing Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. _ Address: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 72J, Norfolk, UK, e-mail: a.lees@uea.ac.uk _ © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 A substitute name for Celeus lugubris castaneus Olrog by Rosendo Fraga & Edward C. Dickinson Received 1 February 2007 This woodpecker was named in 1963 from near Bato, on the rio Negro, dpto. Beni, ‘Bolivia. However Picus castaneus Wagler, 1829, now Celeus castaneus (Wagler, 1829) attached to a species from Central America, is a prior name and thus Olrog’s secondary homonym requires substitution. In its place, we propose: Celeus lugubris olrogi, nom. nov. The new name honours Claés Olrog, a Swedish-born ornithologist of considerable “importance i in the development of Argentine ornithology. Vuilleumier (1995) wrote a recent tribute to his memory. The new subspecific name is a noun in the genitive case and was “formed according to Art. 31.1.2 of ICZN (1999). | e| Rosendo Fraga & Edward C. Dickinson 70 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) The type (no. 11902) in the Instituto Miguel Lillo, Tucuman, has been examined and photographed. It is a male and at first glance appears sufficiently different to warrant recog- nition. Olrog described it as distinct in colour, being chocolate-brown rather than the brownish black of the nominate or blackish like C. /. kerri Hargitt, 1891. Although Olrog had two specimens that he attributed to the more easterly C. 1. roosevelti Cherrie, 1916, he men- tioned no difference between these and his new form, except to state that the size of the new 4 race differed from all others. Olrog had six Bolivian specimens that he attributed to this | form, three each from Beni and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Further study is required to confirm the distinctness of this population. Acknowledgements The discovery of this homonymy arose during work on Dickinson (2003) and we thank Norbert Bahr for sharing names proposed since Peters’ Check-list. We are also grateful to A. Echevarria at the Instituto Miguel Lillo in | Tucuman for access to specimens. References: Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher | Helm, London. 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. Olrog, C. C. 1963. Una nueva subespecie de Celeus lugubris de Bolivia (Aves, Piciformes, Picidae). Neotropica 9(29): 87-88. Vuilleumier, F. 1995. Five great Neotropical ornithologists: an appreciation of Eugene Eisenmann, Maria Koepcke, Claés Olrog, Rodulfo Philippi, and Helmut Sick. Orn. Neotrop. 6: 97-111. Addresses: Rosendo M. Fraga, Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas de Entre Rios (CICYTTP), Conicet, Espana y Matteri, (3105) Diamante, Entre Rios, Argentina, e-mail: chfraga@yahoo.com. Edward C. Dickinson, Flat 3, Bolsover Court, 19 Bolsover Road, Eastbourne BN20 7JG, UK. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 A substitute name for Turdus serranus unicolor Olrog & Contino by Rosendo Fraga & Edward C. Dickinson Received 1 February 2007 In 1970 Olrog and Contino gave the name Turdus serranus unicolor to an apparently new | form of thrush, collected at 2,500 m near El! Duraznillo, Alto Calilegua, dpto. Valle Grande, prov. Jujuy, Argentina. Unfortunately this name is unavailable as it is preoccupied by Turdus unicolor Tickell, 1833, from India. In its place we propose: Turdus serranus continoi, nom. nov. The new name honours Francisco Contino, an amateur ornithologist and bird illustra- tor from Jujuy, Argentina who wrote several ornithological papers, one in English, and a field guide to the birds of north-west Argentina. The new subspecific name is a noun in the genitive case and was formed according to Art. 31.1.2 of ICZN (1999). The type (no. 13142) in the Instituto Miguel Lillo, Tucuman, has been examined and photographed. It is an adult female and the validity of the form is currently based on the | female plumage, which is almost uniformly olivaceous brown, paler in the underparts. Adult females from nearby Bolivian and Peruvian populations have a marked reddish tinge, Rosendo Fraga & Edward C. Dickinson 71 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) i i | particularly in the underparts. Adult males from the type locality do not differ from males of other populations. The form breeds in montane Calilegua. This is known because a _ recently fledged chick was collected with the type female. Further comparison is required | to determine whether the name should be placed in synonymy. Acknowledgements | The discovery of this homonymy arose during work on Dickinson (2003) and we thank Norbert Bahr for sharing | Names proposed since Peters’ Check-list. We are also grateful to A. Echevarria at the Instituto Miguel Lillo, _Tucuman, for access to specimens. References: | Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. 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. _ Olrog, C. C. & Contino, F. 1970. Dos especies nuevas para la avifauna argentina. Neotropica 16(50): 94-95. Tickell, S. R. 1833. List of birds collected in the jungles of Borabhum and Dholbhum. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 2(23): 569-583. Addresses: Rosendo M. Fraga, Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas de Entre Rios (CICYTTP), Conicet, Espana y Matteri, (3105) Diamante, Entre Rios, Argentina, e-mail: chfraga@yahoo.com. Edward C. Dickinson, Flat 3, Bolsover Court, 19 Bolsover Road, Eastbourne BN20 7JG, UK. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The name Stipiturus malachurus polionotum (Southern Emu-wren)—fixing of spelling by Richard Schodde Received 6 February 2007 The subspecies of Southern Emu-wren Stipiturus malachurus in south-east South Australia was described by Schodde & Mason (1999: 102) and named polionotum in reference to its distinctive pale grey back. Due to a typographic error, the name was spelt two ways in the original description, the second spelling, polionota, occurring just once, in the expla- ‘nation of the name on p. 103. Because the name was specified as a noun in apposition and based on the neuter Greek noun ‘noton’ for back, it may be argued that the spelling poliono- ta is an incorrect original spelling of the Latinised polionotum, a spelling used eight times in the work—see Art. 32.5 of the International code of zoological nomenclature (ICZN 1999). Even so, there is no direct or objective evidence for this, and to settle the matter, I hereby fix, as first reviser, polionotum as the correct original spelling under Art. 24.2 of the Code. References: 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. Schodde, R. & Mason, I. J. 1999. The directory of Australian birds: passerines. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. WAddress: c/o Australian Biological Resources Study, GPO Box 787, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Normand David 72 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1) Megalaiminae: the correct subfamily-group name for the Asian barbets by Normand David Received 8 February 2007 Recently, Short & Horne (2002) used the family-group name Megalaimatinae for the Asian barbets, including the genus Megalaima Gray, 1842. Most likely, the spelling was taken from Olson (1991) who, whilst attributing the name to Megalaeminae of Sundevall (1873), stated that Megalaimatinae was grammatically correct, or from Bock (1994) who claimed that it is traceable to Megalaimatidae of Blyth (1852). Blyth (1852) used Megalaimidae, and not Megalaimatidae, which was either an inadver- — tent mis-citation or an incorrect modification by Bock (1994); the stem aimat-, from the — Greek apa [aima: blood], has nothing to do with the genus Megalaima. Megalaima Gray, 1842, ends in the Greek word atc [laimos: throat], and was Latinised with a feminine end- ing. Accordingly, family-group names based on Megalaima must be formed using the stem megalaim- (ICZN 1999, Art. 29.3.2), just as Eurylaimidae is formed from Eurylaimus Horsfield, 1821, which also ends in the same Greek word but with a masculine Latinised ter- | minus (see examples under Art. 30.1.3 of ICZN 1999). By using Megalaeminae (and Megalaema for Megalaima), Marshall & Marshall (1870) and Sundevall (1873) inserted puris- tic Latin spellings (‘-laem-’ for -laim-) that do not otherwise affect the formation of the family-group name. Whereas Gray (1870) used Megalaiminae, Jerdon (1862), Stejneger in Kingsley (1885) _ and Sibley & Monroe (1990) used Megalaimidae. In the synonymy of his Capitonidae, Brodkorb (1971) attributed Megalaiminae [sic] to Sundevall (1873), and Megalaimidae to Stejneger in Kingsley (1885). Evidently, he had overlooked the above-mentioned prior uses of the name. | As shown, the incorrect spelling Megalaimatinae is far from being in prevailing usage (ICZN 1999, Art. 29.5). Therefore, the spelling Megalaiminae must be used as the subfamily- group name for the Asian barbets comprising Megalaima and relatives. References: Blyth, E. 1852. Catalogue of the birds in the museum [of the] Asiatic Society. Calcutta. Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 222: 1-281. Brodkorb, P. 1971. Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 4. Bull. Florida State Mus. (Biol. Sci.) 15: 163-266. Gray, G. R. 1870. Handlist of genera and species of birds, part 2. London. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomenclature. | Fourth edn. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. Jerdon, T. C. 1862. The birds of India, vol. 1. Calcutta. Kingsley, J. S. 1885. The standard natural history, vol. 4. Boston. Marshall, C. H. T. & Marshall, G. F. L. 1870-71. A monograph of the Capitonidae, or scansorial barbets. London. Olson, S. L. 1991. Remarks on the fossil record and suprageneric nomenclature of barbets (Aves: Ramphastidae). Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 111: 222-225. Short, L. L. & Horne, J. F. M. 2002. Family Capitonidae (barbets). Pp. 140-219 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, | J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 7. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Sibley, C. G. & Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of the birds of the world. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, | CT & London, UK. Sundevall, C. 1872-73. Methodi naturalis avium disponendarum tentamen. Samson & Wallin, Stockholm. Address: 516 Shakespeare, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Canada H9G 1A2, e-mail: normanddavid@videotron.ca © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS Authors are invited to submit papers on topics relating to the broad themes of taxonomy and distribution of birds. | Descriptions of new species of birds are especially welcome and will be given priority to ensure rapid publication, and _ may be accompanied by colour photographs or paintings. All papers introducing a new name or nomenclatural act will "be refereed by a member of the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature (SCON) of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), in addition to the usual peer-review process. Submission may be made electronically (preferred) to the Editor (GMKirwan@aol.com): if large (>1mb) files are ‘involved, e.g. to include illustrations, please contact the Editor first. Submission may also be made by post (to Guy Kirwan, 74 Waddington Street, Norwich NR2 4JS, UK); in this case send three hard copies and also a copy on a 3.5” disk, _as MS Word or Rich Text files for PC. Where possible, reviews, and returns of papers and reviewers’ comments to _authors, will be undertaken electronically. binere appropriate half-tone photographs may be included and, where essential to illustrate important points, the Editor will consider the inclusion of colour illustrations (if possible, authors should obtain funding to support this ‘inclusion of such colour plates). i Papers should follow the general style: Title—lower case, centred, bold ' by Author(s)—lower case, centred, italics Introductory section without a heading Primary headings—lower case, centred, bold ‘Secondary headings—left justified, lower case, italics, bold inglish names of animals should begin with capitals; give English name at first mention of every species. -Numerals—thousands separated by commas, e.g. 1,000, 12,000 » Jnits of measurement, SI. Space between values and unit, e.g. 12.1 g statistical tests in the form: (ryg = 3.12, P < 0.01). (22, = W/E ilpameSe) -itations to references in text: Author (Date); Author & Author (Date); if three or more authors—Author et al. (Date); or (Author(s) Date) etc. / References: \uthor, A. (or Author, A. & Author, B.) Date. Title of paper. Title of journal in italics. Volume: pages. Author, A. Date. Title of book in italics. Publisher, place of publication. Author, A. Date. Title of paper/chapter. Pages in Editor, A. & Editor, B. (eds.) Title of book/proceedings in italics. Pages. ublisher, place of publication. A Address(es): addresses of authors, including e-mails if desired. ‘ormat for tables (to be typed on separate sheets at end of paper): TABIEE ni Description of table contents, including any abbreviations _ egends for figures to be typed on one sheet at end of paper, in the form: Figure n. Text of legend, including key to i, ymbols etc. ft h a separate file (or on a separate sheet), authors should provide an abstract of no more then 150 words. This will be laced on the British Ornithologists’ Club website. orrespondence confirming acceptance of papers will be accompanied by a form on which authors must assign >pyright of their paper to the British Ornithologists’ Club. Authors may be charged for any corrections that they "quest after their papers have been sent to the typesetter. After publication, authors will be sent, free of charge, a PDF le of their paper, which that can be used to prepare reprints. | | | Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club — ISSN 0007-1595 Edited by Guy M. Kirwan _ Volume 128, Number 1, pages 1-72 CONTENTS Club Announcement: . 26.00. eg be ee alte le ee as ee tr : SHIRIHAI, H. Rediscovery of Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, and other observations of tubenoses from the Bismarck archipelago, Papua New Guinea....... 22.2.5... 66 WILEY, J. W., AGUILERA ROMAN, R., RAMS BECENA, A., PENA RODRIGUEZ, C., KIRKCONNELL, A., ORTEGA PIFERRER, A. & ACOSTA CRUZ, M. Ihe bird collections of@ulba --- =. 662) yee WHITTAKER, A. & KIRWAN, G. M. Natural history of the canopy-dwelling purpletufts Iodopleura (Cotingidae), and first documentation of f fusca for Brazil..........7........70... 3 FRAGA, R. M. Invalid specimen records of Saffron-cowled Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus from Argentina and Paraguay ooo. ee AZPIROZ, A. B. & MENENDEZ, J. L. Three new species and novel distributional information for birds in Uruguay®...........................44.........3.....5....... tsi“‘tésts*S VASCONCELOS, M. F., LOPES, L. E., HOFFMANN, D., SILVEIRA, L. F. & SCHUNCK, F. Noteworthy records of birds from the Pantanal, Chiquitano dry forest and Cerrado of south-west Brazil....... 2. LEES, A. C. & PERES, C. A. A range extension for Curl-crested Aragari Pteroglossus beauharnaesi: implications for avian contact zones in southern Amazonia .............................. =. FRAGA, R. & DICKINSON, E. C. A substitute name for Celeus lugubris castaneus Oltog «... 2.5.0 =, FRAGA, R. & DICKINSON, E. C. A substitute name for Turdus serranus unicolor Olrog & Contino ........... SCHODDE, R. The name Stipiturus malachurus polionotum (Southern Emu-wren)—fixing of spelling ......... DAVID, N; Megalaiminae: the correct subfamily group name forthe Asian barbets ===. COMMITTEE Cdr. M. B. Casement OBE RN (Chairman 2005) J. P. Hume (2004) Miss H. Baker (Vice-Chairman) (2005) Dr J. H. Cooper (2005) S. A. H. Statham (Hon. Secretary) (2004) P. J. Wilkinson (2005) D. J. Montier (Hon. Treasurer) (1997) D. J. Fisher (2007) Dr R. P. Pr¥s-Jones (2007) Ex-officio members Hon. Editor: G. M. Kirwan (1 January 2004) Chairman of BOU/BOC Joint Publications Committee (JPC): Revd. T. W. Gladwin Hon. Website Manager: S. P. Dudley (2005) BOC Publications Officer: Prof. R. A. Cheke (2001) EDITORIAL BOARD Murray Bruce, R. T. Chesser, Edward C. Dickinson, Francoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Steven M. S. Gregory, José Fernando _ Pacheco, Robert B. Payne, Pamela C. Rasmussen, Cees Roselaar, Thomas S. Schulenberg, Lars Svensson. Registered Charity No. 279583 ©British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 www.boc-online.org Printed on acid-free paper. Published by the British Ornithologists’ Club Typeset by Alcedo Publishing of Arizona, USA, and printed by Latimer Trend, UK eta? 2. British Ornithologists’ Club THE NATURAL LISTORY MUSEUM | 48 JUN 2008 | PRESENTED ARY Volume 128 No. 2 _ June 2008 MEETINGS are normally held in the Sherfield Building of Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7. The nearest Tube station is at South Kensington; a map of the area will be sent to members, on request. (Limited car parking facilities can be reserved [at a special reduced charge of £5.00], on prior application to the Hon. Secretary.) The cash bar is open from 6.15 pm, and a buffet supper, of two courses followed by coffee, is served at 7.00 pm. (A vegetarian menu can be arranged if ordered at the time of booking.) Informal talks are given on completion, commencing at about 8.00 pm. Dinner charges are £22.50 per person. FORTHCOMING MEETINGS See also BOC website: http://www.boc-online.org The venue for evening meetings for the remainder of 2008 (July, September and November) will revert to the ante-room on the ground floor of the Sherfield Building, Imperial College, South Kensington. 21 June (Saturday from 10:00 am)—a special extra meeting at Tring Museum. During the visit, the Revd. Tom Gladwin will talk about the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) and attendees will also have an opportunity to look at some specimens and behind the scenes activities of the Bird Group. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 31 May 2008 8 July—Dr Jo Cooper—Fancy that: pigeons, finches, chickens and the Origin of Species. One hundred and fifty years ago papers on natural selection by Darwin and Wallace were read at a Linnaean Society meeting in London and the world changed. Ornithology played a crucial role in the work of both men but in very different ways; Wallace explored a far-flung archipelago, while Darwin kept pigeons at home. In this talk, Jo Cooper will discuss the birds that inspired Darwin and show how his high-flying ideas possessed very humble foundations. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 24 June 2008 23 September—speaker to be confirmed 4 November—Richard Price—Birds of Morocco (note that this talk has been moved from September to November) Overseas Members visiting Britain are especially welcome at these meetings, and the Hon. Secretary would be very pleased to hear from anyone who can offer to talk to the Club giving as much advance notice as possible—please contact: S. A. H. (Tony) Statham, Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST, UK. Tel. +44 (0)1442 876995 (or e-mail: boc.sec@bou.org.uk). | THE NATURAL HISTORY ALS FEELIN Club Announcements Bulletin of the BRITISH ORNITHOL& WOle WAS} IN@eZ Published 13 June 2008 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS The committee welcomes the following new member who has recently joined the Club: Mr G. Fanghaenel (Germany). It is with regret that the death of the following member is reported: Prof. George A. Hall (USA) (1978). Members are reminded that subscriptions for 2008 were due on 1 January and are kindly asked to check that any standing orders with their banks are recorded at the correct amount (£20 per annum). Regrettably several members are still paying incorrect subscription rates, which cause the Club unnecessary time and expense in administration duties. The 949th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 11 March 2008, in the Rector’s Residence at 170 Queen’s Gate, Imperial College, London. Twenty-one members and eight guests were present. Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), Miss H. BAKER, P. J. BELMAN, Dr J. H. COOPER, E. C. DICKINSON, T. M. DONEGAN, F. M. GAUNTLETT, D. GRIFFIN, K. HERON, Dr J. P. IWMI DiC Es MANN, BSS. MEADOWS, D. J. MONTIER, P. J. OLIVER, R. J. PRYTHERCH, N.vJ. REDMAN, J. M. REED, P. J. SELLAR, 5S. A. H. STATHAM, Dr L. SVENSSON (Speaker) and C. E. WHEELER. Guests attending were: B. O'BRIEN, Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J. A. JONES, Mrs M. MONTIER, Mrs M. OLIVER, D. T. PARKIN and C. E. WHEELER. After dinner, Dr Lars Svensson from Sweden gave a talk on Warblers in the Caucasus, picking out four species of particular interest for a taxonomist, based on a field trip in June 2007 to Georgia and Armenia, in the company of José Luis Copete and David Bigas. Illustrated by photographs of trapped birds and museum specimens for comparison, Svensson dealt first with the Green Warbler Phylloscopus nitidus and the question whether it merits being a separate species. It proved to be invariably morphologically distinct (in contrast to earlier statements in the literature), with a taxon-specific element in most songs, and clearly deserves to be split from the allopatric Greenish Warbler P. trochiloides complex, a path which will soon be recommended also by the Taxonomic Sub-Committee of the BOURC. Next, the local Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca was brought up, posing the question which subspecies breeds in the area. The described race caucasica seemed subtle though valid, being slightly greyer on the upperparts than the European nominate, although their songs do not differ. The question whether caucasica constitutes a link to the Central Asian montane form Hume’s Lesser Whitethroat (althaea) requires further work, in particular in Iran. The third warbler studied was Mountain Chiffchaff P. sindianus lorenzti. All those encountered had yellow on the underwing and nearly all have faint traces of yellowish-green on the scapulars and upperwing- coverts, at odds with statements in the literature (including by the speaker!). Svensson also stated his view that the Mountain Chiffchaff is sufficiently distinct in morphology and vocalisations to be treated separate from the ‘Sind Mountain Chiffchaff’ P. s. sindianus, thus would become monotypic ‘Caucasian Mountain Chiffchaff’ P. lorenzit. Finally, the Common Chiffchaff in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia was discussed. Traditionally, these have been included in the subspecies abietinus, but breeders in west Turkey have been named as brevirostris, and it is unclear how far east this race occurs. Recently, the Caucasian and Transcaucasian birds have been described as caucasicus. However, with the exception of two specimens taken on the northern slopes of the Caucasus, none seen in Georgia and Armenia differs sufficiently from abietinus to warrant separation. The northern side of the Caucasus remains to be better investigated. The race brevirostris is believed to be a synonym of nominate collybita, and birds in east Turkey might represent a zone of integradation between this and abietinus. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2008 1. The Annual General Meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Club was held in the Sherfield Building, _ Imperial College, London, SW7, on Tuesday 29 April 2008 at 6 pm with Cdr. M. B. Casement OBE RN in the Chair. Seventeen members were present (including nine from the committee and one ex-officio). Apologies Club Announcements 74 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) were received from S. P. Dudley. The Minutes of the 2007 AGM held on 24 April 2007, which had been published (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 127: 86-88), were approved and signed by the Chairman. 2. Chairman’s report. This is my third report as your Chairman but, as in previous years, I propose to be brief because most points already appear in the Trustees’ Annual Report, and will be covered in more detail by David Montier and Tony Statham under the appropriate items to follow. My thanks are due to them for their key roles in managing our affairs. Unfortunately, Guy Kirwan (Hon. Editor) is unable to be with us today. Sadly, your Committee says goodbye to Julian Hume on completion of his four-year term of office; despite his many overseas travel commitments, he has managed to attend most of our meetings, and we have greatly valued his support. Behind the scenes, our continuing thanks are due to Steve Dudley who manages the membership and subscriptions. The steady and continuing small decline in membership remains a matter of concern, but is similar to other comparable societies. | am grateful to David Fisher who, together with Eng-Li Green, has achieved a major face-lift to update the website. If you haven’t looked at it recently, I urge you to do so. As you will see, our financial affairs are very healthy, despite major fluctuations in the stock market, largely thanks to the expert management of our Hon. Treasurer and our Trustees. We held six evening meetings, on a wide range of subjects, and a similar programme of six meetings is planned for 2008, with an additional meeting at Tring on Saturday 21 June. Thanks are due to Imperial College for their excellent administrative support and, despite the annual rise in dinner charges, for continuing to allow us very favourable rates. The Club’s projector has seen good use throughout the year, and we thank Pat Sellar and Ron Kettle for their technical skills with the sound equipment. The BOC-BOU Joint Publications Committee (JPC), under the chairmanship of Tom Gladwin, has made good progress. There were delays in two publications in the Checklist series, but The birds of Borneo and The birds of Barbados are expected to be published in summer and autumn 2008, and, hopefully, The checklist of the birds of Britain and Ireland will also be published in late 2008. Two major projects have featured prominently in your Committee’s discussions, and we have agreed to provide a grant towards completing the international Taxonomic Reference project (REFTAX). We have also agreed to finance, for a trial period of two years, the continuing publication of Systematic Notes on Asian Birds (SNAB), within the Occasional Publications. We thank Bob Cheke for his contribution as Commissioning Editor for the Checklist series. Finally, I am grateful to Nigel Collar, as Chairman of the Bulletin Subcommittee (BSC), for his advice and support to Guy Kirwan, as Editor of the Bulletin; as you will have seen the first issue in the enlarged format, and with a re-designed cover, appeared in March. 3. Trustees Annual Report. The Chairman advised the meeting that the Trustees’ Annual Report and Annual Accounts were again combined in the handout available at the meeting and confirmed that these would be published in the June issue of the Bulletin. The Hon. Treasurer drew attention to the income and expenditure details, and summarised the balance sheet. The Chairman thanked the Hon. Treasurer for his support and seconded his proposal that the accounts should be formally accepted; all those present agreed. 4. The Bulletin. In the absence of the Hon. Editor, the Chairman referred to his report published in the Trustees’ Annual Report, which read as follows: ‘Vol. 127 comprised 348 pages, a recent record, in part due to the re-inclusion of the annual index within the main pages of the Bulletin. Thirty-two papers of broad geographical scope were published, albeit with the Neotropics particularly well represented. A new species of brush finch (Aftlapetes) from Colombia was described in the December issue, and taxonomy and nomenclature remain Bulletin mainstays. In this respect the recently announced close working cooperation between the Hon. Editor and the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature (GCON) is especially welcome (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 127: 254). For papers published in 2007, the interval between receipt and publication was 4-16 months, with a mean of c.12 months. The Bulletin received a total of 51 new manuscripts in 2007. Of these, 11 were rejected and the remainder have been accepted or are still being refereed for potential publication. An Editorial Board was formed at the start of the year and its membership appears on the back cover of each issue. In the final throes of 2007, the Hon. Editor, the designer, Eng-Li Green, and Steven Gregory, who joined the Bulletin Subcommittee early in the year, were engaged in a bout of activity to revamp the Bulletin in time for the March 2008 issue evolving to a B5 format. Grateful thanks are due, as ever, to referees who have given freely of their time and expertise, to Eng-Li Green, of Alcedo Publishing, for her constant dedication to Bulletin duties, including production of the index, and Latimer Trend (printers) for their efficiency. Tony Statham prepared the cover information and Club Announcements, whilst staff at The Natural History Museum, Tring, continue to offer much-needed assistance in all manner of small but useful ways.’ 5. Publications report. The Chairman of the BOU-BOC Joint Publications Committee referred to his report published in the Trustees Annual Report, which can be found on p. 77 of this issue. Club Announcements TiS) Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) 6. Election of Officers and Committee. The Chairman said that the election of Officers was as proposed in the agenda as published in Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 128: 1: Mr S. A. H. Statham be re-elected as Hon. Secretary. Mr T_T. Montier be re-elected as Hon. Treasurer. BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' CLUB Dinner Meetings — July - November 2008 BOOKING FORM Because arrangements for meetings have to be made with Imperial College well in advance, Members are asked to send bookings 14 days beforehand. If you book and subsequently find you are unable to attend, please notify the Hon. Secretary as soon as possible. If the booking is cancelled less than 5 days before a meeting, the payment will not normally be refunded, unless the booking can be offered to another member. (Late applications can usually be taken up to am. on the Friday preceding a meeting). Vegetarian meals can be provided - please make your request at the time of booking. Limited car parking (at_a special charge of £5.00 - this is no longer free), can be arranged on prior application to the Hon. Secretary, - giving details of car registration. _ Have you recently looked at our website - http://www.boc-online.org? Tuesday 4" November — Richard Price — “Birds of Morocco” I wish to attend with ............. Guests Name(s) OfmMy GUESS) i e...c.:2.-cc0-ccseeccoseureee cencavceee-ee myMC CG LOM ee ee Sd .Gy. esa caadeshesdenlodndeononee (£22.50 per head) is enclosed. ™ Please return (or e-mail) to: The Hon. Secretary BOC, (Tony Statham), Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road , Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST. Tel: 01442-876995 by Tuesday 21% October a< ‘Tuesday 23™ September — speaker still to be announced eS SSS oe eR SO RES OSS SSSR SS RSS SSS Se SS SS SR RSE SS OREO OS SSE SS Se SSeS Se SS RSS SS eSSESSSeseseess= Tuesday 8th July — Dr Jo Cooper — “Fancy that: pigeons, finches, chickens and the > | Drigin of Species”. n this talk, Jo Cooper will discuss the birds that inspired Darwin ind show how his high-flying ideas had some very humble foundations. I wish to attend with ............. puests: Name(s) Oh my SUESU(S) 0 oir se ce Wiese seecsn eons seenore se > Please return (or e-mail) to: The Hon. Secretary BOC, (Tony Statham), Ashlyns Lodge, Hesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST. Tel: 01442-876995 by pele 24™ June B Spaces are still available for the talk and tour at Tring Museum from 10:00 am Satu tanday 21% ame. Call the Hon. Secretary (01442 876995) if you wish to attend and have not already booked. ts. ith e = — = 3 = aes ir a nn a a - C c 1 BH 5 = 5 Club Announcements US Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) 6. Election of Officers and Committee. The Chairman said that the election of Officers was as proposed in the agenda as published in Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 128: 1: Mr S. A. H. Statham be re-elected as Hon. Secretary. Mr D. J. Montier be re-elected as Hon. Treasurer. One appointment to committee to be made (vice Dr J. P. Hume) from the following nomination: M. J. Walton No other changes to the committee were proposed, as all other members were eligible to serve at least one more year in office. All changes were proposed by the Chairman and seconded by Miss H. Baker. The following ex-officio members were confirmed in continuation: Revd. T. W. Gladwin (Chairman Joint Publications Committee) Prof. R. A. Cheke (Hon. Publications Officer) S. P. Dudley (Administration Manager) G. M. Kirwan (Hon. Editor) It was proposed and unanimously agreed that D. J. Fisher take over responsibility as Hon. Website Manager. 7. Any Other Business. The Chairman stated ‘I would like to draw attention to all that this will be my last year as Chairman. I shall be standing down at the next AGM, having completed four years, as in our constitution, and I look to others to be actively seeking my successor. There can be no question of extending my term; apart from one brief break (1994—96), I will then have served on your Committee, for the past 19 years, so it is in the best interests of the Club for a change. I also qualify for a free TV licence and I look forward to a break’. There was no other business and the meeting closed at 6.20 pm. BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Founded 5 October 1892 Registered Charity No. 279583 TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2007 List of Trustees—Committee Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT, OBE RN Chairman (2005) Miss H. BAKER Vice-Chairman (2005) 9. A. H. STATHAM Hon. Secretary (2004) D. J. MONTIER Hon. Treasurer (1997) Dr. J. H. COOPER (2005) D. J. FISHER (2007) Dr. J. P. HUME (2004) Dr. R. P. PRYS-JONES (2007) P. J. WILKINSON (2005) Correspondence and enquiries to the Hon. Secretary, Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST Hon. Editor G. M. Kirwan Independent Examiners Porritt Rainey, 9 Pembroke Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1XR Bankers Barclays Bank plc, Dale House, Wavertree Boulevard, Liverpool L7 9PQ Constitution _ The British Ornithologists’ Club was founded in October 1892. It currently operates under Rules revised in 2000 and approved at a Special General Meeting on 31 October of that year. Members of the Committee, who are also the Trustees of the Club, are listed above with the dates of their appointment. The Committee is | responsible for the general control and management of the Club and consists of four officers—a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, each elected for four years, an Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer, each elected for one year and | eligible for re-election at each AGM—and five other members, each elected for four years. Elections from | amongst the Club’s membership are by a simple majority of those Members of the Club present and voting _ at an AGM or a Special General Meeting. A Member may be co-opted by the Committee to fill a temporary _ vacancy until the following AGM. | Objects of the Charity _ The promotion of scientific discussion between Members of the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) and ._ others interested in ornithology, and to facilitate the dissemination of scientific information concerned with Club Announcements 76 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) ornithology, with a particular emphasis on avian systematics, taxonomy and distribution. These objects are pursued through the Club’s publications, especially the Bulletin published four times a year, and a regular programme of meetings. The Committee The Committee met six times during the year. Mr S. A. H. Statham was re-elected as Hon. Secretary and Mr D. J. Montier was re-elected Hon. Treasurer at the AGM on 24 April. D. J. Fisher and Dr R. P. Pr¥s-Jones were elected in succession to I. R. Bishop, OBE, and C. W. R. Storey; no other changes to the Committee were proposed or made, as all other members were eligible to serve at least one more year in office. The Committee continued its review of long-term objectives for the future of the BOC and welcomed Dr N. J. Collar as chairman of the Bulletin Subcommittee (BSC) (vice Prof. C. J. Feare). Membership of the BSC continued to comprise Dr R. J. Dowsett, Mr S. P. Dudley, Mr G. M. Kirwan (Hon. Editor) and Dr D. R. Wells; S. P. Dudley subsequently resigned his post later in the year. Mr S. P. Dudley, BOU Administrator, continued his ex-officio roles as Membership Secretary and Hon. Website Manager, which form part of the work of the BOC Office under the terms of an agreement between the Club and the BOU established in 2004 (other duties include management of BOC publications, subscription management of BOC Institutional Subscribers to the Bulletin and other Bulletin-related items including servicing the BSC in an advisory capacity). Revd. T. W. Gladwin remained Chairman of the Joint Publications Committee and Prof. R. A. Cheke remained Hon. Publications Officer. Mr S. M. S. Gregory continued to progress the project for the electronic archiving and marketing of the complete set of the Bulletin. The Committee continues to be most grateful to the Trustees of the Herbert Stevens Trust Fund (Mr Nigel Crocker, Mr Peter Oliver and Mr Richard Price) for their time and expertise advising on the performance of the Fund during the year. Meetings The number of evening meetings held at Imperial College, London, was reduced to six in 2007. A total of 176 (119 members and 57 guests) attended these meetings, which represented an average attendance of 29. The programme of speakers during the year covered both geographical and specific ornithological subjects. A palaeontological reappraisal of the original avifauna of Mauritius by Anthony Cheke and Dr Julian Hume started our programme, followed by a detailed insight by Dr Paul Donald into the peculiar natural history of the Raso Lark Alauda razae. An entertaining overview of swan-upping by Prof. Christopher Perrins filled the summer meeting and, in September, the Earl of Cranbrook gave a comprehensive address on swiftlets, whilst the final meeting of the year featured a panorama of the birds of Australia by David Fisher. As in previous years, the April meeting following the AGM tool the form of a social evening, during which informal short talks and brief discussions were contributed by five participants. The Chairman preceded these with an update on The BOC—A vision for the future? The chief topic was the range of options for the future publication of the Bulletin. Tony Statham picked up the topic of dinner meetings and thanked all those members who had completed the questionnaire distributed with Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 127(1). A summary of the responses would be put to the committee to consider possible changes in 2008. The Hon. Secretary continued the evening’s programme with a simple outline of the ‘preferred terrestrial locomotion of avifauna’. Thereafter, Dr Julian Hume gave a brief outline of the conservation and status of Hawaiian birds, Dr Robert Pr¥s-Jones described ‘a case of long-distance fraud’, and Ben Fisher concluded by reading a short extract from a letter written in 1946 by Dr Norman Joy. Regrettably, Imperial College increased their catering and venue charges again for 2007 requiring an increase in the cost of Club dinners to £22.50 per head. The Bulletin Vol. 127 comprised 348 pages, a recent record, in part due to the re-inclusion of the annual index within the main pages of the Bulletin. Thirty-two papers of broad geographical scope were published, albeit with the Neotropics particularly well represented. A new species of brush finch (Atlapetes) from Colombia was described in the December issue, and taxonomy and nomenclature remain Bulletin mainstays. In this respect, the recently announced close working cooperation between the Hon. Editor and the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature (SCON), is especially welcome (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 127: 254). For papers published in 2007, the interval between receipt and publication was 4-16 months, with a mean of c.12 months. The Bulletin received a total of 51 new manuscripts in 2007. Of these, 11 were rejected and the remainder have been accepted or are still being refereed for potential publication. An Editorial Board was formed at the start of the year and its membership appears on the back cover of each issue. In the final throes of 2007, the Hon. Editor, the designer, Eng-Li Green, and Steven Gregory, who joined the Bulletin Subcommittee early in the year, were engaged in a bout of activity to revamp the Bulletin in time for the March 2008 issue evolving to a B5 format. Club Announcements Tih Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Grateful thanks are due, as ever, to referees who have given freely of their time and expertise, to Eng- Li Green, of Alcedo Publishing, for her constant dedication to Bulletin duties, including production of the index, and Latimer Trend (printers) for their efficiency. Tony Statham prepared the cover information and Club Announcements, whilst staff at The Natural History Museum, Tring, continue to offer much-needed assistance in all manner of small but useful ways. Bulletin—Institutional Subscriptions Subscriptions from Institutional Subscribers during 2007 totalled 107 (120 in 2006), with 28 in the UK and 79 overseas (26 different countries). Of the latter 36 were from North America, 27 from Europe (including Russia), seven from Australasia, five from Africa, three from Asia and one from South America. Membership As at 31 December 2007, there were 447 paid-up members (471 in 2006): 227 in the UK and 220 overseas (47 countries). Overseas members comprise Europe (93), North America (56), Australasia (24), Africa (19), Asia (16) and South America (12). The Club welcomed 12 new Members, but mourned the death of five (year of joining in brackets): I. R. Bishop (1994), D.V. Breese (2002), Dr W. Burnham (1995), C. A. R. Helm (1989) and J. W. Nash (1986). Report of the BOC-BOU Joint Publications Committee. Membership. Revd. T. W. Gladwin (Chairman), Prof. R. A. Cheke (BOC Commissioning Editor and BOU Checklist Series Editor), Mr S. P. Dudley (Publications Manager), Mr D. J. Montier, Prof. C. M. Perrins, Mr N. J. Redman and Mr S. A. H. Statham. This joint committee (JPC), which now conducts most of its business by e- mail, met once in 2007. The Chairman of the committee is alternately appointed by the BOC and the BOU. Nominated this year by the BOU, Tom Gladwin continues to chair the committee until April 2009. Mr D. J. Montier and Mr S. A. H. Statham are appointed by the BOC and Prof. C. M. Perrins and Mr N. J. Redman are appointed by the BOU. No titles were published during the year. There were no changes to the Committee’s membership. Forthcoming publications. The birds of Borneo and The birds of Barbados are now expected to be published in summer and autumn 2008 respectively, whilst it is anticipated that the manuscript of The checklist of the birds of Britain and Ireland will arrive in time to be published in late 2008 as part of the Union’s 150th anniversary celebrations. The manuscript of The Asian bird records of Richard Meinertzhagen by Pamela Rasmussen and Robert Pr¥ys-Jones, which is expected in the first half of 2008, will form the next volume in the BOC’s Occasional Publications series. As a result of reorganisation of Dutch museum services, the National Museum of Natural History Leiden withdrew their financial support for the important Systematic Notes on Asian Birds series. The BOC has agreed to fund at least two issues, which will also appear in the Occasional Publications series. Nomenclature and taxonomy. To avoid confusion that arises where the English names used for a single species differ between different countries, the JPC has decided to adopt Birds of the world: recommended English names (Gill & Wright 2006) as the single source of the principal ‘international’ English names to be used in publications for which it is responsible. Authors will of course be free to include other vernacular names where appropriate. Gill & Wright adopted the third edition of The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world (Dickinson 2003) as the taxonomic reference for their work. The JPC have therefore decided to similarly follow Gill & Wright in this respect, whilst recognising that there may be cases where an author may have reason to request use of an alternative system. Finance Assets of the Club at 31 December 2007, after deducting creditors and subscriptions received in advance, totalled £441,040, a reduction of £10,352 from December 2006. This is the result of a fall in the value of investments in the _ Herbert Stevens Fund of £14,283, partially offset by the net surplus on the Club’s activities for the year of just £665 on unrestricted funds and £3,266 on the restricted Publications and Clancey bequest funds. | Total income for 2007 was £40,458, which was less than £200 different from the previous year, though the items making up that total showed much wider variations. Although there was a decline of about £260 in subscriptions in 2007, the main difference under this heading was due to a change to a calendar-year rather _thana tax-year basis for the recovery of income tax on gift aid and deeds of covenant. This will straighten _ itself out in 2008. Higher distributions from the investments in the Herbert Stevens Fund, particularly from _ M&G Charifund, and higher interest rates from the COIF Charity deposits produced an increase of £2,300 in _ investment income, though this was largely offset by a drop of £2,000 in sales of publications. Expenditure of £36,527 was marginally higher than in 2006, with a reduction in the cost of producing the ‘Bulletin, on a change to new printers, being offset by an increase in administration expenses. So far £2,000 of - expenditure has been in incurred on the cost of forthcoming publications. A further major expense item is the ‘full provision of £5,000 to cover a grant approved by the Committee to continue the development of an : internationally available website (the REFTAX Project) giving the location of ‘bird type specimens’ in national i | | i Club Announcements 78 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) museum collections and links to those museums. The first instalment of this grant was paid during the year and, with work still to be completed, further instalments will be paid on receipt of satisfactory progress reports. Investments There have been no changes in the Herbert Stevens Fund and it remains invested in three charity unit trusts. The market value of the fund fell during the year to £273,766 (2006 £288,049) due to a decline in the value of M&G Charifund, despite the higher income distribution, and reflects the volatile conditions in stock markets during 2007. The remaining £49,000 within the total investments shown in the Balance Sheet is the Clancey bequest, which has now been switched into a fixed-interest deposit charity account with CAF Bank. Reserves A sum of £20,000 remains in a Designated Unrestricted Fund towards the cost of future publications, of which The birds of Barbados, The birds of Borneo and The status of birds in Britain and Ireland are expected to be published in 2008. The two restricted funds, the Clancey bequest and the Publications Fund totalled £63,122 at the year-end and are held as backing for new developments for the Bulletin or additions to other Club publications respectively. The investments that form a large part of the Unrestricted Funds built up from past legacies provide a regular source of income towards the Club’s administrative expenses, whilst additional liquid funds are available to finance any of the future publications. This can involve substantial expenditure against only a slow payback, as can be expected with specialist publications that are highly valued, but fall within an inevitably limited market. Risks The Committee has reviewed the major risks to which the Club is exposed, particularly with regard to managing the Club’s cash resources. Expenditure on the Bulletin is a major item and has a regular production schedule, but timing of other publications, particularly the joint Checklists, produced in conjunction with the BOU, are less predictable as they rely on dedicated work by authors working on an entirely voluntary basis and with other commitments of their own. The production timetable is regularly reviewed to ensure that sufficient resources are available when required. Investments are held in diversified portfolios within separately managed charity unit trusts providing an acceptable balance between security and risk. In particular, the Herbert Stevens Fund is managed by three Trustees, who report regularly to the Committee. Trustees’ Responsibilities Under the Charities Act 1993, the Trustees are required to prepare a statement of accounts for each financial year that gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity at the end of the financial year and of the incoming resources and application of resources in the year. In preparing the statement the trustees are required to: e Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; e Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; e State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the statement of accounts; e Prepare the financial accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue its operations. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that any statement of account prepared by them complies with the regulations under section 41(1) of the Charities Act 1993. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the trust and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Approved and signed on behalf of the Trustees M. B. Casement Cdr. M. B. Casement, OBE RN, Chairman Date: 29 April 2008 Club Announcements 79 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Registered charity No. 279583 BALANCE SHEET—31 December 2007 Notes 2007 2006 £ ie £ £ FIXED ASSETS Projection Equipment 2 = 162 INVESTMENTS At market value 3 322,766 337,049 CURRENT ASSETS Stock of publications 100 100 Cash at bank and in hand 4,688 962 Cash on deposit 122,024 117,739 Prepayments “ 80 Other debtors AVAL L205 127,983 120,096 CURRENT LIABILITIES Subscriptions in advance (4,146) (4,879) Creditors falling due within one year (5,563) (1,036) 118,274 114,181 TOTAL ASSETS 441,040 451,392 FUNDS Unrestricted Designated 4 20,000 20,000 Other 5 357,918 371,536 377,918 391,536 Restricted 6 63,122 59,856 441,040 451,392 Approved and Signed on behalf of the Trustees M. B. Casement Cdr. M. B. Casement, OBE, RN Chairman Date: 29 April 2008 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES—31 December 2007 2007 2006 Unrestricted Restricted Total Total £ £ £ £ INCOMING RESOURCES SUBSCRIPTIONS Members 9,042 - 9,042 9131 Institutional subscribers 3,676 - 3,676 3,852 Income Tax recoverable . under Gift Aid & Deeds of Covenant 130 - 130 748 12,848 - 12,848 113} 7/83 DONATIONS 83 300 383 139 INVESTMENT INCOME Herbert Stevens Trust Fund 11,405 - 11,405 10,637 Barrington Trust Fund = = - 20 Interest received 6,147 2,966 9,113 7,936 Club Announcements 80 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) SALES OF PUBLICATIONS Bulletin 495 - 495 338 Other BOC publications 484 - 484 660 Joint BOU/BOC publications 621 - 1,621 3,638 2,600 - 2,600 4,636 OTHER INCOMING RESOURCES MEETINGS 3,958 - 3,958 3,822 OTHER INCOME 151 - 151 90 TOTAL INCOME 37,192 3,266 40,458 40,611 RESOURCES EXPENDED CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE BOC BULLETIN Production, printing and distribution 11,884 - 11,884 12,885 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Production costs 2,046 - 2,046 6,554 Publicity, postage and packing 613 - 613 1,128 GRANT i 5,000 - 5,000 - MEETINGS Room and equipment hire, speakers’ expenses, etc. 1337 - 1,337 569 Restaurant 3,934 - 3,934 4,042 ADMINISTRATION 8,9 11,713 - (a7 10,267 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 36,527 - 36,527 36,465 EXCESS OF INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE 665 3,266 3,931 4,146 (Decrease) / Increase in value of investments 5 (14,283) - (14,283) SL SYA9) (13,618) 3,266 (10,352) 35,471 TOTAL FUNDS brought forward at 1 January 2007 391,536 59,856 451,392 415,921 TOTAL FUNDS at 31 December 2007 377,918 63,122 441,040 451,392 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS—31 December 2007 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES a) Basis of Accounts. The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the inclusion of investments in the Herbert Stevens Trust Fund at market values. They are also prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards for Smaller Entities and follow the recommendations in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (revised 2005). b) Investments and Cash Deposits. The Herbert Stevens Trust Fund is invested in quoted charity unit trusts and included as investments in the Balance Sheet at year-end market values. Income from this fund and from cash deposits shown in the Balance Sheet under Current Assets is included in Incoming Resources in the Statement of Financial Activities on a receipts basis. The Clancey bequest is held in a fixed-term deposit account which forms part of the total of investments in the Balance Sheet. Interest on this deposit account is brought into the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis. c) Subscriptions. Subscriptions for the current year and any arrears are included in Incoming Resources in the Statement of Financial Activities. Subscriptions received in advance are carried forward in the Balance Sheet as Current Liabilities. d) Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. e) Depreciation. Depreciation of fixed assets is calculated to write off their value over their expected useful lives at an annual rate of 25% on cost. Club Announcements 81 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) f) Publications. The cost of publications is written off in the Statement of Financial Activities as incurred except for a nominal stock value of £100 carried in the Balance Sheet. 2. FIXED ASSETS Projection Equipment 2007 Cost at 1 January and 31 December 2007 ae Accumulated depreciation at 1 January 2007 486 Charge for the year 162 At 31 December 2007 648 Net Book Value: At 31 December 2007 - At 31 December 2006 162 3. INVESTMENTS—at market value 2007 2006 £ E UNRESTRICTED FUNDS Herbert Stevens Trust Fund 273,766 288,049 RESTRICTED FUNDS Clancey bequest 49,000 49,000 322,766 _ 337,049 All investments are held in the UK. 4. UNRESTRICTED DESIGNATED FUND for future publications 2007 je Balance at 1 January 2007 20,000 Designated during the year = Balance at 31 December 2007 20,000 5. OTHER UNRESTRICTED FUNDS HERBERT GENERAL STEVENS FUND TRUST FUND TOTAL fe 5 £ Balances at 1 January 2007 83,487 288,049 371,536 Decrease in value of investments during year (14,283) (14,283) Excess of income over expenditure 665 665 Balances at 31 December 2007 84,152 273,766 357,918 _ 6. RESTRICTED FUNDS | CLANCEY PUBLICATIONS BEQUEST FUND TOTAL £ £ £ Balances at 1 January 2007 55,341 4,515 59,856 Donation 300 300 Interest received 2,712 254 2,966 Balances at 31 December 2007 58,353 4,769 63,122 a. The Clancey bequest was donated by the late Dr P. A. Clancey with the request that it should be used to support and enhance the Club’s Bulletin. b. The Publications Fund is available to finance Club publications other than regular issues of the Bulletin. Club Announcements 82 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) 7. GRANT A Grant to further the development of an internationally available website for locating bird type speci- mens in national museum collections (the REFTAX Project), payable in three equal instalments, of which £1,666 was paid during the year. 8. ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES 2007 2006 if £ Club’s share of rental of storage unit Dr situl 1-378 Audit and Independent Examination fees 600 600 Depreciation 162 162 BOU administration services 6,367 6,034 Other administration expenses 2273, 2,093 L713 10,267 9. REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES Trustees do not receive any remuneration or any reimbursement of costs they may incur in attending regular Trustee meetings. They are reimbursed for any other expenses incurred on behalf of the Club. The total amount reimbursed during the year was £753 (2006 £553). INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB I report on the accounts of the Club for the year ended 31st December 2007, which are set out on pages 79 to 82. Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner The charity’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the 1993 Act)) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: e Examine the accounts (under section 43(3)(a) of the 1993 Act); ¢ To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 43(7)(b) of the 1993 Act); and e To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of Independent Examiner’s report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and the seeking of explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent Examiner’s statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements: e to keep accounting records in accordance with s41 of the 1993 Act; and e to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the 1993 Act have not been met; or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Alan Peal Alan Peal ACA—Principal Porritt Rainey Chartered Accountants 29 April 2008 Guy M. Kirwan 83 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Studies of Socotran birds III. Morphological and mensural evidence for a ‘new’ species in the Rufous Sparrow Passer motitensis complex endemic to the island of Abd ’Al-Kuri, with the validation of Passer insularis Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881 by Guy M. Kirwan Received 15 February 2007 The present study represents the third in a series of papers that seeks to re-examine the taxonomic status of avian forms described from the Socotran archipelago. It follows publica- tions concerning the population of Nubian Nightjar Caprimulgus nubicus, which was previously regarded as an endemic subspecies, jonesi (Kirwan 2004), and a re-evaluation of species limits in Golden-winged Grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus (Kirwan & Grieve 2007). These notes seek to stimulate renewed interest in taxonomic studies of Socotran birds, specifically to meet the challenge set by Martins (1996), who stated: “There is a clear need for a review of the avifauna of Socotra which reflects contemporary systematic thinking.’ All originally described as species, the six allopatric groups (and nine constituent taxa) within the almost exclusively Afrotropical Rufous Sparrow Passer motitensis complex have suffered a rather checkered taxonomic history of late. Following their demotion to sub- species, this arrangement persisted through Moreau & Greenway (1962), White (1963) and Hall & Moreau (1970). Thus, despite the contrary opinions of van Someren (1922), Lynes (1926), Grant & Mackworth-Praed (1944), Bannerman (1948) and Macdonald (1957) con- cerning some or all of these taxa, it was not until Wolters (1982), who split P. insularis, from the island of Socotra, off north-east Africa, and Summers-Smith (1984, 1988), who separat- ed P. iagoensis, from the Cape Verde archipelago, at the level of species that more than one species tended to be recognised by major works. This notwithstanding the riposte of Bourne (1986) to Summers-Smith (1984) wherein Bourne could find little to recommend the _ advancement of iagoensis to specific status beyond the need for ‘a tiresome change of name’. Thus, Sibley & Monroe (1990) recognised the following specifically: P. iagoensis, P. insu- laris, P. rufocinctus (including cordofanicus and shelleyi), from East Africa, and P. motitensis, _ from South Africa north to southern Angola (which arrangement was followed by Gill & _ Wright 2006). In contrast, Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire (1993), followed by Dickinson (2003) in his important world checklist, preferred to recognise just motitensis and iagoensis as species, and pointed to errors and inconsistencies in the work of Wolters and Sibley & Monroe. However, the relevant volume of the influential The birds of Africa elected to recog- _nise P. shelleyi (spottily in Ethiopia and Somalia south to Kenya) and P. cordofanicus (from | 4 _ west-central Sudan to eastern Chad), in addition to the four taxa separated by Sibley & Monroe, specifically (Urban in Fry & Keith 2004), albeit not without criticism (Leonard & Demey 2006). Thus, in recent years, only motitensis and iagoensis have received reasonably _ widespread recognition as being meritorious of specific status (Cramp & Perrins 1994 and 1] | } _ Hazevoet 1995 also afforded iagoensis such treatment). Passer [motitensis] insularis Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881, was unsurprisingly (given its abun- | dance, which is currently placed at c.230,000 individuals: R. F. Porter in litt. 2007) amongst the initial wave of taxa endemic to the ancient island of Socotra to be described, following Guy M. Kirwan 84 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) the first scientific visit to the archipelago, by Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, who spent almost seven weeks there in 1880. It was not until the considerably more extensive survey by Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes, in 1898-99, that Passer [motitensis] hemileucus Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes, 1899 (hereafter referred to as P. hemileucus), was discovered. The latter is endemic to Abd ‘Al Kuri, a rather inhospitable island with no permanent running water, c.36.5 km east to west and a maximum of c.5 km north to south, which lies c.145 km west of the main island and rises to a maximum 743 m (Cheung & DeVantier 2006). Abd ’Al Kuri covers 133 km’, whereas Socotra is 3,625 km* in area. Our knowledge of insularis has increased substan- tially (see, e.g., Kirwan et al. 1996) since even the work of Summers-Smith (1988), who was able to make scarcely even the most basic comments about the bird’s natural history, but hemileucus has remained a mysterious taxon known almost solely from specimens, namely the type series and seven birds collected by Alec Forbes-Watson in spring 1964. In report- ing on the latter collection, Ripley & Bond (1966), in an immense understatement, referred only to hemileucus being paler than insularis. In consequence the taxon’s obvious distinctive- ness has gone unappreciated, though its describers (Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes 1899) were cleaily aware of this as their manuscript makes plain (even allowing for the fact that all such novelties were then afforded species status). Summers-Smith (1988) opined that ‘although paler and slightly smaller the differences are not great enough to warrant their separation from the birds on Socotra even as a different race.’ Clement et al. (1993), presumably impressed by Summers-Smith’s statement as to the weak distinction, simply ignored hemileucus. Urban (2004), in contrast, noted it as being ‘Much paler than insularis, under- parts nearly pure white, black patch on chin of «smaller, ? without dusky patch on throat’, and also remarked on the overall smaller size of hemileucus (something which had not escaped, but apparently failed to impress, Summers-Smith). None of these commentators, with the exception of Dillon Ripley and Bond, appears to have examined the Forbes-Watson specimens, and it might be wondered whether the first two authors looked carefully at the, admittedly limited, material to hand in The Natural History Museum (Tring). In fact, Passer hemileucus appears as easily diagnosable as any other member of the Rufous Sparrow com- plex admitted to species status by Urban (2004). Methods I acquired mensural data from specimens of both Socotran taxa held at The Natural History Museum (NHM, Tring), as follows: Passer insularis (Socotra: n=15, including nine males, one of them juvenile which was not included in the mensural analysis), and Passer hemileucus (Abd ‘Al Kuri: n=2, including one male), and the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution), Washington DC: P. insularis (Socotra: n=20, including ten males), and P. hemileucus (Abd ’Al Kuri: n=7, including four males). I did not examine the single male specimen of hemileucus or the seven (both sexes) of insularis held in the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool (C. W. Fisher & T. Parker in litt. 2007) or the two specimens of insularis held at the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK. Note that Forbes-Watson’s expedition report (which was never published) records that he took 28 males and 23 females of insularis, but the whereabouts of the additional specimens are unknown; notes in the Smithsonian collection report that specimens of some other species were sent as exchanges with museums in Africa, e.g. the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo (M. P. S. Irwin in litt. 2007). Mass data for these additional specimens are pre- sented in the unpublished report and are repeated in Table 1. The types of both were examined: P. insularis (NHM 1881.3.21.20) and P. hemileucus (NHM 1899.8.11.131). The fol- lowing data were obtained from each specimen: wing-chord (flattened) and tail-length, Guy M. Kirwan 85 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) using a standard metal wing-rule with a perpendicular stop at zero (accurate to 0.5 mm), and culmen-length (to skull) and culmen-depth (at the feathers), using digital callipers (accurate to 0.01 mm). I also conducted a morphological examination of 33 specimens of P. cordofanicus and 29 of P. shelley: held in NHM (including the holotype, NHM 1887.9.28.314, of shelley), these being the geographically most proximate forms within the complex in con- tinental Africa, especially P. shelleyi which at least formerly maintained a toehold in north-westernmost Somalia (Ash & Miskell 1998). Notes on plumage variation in both sexes of the two forms were taken and ranked according to their usefulness in distinguishing them. I attempted to conservatively score character differences for males using the system elucidated by Collar (2006), which will be fully tabled by Collar et al. (in prep.). Numbers in brackets refer to this scoring system, rang- ing from 3 for a dramatic difference to 1 for a more minor difference. A broad range of material, pertaining to both forms, was photographed, using a Nikon Coolpix 885 digital camera (see Figs. 1-6). Results Plumage analysis—Comparison of plumage characters in Passer insularis and P. hemileucus revealed striking differences, coincident with the recognition of two species. In males, com- pared to insularis, hemileucus has much paler underparts lacking any of the dirty grey tones with which the entire underparts of insularis are washed and which contrast much more noticeably with the white cheeks in the latter form; the dark throat patch is confined to the bib in hemileucus but is far more expansive and more solidly black in insularis (Fig. 1), though R. F. Porter (in litt. 2007) cautions that it may appear smaller and less striking in February/March; the median coverts show prominent white tips in hemileucus, but much smaller, less obvious and grey-coloured ones in imsularis, whilst the chestnut tones in the wing of hemileucus are much purer and less saturated than on insularis, recalling the differ- ence between Eurasian Tree P. montanus and Spanish Sparrows P. hispaniolensis; the black ear-coverts are more restricted in hemileucus, and insularis also has more extensive and deeper black lores (Fig. 2); the crown-feathers have much paler centres in hemileucus; and finally the mantle and back are much browner and less heavily and darkly streaked in hemileucus, lacking many of the grey background hues of insularis overlain with broader and blacker streaks (Fig. 3). I scored two points each for the differences in head pattern, upper- parts pattern and underparts coloration, with additional single points for the difference in wing pattern and size (see below), thus giving a total of eight points. The minor range of variation in these features in four males of each taxon is depicted in Figs. 1-3. Females of the two taxa are almost equally distinctive. As evidenced by Figs. 4-6, female hemileucus has overall much whiter underparts than insularis, though like males hemileucus females exhibit some buffy tones especially on the breast and flanks, whilst insu- _ Taris has overall much greyer underparts, though some variation is evident. No specimens of hemileucus show any evidence of a dark bib, a feature evident in all insularis, though one (NMNH 518324) almost lacks any trace, dark feathering being confined to the bases of the central throat (Fig. 4). P. hemileucus has a more obvious pale supercilium behind the eye and _ lacks any trace of dark feathering on the ear-coverts (female insularis are more male-like); like males, female hemileucus shows reasonably prominent pale tips to the median coverts, | which are not apparent in insularis; and, again as in males, hemileucus has generally much _ browner upperparts with slightly browner and less broad streaking on the mantle and back, .compared to the generally much greyer and darker upperparts of insularis, marked with | generally broader and blacker streaking. Females of these two taxa would seem to be far | i | ‘ it Guy M. Kirwan 86 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) tore BS foo oe bia oh ee pees sean Shee s DIS els Y brie, tid BM a Ea Maadiak ABs pete Figures 1-3. Ventral, lateral and dorsal views of males of Passer hemileucus (left) and P. insularis, collected in the Socotran archipelago, in spring 1964, by A. D. Forbes-Watson (Guy M. Kirwan / Smithsonian Institution, Washington) Guy M. Kirwan 87 Kegs ibe << fSPULAES Bans eS A Bay [hed hf voce Tek hives Abieb cites Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Ss LIO pee Figures 4-6. Ventral, lateral and dorsal views of females of Passer hemileucus (left) and P. insularis, collected in the Socotran archipelago, in spring 1964, by A. D. Forbes-Watson (Guy M. Kirwan / Smithsonian Institution, Washington) Guy M. Kirwan 88 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) more readily identifiable in a field context than, for example, those of House P. domesticus and Spanish Sparrows. Male hemileucus differs from shelley in having greyer upperparts with much paler and narrower dark streaking, paler brown tertial centres and rectrices, a greyer crown, lack of any rufous in the rump, less bold and solid black ear-coverts and bib, and the rufous super- ciliary does not wrap around the rear edge of the ear-coverts. Female hemileucus also lacks the rufous rump of female shelleyi, any rufous in the mantle, has much fainter upperparts streaking, a much paler crown, tertials and flight-feathers, and lacks any trace of a bib (quite noticeable in shelley). Compared to male hemileucus, the same sex of cordofanicus has a rufous rump, the man- tle and back are overlain with sparse but very deep black streaking (dark brown streaking in hemileucus), the flight-feathers are darker, the white tips to the wing-coverts are seeming- ly narrower, the rufous superciliary continues to wrap around the ear-coverts, and the bib and upper border to the ear-coverts are both deep black. Unlike hemileucus, female cordofan- icus is rather similar to the male of that taxon, except that it has a much paler (greyer) but still rather extensive bib; furthermore the crown is much darker grey than in female hemileucus. Finally, compared to these two mainland African forms, insularts is clearly differentiat- ed by a broad range of characters, e.g. rump coloration, underparts coloration etc. The closest of the motitensis group in plumage is rufocinctus (Kenya and northern Tanzania; 53 specimens examined in NHM). Male insularis differs from rufocinctus in the following: lack of rufous rump; darker grey upperparts with narrower, slightly less black streaking (espe- cially noticeable on the crown / nape); more diffuse, slightly larger and less deep black bib; on average greyer underparts; ear-coverts largely white (grey in rufocinctus) with black eye- stripe (absent in rufocinctus); greater coverts with much more rufous (generally none in rufocinctus); a larger bill; whilst the irides are pale in rufocinctus but dark in insularis. Female rufocinctus has a rufous rump and lesser coverts, heavier black upperparts streaking, a more noticeable and more extensive grey (‘shadow’) bib, greyer ear-coverts (white in insularis), generally more grey-saturated crown and nape (dark feather bases more noticeable in insu- laris), and a shorter bill. Morphometrics.—Mensural data appertaining to the two Socotran taxa are presented in Table 1. These reveal the rather obvious differences in their relative sizes. Compared to insularis, hemileucus is shorter winged, shorter tailed, smaller billed (particularly obviously in bill-depth, much less so in culmen-length), and lighter in weight. These differences are readily apparent in both sexes and, particularly in wing- and tail-length, there being no or very little overlap between the two taxa. Discussion Vocal data are non-existent for P. hemileucus and rather weak (few sound-recordings) for P. insularis. In any case differentiation in Passer is generally rather weakly expressed in terms of vocalisations, songs being rather unspecialised although they do possess an adver- tising function (Cramp & Perrins 1994). The available data concerning plumage and morphometrics unambiguously supports recognition of two species under any species con- cept currently operating, including all of the pattern-defined concepts (Sluys & Hazevoet 1999), the Metapopulation Lineage Concept or General Species Concept (de Queiroz 2005) or any of the more modern interpretations of the Biological Species Concept (e.g. Helbig et al. 2002, Collar 2006, Collar et al. in prep.). The differences between either sex of insularis and Guy M. Kirwan 89 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) hemileucus are clearly as great as between any of the other members of the Rufous Sparrow P. motitensis complex currently recognised at species level, as well as between any of the five members of the (also Afrotropical) Grey-headed Sparrow superspecies P. griseus sometimes accorded specific recognition (see Urban 2004). Indeed, it is interesting to note the quite close morphological resemblance between both sexes (but especially males) of hemileucus and those of Sind Jungle Sparrow P. pyrrhonotus of south-east Iran to north-west India, which fact was noted by the authors of the new taxon but which has apparently escaped more recent commentators (Fig. 7). The substantial difference in size between hemileucus and insularis would presumably act as a significant barrier to the chances of their inter- breeding should they come into contact. Almost nothing has been published concerning the habits and behaviour of P. hemileu- cus, although it has been found in most parts of the island of Abd ’Al Kuri (R. F. Porter in litt. 2007), the only data being those recorded by Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes (1903), who found it to be unassociated with Man, in obvious contrast to insularis. They stated: ‘It was never seen in the neighbourhood of the native village, but appeared to be con- fined to the bush-clad slopes of one of the highest points, where enormous limestone blocks which have fallen away from the summit lie scattered over the hillside. Here it makes its home, and we found it by no means an easy task to secure specimens for they are very shy and not very numerous [contra the statement in Kirwan et al. 1996]... A small flock, how- ever, kept flitting about near me on the stems of the bizarre Milk-bushes (Euphorbia Abdelkur1) growing about in the middle of the mountain, while I was engaged in digging up the fine specimen of this new plant, which eventually reached home alive—H.O.F.’ In 1964, Alec Forbes-Watson’s experience (as recorded in his unpublished expedition report) was slightly different. He managed to collect seven of the dozen birds seen, but intially found them very wild and unapproachable in the hills. However, two days later (on 22 March), AF-W found hemileucus at a settlement on the north coast ‘behaving like P. domesticus or their relatives on Socotra’. Despite their shyness and AF-W’s persistence in collecting them, the birds consistently returned to a single Salvadoria bush, which was ‘the only greenery in sight’. A juvenile has been trapped in late March (Fig. 8; R. F. Porter in itt. 2006). Future ornithological studies on Abd “Al-Kuri will prioritise documenting this spar- row’s population, range and habitat preferences, and any apparent threats (R. F. Porter in litt. 2007). P. hemileucus has been confirmed to breed in four of the island’s six UIM grid squares and presence established in one other (R. F. Porter in litt. 2007), suggesting that its population is perhaps secure at present, but its conservation status, if species status were to be generally admitted, clearly requires evaluation, as hemileucus is confined to a small island and probably has an overall small population. Fresh material pertaining to hemileucus and insularis will be of value to molecular stud- ies that should seek to date the divergence between the two forms, although the _ Forbes-Watson material is sufficiently recent to permit such an undertaking with relative ease (Payne & Sorensen 2003). Socotra originally formed part of the African—Arabian tecton- ic plate (it represents a continuation of the Somali peninsula) and probably became isolated by the same series of dislocations during the break-up of Gondwana that produced the Gulf of Aden in the late Tertiary, at least 1JOMYA (Laughton et al. 1970). The Socotra Platform on which all of the islands lie, a small continental granite block over which the seas are rela- tively shallow, has experienced relative tectonic stability since c.6-8MYA and particularly since the onset of the Pliocene (Fournier et al. 2001). Periods of uplift in the general region of the southern Gulf of Aden terminated c.2MYA. During the Last Glacial Maximum (20,000-25,000 years ago), when sea levels were up to 120 m lower than in the present day, _ the coastal plain of the main island of Socotra was much larger than now and encompassed Guy M. Kirwan 90 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) TABERA Mensural and weight data for Passer insularis and P. hemileucus. All measurements in mm; weight in g. Personal measurements (from specimens in The Natural History Museum, Tring, and National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC) were taken using a standard metal wing-rule with a perpendicular stop at zero (accurate to 0.5 mm), and digital callipers (accurate to 0.01 mm). Dymond (1993) did not take comparable measurements for culmen-length and did not measure bill-depth. Taxon Sex Sample Wing- Tail- Culmen Bill- Mass size length length (to skull) depth (reference) P. insularis male 18 72.5-78.5 58-65 — 15.12-17.04 8.58-10.13 AD=398) (n=16) (Forbes-Watson unpubl.) means 76.19 60.55 16.16 937, 26.32 (n=28) female 16 71.0-76.5 52-63 15.41-17.51 8.80-10.06 22-35 (Forbes-Watson unpubl.) means TEI 5812 16.49 9.44 ~ DTD i—23) Published data male 5 74-79 53.5-61.0 25.0-29.2 from Dymond 74 58.6 UN) (1996), range female 4 72-76 58.0-60.5 26.0-29.1 plus means 74.7 OA Pf P. hemileucus male 5 70.5-73.0 53-57 15.05-16.74 7.90-8.83 20=25 (Forbes-Watson unpubl.) means 123 5S 1575) 8.3 23.0 (n=4) female 4 67.0-69.5 50-54 14.66-15.57 7.39-8.94 20-24 (Forbes-Watson unpubl.) means 68.6 O25 15.18 8.22 2133) (n=3) the islands of Darsa and Samha (The Brothers) which lie almost equally equidistant between the main island and Abd ‘Al Kuri. Indeed, because of the generally shallow seas between Socotra and The Brothers (30-50 m), land bridges between these islands existed on several occasions during the Upper Pleistocene, occurring in 100,000-year cycles (Cheung & DeVantier 2006). It is unsurprising in the present context therefore that Samha and Darsa should host typical P. insularis (R. F. Porter in litt. 2006), though P. G. Ryan (in litt. 2007) has remarked that populations on these two islands are small, rather like hemileucus, and lack the grey extending onto the breast. Populations on all four islands thus require some fur- ther research into their taxonomy and relationships. Abd ’Al Kuri, unlike the other satellite islands of Socotra, has been long separated from the main island with resultant levels of endemism, e.g. amongst reptiles (Rdsler & Wranik 2004), plants (Miller & Morris 2004), mol- luscs (Neubert 2002) and marine fishes (Klaus & Turner 2004), whilst one other endemic bird taxon, Onychognathus blythii creaghi, has been described from Abd ‘Al Kuri, though its validity requires further investigation (Kirwan 2007). The degree of differentiation between the Passer taxa in the Socotra archipelago might suggest separate colonisation events, perhaps even involving different metapopulations from Africa and Asia. The phylogeographic study of western Indian Ocean sunbirds con- ducted by Warren et al. (2003) offers an interesting case study with some parallels to the Socotran situation. Most of the latter islands’ breeding birds are clearly of Afrotropical ori- gin, as long ago noted by Chapin (1932), but there has been, as yet, no attempt to date the different colonisation events that presumably occurred, nor efforts to test whether some of the endemic taxa might be of Asian ancestry, for example the grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus (see Kirwan & Grieve 2007). a S _ Lo E E \ A ~ = : 2 & : Ss 5S J Abd ‘Al Kuri Taleb / Socotra Conservation & Development Programme) J 3 : . \ Guy M. Kirwan pyrrhonotus, male P. hemileucus, female P. pyrrhonotus and female P. hemileucus (Guy M. Kirwan, © Natural History Museum, Tring) Figure 7. Comparison between both sexes of Passer hemileucus and P. pyrrhonotus Figure 8. Juvenile Passer hemileucus Guy M. Kirwan 92 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) This study reconfirms the importance of the Forbes-Watson collection from the Socotran archipelago and the unpublished expedition report (see Kirwan 1997), not only for taxonomic studies of the islands’ birds but also many aspects of their natural history. The 523 specimens that originally constituted the collection are a remarkable testament to Forbes-Watson and his two Kenyan taxidermists, and continue to represent the best (and most beautifully prepared) series of birds from Socotra; the previous lack of attention that has been paid to this resource borders on the extraordinary. Acknowledgements I am grateful to staff members at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Robert Pr¥s-Jones, Katrina Cook, Alison Harding and Mark Adams) and National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (James P. Dean, Carla J. Dove, Christina A. Gebhard, Gary Graves and Brian K. Schmitt), for their assistance at these institutions. Richard Porter sent field photographs of Socotra sparrows for my use and Clemency Fisher and Tony Parker assisted with a copy of the Liverpool Museum database relating to their Socotra holdings and some reference material. With the permission of the authors, Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International) for- warded a copy of the Collar et al. paper in preparation. Michael Jennings’ persistence was essential in tracking down the unpublished expedition report of Alec Forbes-Watson, and I am grateful to Jennings, Porter and Peter Ryan for their constructive commentaries on this manuscript. Field work in Socotra was undertaken within the framework of the 1993 Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME) South Yemen expedition. OSME also provided financial support that permitted my museum studies in North America. References: Ash, J. & Miskell, J. 1998. Birds of Somalia. Pica Press, Robertsbridge. Bannerman, D. A. 1948. Birds of tropical West Africa. Crown Agents, London. Bourne, W. R. P. 1986. Recent work on the origin and suppression of bird species in the Cape Verde islands, especially the shearwaters, the kites and the sparrows. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 106: 163-170. Chapin, J. P. 1932. The birds of the Belgian Congo, Part I. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 65: 1-756. Cheung, C. & DeVantier, L. 2006. Socotra: a natural history of the islands and their people. Odyssey Books, Hong Kong. Clement, P., Harris, A. & Davis, J. 1993. Finches and sparrows: an identification guide. Christopher Helm, London. Collar, N. J. 2006. A partial revision of the Asian babblers (Timaliidae). Forktail 22: 85-112. Collar, N. J., Fishpool, L. D. C., Pilgrim, J. D., Seddon, N. & Spottiswoode, C. N. (in prep.) The assessment of avian species rank, 2: quantification of character significance. Cramp, S. & Perrins, C. M. (eds.) 1994. The birds of the Western Palearctic, vol. 8. Oxford Univ. Press. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Dowsett, R. J. & Dowsett-Lemaire, F. 1993. A contribution to the distribution and taxonomy of Afrotropical and Malagasy birds. Tauraco Res. Rep. 5. Tauraco Press, Liége. Dymond, J. N. 1996. Biometric data of birds in southern Yemen and Socotra, spring 1993. Sandgrouse 17: 158-164. Fournier, M., Patriat, P. & Leroy, S. 2001. Reappraisal of the Arabia-India-Somalia triple junction kinematics. Earth & Planetary Sci. Letters 189: 103-114. Gill, F. & Wright, M. 2006. Birds of the world: recommended English names. Christopher Helm, London. Grant, C. H. B. & Mackworth-Praed, C. W. 1944. Notes on eastern African birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 64: 35-36. Hall, B. P. & Moreau, R. E. 1970. An atlas of speciation in African passerine birds. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London. Hazevoet, C. J. 1995. The birds of the Cape Verde Islands: an annotated check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 13. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring. Helbig, A. J., Knox, A. G., Parkin, D. T., Sangster, G. & Collinson, M. 2002. Guidelines for assigning species rank. Ibis 114: 518-525. Kirwan, G. M. 1997. Socotra: Forbes-Watson manuscript. Phoenix 14: 6-7. Kirwan, G. M. 2004. Some remarks on the taxonomy of Nubian Nightjar Caprimulgus nubicus, with particu- lar reference to C. n. jonesi Ogilvie-Grant & Forbes, 1899. Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 11: 117-125. Kirwan, G. M. 2007. Studies of Socotran birds IV. Synonymization of six endemic bird taxa, with comments on the name Onychognathus blythii creaghi. Sandgrouse 29: 135-148. Kirwan, G. M. & Grieve, A. 2007. Studies of Socotran birds II. One, two or three species: towards a rational taxonomy for the Golden-winged Grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus. Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 14: 159-169. Kirwan, G. M., Martins, R. P., Morton, K. M. & Showler, D. A. 1996. The status of birds in Socotra and ‘Abd Al-Kuri and the records of the OSME survey in spring 1993. Sandgrouse 17: 83-101. Klaus, R. & Turner, J. R. 2004. The marine isotopes of the Socotra Archipelago. Fauna of Arabia 20: 45-115. Guy M. Kirwan 93 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Laughton, A. S., Whitmarsh, R. B. & Jones, M. T. 1970. The evolution of the Gulf of Aden. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. Ser. A 267: 227-266. Leonard, P. & Demey, R. 2006. Review: The Birds of Africa, vol. VII. Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 13: 231-233. Lynes, H. 1926. On the birds of north and central Darfur. Taxonomic appendix part 1. [bis 12(2): 346-405. Macdonald, J. D. 1957. Contributions to the ornithology of western South Africa. Brit. Mus., London. Martins, R. P. 1996. Taxonomic treatment of endemic taxa in Socotra. Sandgrouse 17: 81-82. Miller, A. G. & Morris, M. 2004. Ethnoflora of the Sogotra Archipelago. The Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Moreau, R. E. & Greenway, J. C. 1962. Family Ploceidae, weaverbirds. Pp. 3-75 in Mayr, E. & Greenway, J. C. (eds.) Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 15. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, MA. Neubert, E. 2002. The continental malacofauna of Arabia and adjacent areas. 1. Terrestrial molluscs of Samha and Darsa Islands (Al-Ikhwan), Socotra Archipelago, Yemen. Fauna of Arabia 19: 245-259. Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. & Forbes, H. O. 1899. Descriptions of the new species of birds. Bull. Liverpool Mus. 2: 2-4. Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. & Forbes, H. O. 1903. Birds of Sokotra and Abd-el-Kuri. Pp. 21-63 in Forbes, H. O. (ed.) The natural history of Sokotra and Abd-el-Kuri. R. H. Porter, London. Payne, R. B. & Sorenson, M. D. 2003. Museum collections as sources of genetic data. Pp. 97-104 in Rheinwald, G. (ed.) Bird collections in Europe: the challenge of mutual cooperation. Bonn. Zool. Beitr. 51. de Queiroz, K. 2005. Colloquium: Ernst Mayr and the modern concept of species. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102 suppl. 1: 6600-6607. Rosler, H. & Wranik, W. 2004. A key and annotated checklist of the reptiles of the Socotra Archipelago. Fauna of Arabia 20: 505-534. Sclater, P. L. & Hartlaub, G. 1881. On the birds collected in Socotra by Prof. I. B. Balfour. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. SSI IGS —/5: Sibley, C. G. & Monroe, B. L. 1990 Distribution and taxonomy of the birds of the world. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT & London, UK. Sluys, R. & Hazevoet, C. J. 1999. Pluralism in species concepts: dividing nature at its diverse joints. Species Diversity 4: 243-256. Someren, V. G. L. van. 1922. Notes on the birds of east Africa. Novit. Zool. 29: 1-246. Summers-Smith, D. 1984. The Rufous Sparrows of the Cape Verde Islands. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 104: 138-143. Summers-Smith, D. 1988. The sparrows: a study of the genus Passer. T. & A. D. Poyser, Calton. Urban, E. K. 2004. Genus Passer. Pp. 1-41 in Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) The birds of Africa, vol. 7. Christopher Helm, London. White, C. M. N. 1963. A revised check list of African flycatchers, tits, tree creepers, sunbirds, white-eyes, honey eaters, buntings, finches, weavers and waxbills. Govt. Printer, Lusaka. Warren, B. H., Bermingham, E., Bowie, R. C. K., Prys-Jones, R. P. & Thébaud, C. 2003. Molecular phylogeog- raphy reveals island colonization history and diversification of western Indian Ocean sunbirds (Nectarinia: Nectariniidae). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 29: 67-85. Wolters, H. E. 1982 Die Vogelarten der Erde. Paul Parey, Hamburg & Berlin. Address: 74 Waddington Street, Norwich NR2 4JS, UK, e-mail: GMKirwan@aol.com © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Robert G. Moyle et al. 94 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Taxonomic status of the Kinabalu ‘linchi’ swiftlet by Robert G. Moyle, Peter A. Hosner, Jamili Nais, Maklarin Lakim & Frederick H. Sheldon Received 22 February 2007 Swiftlets (Apodidae: Collocalini) are some of the most under-studied and taxonomical- ly difficult birds in the Old World tropics. The species are mostly small with drab black, grey or brown plumage, sometimes with white or gloss. Swiftlets are aerial insectivores and construct nests of their own saliva with or without exogenous material such as lichens, moss or feathers. Nests are placed in caves or below overhangs, such as cliffs or eaves of houses. Particular attention has been paid by taxonomists to the echo-locating swiftlets (Aerodramus), in part due to the commercial value of some species that construct edible nests (Francis 1987, Kang et al. 1991). Aerodramus presents difficult taxonomic problems because many species are cryptic and are distinguished only by the type of nest they construct or their geographic distribution (e.g., Medway 1966, 1975, Price et al. 2004). The other main group is the white-bellied swiftlets, Collocalia. Although there are fewer species of Collocalia sensu stricto than Aerodramus (three vs. 22; Chantler 1999), their taxonomy presents substan- tial challenges. The most widespread species, Glossy Swiftlet C. esculenta, spans an enormous range, from the Andamans and Nicobars in the Indian Ocean to the Solomons in the Pacific, and it exhibits substantial geographic variation, as suggested by its division into 32 subspecies (Salomonsen 1983, Chantler 1999, Dickinson 2003). Not only are the phyloge- netic relationships of many taxa within this polytypic complex unknown, particular confusion surrounds the relationship between Glossy and Cave Swiftlets C. linchi of the Indonesian archipelago. These two taxa are considered conspecific by some authorities (Inskipp et al. 1996, Smythies 1999) and separate species by others (Somadikarta 1986, Chantler 1999). The third Collocalia species, Pygmy Swiftlet Collocalia troglodytes, is clearly the sister of the other two (Price et al. 2004, Thomassen et al. 2005). To shed light on the rela- tionship between Glossy and Cave Swiftlets, we address an issue that is especially pertinent: the phylogenetic position of an enigmatic white-bellied swiftlet found in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. In 1905 a swiftlet was shot on the slopes of Mt Kinabalu in northern Borneo (elevation unknown) and described as Collocalia dodgei (Richmond 1905). In several respects, it resem- bled C. esculenta, the commonest swiftlet in both lowland and montane Borneo. Like C. esculenta, it had a whitish belly, but its dark upperparts exhibited a greenish gloss in con- trast to the bluish gloss of C. esculenta. (These glosses are both wear-associated differences.) It was also noticeably smaller and lacked the whitish tail spots and toe feathering common- ly found in C. esculenta. In 1937, two additional specimens were collected at 1,500 m on Mt Kinabalu and ascribed to dodgei based on their greenish gloss and small size. Cranbrook et al. (2005) described the history of subsequent taxonomic treatments of dodgei. Chasen (1935) merged C. dodgei as a subspecies of C. esculenta. For some years, there was confusion as to whether dodgei was the sole Bornean subspecies of C. esculenta (e.g., Smythies 1960), and eventually two subspecies were recognised in Borneo, dodgei on Mt Kinabalu and cyanopti- la over the rest of the island (e.g., Smythies 1981). This classification persists (e.g., Inskipp et al. 1996, Smythies 1999), but recent authors have acknowledged that parapatric (and possi- bly sympatric) occurrence of the two taxa on upper and lower slopes of Mt Kinabalu suggests the existence of distinct species. Indeed, Somadikarta (1986) reviewed the history Robert G. Moyle et al. 95 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) of white-bellied swiftlet taxonomy and, following an extensive examination of morphology and mensural data, concluded that dodgei was a subspecies of C. linchi, along with three other taxa: linchi on Java and the satellite islands of Madura, Bawean and Nusa Penida; rip- leyi in montane Sumatra; and dedii on Bali and Lombok. This arrangement is commonly accepted (MacKinnon & Phillipps 1993, Chantler & Driessens 1995, Chantler 1999, Dickinson 2003) and solves the problem of parapatric or sympatric subspecies on Mt Kinabalu. The morphological distinction between C. esculenta and C. linchi is supported by molecular phylogenetic comparisons. Using two mitochondrial gene sequences, Price et al. (2004) found that an individual of C. linchi from Java appeared (with low bootstrap support) to be sister to C. esculenta, represented by subspecies from Malaya, Borneo, Philippines, New Guinea and the Solomons. Thomassen et al. (2003, 2005), also using mtDNA markers, recovered the same sister relationship between C. linchi and C. esculenta. Although Thomassen eft al. (2003, 2005) used multiple individuals of C. linchi and C. esculenta, it is impossible to infer relationships among potential C. linchi taxa because the authors provid- ed no subspecific names or locality information for their samples, nor did they discuss relationships within C. linchi. The suggestion by Somadikarta (1986), on morphological grounds, that dodgei is a mem- ber of C. linchi, and the subsequent molecular demonstrations that C. linchi is the sister group of C. esculenta, solves the problem of parapatric (or sympatric) white-bellied swiftlets on Mt Kinabalu; they are members of different species. However, the question remains whether dodgei from Kinabalu is truly a member of C. linchi or a separate species. To address this issue, we obtained specimens of dodgei and C. esculenta cyanoptila from Mt Kinabalu and examined their evolutionary affinities using mtDNA sequences and morphological charac- ters. For these comparisons, we not only produced our own DNA sequence data but also took advantage of the extensive mtDNA dataset published by Price et al. (2004), and the morphological data of Somadikarta (1986). Materials and methods We included three individuals of C. esculenta cyanoptila from c.1,500 m on the south side of Mt Kinabalu and two individuals of unknown identity (but presumably dodgei) from c.2,730 m, also on the south side of Mt Kinabalu. These two were nestlings close to fledging, with primaries still in the feather sheaths. The base colour of their upperparts is dark brown with a faint green gloss. Characteristic of C. linchi, their hind-toes lack the feather tuft found in C. esculenta, and their bellies are white, as opposed to the pale grey of C. esculenta taken at 1,500 m. The nest, found in the eaves of a hut, was a cup of rootlets, plant fibres and sev- - eral types of lichens. It was attached to beams on two sides by hardened saliva. DNA was extracted from muscle tissue using proteinase K digestion following the _ manufacturer’s protocol (Dneasy tissue kit, Qiagen). For this study, we compared the entire second subunit of mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (ND2). _ Primers for the ND2 gene were L5215 (Hackett 1996), H6313, L5758 and H5766 (Johnson & | i Sorenson 1998). We purified PCR products with Perfectprep PCR cleanup kits (Eppendorf). Sequencing of purified PCR products was performed with BigDye Terminator Cycle _ Sequencing Kits (Applied Biosystems). Primers used for PCR were also used for cycle- sequencing reactions, resulting in bi-directional sequence for all taxa. Cycle-sequencing _ products were run on an ABI Prism 3130xl automated DNA sequencer (Perkin-Elmer | Applied Biosystems). The computer programme Sequencher 4.7 (Genecodes) was used to _ reconcile chromatograms of complementary fragments and align sequences across taxa. Robert G. Moyle et al. 96 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) We analysed the data using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood (ML) crite- ria in PAUP*4.0b10 (Swofford 2002). For ML analyses, Modeltest 3.7 (Posada & Crandall 1998) determined both the appropriate model of nucleotide substitution under the AIC cri- teria (see Posada & Buckley 2004) and the estimated parameter values. In parsimony analyses all characters were equally weighted. Support for nodes in the resulting phyloge- netic hypotheses was assessed via non-parametric bootstrapping (Felsenstein 1985) and reanalysis of the resulting data (100 replicates). Results The aligned ND2 sequences yielded a matrix of 21 individuals (19 Collocalia, two out- group Aerodramus) and 1,041 characters (Table 1). These included five individuals that we sequenced and 16 individuals from Price et al. (2004). All new sequences (GenBank EF600707-711) appeared to be mtDNA, rather than nuclear copies. They contained no stop codons, no conflicts in overlapping fragments, homogeneous base composition across taxa (chi-square p=1.00), expected codon-position divergences (3>1>2), and no unusual relation- ships amongst taxa. Base composition was biased towards adenine and cytosine (A=0.32, C=0.35, G=0.09, T=0.24) but consistent with other bird groups (e.g. Kirchman et al. 2001, Moyle et al. 2005). Uncorrected pairwise divergences (p-distances) amongst taxa ranged from 0% between several pairs of individuals to 13.6% between Collocalia troglodytes and one outgroup taxon (Edible-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus). The two Kinabalu specimens had identical ND2 sequences, were 4.5% divergent from the Javan sample of C. linchi, and were 7.4—7.5% divergent from the three C. esculenta collected downslope from them on Mt Kinabalu. Of 1,041 nucleotide positions, 118 were potentially parsimony informative. Modeltest (Posada & Crandall 1998) indicated a model of nucleotide substitution (TrN+G) that incor- porated one class of transversions, two classes of transitions, and gamma distributed rates across sites. Parameter estimates for the data were as follows: base frequencies (0.332, 0.358, 0.090), rate matrix (1.0000, 37.4273, 1.0000, 1.0000, 26.2609), and shape (0.2168). Parsimony (nine most parsimonious trees of 444 steps with consistency indices of 0.694) and likeli- hood (one tree with -InL = 3426.64578) analyses produced trees with no significant discrepancies (Fig. 1). Differences between our ML tree and that of Price et al. (2004) were minor and probably due to the latter’s inclusion of an additional mitochondrial marker. Collocalia troglodytes was reconstructed as the sister of all other Collocalia sampled. C. e. cyanoptila from the Malay Peninsula and Borneo comprised a clade and only diverged from one another by a maximum of 0.7%. The only structure within that clade united the two Malayan individuals (Selangor) as distinct from the Borneo individuals. Sister to this large cyanoptila clade was a clade of four C. esculenta from the Philippines, two each from Sibuyan (marginata) and Mindanao (bagobo). Taxa from each island were monophyletic and support- ed as sisters by low ML bootstrap support (66) but high MP bootstrap support (88). The single individual of C. linchi from Java and the two Kinabalu birds formed a clade sister to Bornean and Philippine C. esculenta. Although the Javan and Kinabalu samples were sub- stantially diverged from one another (4.5%), they were united as sister taxa with high bootstrap support (100 ML, 98 MP). A sister-pair of individuals from the far south-eastern portion of the C. esculenta range (New Guinea and Solomons) was sister to the clade com- prising C. linchi and all other C. esculenta samples. Although the groups of taxa and geographic units (C. lincht, C. e. cyanoptila, Philippine birds, etc.) were well supported, boot- strap re-sampling indicated low confidence in the arrangement of these clades relative to one another. | | ! | i | | } : Robert G. Moyle et al. 97 TABLE 1 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Samples included in the study. Source information: University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence (KUNHM); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (FMNH); Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Baton Rouge (LSUMNS); and University of Washington Burke Museum (UWBM). Species Source ID/Voucher Locality Aerodramus fuciphagus vestitus' KUNHM = DMT027 Gomantong Caves, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Aerodramus maximus lowt! KUNHM DMT040 Gomantong Caves, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia troglodytes' FMNH 358312 Sibuyan, Philippines Collocalia esculenta bagobo (1) ' FMNH 357435 Mindanao, Philippines Collocalia esculenta bagobo (2) ' FMNH 357440 Mindanao, Philippines Collocalia esculenta marginata (1)' FMNH 358301 Sibuyan, Philippines Collocalia esculenta marginata (2)' FMNH 358303 Sibuyan, Philippines Collocalia esculenta becki' UWBM 60227 Isabel Islands, Solomons Collocalia esculenta nitens' KUNHM Msp068 New Guinea Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (1)' KUNHM DHC88 Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (2)' KUNHM DHC97 Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (3)' KUNHM DMTO050 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (4)' KUNHM DMT051 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (5)' KUNHM DMT057 Selangor, Malaysia Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (6)' KUNHM DMT059 Selangor, Malaysia Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (7) LSUMNS — B50298 Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (8) LSUMNS ~— B50302 Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (9) LSUMNS _ B50304 Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Collocalia linchi' KUNHM 3 DHC72 Bogor, Java, Indonesia Kinabalu swiftlet (1) LSUMNS _ B52699 Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) Kinabalu swiftlet (2) LSUMNS ~— B52700 Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) "from Price et al. 2004. Discussion Molecular data indicate the monophyly of C. lincht populations embedded within C. esculenta (Thomassen et al. 2003, 2005; this study). Moreover, morphological characters, especially hind-toe feathering, small size and spotting on the rectrices, as well as sympatry of C. esculenta and C. linchi in Borneo and Sumatra, support the maintenance of C. linchi as a species separate from C. esculenta. The question remains, however, how to treat allopatric populations within C. linchi and C. esculenta. C. esculenta has a large range with numerous unsampled island populations and is in need of more detailed taxonomic work, which _ might elect to elevate a number of taxa to species status, but is beyond the scope of this _ study. There is, however, sufficient information on C. linchi populations to draw some con- _ clusions as to their specific status. C. linchi has a restricted, allopatric distribution on various Sundaic islands and has already been subject to extensive morphological study (Somadikarta 1986). Wing- and tail- _ length differences readily differentiate Mt Kinabalu specimens from all other populations _ of linchi (Table 2). In both dimensions, dodgei was found to be significantly smaller than the ' other three subspecies, and the range of its standard deviation did not overlap any of the others. Thus, morphology clearly delineates a disjunction between dodgei and other popu- _ lations of C. linchi. Molecular data also indicate the distinctiveness of dodgei. The uncorrected genetic divergence between the Kinabalu specimens and that from Java is 4.5%. This level of diver- gence is often found between species (e.g., Filardi & Moyle 2005, Sheldon et al. 2005) and Robert G. Moyle et al. 98 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) even genera of birds (Johns & Avise 1998, Whittingham et al. 2002). Although determining taxonomic rank solely on genetic divergence is problematic, this level of divergence never- | theless indicates a long period of isolation between subspecies of C. linchi, sufficient to consider the Kinabalu population reproductively isolated and to be following an independ- ent evolutionary trajectory. This evidence, combined with significant differences in morphology, indicates that the Kinabalu form should be considered specifically as Collocalia dodgei, as originally described by Richmond (1905). We suggest Bornean Swiftlet as an appro- priate English name, rather than Kinabalu or Sabah Swiftlet, in view of the possibility that other populations may be discovered on other high mountains on the island (see below). The recognition of C. dodgei adds yet another montane endemic to the list of Bornean birds. Depending on classification (Inskipp et al. 1996, Smythies 1999), about 33 of 41 Bornean endemics are montane or submontane in distribution (Sheldon et al. 2001: 15). This number includes not only C. dodgei but also the forktail, Enicurus (leschenaulti) borneensis, Aerodramus fuciphagus vesttus — Aerodramus maximus lowi — Collocalia trogiogytes Sibuyan (ne Collocalia esculenta beck! Soloman ts, 136 , (eal ew Coollocalia esculenta nifens New Guinea —~ Collocalia linchi Java At Kinabalu swiftlet (7) Mt. Kinabalu Kinabalu swiftlet (2) Mt Kinabalu f Collocalia esculenta bagobo (7) Mindanaa | collocalia esculenta bagobo (2) Mindanao bi soo | Colocalia esculenta marginata (1) Sibuyan 100] Collocalia esculenta marginata (2) Sibuyan ; | Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (8) Mt. Kinabalu | Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (4) Sandakan ao Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila (9) Mt. Kinabalu | Melee esculenta cyanoptila (3) Sandakan || Goviocatia esculenta cyanopiia (5) Selangor 1 Srcat esculenta cyanopiila (6) Selangor k | Corocara esculenta cyanoptila (1) — Lahad Datu | conocata esculenta cyanopiila (7) Ait. Kinabalu 38 | Cotlocalia esculenta cyanoptila (2) lLahad Datu Figure 1. Maximum likelihood estimate of relationships among Collocalia swiftlets based on ND2 DNA sequences. Numbers by nodes refer to maximum likelihood/maximum parsimony bootstrap support. Asterisks or blank nodes indicate bootstrap support less than 50%. Numbers by names refer to Table 1. Branch lengths are proportional to the expected number of substitutions per site, as indicated by the scale bar. | | | | | | | | Robert G. Moyle et al. 99 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) TABLE 2 Wing- and tail-length data condensed from Somadikarta (1986). Values are mean + standard deviation with the number of individuals in parentheses. All measurements are in mm. Subspecies Wing, mean + SD (7) Tail, mean + SD (n) dodge 88.67+1.04 (3) 34.50+1.32 (3) ripleyt 93:024:3:13(25) 38.24+1.60 (25) linchi 94.50+2.00 (77) 41.48+1.45 (58) dedi 97.19+2.40 (45) 44.25+1.33 (40) which like C. dodgei appears to be most closely related to taxa on Java rather than to low- land counterparts on Borneo (Moyle et al. 2005). Further study is likely to reveal close relationships between other Bornean montane taxa and species on the mountains of other Sundaic islands. Such inter-island phylogenetic connections suggest montane taxa were once widespread in the Sundas and that their speciation was caused by island vicariance and montane isolation rather than by intra-island mechanisms, such as displacement by invading species (Sheldon et al. 2001) or parapatric ecological separation (Smith et al. 1997, Cadena 2007). BirdLife International (2004) lists C. linchi as Least Concern because of its large geo- graphic distribution (Java, Sumatra, Malaya, Bali and other small islands) and common occurrence in some areas. That the Bornean population is a separate species changes this sit- uation. The only known locality for C. dodgei (documented by just five specimens) is Mt Kinabalu. The two recent specimens were taken at 2,730 m, and these upper slopes are pro- tected by Kinabalu National Park. However, C. dodgei could easily occur on other Bornean mountains that are less protected and studied than Kinabalu. Appropriate habitat, for example, probably exists on nearby high peaks such as Mt Tambuyukon (2,579 m) and Mt Trus Madi (2,649 m). Surveys of the latter (Sheldon & Francis 1985, Moyle & Wong 2002) have found C. esculenta as high as 2,100 m, but have not recorded C. dodgei. However, swiftlets are notoriously difficult to identify in the field, and no specimens of Collocalia have been collected on Trus Madi, so C. dodgei could easily have been overlooked. If the species occurs there, or on Mt Tambuyukon, it would be near the summit, where the avifauna is especially poorly known. Acknowledgements We thank the Malaysian Economic Planning Unit for permission to conduct research in Malaysia, the staff of Kinabalu National Park for assistance in obtaining specimens, David Willard (Field Museum) for providing information on voucher specimens, Geoffrey Davison and the Earl of Cranbrook for discussions and writings on the relationships of Collocalia dodgei, and Storrs Olson and two anonymous reviewers for comments on the _ manuscript. The Coypu Foundation of Louisiana provided funding for field work. References: Cadena, C. D. 2007. Testing the role of interspecific competition in the evolutionary origin of elevational zonation: an example with Buarremon brush-finches (Aves: Emberizidae) in the Neotropical mountains. Evolution 61: 1120-1136. Chantler, P. 1999. Apodidae. Pp. 388-466 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 5. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. _ Chantler, P. & Driessens, G. 1995. Swifts: a guide to the swifts and treeswifts of the world. Pica Press, Robertsbridge. | _ Chasen, F. N. 1935. A handlist of Malaysian birds. Bull. Raffles Mus. 11: 1-389. _ Cranbrook, Earl, Somadikarta, S., Davison, G. W. H., Lim, C. K. & Moller, H. S. 2005. The Kinabalu Linchi Swiftlet, Collocalia linchi dodgei Richmond: an unresolved puzzle. Sabah Soc. J. 21: 189-200. _ Dickinson, E. C. 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Robert G. Moyle et al. 100 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Felsenstein, J. 1985. 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Phylogeny of swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 35: 254-270. Smith, T. B., Wayne, R. K., Girman, D. J. & Bruford, M. W. 1997. A role for ecotones in generating rainforest biodiversity. Science 276: 1855-1857. Smythies, B. E. 1960. The birds of Borneo. Oliver & Boyd, London. Smythies, B. E. 1981. The birds of Borneo. Third edn. Sabah Soc. & Malayan Nat. Soc., Kuala Lumpur. Smythies, B. E. 1999. The birds of Borneo. Fourth edn. Nat. Hist. Publ., Kota Kinabalu. Somadikarta, S. 1986. Collocalia linchi Horsfield & Moore—a revision. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 106: 32-40. Swofford, D. L. 2002. Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods), version 4. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. Thomassen, H. A., den Tex, R.-J., de Bakker, M. A. G. & Povel, G. D. E. 2005. Phylogenetic relationships amongst swifts and swiftlets: a multi locus approach. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 37: 264-277. Thomassen, H. A., Wiersma, A. T., de Bakker, M. A. G., de Knijff, P., Hetebrij, E. & Povel, G. D. E. 2003. A new phylogeny of swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae) based on cytochrome-b DNA. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 29: 86-93. Whittingham, L. A., Slikas, B., Winkler, D. W. & Sheldon, F. H. 2002. Phylogeny of the tree swallow genus, Tachycineta (Aves: Hirundinidae), by Bayesian analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 22: 430-441. Addresses: Robert G. Moyle, Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Dyche Hall, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561, USA, e-mail: moyle@ku.edu. Jamili Nais & Maklarin Lakim, Sabah Parks, P.O. Box 10626, 88806 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, e-mails: jnais@tm.net.my and maklarin@ yahoo.com. Peter A. Hosner & Frederick H. Sheldon, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, 119 Foster Hall, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA, e-mails: idioptilon@yahoo.com and fsheld@LSU.edu © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 101 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Range extension for Marsh Tapaculo Scytalopus iraiensis to the highlands of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with an overview of the species’ distribution by Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Giovanni Nachtigall Mauricio, Guy M. Kirwan & Luis Fabio Silveira Received 23 March 2007 Described as recently as 1998, Marsh Tapaculo Scytalopus iraiensis is a peculiar, marsh- dwelling Rhinocryptid, apparently unique within the genus in being restricted to such habitat (Bornschein et al. 1998, Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). Part of the S. speluncae group, a taxonomically complex assemblage of tapaculos restricted to south-eastern South America, S. iraiensis is currently considered Endangered at global and national levels (Machado et al. 2005, BirdLife International 2006). Until recently, the species was known solely from a few localities in Parana and Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil (Bornschein et al. 1998, 2001, BirdLife International 2000, 2004, Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003, Mauricio 2005, Straube et al. 2005, Raposo et al. 2006). Here, we present the first records of S. iraiensis in the highlands of Minas Gerais and review its geographic distribution. We conducted specific surveys for S. iraiensis in Minas Gerais. Vocalisations were tape- recorded using Sony TCM 5000EV, Marantz PMD201 and Panasonic RQ-L31 tape-recorders, and Sennheiser ME-66 and ME-88 microphones. Tape-recordings have been or will be deposited at the Arquivo Sonoro Prof. Elias Coelho (ASEC), Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One specimen was collected and deposited in the ornithological collection of the Departamento de Zoologia da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (DZUFMG), Belo Horizonte. Voucher specimens of some plants present in marshes where S. iraiensis was recorded were deposited in the herbarium of the Departamento de Botanica da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BHCB). We also checked specimens of S. iraiensis housed at the Museu de Ciéncias e Tecnologia, Pontificia Universidade Cat6lica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (MCP), Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ), and Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém (MPEG). New records for S. iraiensis are presented below. All localities are listed from north to south and are mapped on Fig. 1. Serra do Cip6o (19°15’S, 43°31’W; elevation 1,345 m), Santana do Riacho municipality. On 14-15 September 2006, MFV observed and tape-recorded a single S. iraiensis in a marsh _ beside a stream near Portaria Palacio, in the highest part of Serra do Cip6 National Park. _ Another was heard along the same stream. The marsh comprised predominantly tall _ grasses (Poaceae), shrubs of Melastomataceae and some Eriocaulaceae. - Sumidouro village, near Fazenda Bocaina (20°00’S, 43°28’W; 730 m), Santa Barbara _ municipality. On 25 July 2005, MFV, Santos D’Angelo Neto and Vitor Torga Lombardi Ppality yy 8 8 observed and tape-recorded one individual in a marsh on the left margin of the rio Caraga. The bird seemed all black and approached to playback several times, but attempts to collect it were fruitless. On 3 August 2005, MFV and José Clatidio Ferreira found another individual in the same marsh, c.800 m from the previous sighting. It was collected and prepared as a study skin (DZUFMG 5175). The marsh at Sumidouro comprises secondary vegetation, is subject to fires and disturbance by domestic livestock. Typical plants are: Sticherus lanuginosus (Gleicheniaceae), Lycopodiella camporum (Lycopodiaceae), Anemia Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 102 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Figure 1. Known sites for Scytalopus iraiensis. Minas Gerais: 1 = Serra do Cipo; 2 = Sumidouro village; 3 = Serra do Caraga; 4 = Serra da Canastra. Parana: 5 = rio Iap6, near Roseta village; 6 = rio das Almas, near Teixeira Soares; 7 = rio Guarauna; 8 = upper Iguacu river basin (several nearby localities; see Bornschein et al. 2001); 9 = Cruz Machado (three nearby sites; see Straube et al. 2005); 10 = Sao Joao do Triunfo/Lapa (three nearby localities; see Bornschein et al. 2001); 11 = upper rio Varzea basin in Tijucas do Sul (several nearby localities; see Bornschein et al. 2001); 12 = Fazenda Sao Pedro. Rio Grande do Sul: 13 = Aparados da Serra National Park; 14 = Banhado dos Pachecos; 15 = Banhado do Macarico. Brazilian states shown: Minas Gerais (MG), Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Espirito Santo (ES), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Sao Paulo (SP), Parana (PR), Santa Catarina (SC) and Rio Grande do Sul (RS). raddiana (Schizaeaceae), Thelypteris rivularioides, T. serrata (Thelypteridaceae), Achyrocline saturioides, Baccharis calvescens, B. trimera, Cosmos sulphureus, Sonchus oleraceus, Symphiopappus sp., Tithonia diversifolia, Vernonia brasiliana and V. scorpioides (Asteraceae), Pyrostegia venusta (Bignoniaceae), Cordia sp. (Boraginaceae), Commelina oblique (Commelinaceae), Ipomoea cairica, Jacquemontia sp., Merremia macrocalyx (Convolvulaceae), RKhynchospora sp. (Cyperaceae), Paepalanthus sp. (Eriocaulaceae), Chamissice sp. Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 103 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) (Euphorbiaceae), Mimosa sp., Stylosanthes sp. (Fabaceae), Casearia sylvestris (Flacourtiaceae), Hyptis sp. (Lamiaceae), Buddleja sp. (Loganiaceae), Miconia albicans, Miconia sp., Tibouchina sp. (Melastomataceae), Eugenia sp. (Myrtaceae), three species of Ludwigia (Onagraceae), Cyrtopera longifolia (Orchidaceae), Andropogon bicornis, Panicum sp., Paspalum sp., Saccharum sp. (Poaceae), Pontederia sp. (Pontederiaceae), Borreria cf. capitata (Rubiaceae), Solanum granuloso-leprosum (Solanaceae) and Lippia elegans (Verbenaceae). GMK et al. searched the same locality for the species using playback but without success on 6-7 August 2005, as well as at another ostensibly similar, but at this season rather dry, wetland area c.2 km away, south of Sumidouro. However, on 16 October 2005, GMK et al. heard at least one S. iraiensis singing in the early morning at the marsh adjacent to Fazenda Bocaina. Serra do Caraga (20°07’—20°08’S, 43°27’-43°31’W; 1,450-1,850 m), Catas Altas and Santa Barbara municipalities. On 4-6 February 2003, MFV and GNM observed and tape-recorded a single bird in a high-altitude marsh (1,850 m) at the base of Pico do Inficionado, in the Caraga private reserve. Plant species present in this marsh include many native grasses (Poaceae), bamboos such as Chusquea pinifolia (Poaceae), tussock grasses Cortaderia sp. (Cyperaceae) and many shrubs, including Tibouchina sp. (Melastomataceae). On 20 January 2006, the song of another individual was tape-recorded by Luiz Pedreira Gonzaga and Gloria Castiglioni in wet grassland beside a stream flowing into the corrego do Retiro at Campo de Fora (1,450 m). Serra da Canastra (20°14’—20°28'S, 45°58’-46°26’W;, 750-1,415 m), Piumhi and Sao Roque de Minas municipalities. On 14 August 2005, GMK tape-recorded at least one bird in wet grassland bordering a heavily reed-fringed freshwater lake with much emergent and floating vegetation north of the town of Piumhi (see Vasconcelos et al. 2006). None was heard at the same locality on 21 October 2004, 13 October 2005 or 9 October 2006 (GMK pers. obs.). However, on 3 August 2006, LFS and Robson Silva e Silva located at least two birds, one close to the source of the rio Sao Francisco and another in a marsh near a locality known as ‘Curral de Pedras’, c.3 km distant. Given the long distance from the previous known range of S. iraiensis in southern Brazil, we originally suspected that the population in Minas Gerais might represent a new species. Nevertheless, comparison of the new specimen with the type series corroborated the plumage diagnosis of the original description (Bornschein et al. 1998): the combination of blackish upperparts, grey underparts and dark grey flanks distinguish the species from all congenerics. Measurements of the Minas Gerais specimen are within (wing chord: 45.0 - mm; tail: 39.4 mm; weight: 13.9 g), or only slightly below (tarsus: 17.4 mm), the range _ known for S. iraiensis (see Mauricio 2005). Furthermore, a preliminary analysis of vocalisa- _ tions made by GNM did not reveal any consistent differences between the populations from _ southern Brazil and those found in Minas Gerais, though only the song (not calls) is avail- _ able for the latter. L. P. Gonzaga (in litt. 2007) independently concluded the same based on his recordings from the Serra do Caraga. Therefore, we identify the Minas Gerais popula- tion as S. iraiensis without hesitation, though we recognise that calls may represent a very useful character to address species limits in the S. speluncae group (see Mauricio 2005). | Given this unusual distribution it seems natural that Marsh Tapaculo should be found _ in Sao Paulo state. However, intensive playback searches conducted by LFS and Erika i Machado, between late 2005 and March 2007, in the marshes of Mogi das Cruzes, Biritiba _ Mirim, Salesépolis (including the road to Estacao Bioldgica de Boracéia; c.23°39S, 45°54’W), | Estacdo Ecoldgica de Itirapina (22°15’S, 47°49’W) and Franca (20°32’S, 47°27’W) were fruit- less. Based on personal data from Bianca L. Reinert and Marcos Ricardo Bornschein, who i | | Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 104 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) indicated to us the more suitable habitats for Marsh Tapaculo, we searched more than 30 sites without any positive response. Nonetheless, occurrence in Sao Paulo state can still be expected and areas that still possess large natural fields and marshes, such as Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, nticleo Curucutu (23°59’S, 46°44’W), on the outskirts of Sao Paulo city, are candidates to harbour the species. Overview of the distribution of Scytalopus iraiensis S. iraiensis was described from three wetland localities in the metropolitan area of Curitiba, Parana (Bornschein et al. 1998), and was found subsequently at several new sites in the eastern third of the same state (Bornschein et al. 2001). A tapaculo population thought to represent this species was found, in 1998, by Rafael A. Dias and GNM in a coastal marsh in southern Rio Grande do Sul (Fig. 1, no. 15), and was referred to as Scytalopus sp. in Bencke (2001) and Mauricio & Dias (2001). Based on vocal and specimen data, this population was subsequently confirmed to be S. iraiensis, and a new locality for the species in the same state (Fig. 1, no. 14) was also found (Mauricio 2005; see also Accordi et al. 2003). S. iraiensis has also been found in south-central Parana and north-east Rio Grande do Sul (Straube et al. 2005, Bencke et al. 2006; Fig. 1). With the exception of sites 14 and 15, which are near sea level, the remaining areas are in the highlands (the Planalto Meridional), at 750-1,100 m. The new records of S. iraiensis reported here are the first for Minas Gerais and extend its known range more than 450 km north. Moreover, the Serra do Cip6 lies c.850 km north- east of the nearest records in Parana state. Given this much wider range than previously imagined, it is clearly of value to search for the species elsewhere, not only at intervening localities, e.g. highland marshes and wetlands in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states, but also in similar areas of habitat in western Espirito Santo state and even as far afield as north- east Argentina. The very recent discovery of S. iraiensis at comparatively well-studied localities in Minas Gerais, e.g. the Serra do Cipo (Melo Junior et al. 2001, Rodrigues et al. 2005), Serra do Caraga (Vasconcelos 2001, Vasconcelos & Melo Junior 2001, Vasconcelos et al. 2003, Faria et al. 2006) and Serra da Canastra (Silveira 1998), underlines the importance of species-specific searches which initially seek to locate prime habitat and thereafter use rigorous playback trials in such areas, to locate this (and other) birds easily overlooked by more general avifaunal surveys, even when conducted by highly competent observers. Furthermore, notwithstanding that the species appears to share with S. pachecoi a (primari- ly naturally rather than man-influenced) disjunct distribution, S. iraiensis is also likely to be present at more sites within the amplified range described here. It is important to note that most of the range of S. iraiensis is adequately documented by physical evidence, including the records from the northernmost localities in Minas Gerais, as reported here (tape-recordings from all four sites and a specimen from one of them), and the southernmost records obtained in Rio Grande do Sul (several tape-recordings from two lowland localities and two specimens from one of these; Appendix) (Mauricio 2005; see also Bornschein ef al. 1998). Despite having a much wider range than previously admitted (e.g. Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003), we do not propose any change to the current IUCN threat category Endangered for S. iraiensis, for the following reasons. The wetlands of the southernmost Brazilian states, especially those of the Planalto highlands, as well as those where the species has been found in Minas Gerais are being constantly altered by a dangerous, non- natural fire regime, and in southern Brazil several new projects are draining small and medium-sized marshes. The range of S. iraiensis, at least in part, is naturally patchy and sev- eral of its populations are probably effectively isolated (i.e. lack gene flow). For example, the Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 105 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) two populations of coastal Rio Grande do Sul are separated by more than 200 km; no marsh in the intervening region appears to support a habitat structure, i.e. tall marsh vegetation with extremely dense undergrowth of grasses and other plants, capable of harbouring S. iraiensis. This is particularly significant considering that Scytalopus are poor dispersers (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). Finally, we highlight that the records from three protected areas (Caraca private reserve, Serra do Cip6 National Park and Serra da Canastra National Park) are very impor- tant for this threatened species, as so few sites are within such areas (BirdLife International 2000, 2004, 2006, Bencke et al. 2006). Acknowledgements MFV is grateful to CAPES and the Brehm Foundation for financial support during this study. GNM is sup- ported by a doctoral fellowship (process number 141149/2006-0) from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnol6gico (CNPq). LFS receives a fellowship from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnol6gico (CNPq). We also thank those who assisted our studies of speci- mens in the following institutions: Carla S. Fontana (MCP), Marcos A. Raposo (MNRJ), and David C. Oren and Alexandre Aleixo (MPEG). Marcos Rodrigues incorporated the new specimen into the DZUFMG collec- tion. The botanists Rubens Custédio da Mota and Alexandre Salino (BHCB) helped identify many plant taxa collected in the marshes we worked. Luiz Pedreira Gonzaga and Gloria Castiglioni shared their record at Campo de Fora. José Claudio Ferreira, Santos D'Angelo Neto, Vitor Torga Lombardi, Herbert Pardini, Paulo Henrique Leite de Souza, Marcelo André, Bruno Costa, Ruslan Fernandes, Robson Silva e Silva, Erika Machado and Valdemir Cunha accompanied some field expeditions. References: Accordi, I. A., Hartz, S. M. & Ohlweiler, A. 2003. O sistema Banhado Grande como uma darea umida de importancia internacional. Pp. 56-63 in II Simpésio de Areas Protegidas—conservacao no ambito do Cone Sul. Pelotas. Bencke, G. A. 2001. Lista de referéncia das aves do Rio Grande do Sul. Fundacao Zoobotanica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (Publicagdes Avulsas FZB 10). Bencke, G. A., Mauricio, G. N., Develey, P. F. & Goerck, J. M. 2006. Areas importantes para a conservag¢ao das aves no Brasil. Parte I—estados do dominio da Mata Atlantica. SAVE Brasil, Sao Paulo. BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened birds of the world. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. BirdLife International. 2006. Species factsheet: Scytalopus iraiensis. www.birdlife.org (accessed 24 January 2007). Bornschein, M. R., Reinert, B. L. & Pichorim, M. 1998. Descricgao, ecologia e conservagao de um novo Scytalopus (Rhinocryptidae) do sul do Brasil, com comentarios sobre a morfologia da familia. Ararajuba 6: 3-36. Bornschein, M. R., Reinert, B. L. & Pichorim, M. 2001. Novos registros de Scytalopus iraiensis. Nattereria 2: UD—OS Faria, C. M. A., Rodrigues, M., Amaral, F. Q., Médena, E. & Fernandes, A. M. 2006. Aves de um fragmento de Mata Atlantica no alto Rio Doce: colonizacao e extingao. Rev. Bras. Zool. 23: 1217-1230. Krabbe, N. & Schulenberg, T. S. 2003. Family Rhinocryptidae (tapaculos). Pp. 748-787 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Machado, A. B. M., Martins, C. S. & Drummond, G. M. 2005. Lista da fauna brasileira ameacada de extingao: incluindo as listas de espécies quase ameacadas e deficientes em dados. Fundagao Biodiversitas, Belo Horizonte. Mauricio, G. N. 2005. Taxonomy of southern populations in the Scytalopus speluncae group, with description of a new species and remarks on the systematics and biogeography of the complex (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae). Ararajuba 13: 7-28. _ Mauricio, G. N. & Dias, R. A. 2001. Areas prioritarias para a conservacao de espécies de aves ameacadas de extingao no litoral sul do Rio Grande do Sul. Pp. 191-195 in I Simposio de areas protegidas—pesquisa e desenvolvimento socio-econdmico. Pelotas. | Melo Junior, T. A., Vasconcelos, M. F., Fernandes, G. W. & Marini, M. A. 2001. Bird species distribution and conservation in Serra do Cipo, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Bird Conserv. Intern. 11: 189-204. _ Raposo, M. A., Stopiglia, R., Loskot, V. & Kirwan, G. M. 2006. The correct use of the name Scytalopus spelun- cae (Ménétriés, 1835), and the description of a new species of Brazilian tapaculo (Aves: Passeriformes: | Rhinocryptidae). Zootaxa 1271: 37-56. Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 106 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Rodrigues, M., Carrara, L. A., Faria, L. P. & Gomes, H. B. 2005. Aves do Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipé6: o Vale do Rio Cip6, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Rev. Bras. Zool. 22: 326-338. Silveira, L. F. 1998. The birds of Serra da Canastra National Park and adjacent areas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Cotinga 10: 55-63. Straube, F. C., Krul, R. & Carrano, E. 2005. Coletanea da avifauna da regiao sul do estado do Parana (Brasil). Atualidades Orn. 125: 10. Vasconcelos, M. F. 2001. Adicdes a avifauna da Serra do Caraga, Minas Gerais. Atualidades Orn. 104: 3-4. Vasconcelos, M. F., D’Angelo Neto, S., Kirwan, G. M., Bornschein, M. R., Diniz, M. G. & Silva, J. F. 2006. Important ornithological records from Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 126: 212-238. Vasconcelos, M. F. & Melo Junior, T. A. 2001. An ornithological survey of Serra do Caraga, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Cotinga 15: 21-31. Vasconcelos, M. F., Vasconcelos, P. N., Mauricio, G. N., Matrangolo, C. A. R., Dell’Amore, C. M., Nemésio, A., Ferreira, J. C. & Endrigo, E. 2003. Novos registros ornitol6gicos para a Serra do Caraga, Brasil, com comentarios sobre distribuigao geografica de algumas espécies. Lundiana 4: 135-139. Addresses: Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Departamento de Zoologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, 30123-970, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, e-mail: mfvasconcelos@gmail.com. Giovanni Nachtigall Mauricio, Pds-graduacao em. Biociéncias—Zoologia, Museu de Ciéncias e Tecnologia, Pontificia Universidade Catélica do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga, 6681, CP 1429, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, e-mail: gnachtigallmauricio@yahoo.com.br. Guy M. Kirwan, 74 Waddington Street, Norwich NR2 4JS, UK, e-mail: GMKirwan@aol.com. Luis Fabio Silveira, Departamento de Zoologia and Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, CP 11461, 05422-970, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, e-mail: lfsilvei@usp.br APPENDIX Material examined—skins: Brazil. Minas Gerais: Sumidouro, Santa Barbara (n=1) (DZUFMG 5175 [male]). Parana: right bank of the rio Irai, Quatro Barras (n=5) (MNRJ 43378—holotype [female], MNRJ 43379—paratype [male], MNRJ 43380—paratype [male], MPEG 52944—paratype [female], MPEG 52945—paratype [male]). Rio Grande do Sul: Banhado do Magarico, Rio Grande (n=2) (MCP 957 [male], MCP 958 [male]). Material examined—tape-recordings: Brazil. Minas Gerais: Pico do Inficionado, Serra do Caraga, Catas Altas, song (n=3, from the same individual); Sumidouro, Santa Barbara, song (n=1); Portaria Palacio, Serra do Cip6, Santana do Riacho, song (n=1). Rio Grande do Sul: Banhado do Magarico, Rio Grande, song (n=6, representing four individuals [including MCP 958]), and call (several samples from the same individual); Banhado dos Pachecos, Viamao, song (n=2, from two birds). © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Andrew Whittaker 107 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Field evidence for the validity of White-tailed Tityra Tityra leucura Pelzeln, 1868 by Andrew Whittaker Received 30 March 2007; final revision received 28 February 2008 Tityra leucura (White-tailed Tityra) was described by Pelzeln (1868) from a specimen collected by J. Natterer, on 8 October 1829, at Salto do Girao [=Salto do Jirau] (09°20’S, 64°43’W) c.120 km south-west of Porto Velho, the capital of Rond6nia, in south-central Amazonian Brazil (Fig 1). The holotype is an immature male and is housed in Vienna, at the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NMW 16.999). Subsequent authors (Hellmayr 1910, 1929, Pinto 1944, Peters 1979, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Fitzpatrick 2004, Mallet-Rodrigues 2005) have expressed severe doubts concerning this taxon’s validity, whilst others simply chose to ignore it (Sick 1985, 1993, 1997, Collar et al. 1992.). Almost 180 years have passed since its collection with the result that T. leucura has slipped into oblivion, and the majority of Neotropical ornithologists and birdwatchers are unaware of its existence. Here, I review the history of T. leucura and then describe its rediscovery from the rio Madeira drainage of south-central Amazonian Brazil, providing details of my field observa- tions of an adult male. I present the first published photographs of the holotype of T. leucura, and compare plumage and morphological differences with two similar races of Black- crowned Tityra T. inguisitor pelzelni and T. 1. albitorques. T. inquisitor specimens were examined at two Brazilian museums for abnormal plumage characters. I also discuss the tax- onomic history of T. leuwcura and the reasons that led to it being placed in the synonymy of T. inquisitor. Finally, I summarise my rationale for why T. leuwcura should be treated as valid. History of Tityra leucura Hellmayr (1910, 1929) was first to cast doubts on the validity of T. leucura stating that ‘the type, a male molting from the juvenile into the first annual plumage, is most nearly related to T. 1. albitorques and resembles it in the white cheeks and auricular region; but the upper parts and breast are much more strongly tinged with gray, without any white on the hind neck, and the tail lacks the black subterminal band. The rectrices are pale gray, with the base of the inner webs white for about twenty millimeters (as in T. 7. inquisitor), and the tips broadly, although not abruptly, margined white. The outermost pair shows a narrow blackish shaft streak in the second third of the inner web, and a similar, but smaller spot exists near the base of the central rectrices. The coloration of the tail gives an abnormal impression, and may be due to the absence of melanin in the pigment cells during the process of growth. The bill, too, appears to have been retarded in its development. It is only one-third the size of the allied species and, instead of black, dark horn brown, paler below. The top of the head is mainly black, with slight metallic gloss, though on the forehead, superciliary region, and the hind crown a number of the hazel brown juvenile feathers may yet be seen. The second primary, as is also the case in the first annual plumage of the allied species, is fully developed and very nearly as long as the third. Concluding, additional material is required to establish the status of this alleged species.” Thereafter, the status of T. leucura was consistently regarded as dubious; J. T. Zimmer (in Traylor 1979) concluded ‘Its described characters suggest the possibility of abnormality in a subadult that is interme- diate between T. 1. albitorques and T. i. pelzelni, whose ranges involve other sections of the rio Madeira and its effluents’. More recently, Ridgely & Tudor (1994) noted T. leucura as a dubi- Andrew Whittaker 108 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) ous species, given the lack of field records and that geographic variation in the tail colour of T. inquisitor exists (the individual could be merely abnormal in showing a white tail). Fitzpatrick (2004) followed previous work in considering the type to be an abnormal subadult male, intermediate between T. 1. albitorques and T. 1. pelzelni, whose ranges appar- ently overlap in the area where the holotype was collected. Finally, Mallet-Rodrigues (2005) stated that either the type represents individual variation or is an intermediate between two geographical forms of T. inquisitor. Methods I undertook 50 days of field surveys at Pousada Rio Roosevelt (08°29’S, 60°57’W; Fig. 1), during five visits, 10-21 April 2004, 7-17 September 2004, 12-20 March 2005, 1-9 April 2006 and 11-19 September 2007. Field work was concentrated in lowland humid forest c.10 km either side of the pousada along the rio Roosevelt and c.10 km upstream on the rio Maderinha. A single excursion was made to the mouth of the rio Machadinho. Observations were made along riverbanks (from boats), on foot in terra firme forest and at the edge of the lodge’s airstrip. Results of this work will be published elsewhere (Whittaker submitted). I examined specimens of T. inquisitor at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil (MZUSP) and Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Para, Brazil (MPEG), as follows: T. i. inquisitor (MPEG 18955-56, 27219-21, 38414, 41273, 41495, 43493-94, 44594—95, 45285-86, 47109, 49090-91, 51853-54, 52433; MZUSP 1624, 5420, 6314, 6710-11, 8190-92, 10079, 12119, 12125, 15089, 15091, 15773, 26075, 26201, 27817, 2824243, 28686-87, 30394, 31262, 31907, 33475-76, 36954, 40998-99, 43237, 48085-87, 50089-90, 51163-64, 51238, 51895, 52723, 54562, 54582, 56923, 56925-27, 68681-84, 72286, 72288, 74054, 74711, 75325, 76076); T. ( iph eee RONDONIA = Figure 1. Map showing the type locality of Tityra leucura (square), at Salto de Jirau, Rond6nia, and the rediscovery site (star), at Pousada Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (prepared by Mort Isler). Andrew Whittaker 109 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) 1. erythrogenys (MPEG 2623-24, 9256, 15222, 27222, 46057-58); T. i. pelzelni (MPEG 27223; MZUSP 23393, 30393, 30395-96, 32688, 52722); and T. 1. albitorques (MZUSP 5246, 23399). Rediscovery I observed a presumed adult male T. leucura, at 15.15 h on 6 April 2006, in low-stature (c.20-30 m) terra firme, while following a huge midstorey mixed-species flock of insecti- vores. My initial impression was of an odd-looking Tityra with a striking all-white tail. It was immediately obvious that the bird was unlike any other tityra species (i.e. Black-tailed Tityra T. cayana, Masked Tityra T. semifasciata and Black-crowned Tityra T. inquisitor), all of which I know extremely well, and I therefore strongly suspected that my observation might represent the rediscovery of the T. leucura phenotype. I carefully observed the bird for seven minutes as it followed the flock, the sunny con- ditions affording perfect viewing conditions, at c.50—-70 m. Close observation of the tail at various angles confirmed that all of the rectrices were white, with no trace of black. I also noted the following distinct plumage characters. The bird most closely resembled T. inquisi- tor, but the black crown appeared reduced and did not reach the nape, running from the lores to just below the eye, then wrapping around the pure white ear-coverts (as in T. 1. albitorques) and onto the rear crown. The upperparts were whitish grey, whilst the black flight-feathers offered a sharp contrast. I also gained the strong impression of the bird pos- sessing a smaller bill, making its jizz somewhat more reminiscent of a Pachyramphus becard. The bill was dark above with a distinctly paler maxilla; the legs were dark and irides dark brown or black. For a couple of minutes, I followed the tityra with my microphone and tape-recorder switched on, in the forlorn hope of recording its voice. Once the bird was lost from view, I swiftly returned to the lodge to round up my birding group, whereupon we returned to the area of the sighting with cameras. However, we were unsuccessful in relo- cating the bird. Behaviour.—The tityra associated with a huge mixed-species flock, which included Violaceous Trogon Trogon violaceus, Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana, White-fronted Nunbird Monasa morphoeus, Buff-throated Woodcreeper Xiphorynchus guttatus, Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper Dendrexetastes rufigula, Olivaceous Woodcreeper Sittasomus griseicapillus, Chestnut-winged Foliage-gleaner Philydor erythropterus, Slender-billed Xenops Xenops tenuirostris, Sclater’s Antwren Myrmotherula sclateri, Chestnut-shouldered Antwren Terenura humeralis, Grey Elaenia Myiopagis caniceps, Forest Elaenia M. gaimardiu, Yellow- margined Flycatcher Tolmomyias assimilis, Grey-crowned Flycatcher T. poliocephalus, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher Terenotriccus erythrurus, Tooth-billed Wren Odontorchilus cinereus, Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus, Buff-cheeked Greenlet Hylophilus muscicapinus, White- TABLE 1 Comparison of bill sizes of Tityra leucura with T. 1. pelzelni and T. i. albitorques. Length = exposed culmen (in mm). All measurements taken by E. Bauernfeind. Taxon specimen no. sex length gape T. 1. pelzelni NMW 16.996 male DIES 13.6 NMW 16.997 female DAES 19 NMW 16.998 juvenile female 20.4 11.6 T. 1. albitorques NMW 16.994 male 21.4 13.4 NMW 16.995 female [QAP 12.4 T. leucura NMW 16.999 juvenile male 14.6 10.2 * tip broken Andrew Whittaker 110 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) winged Shrike-Tanager Lanio versicolor and Paradise Tanager Tangara chilensis. The tityra behaved typically, being sluggish, perching (often on open horizontal boughs) essentially motionless, albeit moving its head to slowly peer around. It hopped lethargically along hor- izontal branches, sometimes searching denser clumps of leaves or along larger branches for prey. The bird spent most time in the midstorey, and only once ventured to the subcanopy. Comparison with the holotype My field description of a tityra with a pure white tail, white cheeks and proportionate- ly smaller bill than congeners, which was not entirely dark, clearly matches the diagnostic features of T. leucura described by Pelzeln (1868). After reviewing photographs of the holo- type (Figs. 2-7), I was in no doubt that my observations referred to a male T. leucura. However, unlike the holotype, (an immature male), my observation clearly involved an adult male. Biometrics.—The bill of T. leucura is strikingly different in size to allied taxa (Table 1), but wing- and tail-lengths are similar. The bill of T. leucura is dark reddish brown (upper mandible) and pale amber, mottled darker brown on the edges (lower mandible) (E. Bauernfeind in litt. 2007). Compared to T. 1. pelzelni and T. 1. albitorques, the bill of T. leucura is much paler, although the base of the lower mandible in one T. 1. pelzelni (presumably an immature; NMW 16998) was slightly paler, as in T. leucura. In T. 1. pelzelni and T. 1. albitorques the hook at the bill tip is stronger and very well defined in adults. Plumage diagnostics—Compared to T. leucura, in T. 1. pelzelni the black crown extends slightly further onto the nape, as well as onto the cheeks and ear-coverts, which are white in T. leucura (Fig. 6). The rectrices are white basally with a broad black bar and very distinct white apical margin, but are all white in T. leucura (Fig. 5). T. 1. pelzelni has a proportionate- ly larger, darker bill than T. leucura (Fig. 6). T. 1. albitorques has a white tail with a broad black subterminal band of c.20 mm, and white apical margin, as well as a more extensive black crown than T. leucura, whilst its bill is again proportionately much larger and all dark (Figs. o1) Status.—The lone record of T. leucura at Pousada Rio Roosevelt was made during four separate research trips, totalling 50 days. If T. leucura is a valid taxon then this tityra must be a very low-density inhabitant of the midstorey and canopy of Amazonian forest, as is T. inquisitor (Stotz et al. 1997, Zimmer et al. 1997; AW unpubl). Taxonomic doubts [ summarise the reasons put forward for doubting the validity of T. leucura, and explain my rationale for contradicting each theory and for considering T. leucura as probably wor- thy of taxonomic status. Hybrid theory.—This theory proposed that T. leucura represents a hybrid between T. i albitorques and T. i. pelzelni, with an all-white tail. It is difficult to comprehend how such a pairing would result in a bird with a pure white tail, given that both races possess broad black tail-bands with smaller amounts of white. Although there is variation in tail patterns of those taxa in T. inquisitor, each tail pattern appears constant, with no variation (AW pers. obs.). For instance, my comparison of specimens at MZUSP, involving 56 T. i. inquisitor, six T. 1. pelzelni and two T. i. albitorques revealed consistent patterns with no signs of abnormal- ity or intra-taxon variation. Furthermore, T. i. pelzelni has all-black ear-coverts, making it even harder to explain why a supposed hybrid would possess both white auriculars and a white tail. Andrew Whittaker 111 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Figure 2 (left). Lateral view of the holotype of White- tailed Tityra Tityra leucura (E. Bauernfeind) Figure 3 (middle). Dorsal view of the holotype of White-tailed Tityra Tityra leucura (E. Bauernfeind) Figure 4 (right). Ventral view of the holotype of White-tailed Tityra Tityra leucura (E. Bauernfeind) Figure 5. Dorsal view of males and females of Black-crowned Tityra T. inquisitor pelzelni (A and B) and T. 1 albitorques (D and E), compared to the male holotype of White-tailed Tityra T. leucura (C) (E. Bauernfeind) Figure 6 (left). Head views of the holotype of White-tailed Tityra T. leucura (top) and Black-crowned Tityra T. inguisitor pelzelni (middle) and T. i. albitorques (bottom) (E. Bauernfeind) Figure 7 (right). Lateral view of the holotype of White-tailed Tityra Tityra leucura (left) compared to male (middle) and female Black-crowned Tityra T. 1. albitorques (E. Bauernfeind) DI Andrew Whittaker 112 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Lack of melanin in the tail—That I was unable to find any unusual variation in the tail pattern of the 64 tityra specimens studied at MZUSP, combined with the fact that no such variation appears to have been documented elsewhere, does not support this theory. Of course, any bird species could lack melanin in its tail, but the probability of this event occur- ring twice in a tityra in the same biogeographical region, and apparently nowhere else, appears extremely unlikely. Abnormally small bill—This factor could be due to the type being juvenile and the bill retarded in its development. Admittedly, some juveniles fledge with smaller bills than adults, making this theory not instantly dismissible, but my field observation also suggest- ed that the bill (of an adult male) is smaller than other tityras. The smaller bill of T. leucura is obvious (Fig. 6) when compared directly with T. 1. albitorques and T. 1. pelzelni, and men- sural data confirm this (Table 1). Since Hellmayr (1910, 1929), this striking morphological feature has been overlooked or missed by all subsequent commentators. Remarks The type locality of T. leucura lies in the same biogeographical area as the rediscovery site, which is c.420 km to the east-northeast. The rio Roosevelt flows north into the rio Aripuana, which drains into the rio Madeira, one of the four major south-bank tributaries of the lower Amazon. The Madeira forms a major biogeographical barrier to many birds, animals and plants (Haffer 1992). Some 300-350 km further to the east is the rio Tapajos, which constitutes another major barrier to species distributions. The area of land between them, the Madeira/Tapajés interfluvium (where T. /eucura occurs) is well known as one of the main centres of endemism (in birds) in the southern Amazon basin, being located with- in a proposed Pleistocene refugium, known as the ‘Rondonian area of endemism’ (Haffer 1974, Cracraft 1985). This area is still producing a wealth of scientific discoveries, including the recently described Rondénia Bushbird Clytoctantes atrogularis (Lanyon et al. 1990) from Cachoeira Nazaré, Rondonia, just c.120 km south-west of Pousada Rio Roosevelt. Despite this, very little ornithological collecting, or research, has been undertaken in the Madeira/Tapajos interfluvium, leaving the region’s avifauna extremely poorly known. Natterer collected along the rios Madeira and Guaporé (Pelzeln 1868-70), the Hoffmanns worked the lower rio Jiparana and rio Madeira (Hellmayr 1910), and, recently, MZUSP and Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), Chicago, staff made a major collection on the middle rio Jiparana (Stotz et al. 1997). Reviews of avian collecting in the Brazilian Amazon, by Haffer (1974) and Oren & Albuquerque (1991), have confirmed its highly uneven pattern, with most localities, unsurprisingly, being along major rivers, and little penetration of the vast interfluvial interiors. Detailed analysis of all Brazilian Amazonia collecting sites (>100 specimens) by Oren & Albuquerque (1991) confirmed that areas of thousands of square kilo- metres are completely unsampled, and well over 50% of the region is still a major priority for collecting work. Concluding, Oren & Albuquerque (1991) stated ‘the entire southern tier of the Brazilian Amazon from Acre and Rond6nia remains virtually unknown’. Conclusion There are no scientific grounds or strong reasons to consider T. leucura a synonym of T. inquisitor. Given that the entire region remains extremely poorly known ornithologically, it is scarcely surprising that a forest canopy inhabitant like T. leucura should have gone over- looked for 177 years. My observation of an adult male tityra matching the description of T. leucura strongly suggests that T. leucura is a valid taxon, presumably restricted to the Madeira/Tapajos interfluvium and a Rond6nian endemic, and should promote immediate Andrew Whittaker 113 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) research into its taxonomy. Fortunately, a more detailed study of possible leucism and a comparison of the type with allied taxa are underway (Bauernfeind in prep.), whilst a genet- ic comparison of T. leucura and other Tityra, especially T. inquisitor, if possible, is also much-needed. For now, T. leucura should be considered Data Deficient on the IUCN /BirdLife International Red Data list. Acknowledgements For his suggestions and the photographs, I am extremely indebted to Dr Ernst Bauernfeind (NMW). I dedi- cate this paper to the memory of Paul Coopmans whose untimely death was a great loss to Neotropical ornithology. Waner Costa not only permitted my research at Pousada Rio Roosevelt, but has also had the wonderful foresight to protect this very special region through his wonderful lodge for sport fishermen and ecotourists. Alex Lees and Edson Endrigo shared unpublished data and Mort Isler created the map. Francisco Mallet-Rodrigues, Marcos Raposo and Guy Kirwan made helpful comments from which the manuscript ben- efited. | am very grateful to both Alex Alexio and Luis Fabio Silveira for kindly allowing my work at MPEG and MZUSP, and to Marco Antdnio Regos, who helped analyse specimens. I especially thank the staff and guides at Pousada Rio Roosevelt for the logistical support that made my visits so productive and enjoyable. References: Collar, N. J., Gonzaga, L. P., Krabbe, N., Madrono Nieto, A., Naranjo, L. G., Parker, T. A. & Wege, D. C. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data book. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK. Cracraft, J. 1985. Historical biogeography and patterns of differentiation within South American avifauna: areas of endemism. Pp. 48-84 in Buckley, P. A., Foster, M. S., Morton, E. S., Ridgely, R. S. & Buckley, F. G. (eds.) Neotropical ornithology. Orn. Monogr. 36. Fitzpatrick, J. W. 2004. Family Tyrannidae (tyrant-flycatchers) Pp 170-464 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 9. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Haffer, J. 1974. Avian speciation in tropical South America. Publ. Nuttall Orn. Cl. 14. Nuttall Orn. CL, Cambridge, MA. Haffer, J. 1992. On the “river effect” in some forest birds of southern Amazonia. Bol. Mus. Emilio Goeldi, Zool. 8: 217-245. Hellmayr, C. E. 1910. The birds of the Rio Madeira. Novit. Zool. 17: 257-428. Hellmayr, C. E. 1929. Catalogue of birds of the Americas and adjacent islands. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. ser. 13(6): 1=258. Lanyon, S. M., Stotz, D. F. & Willard, D. E. 1990. Clytoctantes atrogularis, a new species of antbird from west- ern Brazil. Wilson Bull. 102: 571-580. Mallet-Rodrigues, F. 2005. Taxons de aves de validade questionavel com ocorréncia no Brasil. 1—Introducao e lista geral. Rev. Bras. Orn. 13: 210-211. Oren, D. C. & Albuquerque, H. G. 1991. Priority areas for new avian collections in Brazilian Amazonia. Goeldiana (Zool.) 6: 1-11. Pelzeln, A. von. 1868. Zur Ornithologie Brasiliens: Resultate von Johann Natterers Reisen in den Jahren 1817 bis 1835. A. Pichler’s Witwe & Sohn, Wien. Pinto, O. M. O. 1944. Catalogo das aves do Brasil e lista dos exemplares existentes na colecao do Departamento de Zoologia. 2a parte. Séc. Agr. Ind. e Com., Sao Paulo. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. Sick, H. 1985. Ornitologia brasileira, uma introducao. Univ. de Brasilia. Sick, H. 1993. Birds in Brazil: a natural history. Princeton Univ. Press. Sick, H. 1997. Ornitologia brasileira. Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro. Stotz, D. F., Lanyon, S. M., Schulenberg, T. S., Willard, D. E., Peterson, A. T. & Fitzpatrick, J. W. 1997. An avi- faunal survey of two tropical forest localities on the middle Rio Jiparana, Rondonia, Brazil. Pp. 763-781 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Traylor, M. A. (ed.) 1979. Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 8. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Whittaker A. Submitted. Pousada Rio Roosevelt: a provisional avifaunal inventory in south-western Amazonian Brazil, with information on life history, new distributional data and comments on taxono- my. Cotinga. Address: Conjunto Acariquara, Rua Samaumas 214, Manaus, AM, CEP 69085-410, Brazil, e-mail: Andrew@birdingbraziltours.com. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Andrew Whittaker et al. 114 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Corrections and additions to an annotated checklist of birds of the upper rio Urucu, Amazonas, Brazil by Andrew Whittaker, Alexandre Aleixo & Fabiola Poletto Received 7 May 2007 Shortly after publication of the paper ‘Annotated checklist of the bird species of the upper Rio Urucu, Amazonas, Brazil’ (Peres & Whittaker 1991), AW became aware that sev- eral important records therein were erroneous. Various communications questioning the credibility of some records in Peres & Whittaker (1991) led him to undertake a thorough review of all data presented. Subsequently, an updated bird list was prepared for the area, combining all valid records by Peres & Whittaker (1991) as well as those made by AA, FP and M. P. D. Santos since 2003 (Aleixo et al. in press). Here we correct errors in Peres & Whittaker (1991), mostly misidentifications (many of them unnecessarily included and eas- ily avoided); reinforce and expand on records whose importance was previously overlooked; correct the identity of species listed as uncertain; update taxonomy; and add important new data. Research dates AW’s contributions to the checklist in Peres & Whittaker (1991) were gathered during a seven-day period of mist-netting and observations, on 28 December 1988-3 January 1989 (with Nadime Aratjo Whittaker). AA and FP undertook research at the Urucu under the CT-Petro project, for a total 41 days as follows: 18 June—9 July 2003, 7-20 September 2004 and 29 September-—5 October 2006; they surveyed birds at several sites (mostly in terra firme and creek-side forests) through observations, tape-recordings, mist-netting and collecting. Specimens are deposited in the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil (MPEG). Identification errors and uncertainties RED-WINGED WOOD RAIL Aramides calopterus This extremely poorly known species was noted by Peres, who supposedly identified it by voice, in creek-side forest along the rio Urucu, although elsewhere vocalisations of A. calopterus are considered unknown (Vaca et al. 2006). We believe this record should be with- drawn until evidence is presented to show that the much commoner Grey-necked Wood Rail A. cajanea, also found at the Urucu in the same habitat (Peres & Whittaker 1991; AA & FP pers. obs.), was not involved. The only confirmed Brazilian record of A. calopterus is from the upper rio Jurua (Gyldenstolpe 1945). A record reported by Stotz & Bierregaard (1989) from terra firme north of Manaus, Amazonas (east of the rio Negro), was later considered erroneous (Cohn-Haft et al. 1997). RUDDY GROUND DOVE Columbina talpacoti Reported as uncommon and associated with anthropogenic habitats at the Urucu (Peres & Whittaker 1991), but probably in error for Common Ground Dove C. passerina, the only ground dove recorded by AA & FP, who collected an adult male (MPEG 56994). Columbina populations presumably became established following intensive occupation and wide- spread habitat disturbance along the main road traversing the area, in the late 1980s. As C. — = — 3 . ™ Andrew Whittaker et al. 115 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) passerina is the only ground dove observed frequently and documented for the Urucu, we recommend removing C-. talpacoti from the checklist for now. CANARY-WINGED PARAKEET Brotogeris versicolurus AA & FP observed Cobalt-winged B. cyanoptera (also tape-recorded) and Golden-winged Parakeets B. chrysoptera chrysosema (also tape-recorded and collected [MPEG 56993]), appar- ently the first documented sympatry between these species. Records of B. chrysoptera at the Urucu represent a significant range extension, west across the rio Madeira (Collar 1997). As B. c. chrysosema exhibits distinct bright yellow primary-coverts (and was not expected in the Urucu area), it might have been confused with B. versicolurus. Nonetheless, the extensive white mixed with yellow on the wing (very noticeable in flight) and longer tail of B. versi- colurus should have prevented this error. At the Urucu, B. chrysoptera is outnumbered by the commoner B. cyanoptera, but is often found in small flocks in terra firme edge, mainly around ‘Papagaio’ lodge (04°51’S, 65°04’W). In contrast, B. versicolurus is a varzea species, occurring mostly along the Amazon (Aleixo & Poletto 2007), making it unlikely to occur so far from the Amazon’s main channel. We recommend removing B. versicolurus from the list. Further field work in south-west Amazonian Brazil should reveal whether other populations of B. c. chrysosema exist west of the Madeira. RED-LORED PARROT Amazona autumnalis This large Amazona is represented in Amazonian Brazil by the isolated and distinct popula- tion A. a. diadema, known only from the lower rio Negro basin and adjacent north bank of the Amazon to Barra do Rio Negro, in north-west Brazil (Collar 1997). The report of A. autumnalis as common at the Urucu (Peres & Whittaker 1991) represents the only known record south of the Amazon. AA and FP’s surveys recorded only two Amazona: Yellow- crowned Parrot A. ochrocephala and Mealy Parrot A. farinosa; both were documented with tape-recordings. As A. ochrocephala is not listed by Peres & Whittaker (1991), it seems possi- ble that records of A. autumnalis in fact refer to the former. Although A. a. diadema is documented to undertake seasonal movements from terra firme north of Manaus (Cohn- Haft et al. 1997; AW pers. obs.), with records as far as the west bank of the rio Negro in Jau National Park (Borges et al. 2001), we prefer to regard this unique record of A. autumnalis as a misidentification and remove it from the list. LESSER NIGHTHAWK Chordeiles acutipennis January records presented in Peres & Whittaker (1991) must have referred to the similar Common Nighthawk C. minor, which is present during this period in Amazonia, and was observed by AW in December 1988 at the Urucu. On 30 September 2006, AA & FP observed a flock of c.30 C. minor flying high over the rio Urucu at dusk. Most records of C. minor in Amazonia occur during autumn migration, with few after December (Stotz et al. 1992). However, on 28 December 2006, AW observed a feeding congregation of 150+ c.7 km south of Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas, and G. M. Kirwan (in litt. 2008) and H. Shirihai saw >100 leaving a roost at Iracema Falls, north of Presidente Figueiredo, on 14-15 December 2007. The only spring records of C. minor from Amazonia are by M. Cohn-Haft: three on 15-16 March 1989 at the Manaus INPA tower and large numbers during the first half of April 1989 at the Urucu (Stotz et al. 1992). C. acutipennis arrives later in Amazonia (March-April; AW pers. obs.), as do most austral migrants, by which time C. minor is very rare in the region. Because the only Chordeiles consistently observed at the Urucu is C. minor, and identification demands careful study of wing pattern, tail length and subtle differences in flight pattern, we recommend removing C. acutipennis from the list. Andrew Whittaker et al. 116 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) WHITE-CHINNED JACAMAR Galbula tombacea Reported by Peres & Whittaker (1991) as common in forest edge, along roads and creek-side forest, but this must refer to the similar and closely related Bluish-fronted Jacamar G. cyanescens, its geographic replacement in south-west Amazonia (Haffer 1974). AA & FP recorded G. cyanescens very frequently, mostly in creek-side forest, where two adult males were collected, in 2003 and 2004 (MPEG 56992, 58291). NYSTALUS SP. Peres in Peres & Whittaker (1991) reported an unidentified puffbird, undoubtedly of the genus Nystalus, being most similar to ‘Barred Puffbird Nystalus striolatus’. However, the cor- rect English name of N. striolatus is Striolated Puffbird, not Barred Puffbird N. radiatus, which is found only in western Colombia and western Ecuador (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). The field description by Peres certainly does not exactly fit any known puffbird, but is fairly close to N. striolatus, which we believe these birds must have been. Subsequently, AA & FP collected four N. striolatus at the Urucu, in 2003 and 2004 (MPEG 56996-98, 58289). Pairs and even small groups were frequently observed perched on wires beside the main road, particularly along the main creeks. N. striolatus is fairly common, particularly in creek- side forest, being especially vocal at dawn. BLACK-NECKED ARACARI Pteroglossus aracari South of the Amazon in Brazil, the range of P. aracari terminates well east of the Urucu, at the right bank of the rio Madeira (Short & Horne 2002). Thus, the Urucu record of P. aracari, where it was reported as uncommon in terra firme (Peres & Whittaker 1991), is more than 500 km west of its range, within a different centre of endemism. We therefore conclude that this entry must refer either to the similar Chestnut-eared Aragari P. castanotis (not recorded subsequently by AA & FP) or Brown-mandibled Aracari P. azara (five specimens obtained by AA & FP: MPEG 57012-57014, 58293, 61155). As all three are similar, especially P. aracari and P. castanotis, they can be misidentified. For example, the diagnostic chestnut ear-coverts of P. castanotis (vs. black in P. aracari) are easily overlooked in the field, except in perfect light (AW pers. obs.), regularly leading to confusion, e.g., at Alta Floresta, Para (AW unpubl.). The known range of P. castanotis does include the Urucu (Short & Horne 2002), but given that AA & FP did not record it, we believe it best to regard the Peres & Whittaker (1991) records of P. aracari as misidentified P. azara. Future field work should reveal if P. cas- tanotis also occurs. LAFRESNAYE’S PICULET Picumnus lafresnayi Reported by Peres & Whittaker (1991) as common in many different habitats at the Urucu, the first records south of the Amazon and a considerable range extension (Winkler & Christie 2002). However, the Urucu is within the known range of Bar-breasted Piculet P. aurifrons (Winkler & Christie 2002), which was collected by AW at Caitai-Uara, Amazonas, c.240 km to the north-west (MPEG 49891-92); the two specimens possess mixed characters of the flavifrons and purusianus subspecies (Winkler & Christie 2002). We consider it best to await specimen confirmation of the identity of the Urucu piculet and, until then, it should be listed as Picumnus sp. LITTLE WOODPECKER Veniliornis passerinus Peres & Whittaker (1991) reported it as uncommon in terra firme, whereas Red-stained Woodpecker V. affinis was common. The only Veniliornis in terra firme in Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon is V. affinis. To date, no terra firme sites in Amazonia hold more than Mi = Andrew Whittaker et al. a7 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) one species of Veniliornis, to our knowledge. Furthermore, in Amazonian Brazil V. passeri- nus is restricted to second growth beside rivers and on river islands. Distinguishing these two woodpeckers in the field can be problematic, especially given racial variation (AW pers. obs.). Furthermore, this genus generally spends much time in the midstorey and canopy, within fast-moving mixed-species flocks, making them often difficult to identify. We con- clude that V. passerinus was a misidentification and should be removed from the Urucu checklist. PYGMY/MOUSTACHED ANTWREN Myrmotherula brachyura/obscura Identification as Pygmy Antwren M. brachyura was established by AW in 1988 and recon- firmed by AA & FP, who observed and tape-recorded this species during every visit to the Urucu, but were unable to find M. obscura, whose known range lies further west (AA & AW pers. obs.). RUFOUS-WINGED ANTWREN Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus Reported for the Urucu based on a sight record by Peres at a canopy platform (Peres & Whittaker 1991). AA and FP failed to find any Herpsilochmus there, except a new taxon being described by M. Cohn-Haft, which they documented through tape-recordings and a male specimen (MPEG 61157). However, the new taxon’s phylogenetic affinities are probably closer to another species group, rather than H. rufimarginatus. Because the Urucu record of H. rufimarginatus is the only one from this interfluvium, and the nearest record is c.570 km south-east across the Madeira, at Pousada Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (Whittaker submitted), we recommend removing it from the list due to the likelihood of confusion with the new Herpsilochmus mentioned above. Furthermore, AW also obtained tape-recordings of this new taxon, in November 2007, at Reserva de Desenvolvimento Uakarai, on the middle rio Jurua, (05°26’S, 67°17’W), only c.230 km to the south-west. STRIATED ANTBIRD Drymophila devillei We conclude this species’ entry was an error, as it was recorded as common in forest gaps and creek-side forests. This antbird is a bamboo specialist, always found in close association with bamboo, particularly Guadua species (Parker et al. 1997; AW & AA pers. obs.). The complete lack of bamboo at the Urucu reinforces our argument. AA and JP did not find D. devillei there, but D. d. devillei was tape-recorded and collected (MPEG 50005) by AW at Caitau-Uara, from bamboo in varzea on the south bank of the rio SolimG6es, c.240 km to the north-west. Thus, if bamboo is eventually discovered in the Urucu, then D. d. devillei might also be found. ASH-WINGED ANTWREN Terenura spodioptila The only records of T. spodioptila south of the Amazon are of race meridionalis, which is endemic to the lower Madeira—Tapajos interfluvium, well to the east of the Urucu, within a different centre of endemism (Zimmer & Isler 2003). As T. spodioptila and the south-west Amazonian Chestnut-shouldered Antwren T. humeralis are very close vocally, we believe the Terenura noted by Peres & Whittaker (1991) is T. humeralis. A good tape-recording obtained by AA on 4 July 2003 of a Terenura in a mixed-species canopy flock near ‘Papagaio’ lodge (04°51’S, 65°04’W) matches very closely the recording of T. humeralis on Isler & Whitney (2002). Also, T. h. transfluvialis is known from the following documented records in the Jurua—Purus interfluvium near the Urucu: observations and tape-recordings from Reserva de Desenvolvimento Uakarai, on the middle Jurua (05°26’S, 67°17’W), c.230 km to the south-west, and Labrea (AW unpubl.), whilst the holotype of T. h. transfluvialis is from Andrew Whittaker et al. 118 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Hiutanaa, Amazonas, on the left bank of the Purus (Todd 1927). We recommend replacing T. spodioptila with T. humeralis on the checklist. BLACKISH ANTBIRD Cercomacra nigrescens Recorded at the Urucu as hypothetical by voice, by M. Cohn-Haft, who was uncertain of the identification at the time (Peres & Whittaker 1991; M. Cohn-Haft pers. comm.). We can con- firm that this record of C. nigrescens almost certainly refers to Black Antbird C. serva, whose loudsong pattern recalls some subspecies of C. nigrescens (AW pers. obs.). Furthermore, AA & FP did not record C. nigrescens but found C. serva to be the commonest Cercomacra, par- ticularly in the extensive clearings along the main paved road, where several were tape-recorded and two adult males collected in 2003 (MPEG 57109-110). Finally, the hypo- thetical record of C. nigrescens at the Urucu was from terra firme, which is inconsistent with its ecological requirements in western Amazonia, where it is represented by the distinct C. n. fuscicauda in varzea and riverine forests. On the other hand, in this part of Amazonia, C. serva is the common understorey Cercomacra in terra firme (AA & AW pers. obs.). C. nigrescens should be removed from the Urucu list, pending documentation. SLATE-COLOURED ANTBIRD Percnostola schistacea Easily confused with Humaita Antbird P. humaythae (sensu Isler et al. 2007), the record of P. schistacea (Peres & Whittaker 1991), if correct, would extend the latter’s range hundreds of km east; the nearest known records of P. schistacea to the Urucu are from Jutai Sustainable Development Area, over 400 km to the south-west, where AA and FP tape-recorded and collected five specimens in March 2006 (MPEG 60205-209). At the Urucu, AA & FP never recorded P. schistacea, only P. humaythae, including a good tape-recording obtained on 29 June 2003 in creek-side forest. We consider the record of P. schistacea a misidentification. HARLEQUIN ANTBIRD Rhegmatorhina berlepschi This range-restricted obligate army ant follower is a Brazilian endemic restricted to the Madeira—Tapajés interfluvium (Zimmer & Isler 2003). As all Rhegmatorhina are allopatric, the Urucu record of R. berlepschi by C. Peres is a misidentification and almost certainly involved Hairy-crested Antbird R. melanosticta. During their field work, AA & FP tape- recorded and collected four specimens of R. melanosticta (MPEG 57152-155). VARIEGATED ANTPITTA Grallaria varia. Recorded as common in tall forest by Peres & Whittaker (1991), this record would be extremely significant as this antpitta is not known west of the Madeira, in the Purus—Madeira interfluvium (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). However, as the distinctive voice of this antpitta was not heard by AW, M. Cohn-Haft, or by AA & FP (all of whom are familiar with it), we recommend removing this species from the list. SPOTTED ANTPITTA Hylopezus macularius Recorded by Peres & Whittaker (1991) at the Urucu based on confirmed sight records and undisputed vocal recognition by C. Peres. H. macularius comprises three subspecies (H. m. macularius, H. m paraensis and H. m. diversus), none of which is documented by specimens from near the Urucu (AW & AA unpubl.; MPEG specimens). However, H. m. paraensis is listed west of the Madeira, i.e. within the same centre of endemism (Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). Because the ranges and morphological and vocal diagnoses of the different taxa of H. macularius in Amazonian Brazil are still poorly characterised, we have commenced a multi-character study to assess species limits. Until this is complete, we Andrew Whittaker et al. 119 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) recommend the Urucu record be treated as hypothetical, as this population could represent an undescribed taxon (AW and AA in prep.). RED-BILLED WOODCREEPER Hylexetastes perrotii To date, the only Hylexetastes documented west of the Negro and Madeira is Bar-bellied Woodcreeper H. stresemanni (Marantz et al. 2003); thus, this record is a misidentification. On 30 June 2003 AA & FP collected a female H. stresemanni in stunted terra firme on sandy soil near ‘Papagaio’ lodge (04°51’S, 65°04’W) at the Urucu (MPEG 57058), their only record of this rare low-density woodcreeper. CHESTNUT-RUMPED WOODCREEPER Xiphorynchus pardalotus X. pardalotus exclusively occurs north of the Amazon and west of the Negro, in the Guianan Shield (Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Marantz et al. 2003), making its listing for the Urucu erro- neous. AA & FP have tape-recorded and collected four Xiphorhynchus at the Urucu: Ocellated Woodcreeper X. ocellatus, Elegant Woodcreeper X. elegans, Striped Woodcreeper X. obsoletus and Buff-throated Woodcreeper X. guttatus. Given their close phylogenetic affinity (Aleixo 2002), the species most likely to be confused with X. pardalotus is X. ocella- tus, which at the Urucu is strictly associated with creek-side forest. Indeed, the only Xiphorhynchus reported by Peres & Whittaker (1991) in creek-side forest was ‘X. pardalotus’. X. ocellatus was included by Peres & Whittaker (1991), but only from undisturbed tall for- est. Tape-recordings and four specimens of X. ocellatus were obtained by AA & FP in 2003-04 (MPEG 57052-054, 58296). Purported records of X. pardalotus south of the Amazon between the lower rios Tapajés and Xingu (Zimmer 1934, Haffer 1997) were either misiden- tified or mislabelled specimens (Marantz et al. 2003). CHESTNUT-CROWNED FOLIAGE-GLEANER Automolus rufipileatus The only record was based exclusively on voice and thus listed as hypothetical (Peres & Whittaker 1991). We feel it best to remove the species from the list as the commonly heard rattle of the south-west Amazonian subspecies of Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner A. infusca- tus purusianus is almost impossible (without great experience) to separate from A. rufipileatus (AW & AA pers. obs.). Furthermore, most Automolus are readily captured in mist-nets and the species has not been caught at the Urucu despite considerable effort. Finally, in western Amazonian Brazil A. rufipileatus is primarily associated with early- successional vegetation along watercourses, entering terra firme only if extensive bamboo or vine tangles are available (AA & AW unpubl.). The lack of bamboo at the Urucu (where A. rufipileatus was supposedly recorded in high-ground terra firme), combined with vocal sim- ilarities between A. rufipileatus and A. 1. purusianus, prompt us to recommend removing A. rufipileatus from the Urucu list. STREAKED XENOPS Xenops rutilans Almost certainly a misidentification, presumably of the rather similar Slender-billed Xenops X. tenutrostris, which was observed and tape-recorded by AA, on 2 October 2006, in sandy-soil stunted terra firme near the SUC-001 oilfield. Amazonian records of X. rutilans are mostly restricted to the forest-savanna ecotone at the region’s southern border (Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Remsen 2003; MPEG specimens), e.g. at Alta Floresta, where it occurs in decid- uous forest atop rocky outcrops in terra firme (AW pers. obs.). The complete lack of previous records in western Amazonian Brazil casts doubt on the Urucu record, which should be removed. Andrew Whittaker et al. 120 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) HELMETED PYGMY TYRANT Lophotriccus galeatus / SNETHLAGE’S TODY-TYRANT Hemitriccus minor Helmeted Pygmy Tyrant was recorded as common in undisturbed tall forest (Peres & Whittaker 1991), but this represents a misidentification as L. galeatus does not occur in south-west Amazonia (Fitzpatrick 2004). As to the actual species involved, there are two possibilities: Snethlage’s Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus minor pallens or Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant Lophotriccus vitiosus congener, both of which occur in terra firme and seasonally flood- ed forests in south-west Amazonia (Fitzpatrick 2004). The former was tape-recorded and collected at the Urucu by AA & FP in 2003 (MPEG 57167-170), thereby confirming records of H. minor in Peres & Whittaker (1991). On the other hand, the Urucu apparently lies well east of the easternmost records of L. v. congener: observations and tape-recordings at Reserva de Desenvolvimento Uakarai, on the middle Jurua, (05°26’S, 67°17’W) c.230 km to the south-west (AW unpubl.), Caitau-Uara (MPEG 50130), where tape-recorded by AW in varzea, c.240 km to the north-west, and Jutai Sustainable Development area in March 2006 (MPEG 60236, also tape-recorded by AA in riparian forest), c.400 km to the south-west. We conciude that L. galeatus should be withdrawn from the Urucu list until some evidence is available. YELLOW-BELLIED ELAENIA Elaenia flavogaster Considering the complexity of field identification of all Elaenia and that this record was list- ed as uncertain, we recommend it be listed as Elaenia sp. E. flavogaster is extremely patchy and local in central Amazonia, with previously published records only from Alter do Chao, Para (Sanaiotti & Cintra 2001) and south-east Amazonas (Aleixo & Poletto 2007), with unpublished sight records from a site c.30 km north of Manaus and Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas, and the rio Aracga, Roraima (AW pers. obs.). However, especially in savannas at the fringes of Amazonia, this species is common and more widespread (Aleixo & Poletto 2007). Several other Elaenia migrate to Amazonia, amongst them Small-billed Elaenia E. parvirostris, a common austral visitor, often at terra firme borders (AW pers. obs.). On 17 September 2004 AA collected a female E. parvirostris in disturbed terra firme near the Urucu headquarters (MPEG 58305). YELLOW-OLIVE FLYCATCHER Tolmomyias sulphurescens Although this widespread flycatcher is generally absent from terra firme in Amazonian Brazil, except T. s. mixtus in the easternmost part (Zimmer & Whittaker in prep.), western Amazonian records refer to T. s. insignis, which is associated exclusively with riverine habi- tats, including seasonally flooded white- (varzea) or black-water (igap6) forests, or mature river islands (Zimmer & Whittaker in prep.). A specimen of T. s. insignis was obtained, and tape-recorded, by AW at Caitau-Uara on the south bank of the SolimGes, c.240 km north- west of the Urucu, in varzea (MPEG 50109), whilst AW found it common, in November 2007, in riverine habitats (multiple tape-recordings) at Reserva de Desenvolvimento Uakarai, on the middle rio Jurua (05°26’S, 67°17’W), c.230 km to the south-west, and AA tape-recorded and collected another c.400 km to the south-west, at Jutai Sustainable Development area, in March 2006 (MPEG 60239). Because the Urucu records were from undisturbed terra firme, they certainly involved either Yellow-margined T. assimilis or Grey-crowned Flycatcher T. poliocephalus. We recommend withdrawing T. sulphurescens from the Urucu list until a spec- imen or tape-recording is available. | Andrew Whittaker et al. 121 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) BLACK-TAILED FLYCATCHER Myiobius atricaudus Species-level identification in this complex is very difficult (Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Fitzpatrick 2004), but recent field work throughout Amazonian Brazil has found Sulphur- rumped Flycatcher M. barbatus to be the widespread Myiobius (Cohn-Haft et al. 1997, Oren & Parker 1997, Zimmer et al. 1997, Borges et al. 2001). In contrast, in Brazil M. atricaudus is often associated with higher ground at the outer limits of the basin (AW pers. obs.). On 28 June 2003, AA & FP collected a female M. b. amazonicus in stunted terra firme on sandy soil near ‘Papagaio’ lodge (04°51’S, 65°04’W) at the Urucu (MPEG 57160), a species not listed in Peres & Whittaker (1991). It is probable that their record refers to the widespread Myiobius, which AW had identified during his visit but was omitted from the annotated list. Both M. barbatus and M. atricaudus were collected by AA & FP a few km apart at the upper Jutai, c.300 km south-west of the Urucu. Although it is possible that both Myiobius occur at the Urucu, we suggest waiting for specimens before listing M. atricaudus for the area. LARGE-HEADED FLATBILL Ramphotrigon megacephalum Observed at the Urucu in undisturbed tall and creek-side forests, where it was common (Peres & Whittaker 1991), but R. megacephalum is a rather strict Guadua bamboo specialist (Parker et al. 1997). No Guadua bamboo has been found at the Urucu, and AA & FP failed to record the species during their surveys, but R. megacephalum was tape-recorded, in September 1992, by AW, at Caitau-Uara, on the south bank of the Solimoes, c.240 km north- west of the Urucu. If bamboo is eventually located at the Urucu, it is possible that R. megacephalum will be found there. TROPICAL GNATCATCHER Polioptila plumbea Withdrawn from the Urucu list as its inclusion was based on a single sight record from the canopy of terra firme, which record almost certainly referred to the similar Guianan Gnatcatcher P. guianensis, a fairly common species in canopy terra firme flocks at the site (AW & AA unpubl.). In Amazonian Brazil, P. plumbea occurs locally in seasonally flooded white-water (varzea) or black-water (igapo) forest and forest edge with savanna and low campina, but is absent from terra firme (AW pers. obs.). YELLOW-GREEN GROSBEAK Caryothraustes canadensis This grosbeak was reported by Peres & Whittaker (1991), though the nearest localities are on the lower rios Negro and Madeira, well east of the Urucu (Ridgely & Tudor 1989). However, contra Ridgely & Tudor (1989), there are no known records of C. canadensis south of the Amazon in the Madeira—Tapajos interfluvium, where it is apparently replaced by Yellow-shouldered Grosbeak Parkerthraustes humeralis (AW pers. obs.; MPEG specimens). The Urucu record, if correct, would be the first south of the Amazon and west of the Tocantins, with the nearest south-bank records c.1,400 km to the east. Given that C. canaden- sis is striking and easily detected, as it travels in noisy flocks in the midstorey to canopy of terra firme, where it is usually fairly common, that AA & FP did not record the species at the Urucu appears highly suggestive that a mistake was made. Especially because this record would imply such an important range extension, we suggest excluding it from the Urucu list until evidence is available. Andrew Whittaker et al. 122 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Confirmed noteworthy records CRESTED EAGLE Morphnus guianensis Checking an active raptor nest in late December 1988, discovered by Peres and assumed to be of an Ornate Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus ornatus, AW found instead an almost full-grown M. guianensis, with an adult nearby. The huge nest was in terra firme, in a c.45-m tall emergent tree, within a large open fork in the subcanopy, c.30 m above ground. Breeding records of this rare raptor are few (Thiollay & Bierregaard 1994). Breeding data from Bolivar, Venezuela, involve nest building in March (Hilty 2003), in south-east Peru a large chick was seen in March (Raine 2007), and at Manaus, Brazil, young hatched during the late wet sea- son, in April (Bierregaard et al. 1984). WHITE-WINGED POTOO Nyctibius leucopterus A N. leucopterus was heard repeatedly by AW on the clear moonlight night of 30 December 1987, with which species he is very familiar, especially with its voice, from the Manaus area, having been involved in its rediscovery (Cohn-Haft 1993). As the species was considered hypothetical at the Urucu, it was not included in Peres & Whittaker’s (1991) list of range extensions, although, at the time, this was the first record south of the Amazon. It was also unfortunately omitted from the account of the species’ rediscovery (Cohn-Haft 1993). Subsequently, the species has been confirmed even further south-west than the Urucu, in western Acre, Brazil (Alvarez & Whitney 2003), and east to the right bank of the lower rio Xingu, at Estacdo Cientifica Ferreira Penna, in the Floresta Nacional de Caxiuana, Para (AW unpubl.), where it has been tape-recorded. BAND-RUMPED SWIFT Chaetura spinicaudus Recorded as uncertain in Peres & Whittaker (1991), but confirmed by AA & FP, who observed the species on all of their visits to the Urucu. Birds flying in flocks close to the ground were identified as C. spinicaudus based primarily on their bright, contrasting and rather restricted white rump, and fairly small overall size. Records of C. spinicaudus based on specimens exist for the lower Purus near the Urucu (Marin 2000). BLACK-BELLIED THORNTAIL Discosura langsdorffi The Amazonian population of this tiny hummingbird, D. |. melanosternon, is poorly known and very disjunct from the nominate of eastern Brazil, from Bahia south to Rio de Janeiro (Schuchmann 1999). Reported as common by Peres & Whittaker (1991), but not recorded by AA & FP. Principally an inhabitant of terra firme, where it is mainly observed in the canopy of large flowering trees, the species is easily overlooked (AW pers. obs.), and is rare in col- lections. However, further records from the Jurua interfluvium include: single females observed by AW (unpubl.), on 5 September 1992, at Caitau-Uara, Amazonas, and, on 13 December 2007, at Fortuna, Amazonas, in the Reserva Extravista do Media Rio Jurua, on the left bank of the Jurua. These records are c.240 km north-west and c.210 km south-west of the Urucu. Both were feeding at flowering trees, one an Inga sp., in the subcanopy of varzea/terra firme transitional forest. FIERY TOPAZ Topaza pyra The important range extension reported by Peres & Whittaker (1991) has since been con- firmed and reinforced by its discovery at several other sites in south-west Amazonian Brazil, including Tefé, just c.120 km north-west of the Urucu (Hu et al. 2000). Although pres- ent at the Urucu, T. pyra is apparently very scarce there, as it was not recorded by AA & FP. Andrew Whittaker et al. 123 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) BROWN-BANDED PUFFBIRD Notharchus ordi Recorded by Peres & Whittaker (1991), but until the last decade the species was known only from a few field observations and specimens. With knowledge of its voice, N. ordii has been found throughout southern Brazilian Amazonia (AW pers. obs.). AA & FP recorded it dur- ing every trip to the Urucu, tape-recording several birds. One tape-recorded on 13 September 2004 was particularly responsive to playback, possibly indicating pre-breeding or breeding condition. N. ordii was also tape-recorded, on 9 September 1992, at Caitau-Uara, Amazonas, c.240 km north-west of the Urucu (AW unpubl.) and was found at the Reserva de Desenvolvimento Uakarai, on the middle Jurua (05°26’S, 67°17’W), c.230 km to the south- west (AW unpubl). SHORT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER Myzarchus ferox The presence of this common flycatcher at the Urucu was confirmed by AA & FP, who recorded it during every trip they made to the area, especially in the vicinity of disturbed habitats. On 22 June 2006 an adult male was collected (MPEG 57176). GUIANAN GNATCATCHER Polioptila guianensis Previously unknown from the Jurua—Purus interfluvium (Ridgely & Tudor 1989), with the nearest south-bank records far to the east, on the right bank of the Madeira (Stotz et al. 1997, Whittaker in prep.). Fairly common in canopy terra firme insectivore flocks at the Urucu, with multiple observations (AW, M. Cohn-Haft & AA unpubl.). These records remain the sole to date from this interfluvium (Whitney & Alvarez 2005) and from the Inambari centre of endemism (Silva et al. 2005). Specimens and tape-recordings are essential to determine whether the Urucu records represent an unnamed population of this poorly known canopy species (AW & AA pers. obs.). BLUE-BACKED TANAGER Cyanicterus cyanicterus The first record south of the Amazon was reported by Peres & Whittaker (1991) and con- firmed by AA & FP who observed and tape-recorded several flocks of 5-8 C. cyanicterus during every trip they made to the Urucu. These are the only records of C. cyanicterus south of the Amazon and west of the Madeira, in the Inambari centre of endemism (Silva et al. 2005). Further localities south of the Amazon include Borba, in the Madeira—Tapajés inter- fluvium (M. Cohn-Haft pers. comm.), and the Floresta Nacional de Caxiuana, in the northern Xingu—Tocantins interfluvium (AW & AA unpubl.). LINED SEEDEATER Sporophila lineola The presence of this austral migrant, suspected by Peres & Whittaker (1991), was confirmed by AA & FP who obtained three specimens on 19-20 June 2003, i.e. during the austral win- ter (MPEG 57206-208). Flocks containing many immatures, as well as adult males, were observed in a large clearing on 3 and 6 July 2003. Taxonomic changes Since the publication of Peres & Whittaker (1991) several species confirmed at the Urucu have been subject to taxonomic revisions adopted by the Brazilian and South _ American checklist committees (CBRO 2007, Remsen et al. 2007). These changes, with the | previous and current treatments and names, respectively, are as follows: Little Chachalaca _ Ortalis motmot / Speckled Chachalaca O. guttata; Chapman’s Swift Chaetura chapmani / _ Amazonian Swift C. viridipennis; Long-tailed Hermit Phaethornis superciliosus / Great-billed Andrew Whittaker et al. 124 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Hermit P. malaris; Yellow-billed Jacamar Galbula albirostris / Blue-cheeked Jacamar G. cyan- icollis; White-necked Puffbird Notharchus macrorhynchos / White-necked Puffbird N. hyperrynchus; Ivory-billed Aragari Pteroglossus flavirostris / Brown-mandibled Aragari P. mariae; Black-spotted Barbet Capito niger / Gilded Barbet Capito auratus; Warbling Antbird Hypocnemis cantator / Peruvian Warbling Antbird H. peruviana; Spot-winged Antbird Percnostola leucostigma / Humaita Antbird P. humaythae; White-eyed Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus zosterops / White-bellied Tody-Tyrant H. griseipectus. Acknowledgements AW expresses his sincere thanks to Carlos Peres and Petrobras for the opportunity to visit this remarkable site, the wonderful hospitality of the Petrobras personnel and the logistical help they offered him and his wife. AA & FP thank MCT / FINEP and Petrobras for generous funding and logistical support of their research through the CT-Petro subproject ‘Avaliacao da recomposicao da fauna em clareiras a serem recu- peradas apos a exploracao petrolifera’. The Brazilian Environment Agency (IBAMA) issued collecting permits essential for specimen-based research. During field work and manuscript preparation, AA held two ‘Desenvolvimento Cientifico Regional’ post-doctoral fellowships from CNPq (grant 30.5416/02-2), and a CNPq/SECTAM partnership (grant 35.0415/2004-8), whilst FP was supported by a CNPq PCI-MPEG research fellowship (grant 38.1992/2004—7). We thank M. Cohn-Haft for sharing some of his observations. References: Aleixo, A. 2002. Molecular systematics and the role of the “varzea’”—“terra firme” ecotone in the diversifica- tion of Xiphorhynchus woodcreepers (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae). Auk 119: 621-640. Aleixo, A. & Poletto, F. 2007. Birds of an open vegetation enclave in southern Brazilian Amazonia. 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Notes on avian bamboo specialists in southwestern Amazonian Brazil. Pp. 543-548 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Pinto, O. M. O. 1978. Novo catalogo das aves do Brasil, vol. 1. Empr. Graf. Rev. dos Tribunais, Sao Paulo. Peres, C. A. & Whittaker, A. 1991. Annotated checklist of the bird species of the upper Rio Urucu, Amazonas, Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 111: 156-171. Raine, A. F. 2007. Breeding bird records from the Tambopata-Candamo Reserve Zone, Madre de Dios, south- east Peru. Cotinga 28: 53-58. Remsen J. V. 2003. Family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). Pp. 162-357 in del Hoyo J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Remsen, J. V., Cadena, C. D., Jaramillo, A., Nores, M., Pacheco, J. F., Robbins, M. B., Schulenberg, T. S., Stiles, F. G., Stotz, D. F. & Zimmer, K. J. 2007. A classification of the bird species of South America. Version 10 April 2007. www.museum.l|su.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1989. The birds of South America, vol. 1. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. Ridgely, R. S. & Greenfield, P. J. 2001. The birds of Ecuador, vol. 2. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. Sanaiotti, T. M. & Cintra, R. 2001. Breeding and migrating birds in an Amazonian savanna. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna & Environ. 36: 23-32. Schuchmann, K. L. 1999. Family Trochilidae (hummingbirds). Pp. 468-682 in del Hoyo J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 5. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Short, L. L. & Horne, J. F. M. 2002. Family Ramphastidae (toucans). Pp. 220-273 in del Hoyo J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 7. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Silva, J. M. C., Rylands, A. B. & da Fonseca, G. A. B. 2005. The fate of Amazonian areas of endemism. Conserv. Biol. 19: 689-694. Stotz, D. F. & Bierregaard, R. O. 1989. The birds of the fazendas Porto Alegre, Dimona and Esteio north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Rev. Brasil. Biol. 49: 861-872. Stotz, D. F., Bierregaard, R. O., Cohn-Haft, M., Petermann, P., Smith, J., Whittaker, A. & Wilson, S. V. 1992. The status of North American migrants in central Amazonian Brazil. Condor 111: 608-621. Thiollay, J. M. & Bierregaard, R. O. 1994. Family Accipitridae (hawks and eagles). Pp. 52-205 in del Hoyo J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Vaca B., J. F., Greeney, H. F., Gelis, R. A., Dingle, C. D., Krabbe, N. & Tidwell, M. 2006. The nest and eggs of Red-winged Wood-rail Aramides calopterus in the foothills of north-east Ecuador. Cotinga 26: 13-14. Todd, W. E. C. 1927. New gnateaters and antbirds from tropical America, with a revision of the genus Myrmeciza and its allies. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 40: 149-178. Whitney, B. M. & Alvarez A., J. 2005. A new species of gnatcatcher from white-sand forests of northern Amazonian Peru with revision of the Polioptila guianensis complex. Wilson Bull. 117: 113-127. Whittaker, A. Submitted. Pousada Rio Roosevelt: a provisional avifaunal inventory in south-western Amazonian Brazil, with information on life history, new distributional data and comments on taxono- my. Cotinga. Winkler, H. & Christie, D. A. 2002. Family Picidae (woodpeckers). Pp. 296-558 del Hoyo J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 7. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Zimmer, J. T. 1934. Studies of Peruvian birds. No. XV. Notes on the genus Xiphorynchus. Amer. Mus. Novit. 756: 1-20: Zimmer, K. J., Parker, T. A., Isler, M. L. & Isler, P. R. 1997. Survey of a southern Amazonian avifauna: the Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Pp. 887-918 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Zimmer, K. J. & Isler, M. L. 2003. Family Thamnophilidae (typical antbirds). Pp. 448-681 in del Hoyo J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Addresses: Andrew Whittaker (corresponding author), Coroado 111, Conj. Acariquara, Rua Samaumas 214, Manaus, AM 69085-410, Brazil, e-mail: andrew@birdingbraziltours.com. Alexandre Aleixo & Fabiola Poletto, Coordenagao de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, CP 399, Belém, PA, Brazil, e-mails: aleixo@museu-goeldi.br and fpoletto@hotmail.com © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Niels Krabbe & David J. Stejskal 126 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) A new subspecies of Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris from south-eastern Ecuador by Niels Krabbe & David J. Stejskal Received 5 January 2008 The genus Arremonops occurs from Mexico to northern South America and consists of 15 very similar and taxonomically confusing forms with largely allopatric ranges. Most recent authors (e.g. Dickinson 2003, Gill & Wright 2006) rank them as four species, Green- backed Sparrow A. chloronotus, Black-striped Sparrow A. conirostris, Olive Sparrow A. rufivirgatus and Tocuyo Sparrow A. tocuyensis, the two former predominantly found in semi-arid to humid habitats, the two latter in arid regions. The ranges of A. rufivirgatus and A. chloronotus overlap slightly in Honduras and on the Yucatan Peninsula, and the two occa- sionally hybridise (Howell & Webb 1995). No hybridisation has been reported from the marginally overlapping ranges of A. conirostris and A. tocuyensis in Colombia and Venezuela (Hilty & Brown 1986, Hilty 2003). The allocation to A. conirostris of the form inex- pectatus of the arid upper Magdalena Valley in Colombia has been disputed (Chapman 1917, Hilty & Brown 1986); it has such a distinctive song and occurs so close (30 km or less) to the wide-ranging (both sides of the Andes) conirostris to suggest that they are reproduc- tively isolated. On 22-23 October 1996 we collected three males and a female of a new taxon of Arremonops in south-eastern Ecuador, over 650 km from the nearest known locality east of the Andes. The population is readily diagnosed, but resembles nominate conirostris, of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil, more than any other taxon of Arremonops. Owing to the apparently extreme geographical isolation of the new taxon, its distinc- tive song, specialised habitat and the difficulty of explaining its origin, we are uncertain of its taxonomic rank. Because it differs less from A. c. conirostris than does A. c. striaticeps, we take the cautious approach and describe it as a subspecies of A. conirostris. Being apparent- ly restricted to the rio Pastaza and its tributaries, we name the new form: Arremonops conirostris pastazae ssp. nov. Pastaza Black-striped Sparrow Holotype.—Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science (LSUMZ 161550). Adult male collected by N. Krabbe and D. Stejskal at Isla Sharamentsa, an island in the rio Pastaza, at 02°29'S, 77°00’W, elevation 180 m, prov. Pastaza, south-east Ecuador, 23 October 1996. Tissue sample deposited in Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen (ZMUC 123789). Label data.—37.6 g; no fat. Irides chestnut; maxilla blackish; mandible grey grad- ing to blackish on tip; feet (tarsi and toes) light horn grey. No moult. No Bursa Fabricii. Skull 100% ossified. Testes 10 x 5 mm, seminal vesicle large. Stomach insects. Singing in Tessaria shrubbery on river island. Paratypes.—Three additional specimens were collected along with the holotype on Isla Sharamentsa on 22-23 October 1996: LSUMZ 161549 (male), Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Quito (MECN) 7036 (male) and MECN 7035 (female). Tissue from the paratypes was deposited at ZMUC (catalogue nos. 123773, 123786, a7) a ee EE Niels Krabbe & David J. Stejskal 127, Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Description of the holotype-——Colour numbers follow Munsell soil color charts (Munsell Color 1994). Crown between grey and dark grey (2.5Y 5/1-4/1), stripes on side of crown from bill to nape black, fairly broad supercilium from bill to nape grey (2.5Y 6/1). Thin line from bill through eye to sides of neck black, lower sides of head like supercilium, sides of neck like crown. Back dark grey (2.5Y 4/1) washed olive, especially on lower back, rump and tail (5Y 4/4). Wing-coverts and fringes of primaries paler, olive-yellow (5Y 6/6). Fringes of outer four pairs of rectrices pale olive (SY 5/6). Throat whitish, broad faint breast-band light grey (2.5Y 7/1), central breast washed pale yellow (2.5Y 7/3), sides of body like sides of neck, undertail-coverts pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4), flanks with slight wash of same colour, belly whitish with barely any buff wash, underwing-coverts pale yellow (5Y8/4), bend of wing bright yellow (SY 8/8). ee CR Pe | Wee PN cH a hy: s ¢ 8 Figure 1. Dorsal view of males of Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris. Left two A. c. pastazae from Ecuador, right two A. c. conirostris from Venezuela (Niels Krabbe) Figure 2. Ventral view of Black-striped Sparrows Arremonops conirostris. Furthest left and right A. c. pastazae, middle five, from left to right, two females and three males of A. c. conirostris (Niels Krabbe) Niels Krabbe & David J. Stejskal 128 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) TABLE 1 Wing and tail measurements (mm) of males of four taxa of Arremonops. Taxon Wing (flat) Tail Mean + SD; range; n Mean + SD; range; n striaticeps 80 + 1.7; 78-82; n=5 72.8 + 3.2; 68-78; n=5 pastazae 77.8 + 2.4; 75-81; n=4 65.8 + 1.1; 64-67; n=4 conirostris east of Andes 75.3 + 2.8; 69-81; n=40 62.3 + 3.7; 52-71; n=40 inexpectatus 71; n=1 61.5; 61-62; n=2 Diagnosis.—Similar to Arremonops c. conirostris, but larger, bill proportionately larger, back greyer, with less or no olive-green wash (Fig. 1), throat always pure white instead of usually pallid buffy white, belly nearly pure white instead of distinctly washed pale buff, and undertail-coverts pale greyish buff instead of pale buff (Fig. 2). Undertail-coverts much like those of A c. inexpectatus (a taxon that otherwise resembles nominate conirostris except for its smaller size, yellower tail and yellower underwing-coverts). Very different from the west Ecuadorian population of A. c. striaticeps, from which it differs by being slightly smaller (Table 1), decidedly shorter-tailed and smaller-billed, nearly pure dark grey instead of yellowish olive on the back and wings, darker and greyer on the rump and tail, slightly darker grey on the crown, with a darker supercilium and head-sides, paler yellow underwing-coverts and wing-bend, less extensively yellow underwing-coverts, lacking a pale buff wash to the throat and breast, less washed pale buff on the belly, and greyish buff instead of yellow on the undertail-coverts. Variation in the series.—All four specimens from the type locality are very similar, as is a fifth, collected at Arapicos (see below). One (LSUMZ 161549) differs slightly in being less washed olive on the back, which is nearly pure dark grey. All three males had chestnut irides. The female had paler (russet) irides, perhaps owing to immaturity rather than to sex. The colour of the feet ranged from light horn grey (male) to light horn brown (both sexes). Distribution.—Known only from temporarily flooded sandbars and low islands in the upper and middle rio Pastaza in south-eastern Ecuador. Besides the type locality, there is a specimen (MECN 5611), taken on 5 September 1961, at Arapicos on the rio Palora, a tributary of the rio Pastaza (at 01°51’S, 77°56’W; 850-900 m), prov. Morona-Santiago. One was heard by P. Coopmans (pers. comm.) on the rio Pastaza at 01°36’S, 77°52’W, 710 m, c.12 km north-east of Arapicos in the late 1990s. The species is absent from islands with similar habitat in the rio Napo (pers. obs.). Habitat.—Apparently confined to stands of Tessaria integrifolia (Compositae), a 2-3-m-tall pioneer shrub that forms dense monospecific stands on temporary river sandbars. Behaviour.—Few data were gathered. Single birds or pairs were observed as they foraged quietly in Tessaria scrub within 1-2 m of the ground. They were retiring and foraged on the ground, thereby easily escaping detection. Males sang from near the tops of these shrubs. Stomachs of all four specimens contained insect remains; two also some grit. Breeding.—All four specimens collected on Isla Sharamentsa on 22-23 October had active gonads. The males were all adults with completely ossified skulls and no Bursa Fabricti. The female was younger (large bursa and 10% ossified skull), yet it had fully adult plumage, a large (3 cm) shell-less egg in the oviduct, and a developing brood patch. | Niels Krabbe & David J. Stejskal 129 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) FREQUENCY (kHz) TIME (seconds) Figure 3. Song phrases of three subspecies of Arremonops conirostris. A-I: A. c. pastazae (Isla Sharamentsa, Pastaza; N. Krabbe). J-K: A. c. conirostris from Venezuela (J: Carabobo; K: Bolivar; both by P. Boesman). L-N: A. c. striaticeps from Ecuador (L: Esmeraldas; M-N: El Oro; all by N. Krabbe). Note the highly varied phrases of pastazae. The ‘bouncy-ball’ phrase (N) is only rarely given by striaticeps in Ecuador and by conirostris in Colombia and Venezuela, but is prominent in songs of Middle American forms. Vocalisations—Songs of 2-3 different individuals recorded on Isla Sharamentsa (Xeno-canto 19143-19149; see www.xeno-canto.org) consisted of varied phrases, each comprising 1-13 notes at 1.8-3.4 kHz (Fig. 3 A-I), and phrases given at intervals of 3-12 seconds, occasionally in immediate succession. Intervals between phrases were sometimes fairly regular, including between ‘phrases’ of single notes. All notes in our recordings of songs of A. c. pastazae differ in pitch or quality from all notes recorded in songs of two individuals of A. c. conirostris from Carabobo and Bolivar, Venezuela (Boesman 1999; Fig. 3J-K), but a larger sample might reveal similarity. Different song types in a single individual as well as several local dialects have been described for A. c. conirostris (Hilty & Brown 1986, Hilty 2002). Some complicated phrases of conirostris and pastazae show similarity in structure, being composed of a rapid succession of notes, preceded by 1-3 loud notes and sometimes terminated with one. Their songs differ distinctly in pitch and structure from songs of A. c. striaticeps from western Ecuador (Fig. 3L—-N), which are usually stereotyped throughout western Ecuador (Fig. 3L) (pers. obs.), but occasionally include an accelerated (‘bouncy-ball’) series of notes (Fig. 3N). Accelerated series’ of notes are common in songs of Middle American forms (Ridgely & Gwynne 1989, Stiles & Skutch 1989, Howell & Webb 1995), but have also been reported from Colombia (Hilty & Brown 1986) and Venezuela (Hilty 2003). Population size and conservation.—Four to six territorial males were recorded in 2 ha of habitat on Isla Sharamentsa. As estimated from satellite images (Google Earth 2007), between 50 and 100 islands with on average 1 ha of Tessaria scrub are found between Isla Sharamentsa and Arapicos, giving a rough estimate of a total population of 100-300 pairs. Niels Krabbe & David J. Stejskal 130 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) If it also occurs on the lower rio Pastaza, the population could be two or three times as large. There seems to be no threat to the habitat. Owing to the great dynamics in formation and disappearance of low-lying islands and sandbars in the river, there is little or no use of these islands by humans. Discussion.—The origin of A. c. pastazae is mysterious. Its morphology differs so much from that of west Ecuadorian striaticeps that a close relationship between the two seems unlikely. A more plausible route of colonisation would seem to be along the Andes, yet there are no records of Arremonops from anywhere east of the Andes between the Macarena Mountains, Colombia, and central Ecuador. As A. conirostris is a bird of semi-open habitats, it would be surprising if the species had escaped the detection of early collectors. Another scenario could be one of island hopping from southern Venezuela or Roraima, Brazil. Finally, the range could be relictual, reflecting a much more widespread distribution of such habitats in the past. Even if pastazae is the result of a very recent colonisation, the young female in breeding condition (see Breeding) suggests a very short generation time, which might explain a rapid evolutionary rate (see e.g. Sibley & Ahlquist 1990). The isolated range and distinctive habitat and song of pastazae, the reported hybridisa- tion between A. rufivirgatus and A. chloronotus, the difficulty of referring the Honduran taxon twomeyi to one or the other (Howell & Webb 1995), the distinctness of inexpectatus despite its close geographical proximity to nominate conirostris, and the morphological dif- ferences between the two disjunct populations of striaticeps (the isolated west Ecuadorian population sometimes separated as A. s. chrysoma (P. L. Sclater, 1860) (Chapman 1917) call for a thorough revision of species limits in the genus. Acknowledgements We thank the Achuar community at Kapawi for kind help and permission to collect the type series; Paul Sweet, at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, for assistance and permission to study com- parative material held at that museum, and J. V. Remsen, Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, for expediting the loan of specimens. J. V. Remsen and J. Fjeldsa proffered com- ments on the manuscript prior to submission. The museum work was financed by a grant from the F. M. Chapman Fund. References: Chapman, F. M. 1917. The distribution of bird-life in Colombia. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 36. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) (2003) The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Gill, F. B. & Wright, M. 2006. Birds of the world: recommended English names. Princeton Univ. Press. Hilty, S. L. & Brown, W. L. 1986. A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton Univ. Press. Hilty, S. L. 2003. Birds of Venezuela. Princeton Univ. Press. Howell, S. N. G. & Webb, S. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford Univ. Press. Munsell Color. 1994. Munsell soil color charts. Macbeth Division of Kollmorgan Instruments Corporation, New Windsor, NY. Ridgely, R. S. & Gwynne, J. A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Panama. Revised edn. Princeton Univ. Press. Sibley, C. G. & Ahlquist, J. E. 1990. Phylogeny and classification of birds: a study in molecular evolution. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT. Stiles, F. G. & Skutch, A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. Addresses: Niels Krabbe, Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen @, Denmark, e-mail nkkrabbe@snm.ku.dk. David J. Stejskal c/o Field Guides Inc., 9433 Bee Cave Road, Building 1, Suite 150, Austin, TX 78733, e-mail dstejskal@cox.net. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 John Penhallurick & Edward C. Dickinson 13H Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) The correct name of the ‘Himalayan Buzzard’ is Buteo (buteo) burmanicus by John Penhallurick & Edward C. Dickinson Received 8 March 2007 Recently, Dickinson & Walters (2006: 157-158) stated that the earliest name applicable to what is either considered a race of Eurasian Buzzard Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) or, by others (e.g. Rasmussen & Anderton 2005: 102), a valid species, is Buteo plumipes, based on Circus plumipes ‘Parbattiah’ [=Hodgson], 1836 (central hills of Nepal) rather than Buteo bur- manicus Hume, 1875. Dickinson & Walters (2006) remarked that plumipes was used by La Touche (1907) and Ogilvie-Grant & La Touche (1907), thus satisfying ICZN (1999) Art. 23.9.1.1. However, Hartert (1914: 1127) considered Buteo burmanicus ‘Oates’ [=Hume], 1875, to be the valid name for an upper Burmese population of Buteo buteo, but Hodgson’s name to be preoccupied in the genus Buteo by Falco plumipes Daudin, 1800, which is cited by Hartert (1914: 1128) in the synonymy of Buteo lagopus lagopus (Briinnich, 1764). In terms of the current Code, this is a case of secondary homonymy (Art. 53.3). The earliest available name for the ‘Himalayan Buzzard’ is Buteo burmanicus Hume, 1875, as correctly used by Rasmussen & Anderton (2005). We also note that Peters (1931: 235) considered Buteo burmanicus to be a valid name, and, indeed, a species, incorporating the range of Buteo japonicus (from Falco buteo japonicus Temminck & Schlegel, 1845), which Peters reduced to the synomy of Buteo burmanicus burmanicus as preoccupied by Falco tin- nunculus japonicus Temminck & Schegel, 1845. Peters also considered the taxon toyoshimai Momiyama, 1927, to be a subspecies of Buteo burmanicus. We agree with Rasmussen & Anderton (2005) that Buteo japonicus refectus Portenko, 1935, although accepted as valid by Orta (1994), should be placed in synonymy of Buteo burmanicus, as it is ‘indistinguishable in plumage and size from Chinese burmanicus’, whilst in terms of DNA (Riesing ef al. 2003, Kruckenhauser et al. 2004), refectus [=burmanicus] clustered with Upland Buzzard Buteo hemilasius Temminck & Schlegel, 1844, rather than B. buteo, suggesting that B. burmanicus is specifically distinct from B. buteo. References: Dickinson, E. C. & Walters, M. 2006. Systematic notes on Asian birds. 54. Comments on the names proposed by Hodgson (1845) and their priority. Zool. Meded. 80(5): 155-167. Hartert, E. 1914. Die Vogel der paliiarktischen Fauna, vol. 2(9). R. Friedlander & Sohn, Berlin. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. Kruckenhauser, L., Haring, E., Pinsker, W., Reising, M. J., Winkler, H., Wink, M. & Gamauf, A. 2004. Genetic versus morphological differentiation of Old World buzzards (genus Buteo, Accipitridae). Zool. Scripta. 33: 197-211. La Touche, J. D. D. 1907. Field notes on the birds of Chinkiang, Lower Yangtse Basin, Part III. Ibis (9)1: 1-30. Orta, J. 1994. Eurasian Buzzard Buteo buteo. P. 185 in del Hoyo. J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. & La Touche, J. D. D. 1907. On the birds of the island of Formosa. [Part 1]. [bis (9)1: 151-198. Rasmussen, P. C. & Anderton, J. C. 2005. Birds of south Asia. The Ripley guide, vol. 2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Reising, M. J., Kruckenhauser, L., Gamauf, A. & Haring, E. 2003. Molecular phylogeny of the genus Buteo (Aves: Accipitridae) based on mitochondrial marker sequences. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 27: 328-342. John Penhallurick & Edward C. Dickinson 132 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Addresses: John Penhallurick, 86 Bingley Crescent, Fraser, ACT, Australia, e-mail: jpenhall@bigpond.net.au. Edward C. Dickinson, c/o The Trust for Oriental Ornithology, Flat 3, Bolsover Court, 19 Bolsover Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN20 7JG, UK, e-mail: edward@asiaorn.org © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The valid name for the Grey Wagtail by Richard Schodde & Walter J. Bock, for the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature of the International Ornithological Committee Received 20 April 2007 In Opinion 882, in 1969, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (hereafter the Commission) validated Motacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771, as the correct name for the Eurasian Grey Wagtail (ICZN 1969). It was conserved with three other names, includ- ing Falco peregrinus (Peregrine Falcon), all of them published in the folio Ornithologia Britannica: seu Avium Omnium Britannicarum tam Terrestrium quam Aquaticarum Catalogus, attributed to the English naturalist and collector, Marmaduke Tunstall (Tunstall 1771). The folio is a four-page list of names for 241 species of English birds, in three columns: Linnaean, English and French. Fourteen names are cross-referenced to entries in the edition of Zoologiae Britannicae (=Thomas Pennant’s British zoology, 1766) then current, including Falco peregrinus, and so appear to be available by indication (ICZN 1999, Art. 12.2.1). None of the three other names validated in Opinion 882 is cross-referenced. Although the species in the Ornithologia Britannica are identifiable by English and French names drawn from Pennant (1766) and Brisson (1760) respectively, all those not so cross-referenced lack both a description and indication (Art. 12, ICZN 1999), and are tech- nically nomina nuda. Such circumstances first led to the Ornithologia Britannica being accepted for nomenclatural purposes (ICZN Opinion 38), then to its rejection (ICZN Direction 38). However, several names first published there had been in widespread use in ornithology for decades, even centuries in the case of Falco peregrinus. Accordingly, the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature (SCON) of the International Ornithological Committee applied to the Commission to validate four of them in 1958, including Motacilla cinerea (Grey Wagtail) (Salomonsen et al. 1964). This application was approved in Opinion 882. Motacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771, has been in universal use for the Grey Wagtail ever since, in hundreds of journal papers, field lists, checklists and manuals, until Mees (2006) challenged it by adopting the next junior synonym, Parus caspicus S. G. Gmelin, 1774, on the grounds that Motacilla cinerea Tunstall was a nomen nudum and so inadmissible for valida- tion by the Commission. This misinterprets the provisions of the International code of zoological nomenclature. Under Arts 78.1 and 80.2 of the current edition (ICZN 1999)—and Arts. 78(b) and 79(a) in the third edition used by Mees (ICZN 1985)—the Commission is empowered, when ruling in an Opinion, to suspend or exempt any nomenclatural provi- sion in order to settle the name to be used. Moreover, under Art. 80.9 of the current edition (/.c.)—and Art. 78(i) in that used by Mees (/.c.)}—no ruling of the Commission may be set aside without the consent of the Commission. If the Commission has mistakenly validated Motacilla cinerea Tunstall and the other nomina nuda in Opinion 882, then application may be made to the Commission for correction under Art. 80.4 (ICZN 1999). The SCON does not Richard Schodde & Walter J. Bock 133 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) intend to pursue this course, however; and in the interim, Motacilla cinerea Tunstall must remain the valid name for the Grey Wagtail. References: Brisson, M.-J. 1760. Ornithologia sive Synopsis methodica, vols. 1-6. J.-B. Bauche, Paris. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1969. Opinion 882 Ornithologia Britannica, 1771: validation of four specific names of birds. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 26: 26-27. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1985. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Third edn. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. Mees, G. F. 2006. The avifauna of Flores (Lesser Sunda Islands). Zool. Meded. Leiden 80: 1-261. Pennant, T. 1766. The British zoology, vol. 1. Cymmrodorion Soc., London. Salomonsen, F., Junge, G. C. A., Miller, A. H. & Stresemann, E. 1964. Ornithologia Britannica, 1771: proposed validation of four specific names. Z.N. (S.) 1636. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 21: 366-367. Tunstall, M. 1771. Ornithologia Britannica: seu Avium Omnium Britannicarum tam Terrestrium quam Aquaticarum Catalogus. London. Address: Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature, c/o Australian Biological Resources Study, GPO Box 787, Canberra City, ACT 2601, Australia. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The correct name of the population of Xiphorhynchus ocellatus (von Spix, 1824) recently named weddellii (Des Murs, 1855) by John Penhallurick & Alexandre Aleixo Received 10 May 2007 Aleixo (2002) established that the population of Ocellated Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus ocellatus (von Spix, 1824) in southern Colombia (east Guainia, east Vaupés, south Amazonas), extreme southern Venezuela (south-west Amazonas), north-east Peru (north of the Amazon in Loreto), and north-west Brazil (east to the rio Negro), is genetically distinct from others of the species. These findings were based on cytochrome-b sequences of a spec- imen from dpto. Loreto, Peru (at Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Baton Rouge, USA; LSUMZ 119520), and were subsequently confirmed by additional cytochrome-b sequences of 11 specimens from near Iquitos, Peru (also at LSUMZ) and Jau National Park and the lower rio Japura region in Brazil (at Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil (MPEG); Aleixo et al. 2006). Zimmer (1934) had previously also found this population to differ morphologically from other taxa in the species: ‘A good series from this range is, in general, distinguishable from true ocellatus by darker margins of the buff pec- toral spots which are, in turn, perhaps slightly larger than in Rio Madeira skins. The mantle averages more heavily streaked, sometimes with the streaks slightly expanded to form rounded, subterminal dots. Nevertheless, numerous specimens are not more pronouncedly streaked on the back than ocellatus. The best marked examples, on the other hand, are not far removed from certain skins of napensis, showing clearly the full intergradation of napen- sis and ocellatus. The shoulder is even more strongly and deeply rufescent than in ocellatus, being far different from the condition in chunchotambo.’ John Penhallurick & Alexandre Aleixo 134 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Both Aleixo (2002) and Marantz et al. (2003) chose the name weddellii for this popula- tion, based on: Dendrornis weddellii [as Weddellii] Des Murs (ex Lafresraye MS), 1856 ['1855’], in Castelnau, Expédition dans les parties centrales de l’Amérique du Sud, de Rio de Janeiro a Lima, et de Lima au Para : exécutée... pendant... 1843 a 1847, vol. 1(3), Oiseaux, p.46, pl. 14, fig. 2. (No locality; types from ‘Peruvian Amazon’ in the Paris Museum examined by Hellmayr 1925: 311). In this, they followed Zimmer (1934), who discussed two possible names. One was Dendrornis weddellii Des Murs, 1856. The other was (as cited by Zimmer): N{asica] Beauperthuysii Lafresnaye, 1850, Rev. et Mag. Zool. pure et appliquée, 2nd ser., 2, p. 419. ((Amazonum ripas’; Pebas, Peru proposed by Hellmayr, 1925: SiN) However, Zimmer gave the type locality of beauperthuysii as: ‘Peri’ (=Cumana, Venezuela) and banks of the Amazon, Pebas and Santa Maria, Peru; Paris Mus. or Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge’. Thus, Zimmer (1934) recommended against selecting the name beauperthuysii for this taxon: ‘There is so much confusion surrounding the former name that it may have to be dropped as unidentifiable. Elliot and, later, Bangs contended that a skin from an unknown locality, in the Lafresnaye collection, now in Cambridge, Mass., labeled ‘Beauperthuysii’ in Lafresnaye’s handwriting, is the type of that species, but Menegaux and Hellmayr concluded that two birds in the Paris Museum, from Pebas and Santa Maria, col- lected by Castelnau and Deville, are the cotypes.’ Instead, he recommended the name weddellii: ‘The name weddellii is definitely based on the Pebas and Santa Maria specimens of Castelnau and Deville, and if these are found to be like Cassiquiare skins, the name will be available for the form which I have briefly characterized.’ Unfortunately, Zimmer’s confidence in the type locality of weddellii Des Murs, 1856, appears misplaced. According to both Hellmayr (1925) and Peters (1951), Des Murs (1856) did not specify any locality, and Hellmayr (1925) added merely the rather vague ‘Peruvian Amazon’. Moreover, Marantz et al. (2003) stated: ‘nomenclature complicated, however, by the fact that type specimens of the two [i.e. weddellii and ocellatus] were found to be identi- cal when compared directly and, in addition, precise locality data are lacking for both.’ Thus we conclude that the name weddellii is not available for the population in question. Des Murs’ name is either a junior synonym of Dendrocolaptes ocellatus von Spix, 1824, or a nomen dubium, as a result of its vague type locality data. The possible name beauperthuysii Lafresnaye, 1850, which antedates Des Murs’ name, must be re-examined. First, the authors of the citation should be specified as Pucheran and Lafresnaye, rather than Lafresnaye alone, as was done by Hellmayr (1925), Zimmer (1934) and Peters (1951). The paper in which the name appears is by Lafresnaye, but the name is cited within the paper as N[asica] Beauperthuysii Pucheran et Lafresnaye. Lafresnaye says of the type locality: ‘Il a été rapportée du Pérou par le voyageur Beauperthuys, et de Pepas, Sancta Maria (Haut Amazone), par les voyageurs Castelnaud et Deville’, which we trans- late thus: ‘It was brought from Peru by the traveller Beauperthuys and from Pepas [=Pebas], Sancta Maria, (upper Amazon), by the travellers Castelnaud and Deville.’ Note that it was Lafresnaye who specified Pebas as the type locality, not Hellmayr. Further, Lafresnaye states that the bird resides in the Paris Museum. There seems little basis (contra Elliot & Bangs, as mentioned by Zimmer above) to assume that the specimen now in Cambridge, MA, is the type specimen. As Zimmer stated: ‘This specimen is undoubtedly from the Lafresnaye collection but may have reached his hands after 1850.’ The label on the specimen now in Cambridge is only partly legible, and reads: “Nasica, Dendrornis Weddelii [=weddellii] (Laf. [illegible]/ Mus. Parisiense, N. Beauperthusyii / Pucher. et Lafr. Mon. f. 51 s torso [???] [illegible] haut amazone / Voyage — John Penhallurick & Alexandre Aleixo 135 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Castelnau le Beauperthuysii / a été rapporté du Pérou par le/ Voyageur Beauperthuys.’ Then follows in purple ink ‘2267’, and someone (presumably Bangs) has written in black ink ‘type’. Note that the label refers explicitly to specimens already in Paris Museum, and that the Cambridge specimen lacks precise locality data. Hellmayr (1925) listed Nasica beauperthuysti Lafresnaye, 1850, in two places: once (p. 302) as a synonym of Cocoa Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus sussurans jardinei (Dalmas, 1900), stating ‘spec. collected by Beauperthuys “in Pert” [=near Cumana, Venezuela], but not the description (spec. in Paris Museum examined).’ Footnote a to this citation reads: ‘According to his own notes on the labels, Lafresnaye regarded Beauperthuy’s specimens as represent- ing the juvenal plumage [of N. beauperthuysii].’ The other citation (p. 311) occurs in the synonymy of Xiphorhynchus ocellatus ocellatus (von Spix, 1824), this time with the note: ‘descr. and hab. banks of the Amazon [“Amazonum ripas”], coll. Castelnau and Deville (types from Pebas, Peru in Paris Museum examined).’ Thus, the source of the confusion with the name is clear: the cotypes in the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris are from Pebas, on the north bank of the Amazon in dpto. Loreto, Peru. Lafresnaye’s description, given in French on pp. 420-421, relates unambiguously to the types from Pebas, Peru, as Hellmayr observed, and as the first author has confirmed. Louis Daniel Beauperthuys (1803-71) was a doctor of West Indian descent, who trained in Paris, and who investigated virulent outbreaks of yellow fever in the West Indies and Venezuela, and pointed out the causal relationship of mosquitoes in the marshes to such epidemics. The application of the name to the specimens collected by Beauperthuys in Venezuela was based on the erroneous assumption by Lafresnaye, clearly stated in his paper (‘Habitat in Peruvia unde a Dom. Beauperthuys olim in Musaeo Parisiense allatus’ (p. 419) i.e. ‘Lives in Peru from where formerly brought to the Paris Museum by Dom. Beauperthuys’), that these came from the same Peruvian locality and were examples of the juvenile plumage of those birds from Pebas to which the description applies. Since it appears that the name weddellii is unavailable for the population of X. ocellatus in question, it is appropriate to allocate the earlier name Nasica beauperthuysii Pucheran & Lafresnaye, 1850, to this taxon. The correct citation is: Nasica beauperthuysi [as N[ASICA] BEAUPERTHUYSII] Pucheran & Lafresnaye, 1850, Revue et Magasin de Zoologie pure et appliquée, 2*™ sér. 2, p. 419. (‘Habitat in Peruvia ... ad fluminis Amazonum ripas, nuper ex Dominorum Castelnaud et Deville perigrinatione (p. 419) ... de Pepas, Sancta Maria (Haut Amazone p. 420). All that needs to be done is to specify a type that unambiguously ties this name to the Pebas location. According to E. Pasquet (in litt. September 2006) at MNHN: ‘There is a specimen of Nasica beauperthuysti Lafresnaye. It was compared with the type of X. ocellatus ocellatus by Hellmayr and the number in the general catalogue is (CG) 1991-1195. It is a clearly a Castelnau and Deville specimen, a male, from the upper Amazon’ (translated from the French). There are four labels attached to the specimen, which read: Dendrornis ocellata (Spix) /Male/Haut-Amazone Castelnau & Deville | Type de Nasica beauperthuysii Lafr. | D. Beauperthuysii Laf./Male/ ocellata (Spix)/comparé au type par Hellmayr | Nasica beauperthuysii Lafresnaye/CG 1991 1195/ (=Xiphorhynchus o. ocellatus(Spix))/comparé au type par Hellmayr/ Male | Accordingly, we propose the name Xiphorhynchus ocellatus beauperthuysii for the race in southern Colombia, extreme southern Venezuela, north-east Peru and north-west Brazil. We further specify, in accordance with Art. 74 of the Code (1999), the male specimen, collect- John Penhallurick & Alexandre Aleixo 136 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) ed by Castelnau et Deville, in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, no. 1991-1195, as the lectotype of Nasica beauperthuysii Pucheran & Lafresnaye, 1850. Acknowledgements We thank Jeremiah Trimble and Eric Pasquet for providing information relating to specimens in Harvard and Paris respectively. AA’s work on Xiphorhynchus ocellatus systematics was enabled by tissue and dry skin loans obtained from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, LSUMZ and MPEG. Laboratory work was funded by the National Geographic Society; Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University (via the Lowery and Tropical Bird Research funds); the American Museum of Natural History (via the Frank Chapman Memorial Fund); the American Ornithologists’ Union; and Sigma Xi. AA also thanks CNPq (the National Research Council of Brazil) for an overseas doctoral fellowship (grant 200099/97-3) and the CNPg/SECTAM joint Regional Development Research Program for a research fellowship (grant 35.0415 /2004—8). References: Aleixo, A. 2002. Molecular systematics and the role of the “varzea’”—“terra firme” ecotone in the diversifica- tion of Xiphorhynchus woodcreepers (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae). Auk 119: 621-640. Aleixo, A., Burlamaqui, T., Gongalves, E. C. & Schneider, M. P. C. 2006. Molecular systematics of the Ocellated Woodcreeper complex (Dendrocolaptidae) in tropical South America: implications for taxon- omy, conservation, and historical biogeography. In: 24th Intern. Orn. Congr., 2006, Hamburg. J. Orn. 147: 125-126. Hellmayr, C. E. 1925. Catalogue of the birds of the Americas, part 4. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 13(4). International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, London. Lafresnaye, F. de. 1850. Essai d’une monographie du genre Picucule (Buffon), Dendrocolaptes (Herman, Iliger), devenu aujourd’hui la sous-famille DENDROCOLAPTINAE (Gray, Genera of Birds), de la famille CERTHIADAE de Swains. Rev. Mag. Zool. pure et appliquée (2)2: 417-426. Marantz, C. A., Aleixo, A., Bevier, L. R. & Patten, M. A. 2003. Family Dendrocolaptidae (woodcreepers). Pp. 358-447 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Zimmer, J. T. 1934. Notes on the genus Xiphorhynchus. Amer. Mus. Novit. 756: 1-20. Wt Addresses: John Penhallurick, 86 Bingley Crescent, Fraser, ACT, Australia, e-mail: jpenhall@bigpond.net.au. Alexandre Aleixo, Curador da Colegao Ornitologica, Coordenagao de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, CP 399, CEP 66040-170, Belém, PA, Brazil, e-mail: aleixo@museu-goeldi.br © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 A second museum specimen of Large-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus by D. J. Pearson, P. R. Kennerley & S. Bensch Received 13 May 2007 While checking specimens of Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum from India at the Natural History Museum, Tring, in September 2006, PRK noticed a bird with a bill rather longer and broader than in other specimens. The bird, collected in October 1869 in Uttar Pradesh, was examined in detail by PRK and B. J. Small. Measurement confirmed the large bill. As it was in moult, with the outer primaries partly grown, few wing formula cri- teria could be checked, but emargination was noted on p5 (primaries numbered ascendently). Moreover, the freshly growing body plumage was slightly warmer than in newly moulted Blyth’s Reed Warbler. It was compared with the holotype of Large-billed Reed Warbler A. orinus, also held at Tring, and, though a shade paler above, the specimen D. J. Pearson et al. HST, Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) was considered to be of the same species. DJP then examined and measured the bird, and agreed with the identification, noting tarsus and hindclaw lengths above ranges expected in Blyth’s Reed Warbler, broad tips to the newly growing primaries, and rather narrow tips to the growing central tail-feathers. A small skin sample from the sole of the specimen’s toe was then sent to SB for DNA analysis. DNA extraction and molecular analyses followed Bensch & Pearson (2002). Because the sample was old, and the DNA partially degraded, the cytochrome-b segment between the primers L14841 and H15149 could not be amplified as one contiguous fragment. Four sets of primer pairs were therefore used as previously specified (Table 2 in Bensch & Pearson 2002). Successful amplifications were obtained with all of the four combinations of primers and direct sequencing from both ends resulted in a concatenated sequence of 306 novel nucleotides. The sequence obtained (GenBank accession no. EU490497) differed from pub- lished sequences of the type specimen (Bensch & Pearson 2002) and a live bird trapped in Thailand in March 2006 (Round et al. 2007), at six and five positions respectively (all being transitions), corresponding to sequence divergences of <2%. The two previously published Large-billed Reed Warbler sequences give the best BLAST-hits in the GenBank database, followed by several cytochrome-b sequences from Blyth’s Reed Warbler. A cytochrome-b divergence of 2% is certainly high for intra-species divergence in birds (Johns & Avise 1998), but is not exceptional within Acrocephalus (Leisler et al. 1997). All other known Eurasian Acrocephalus taxa have been sequenced, and cytochrome-b divergences between these and the Uttar Pradesh bird exceed 7%. The molecular analysis thus supports the bird being the third known example of Large-billed Reed Warbler. Full details of the specimen are as follows (measurements in mm): registration no. 98.9.1.1233, collected in October 1869 at Mussourie, Uttar Pradesh, India, by W. E. Brookes. Sex female. Wing (close to full length) 59; tail (slightly short of full length) 55; bill-length (to skull) 20.0; bill-width (across rear of nostrils) 4.7; tarsus 24.5; hindclaw 7.3. The body and head plumage are freshly moulted. The primaries are in moult, with the inner six feathers on each wing new, pp2-4 partly grown and p1 missing. The inner secondaries are also part- ly grown. The central tail-feathers are in sheath and apparently not full length. The plain olive-brown upperparts are rather warmer and slightly darker than in freshly moulted Blyth’s Reed Warbler, whilst the underparts possess a stronger buffy-brown wash across the breast. The lower mandible appears deeper than in Blyth’s Reed Warbler, and broader towards the tip. It is entirely pale, lacking the dusky sides near the tip shown in Blyth’s Reed, and this tends to enhance its oversized impression. It now appears that there are three examples of this little-known species: a) the type, an unsexed bird collected near Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, north India, on 11 November 1867, a poorly prepared skin with indications of incomplete growth on pp2-4; b) the bird mist- netted at Liam Pak, south-west Thailand, on 27 March 2006, described in detail by Round et al. (2007); and c) the October specimen discussed here. Based on these three examples, the criteria for distinguishing Large-billed Reed Warbler from Blyth’s Reed Warbler in the field or the museum appear to be the following: the more rounded wing, with wing-point at pp4—5 and p5 emarginated; the larger bill (length to skull >19 mm; width at rear of nostril >4.5 mm); the longer tail (+55 mm) and larger tail/wing ratio (>90%, compared with <85% in Blyth’s Reed); the slightly longer tarsus (>23 mm, but potentially overlapping) and longer hindclaw (>7 mm); and distinctly broad-tipped primaries and more point-tipped rectrices. Hopefully, a search in other museums amongst specimens of small plain-backed Acrocephalus from southern Asia will reveal more, previously unidentified, examples of this recently rediscovered species. D. J. Pearson et al. 138 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Acknowledgements For access to specimens we thank staff of the Natural History Museum, Tring. References: Bensch, S. & Pearson, D. 2002. The large-billed reed warbler revisited. Ibis 144: 259-267. Johns, G. C. & Avise, J. C. 1998. A comparative summary of genetic distances in the vertebrates from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Mol. Biol. Evol. 15: 1481-1490. Leisler, B., Heidrich, P., Schulze-Hagen, K. & Wink, M. 1997. Taxonomy and phylogeny of reed warblers (genus Acrocephalus) based on mtDNA sequences and morphology. J. Orn. 138: 469-496. Round, P. D., Hansson, B., Pearson, D. J., Kennerley, P. R. & Bensch, S. 2007. Lost and found: the enigmatic large-billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus rediscovered after 139 years. J. Avian Biol. 38: 133-138. Addresses: D. J. Pearson, 4 Lupin Close, Reydon, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6NW, UK. P. R. Kennerley, 16 Coppice Close, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1RX, UK. S. Bensch, Dept. of Animal Ecology, Ecology Building, Lund University, S223 62 Lund, Sweden. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Designation of a neotype for the dove known as ‘Streptopelia risoria’ by Thomas M. Donegan Received 30 August 2007 Columba risoria (Ringed Dove, Ringed Turtle Dove or Barbary Dove) was described by Linnaeus (1758) and transferred to the genus Streptopelia by Bonaparte (1855). These doves are kept in captivity in many parts of the world, being used frequently in biological research (cf. Baptista et al. 1997), or as pets by bird fanciers. Feral or escaped populations of S. risoria occur in various countries (Donegan & Huertas 2002). Due to their morphological similarities, S. risoria is widely considered to be a domesti- cated descendant of African Collared Dove S. roseogrisea (Sundevall, 1857), which occurs in south-west Mauritania and Senegambia east to coastal Eritrea and Somalia, and Arabia (Gibbs et al. 2001). As S. risoria is senior to S. roseogrisea, application has been made to the International Committee of Zoological Nomenclature to conserve the name S. roseogrisea, in order to adopt the same approach to these taxa as that applied to names for domesticated mammals (Donegan 2007). The nomenclature of S. risoria and S. roseogrisea is complicated by the apparent refer- ence to individuals of other (current) Streptopelia species in the description of Columba risoria. Linnaeus (1758) included only a brief, ambiguous text and referred to descriptions by Aldrovandi (1599), Willughby (1678), Ray (1713) and Albin (1738). These works include plates and descriptions of birds similar to leucistic, domestic Ringed Doves (Aldrovandi and Willughby plates; Aldrovandi, Willughby and Ray descriptions of the ‘male’), birds currently referred to as wild S. roseogrisea (possibly, Aldrovandi, Willughby and Ray descriptions of the ‘female’) and birds currently referred to as wild Eurasian Collared Dove S. decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) (Albin’s plate and description and, possibly, Aldrovandi, Willughby and Ray descriptions of the ‘female’). The specimens illustrated by Aldrovandi (copied by Willughby) and Albin were probably live on depiction and are undoubtedly lost. Although Baptista et al. (1997) noted that S. decaocto and S. risoria could be synonyms, almost all other literature on the topic ignores Linnaeus’ (1758) references to S. decaocto or wild S. roseogrisea material in the description of S. risoria, and treats S. risoria as referring to Thomas M. Donegan 139 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Figure 1. Streptopelia risoria neotype (left: BMNH 2008.3.1) and specimen of S. roseogrisea (BMNH 1915.12.24.368) collected at Khartoum, Sudan, 28 May 1912 (Thomas M. Donegan, © Natural History Museum, Tring) ——— Figure 2 (above). Aldrovandi (1599) plate referred to by Figure 3 (right). Willughby (1678) plate referre Linnaeus (1758) in description of S. risoria. to by Linnaeus (1758) in description of S. risoria. domesticated populations of the Ringed Dove, to which the majority of illustrations and descriptions referenced in the original description refer. In connection with the application to conserve the name S. roseogrisea, a neotype of S. risoria is assigned below in order to stabilise further the intra-generic nomenclature of Streptopelia. No name-bearing holotype for S. risoria is believed extant and a name-bearing type is necessary to define the nominal taxon S. risoria objectively. Such a designation has as its express purpose clarification of the taxonomy of S. risoria, S. roseogrisea and S. decaocto. There are various S. risoria specimens in the Natural History Museum, Tring. Two showing characteristics depicted in Aldrovandi’s plate are from Great Britain, one from an aviary (BMNH 81.5.1.2776) and the other possibly an escaped bird (BMNH 91.3.14.2). A fur- ther specimen is deemed as being from ‘India’, but lacks further details (BMNH 2008.3.1). Thomas M. Donegan 140 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Specimens of ‘S. risoria’ from the Thorpe collection were not considered due to the large number of hybrids in that collection. Linnaeus, and all the other authors referred to in Linnaeus’ description, considered S. risoria to occur in India. However, S. risoria has no natural distribution, meaning that pre- cise locality data of a type specimen are of limited importance. The BMNH ‘India’ specimen therefore emerges as an apt candidate for the neotype of S. risoria. Neotype: Natural History Museum, Tring (BMNH 2008.3.1), undated and unsexed, location ‘India’. Based on labels attached to other Streptopelia specimens, the original museum label probably dates from the late 1800s. Plumage is as illustrated in Fig. 1, consistent with Aldrovandi’s (Fig. 2) and Willughby’s (Fig. 3) illustrations and descriptions. Acknowledgements Gina Douglas (Linnean Society of London), Natural History Museum and University College London library staff and Blanca Huertas (Natural History Museum) assisted with references. Mark Adams (NHM) kindly provided a new specimen number for the neotype. Thanks to ICZN staff (especially Svetlana Nikolaeva) for their suggestion to designate a neotype for S. risoria. References: Aldrovandi, U. 1599. Ornithologiae. Lib. XI. Bologna. Albin, E. 1738. A natural history of birds, vol. 3. London. Baptista, L. F., Trail, P. W. & Horblit, H. M. 1997. Family Columbidae (pigeons and doves). Pp. 60-243 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 4. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Bonaparte, C. L. 1855. Coup d’oeil sur les pigeons (quatrieme partie). Comptes rendus des séances de l’Academie des Sciences 40: 15-24. Donegan, T. M. 2007. Columba roseogrisea Sundevall, 1857 (currently Streptopelia roseogrisea; Aves, Columbidae): proposed conservation. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 64: 108-112. Donegan, T. M. & Huertas, B. C. 2002. Registro de una pareja de la Tortola de Collar Streptopelia risoria en el departamento de Norte de Santander, Colombia. Bol. Soc. Antioquena Orn. 8(24—25): 73-76. Gibbs, D., Barnes, E. & Cox, J. 2001. Pigeons and doves. Christopher Helm, London. Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, vol. 1. Tenth edn. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm. Ray, J. 1713. J. Raiit Synopsis methodica avium: opus posthumum. W. Innys, London. Willughby, F. 1678. The ornithology of F. Willughby of Middleton. London. Address: Fundacion ProAves, 33 Blenheim Road, Caversham, Reading RG4 7RT, UK, e-mail: tdone- gan@proaves.org / thomasdonegan@yahoo.co.uk © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Edward C. Dickinson 141 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) The name of the easternmost population of Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos by Edward C. Dickinson Received 21 October 2007 This population, which occurs from Iran and Kazakhstan east to China, was called Luscinia megarhynchos golziu Cabanis, 1873, until Dementiev (1932) substituted the name Luscinia hafizi Severtsov, '1872’, as well as substituting Corvus corax subcorax Severtsov, ‘1872’ for Corvus corax lawrencei [sic] Hume, 1873. In support he referred to Severtsov (1875) who claimed that his ‘Vertical and horizontal distribution of Turkestan animals’ had appeared in December 1872. Dementiev’s changes were adopted, by Ripley (1964) for the nightingale and Vaurie (1962) for the raven, unchallenged until the claimed 1872 publication date was investigated by Stepanyan (1988), who concluded that 1873 (the date on the wrapper) must be maintained. However, as regards the nightingale, Stepanyan (1990: 529, 2003: 576) did not reverse the change made by Dementiev. Nonetheless, a reversal is justified; Art. 23.9 of the International code of zoological nomenclature (ICZN 1999) is not applicable as the condition of non-usage since 1899 is not met, because golzii was used until 1932. The name golzii first appeared in the January 1873 issue of the Journal fiir Ornithologie. Whilst it is possible that Severtsov’s paper appeared prior to this, it is not certain and no firm evidence is available as to when Severtsov’s work became available. It is quite widely known that the dates of publication of some early numbers of the Journal fiir Ornithologie are unreliable, see, for example, Mathews (1920), but no evidence has yet been found that this issue was delayed and one must therefore rely upon the ‘specified date’ (Art. 21, ICZN 1999), and revert to using Cabanis’ name. The case of the ‘raven’ is quite different. Ivanov (1969) demonstrated that the holotype of Corvus corax subcorax Severtsov pertains to Corvus ruficollis, making subcorax a synonym of that monotypic species and leaving Corvus corax laurencei Hume, 1873, available. This was discovered by Cees Roselaar and footnoted in Dickinson (2003), but overlooked by Dickinson et al. (2004), who were corrected by Dickinson & Wells (2006). Acknowledgement Grateful thanks to Vladimir Loskot for helping with the 2006 correction to the raven, providing the Ivanov reference and for tracking down the paper by Stepanyan (1988). References: Cabanis, J. 1873. [Luscinia megarhynchos golzit]. In Protokoll der XLIX. Momats-Sitzung. J. Orn. 21: 73-80. Dementiev, G. P. 1932. Contributions a l’ornithologie de la Russie. Alauda (2)4: 6-10. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Dickinson, E. C., Dekker, R. W. R. J., Eck, S. & Somadikarta, S. 2004. Systematic notes on Asian birds. 45. Types of the Corvidae. Zool. Verh. Leiden 350: 111-148. Dickinson, E. C. & Wells, D. R. 2006. Corrigenda and addenda to Systematic notes on Asian birds 41—48 in Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden 350. Zool. Meded. 80: 217-218. Hume, A. O. 1873. Ornithology. Pp. 153-304 in Henderson, G. & Hume, A. O. (eds.) Lahore to Yarkand: tnci- dents of the route and natural history of the countries traversed by the expedition of 1870 under T.D. Forsyth Esq., C.B. L. Reeve & Co., London. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. Ivanov, A. 1969. [Birds of the Pamiro-Alay]. Nauka, Leningrad. [In Russian.] Edward C. Dickinson 142 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Mathews, G. M. 1920. Dates of ornithological works. Austral. Avian Rec. 4: 1-27. Ripley, S. D. 1964. Family Muscicapidae. Pp. 13-227 in Mayr, E. & Paynter, R. A. (eds.) Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 10. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Severtsov, N. A. 1873. [Vertical and horizontal distribution of Turkestan animals]. Izv. Imp. Obshch. lyibiteley estestvoznaniya, Antro. & Etno., Moscow Univ. 8(2): 1-157. [In Russian. ] Severtsov, N. A. 1875. [Letter to the Editor]. Stray Feathers 3: 420-431. Stepanyan, L. S. 1988. [On dating of the work by N. A. Severtsov “Vertical and horizontal distribution of Turkestan animals” ]. Zoologichesky Zhurnal 67: 293-296. [In Russian. ] Stepanyan, L. S. 1990. [Conspectus of the ornithological fauna of the USSR]. Nauka, Moscow. [In Russian.] Stepanyan, L. S. 2003. [Conspectus of the ornithological fauna of Russia and adjacent territories (within the borders of the USSR as a historic region)|. Moscow Akademikniga, Moscow. [In Russian.] Vaurie, C. 1962. Family Dicruridae. Pp. 137-157 in Mayr, E. & Greenway, J. C. (eds.) Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 15. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Address: Flat 3, Bolsover Court, 19 Bolsover Road, Eastbourne BN20 7JG, UK. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Lectotype designation for Cinnyris proteus Ruppell, 1840 (Nectariniidae) by Frank D. Steinheimer Received 14 January 2008 In 1845, Eduard Rtippell (1845: 26) described the same sunbird taxon he had already described earlier. Rtippell (1840: 91, main text and footnote; for publication date see Sawyer 1952) had proposed a new species name Cinnyris proteus for what is today the south-east Sudanese, Ethiopian, Eritrean and northern Kenyan form of the Scarlet-chested Sunbird Chalcomitra senegalensis (Steinheimer 2005a). In the protologue, nevertheless, Ruppell (1840: 91) based the name both on an illustration in Levaillant’s (1813) Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d’Afrique and on specimens of his own which, believing them to be similar, he described as well (first footnote, p. 91). Since all birds in Levaillant’s work lack scientific binomials, any author giving a Latin binomial by direct reference to any of Levaillant’s birds acted as the original describer—see Arts. 12.2.1 and 12.2.7 of the International code of zoological nomencla- ture (ICZN 1999). Both Levaillant’s illustration (or specifically the specimen on which it was based [(ICZN 1999: Art. 74.4)] and Riippell’s own material cited in the protologue of proteus (Rtuppell 1840) are thus syntypic for that name. Subsequently, it was found that Levaillant’s figure was of a different subspecies from Ruppell’s specimens, and that it had already been named by Linnaeus (1766: 186) as Certhia gutturalis, albeit with an erroneous type locality ‘Brasilia’ (an error copied from the other- wise very thorough description by Brisson 1760: 658-659, pl. 33, fig. 3). Today gutturalis Linnaeus is accepted as a valid subspecies of Chalcomitra senegalensis (Gadow 1884: 91, Rookmaaker 1989: 207, 327; R. J. Dowsett in litt. 13 January 2008). Cinnyris proteus Ruppell, 1840 vs. Nectarinia cruentata Ruppell, 1845 Five years later, Ruppell (1845: 26-27, pl. 9) redescribed proteus based largely on the same type material as in 1840, but under the different name cruentata Rtippell, 1845. Ruppell’s second description contains passages already given in 1840, clearly indicating that it indeed applies to the same taxon, but it nevertheless excludes reference to Levaillant — (1813) and his figure. Bonaparte (1850) was the first to recognise this, but he synonymized Frank D. Steinheimer 143 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Cinnyris proteus with Nectarinia cruentata, contrary to the law of priority. To my knowledge, nobody since then has ever used the senior name proteus Rtippell, 1840, for the form com- monly known today as Nectarinia cruentata Ruppell, 1845 (cf. Cheke & Mann 2001, Dickinson 2003, Steinheimer 2006). In these circumstances, it seemed preferable to establish Nectarinia cruentata as a nomen protectum. Nevertheless, although the terms of Art. 23.9.1.1 (ICZN 1999) may be met, those of Art. 23.9.1.2 are not: cruentata Ruppell has not been used more than 25 times in the last 50 years. Accordingly, I submitted an application to the ICZN to give the name Nectarinia cruentata Ruppell, 1845, precedence over Cinnyris proteus Rtippell, 1840, based on prevailing usage (Steinheimer 2006). This application was rejected in the second round of voting (first 15 to 13 affirmative, second 6 to 17 negative: ICZN 2007). Thus the valid name for this form, with the proviso explained below, becomes Chalcomitra senegalensis proteus (Ruppell, 1840). The word ‘proteus’ is a noun in apposition, thus invari- able, deriving from the Greek mythological being ‘Proteos’ and the Latin ‘Proteus’—a sea god, fabled to assume various shapes (N. David in litt. 12 January 2008; see also Art. 26, ICZN 1999). Originally, Levaillant (1813: 165) applied this name in the French spelling ‘Protée’ because of the various shades of colours and different plumages this species can possess. The proviso is contingent on lectotypification of a specimen of Rtippell’s own mate- rial of proteus, which would automatically exclude Levaillant’s (1813) fig. 2 on pl. 295 and text (pp. 165-167), which, as explained above, applies instead to Chalcomitra senegalensis gut- turalis (Linnaeus, 1766) from ‘Caffrerie’ (i.e. Tembu- and Pondoland, Eastern Cape, South Africa), later corrected to probably Maputo, southern Mozambique (Clancey 1994). Lectotype designation of Cinnyris proteus Ruppell, 1840 Accordingly, I here designate the following specimen in the Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main (SMF) from Riippell’s own material, from Simen, Ethiopia, as the lectotype of Cinnyris proteus Ruppell, 1840: 91, footnote: Lectotype: SMF 12664 (Steinbacher 1949: 116, Hartert 1891: 30, no. 442, first specimen). Adult male. Loc.: Valley of Province Simen (6,500 franz. [ft.]), Ethiopia. Collected by Ruppell in July-August 1832 [data on first SMF collection label: »Nectarinia cruentata et proteus Ruppell, ?, Simen i. Abyssinien, Geschenk von Dr Rtippell 1832, [Rtippell No.] 597«\]. Known paralectotypes: BMNH 1837.6.10.712 [(Gadow 1884: 94, sp. b). Female. Loc.: (Province Simen), Ethiopia, Rtippell (in 1832), (number not given), (exchange SMF 1834)]; SMF 72477 [Immature/eclipse male. Loc.: (Province Simen), Ethiopia, Rtippell (in 1832), (number not given)]; SMF 72478 [Female. Loc.: (Province Simen), Ethiopia, Riippell (in 1832), (number not given)]; SMF 72479 [Female. Loc.: (Province Simen), Ethiopia, Rtippell (in 1832), (number) 397c]; SMF 72480 [Immature/eclipse male. Loc.: (Province Simen), Ethiopia, Ruppell (in 1832), (number not given)]; a sixth paralectotype from Rtippell’s col- lection, BMNH 1837.6.10.711 [(Vell. Cat. XXVI: 26e, Gadow 1884: 94 sp. a)] could not be traced in 2002 (Steinheimer 2005b). Possible paralectotype: RMNH 133141 [Temminck Cat. No. 1, Adult male. Loc.: Abyssinia, (no collector given = probably Rtippell via SMF and Temminck)] (Dekker & Quaisser 2006: 68). Any specimen used for Levaillant’s (1813: pp. 165-167, pl. 295, fig. 2) description of ‘Sucrier-Protée’ (none has been traced at the museums of Leiden and Paris; H. van Grouw, E. Pasquet & C. Quaisser in litt. March 2008) also auto- matically becomes a paralectotype of Cinnyris proteus Ruppell, 1840. Frank D. Steinheimer 144 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(2) Acknowledgements [ am very grateful for the assistance and advice of Walter Bock, Normand David, Edward Dickinson, Bob. Dowsett, Hein van Grouw, Eric Pasquet, Christiane Quaisser and Richard Schodde. Thanks go also to Albrecht Manegold and Gerald Mayr for access to the Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main (SMF), and to Robert Pr¥s-Jones, The Natural History Museum, Tring (BMNH). References: Bonaparte, C. L. 1850. Conspectus Generum Avium, vol. 1. E. J. Brill, Leiden. Brisson, M.-J. 1760. Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes [sic] & leurs variétés [ ... ], vol. 3. Cl. Jean-Baptiste Bauche, Paris. Cheke, R. A. & Mann, C. F. 2001. Sunbirds: a guide to the sunbirds, flowerpeckers, spiderhunters and sugarbirds of the world. Christopher Helm, London. Clancey, P. A. 1994. The type-locality of Nectarinia senegalensis gutturalis (Linnaeus), 1766. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 114; 278-279. : Dekker, R. W. R. J. & Quaisser, C. 2006. Type specimens of birds in the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden. Part 3. Passerines: Pachycephalidae—Corvidae (Peters’s sequence). NNM Tech. Bull. 9: 1-77. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Gadow, H. 1884. Catalogue of the Passeriformes, or perching birds, in the collection of the British Museum— Cinnyrimorphae: containing the families Nectariniidae and Meliphagidae (sun-birds and honey-eaters), vol. 9. Trustees of the Brit. Mus., London. Hartert, E. 1891. Katalog der Vogelsammlung im Museum der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Frankfurt am Main. Gebriider Knauer, Frankfurt am Main. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 2007. Opinion 2187 (Case 3330). Nectarinia senegalensis cruentata Rtippell, 1845 (Aves, Passeriformes): subspecific name not conserved. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 64: 267-268. Levaillant, F. 1813. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique, vol. 6(51) [pls. 295-300]. Delachausée, Paris [date according to Rookmaaker 1989: 187: either 1812 or 1813]. Linnaeus, C. 1766. Systema Naturae, vol. 1. Twelfth edn. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm. Rookmaaker, L. C. 1989. Zoological exploration of Southern Africa 1650-1790. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam. Rtippell, E. 1840. Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehorig, entdeckt und beschrieben | . . . |—Vé6gel. Issue 2 (pp. 81-116, pls. XXXI-XLII). Siegmund Schmerber, Frankfurt am Main. Ruppell, E. 1845. Systematische Uebersicht der Vogel Nord-Ost-Afrika’s nebst Abbildungen und Beschreibungen von fiinfzig theils unbekannten, theils noch nicht bildlich dargestellten Arten. Schmerber’sche Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main. Sawyer, F. C. 1952. The dates of publication of Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Ritippell’s (1794-1884) ‘Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehGrig’ (fol., Frankfurt a. M., 1835-1840). J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Hist. 2: 407. Steinbacher, J. 1949. Typen und Typoide des Natur-Museums Senckenberg. 3—Kritisches Verzeichnis von Eduard Ruppell’s und Ph. J. Cretzschmar’s Vogel-Typen. Senckenbergiana 30: 99-120. Steinheimer, F. D. 2005a. The nomenclature of Eduard Rtippell’s birds from north-east Africa. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 125: 164-211. Steinheimer, F. D. 2005b. Eduard Riippell’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biol. 85: 233-264. Steinheimer, F. D. 2006. Case 3330. Nectarinia senegalensis cruentata Riippell, 1845 (Aves, Passeriformes): pro- posed conservation of the subspecific name. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 63: 42-45. Address: Wohlertstrasse 5, D-10115 Berlin, Germany, e-mail: franksteinheimer@yahoo.co.uk © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 BOC Office P.O. Box 417, Peterborough PE7 3FX, UK E-mail: boc.office@bou.org.uk. Website: www.boc-online.org Tel. & Fax: +44 (0)1733 844820. MEMBERSHIP Subscription rates for 2008 were due for renewal from 1 January 2008. 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Account no: 10211540, with confirmation to the BOC Office (above). CLUB CORRESPONDENCE Correspondence on all general Club matters should be addressed to: The Hon. Secretary, 5. A. H. (Tony) Statham, Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST, UK. E-mail: boc.sec@bou.org.uk. See inside front cover for details of Club meetings. COMMITTEE Cdr. M. B. Casement OBE RN (Chairman 2005) Dr J. H. Cooper (2005) Miss H. Baker (Vice-Chairman) (2005) P. J. Wilkinson (2005) | S. A. H. Statham (Hon. Secretary) (2004) D. J. Fisher (2007) (Hon. Website Manager) | D. J. Montier (Hon. Treasurer) (1997) Dr R. P. Pr¥s-Jones (2007) M. J. Walton (2008) | Ex-officio members _ Hon. Editor: G. M. Kirwan (1 January 2004) Chairman of BOU/BOC Joint Publications Committee (JPC): Revd. T. W. Gladwin Administration Manager: S. P. Dudley (2005) BOC Publications Officer: Prof. R. A. Cheke (2001) : Registered Charity No. 279583 Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club ISSN 0007-1595 Edited by Guy M. Kirwan Volume 128, Number 2, pages 73-144 CONTENTS Club Annowncements 8 oe oh oe os ee ee a eee 13 KIRWAN, G. M. Studies of Socotran birds II. Morphological and mensural evidence for a ‘new’ species in the Rufous Sparrow Passer motitensis complex endemic to the island of Abd ’Al-Kuri, with the validation of Passer insularis Sclater & Hlartlaub, 188i... 48. 4 83 4 MOYLE, R. G., HOSNER, P. A., NAIS, J., LAKIM, M & SHELDON, F. H. Taxonomic status of the Kinabalu ‘linchi’ swiftlet ...............%..5.02..5..5.......3...5...... 94 VASCONCELOS, M. A., MAURICIO, G. N., KIRWAN, G. M. & SILVEIRA, L. F. Range extension for Marsh Tapaculo Scytalopus iraiensis to the highlands of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with an overview of the species’ disttibUhion .. 05.6.6 ee 101 WHITTAKER, A. Field evidence for the validity of White-tailed Tityra Tityra leucura Pelzeln, 1868 .. 107 WHITTAKER, A., ALEIXO, A. & POLETTO, F. Corrections and additions to an annotated checklist of birds of the upper rio Urueu, Amazonas, Brazil ................3..¢......,:5.54.-..... 114 KRABBE, N. & STEJSKAL, D. J. A new subspecies of Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris from south-eastern Eculadot .......................-+5:.-..'5......:5 55.5 126 PENHALLURICK, J. & DICKINSON, E. C. The correct name of the ‘Himalayan Buzzard’ is Buteo (buteo) burMmaniCuS ... 22.12.55: ee 8 tti“‘“ ;y; 135i SCHODDE, D & BOCK, W. | the valid name forthe Grey Wagtail =... 3). = 132 PENHALLURICK, J. & ALEIXO, A. The correct name of the population of Xiphorhynchus ocellatus (von Spix, 1824) recently named weddellii (Des Muts, 1855) ......................3:50 1 133 PEARSON, D. J., KENNERLEY, P. R. & BENSCH, S. A second museum specimen of Large-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus ........................\............. 136 DONEGAN, T. M. Designation of a neotype for the dove known as ‘Streptopelia risoria’ ............ 138 DICKINSON, E. C. The name of the easternmost population of Common Nightingale Luscinia megarnynchos .......-2.....5.55. 11-6255 141 STEINHEIMER, F. D. Lectotype designation for Cinnyris proteus Riippell, 1840 (Nectariniidae) ..... 142 EDITORIAL BOARD Murray Bruce, R. T. Chesser, Edward C. Dickinson, Francoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Steven M. S. Gregory, José 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 and distribution of birds. Descriptions of new species of birds 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, preferably 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). As far as possible, review, return of manuscripts for revision and subsequent stages of the publication process will be undertaken electronically. For instructions on style, see the inside rear cover of Bulletin 125 (1) or the BOC website Registered Charity No. 279583 © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 www.boc-online.org Printed on acid-free paper. Published by the British Ornithologists’ Club Typeset by Alcedo Publishing of Arizona, USA, and printed by Latimer Trend, UK British Ornithologists’ Club : HISTORY MUSEUM Volume 128 No.3 September 2008 MEETINGS are normally held in the Sherfield Building of Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7. The nearest Tube station is at South Kensington; a map of the area will be sent to members, on request. (Limited car parking facilities can be reserved [at a special reduced charge of £5.00], on prior application to the Hon. Secretary.) The cash bar is open from 6.15 pm, and a buffet supper, of two courses followed by coffee, is served at 7.00 pm. (A vegetarian menu can be arranged if ordered at the time of booking.) Informal talks are given on completion, commencing at about 8.00 pm. Dinner charges are £22.50 per person. FORTHCOMING MEETINGS See also BOC website: http://www.boc-online.org The venue for evening meetings for the remainder of 2008 (September and November) will be the ante- room on the ground floor of the Sherfield Building, Imperial College, South Kensington. 23 September—Dr Sam Turvey—New Zealand's moa: biology and extinction of the world’s strangest birds. Among the largest birds that ever lived, moas rapidly became extinct following human arrival in New Zealand. Can their subfossil remains tell us anything about their ecology, or whether they might have been ‘pre-disposed’ to be overexploited by humans? Sam Turvey is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London (ZSL). He researches the ecology of bird and mammal extinctions, particularly on islands, as well as developing conservation projects for ZSL’s Edge of Existence programme. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 9 September 2008 4 November—Richard Price—The special birds of Morocco. This talk will comprise a review of some of the outstanding birds of Morocco, including the endemics and potential endemics, to be found in this stunningly beautiful and varied country. Richard Price has been watching birds since he was a boy, and has been a member of the BOU for 40 years and the Club almost as long. He has been visiting Morocco over the period 2005-08. Richard is a solicitor practising in the City of London specialising in international IP litigation. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 21 October 2008 Provisional dates for 2009: 27 January, 10 March, 28 April (AGM), 7 July, 22 September and 10 November. A summer outing may also be arranged. Overseas Members visiting Britain are especially welcome at these meetings, and the Hon. Secretary would be very pleased to hear from anyone who can offer to talk to the Club giving as much advance notice as possible—please contact: S. A. H. (Tony) Statham, Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST, UK. Tel. +44 (0)1442 876995 (or e-mail: boc.sec@bou.org.uk). Contributors See the March issue of each volume for guidelines or the BOC website Bulletin pages, at www.boc-online.org/bulletin.htm a AT eM TY HEM SA WR BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' CLUB Dinner Meetings — September & November 2008 BOOKING FORM Because arrangements for meetings have to be made with Imperial College well in advance, Members are asked to send bookings 14 days beforehand. If you book and subsequently find you are unable to attend, please notify the Hon. ‘Secretary as soon as possible. If the booking is cancelled less than 5 days before a meeting, the payment will not normally be refunded, unless the booking can be offered to another member. (Late applications can usually be taken up to am. on the ‘Friday preceding a meeting). Vegetarian meals can be provided - please make your ‘request at the time of booking. Limited car parking (at a special charge of £5.00 - this is no longer free), can be arranged on prior application to the Hon. Secretary, giving details of car registration. Have you recently looked at our website - http:/Awww.boc-online.org? Tuesday 4'" November — Richard Price — “Birds of Morocco” | I wish to attend with ............. PUBS Su MAmIO(S) OMY PUCSI(S)-..evvdeecsecslecus-vzscecece codeeacvane¥s | MRF LN ac Se ches awakens sndgsnnsecceoresc> (£22.50 per head) is enclosed. i Same ee rocks cocdeesncavauseves Lele tient. ! ™ Please retum (or e-mail) to: The Hon. Secretary BOC, (Tony Statham), Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road , Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST. Tel: 01442-876995 by Tuesday 21* October ae sent i ee tila Ee SE a A ac ape ag ee Bes cal Tuesday 23™ September — Dr Samuel Turvey — “New Zealand’s moa: Holey and ‘extinction of the world’s strangest birds” : I wish to attend with ............. BMeSIS oaIMeLS) ORM PUCSUS) oct atc scatndec.. se scasactonurenscncy: | LEA eel ao (£22.50 per head) is enclosed. | Ey SAR Sa a i clas orctacs ™ Please return (or e-mail) to: The Hon. Secretary BOC, (Tony Statham), Ashlyns Lodge, . Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST. Tel: 01442-876995 by Tuesday 16" September Ce TE RES ES ae eae eee ea ee Co eee ee ee ee eS ee a | ‘Provisional dates for 2009 are January 27, March 10, April 28 (incl. AGM), July 7, September 22 and November 10 — all speakers to be announced. | Club Announcements 145 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Bulletin of the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Evol 128:No, 3 Published 12 September 2008 CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS Congratulations to the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) on its 150th anniversary The BOC extends warmest congratulations to the BOU on reaching its 150th anniversary. Prof. Alfred Newton, the Revd. Henry Tristram and six other ornithologists founded the BOU, on 17 November 1858, at Magdalene College, Cambridge. A list of 20 founder members was decided and one of the first resolutions was to establish a new journal entirely devoted to birds. The first issue of [bis was issued in January 1859 with Dr P. L. Sclater as editor. Subsequently, the BOC was founded in October 1892 ‘for the purpose of giving members of the British Ornithologists’ Union an opportunity for meeting more frequently than the customary once a year’. Space does not permit a full description of the initial rules, but it is interesting to note that Dr P. L. Sclater was the first Chairman and that the Club met on the third Wednesday in every month from October to June. ‘At the Meeting papers upon Ornithological subjects (will) be read, specimens exhibited and discussion invited’ and ‘an abstract of the proceedings’ would be printed as soon as possible after each meeting as the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club with Dr R. Bowdler Sharpe as editor. The 948th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 29 January 2008, in the Senior Common Room of the _Sherfield Building, Imperial College, London. Twenty-four members and seven guests were present. Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), Miss H. BAKER, Mrs D. M. BRADLEY, Dr N. J. COLLAR (Speaker), Ms K. COOK, D. J. FISHER, J. B. FISHER, F. M. GAUNTLETT, Revd. T. W. GLADWIN, D. GRIFFIN, R. H. KETTLE, Dr C. F, MANN, D. J. MONTIER, Mrs M. N. MULLER, P. J. SOFIE KR VAs) elGnMIAN, ik. G PRICE, Dr R. P. PRYS-JONES, R. J. PRYTHERCH, Dr C. RYALL, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C.W.R. STOREY and P. J. WILKINSON. Guests attending were: D. BRADLEY, Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, N. CHESHIRE, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J. GLADWIN, Mrs M. MONTIER and C.A. MULLER. After dinner, Nigel Collar spoke about Birds and people. Eggs for breakfast, turkey salad for lunch, cog au vin for dinner, everyday speech (from ‘lame-duck president’ to ‘cloud cuckoo land’—even ‘auspicious’ means, at root, ‘from good birdwatching’), product and team-sport logos conveying speed and strength, national treasures on currency, insulation and comfort of bedding—our use of birds sits at the root of our lives, and we can parse it into three broad categories, broadly running in chronological if overlapping sequence: (1) association and inspiration, (2) semi-sustainable services and (3) intolerable exploitation. Into the first category fall their use in symbol, myth and art, reflected across many cultures: Horus the falcon of pharaonic creation, the swan-morph of Zeus in his union with Leda (beloved of painters, and since Leonardo commonly depicted as consensual), pelican, phoenix, dove and Goldfinch (Christian symbols, the first two probably mistaken for flamingos), parrots (embodiments of the New World’s earthly paradise), and the sounds used by composers since notation began. Into the second fall their more practical values to human society: quills for writing, flights for arrows, feathers for status and insulation, songster pets (an ancient trade), ornamental and competitive pets (junglefowl and pigeons), domestic foodstuffs (junglefowl and pigeons), subsistence and sport falconry, cormorant-fishing, hornbill ivory, coalmine canaries, vultures for body disposal, and the great environmental service of insect control. Into the third pack the nightmare histories of human exploitation at its most unrestrained: the destruction of the Great Auk Pinguinus impennis, Passenger Pigeon Ectopistes migratorius and ancient seabird colonies of the Pacific (all for food), astonishing slaughter for 19th-century feather fashions (herons, hummingbirds and birds-of-paradise especially), the millenia-old, never-ending saga of European songbird killing, appalling industrial-scale poultry farming, gangland syndication of the birds’-nest soup trade, nation-to-nation violence over guano, and the disgrace of the global wild bird trade. For all this, birds still offer a lifeline: we use them as indicators of environmental health, as scientific models that teach us about ourselves, and as objects of wonder. When these elements combine they bring us the inspiration and instruction we need to manage our planet for all its inhabitants. ————— __ HISTORY MUSEUM | 17 SEP 2008 a Sra ise, TD Club Announcements 146 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) The 950th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 29 April 2008, in the Sherfield Building, Imperial College, London. Twenty-three members and six guests were present. Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), D. N. S. ALLEN, Miss H. BAKER (Vice Chairman), D. R. CALDER, Ms K. COOK, Dr J. COOPER, D. J. FISHER, F. M. GAUNTLETT, Revd. T. W. GLADWIN, D. GRIFFIN, K. HERON JONES, Dr J. P. HUME, R. H. KETTLE, R. R. LANGLEY, Dr C. F. MANN, D. J. MONTIER, R. C. PRICE, Dr R. P. PRYS-JONES, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R. STOREY, M. J. WALTON and P. J. WILKINSON Guests attending were: Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J. M. GLADWIN, Mrs J. HERON JONES, Mrs M. MONTIER and Mrs H. PRICE. After dinner, several members gave short talks. Robert Pr¥s-Jones began with an outline of Kalman Kittenberger (1881-1958): an important but unfortunate collector of African birds who collected thousands of birds in East Africa during the early 20th century prior to World War I. The great majority were sent to the Hungarian National Museum, where Julius Madarasz described an array of new taxa based on them; subsequently they all perished in a fire that engulfed the collection in 1956, though information on them survives in detailed notes taken by Kittenberger and published posthumously. The talk drew attention to an array of Kittenberger specimens, and letters relating to them, that still exist, either because he sold them elsewhere or because they were part of a batch confiscated by the British authorities in Uganda. Kittenberger was a quite significant collector of East African birds, but was unfortunate in the fates that they suffered and he has been largely neglected as a result. Tom Gladwin then addressed White Wagtails (Motacilla a. alba) wintering in Britain. He recounted how he and his wife were drawn to examine a group of 29 alba wagtails at Minsmere, Suffolk, on 3 November 2007, of which possibly as many as nine were White Wagtails Motacilla a. alba. On 10 December 2007, during a visit for the British Trust for Ornithology’s Bird Atlas 2007-11 project, their attention was drawn to two alba wagtails with strikingly white underparts and no visible grey on the flanks, at Digswell, Herts. These birds appeared to be feeding apart from, and only loosely associated with, a group of Pied Wagtails M. a. yarrelli. The generally pale female also had a distinct supercilium and the observers concluded that it was possibly a White Wagtail. The male, which was to be conclusively identified as a White Wagtail, was observed regularly until 8 February. In December 2007, and in April 2008, the observers examined and photographed skins of White and Pied Wagtails in the Natural History Museum, Tring. They concluded that the following three features enabled the White Wagtails to be reliably separated from Pied: (i) the black or dark coloration of the head never extends beyond the nape; (ii) the rump is grey, sometimes dark grey, never black as in yarrelli; (iii) the underparts are strikingly white with little or no visible grey on the flanks; and, in addition, (iv) females with a strong supercilium similar to those in flava wagtails are very probably White Wagtails. White Wagtails seen in Britain are considered to be from breeding populations in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes on passage to and from their wintering areas in subtropical Africa. Some have wintered, even bred, in Britain. These experiences raised two questions, in what numbers are White Wagtails wintering in Britain, and are they being overlooked by observers? As a result of climate change, might we expect the numbers wintering to increase? The next talk featured a report by Katrina Cook on a recent field trip to Mozambique, as part of a Darwin Initiative expedition hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Katrina was invited to assemble a small collection of bird specimens for the collections at Tring and Maputo. Racked by several decades of civil war, Mozambique has remained largely untouched by scientists for much of the 20th century. This expedition, to Mt. Namuli, followed in the footsteps of Col. Jack Vincent who collected birds for what was then the British Museum (Natural History) 75 years ago. Teams of porters, unstable bridges and specimen preparation conditions bore a remarkable similarity to the 1930s trip—the notable exception being the absence of man-eating lions! Namuli has globally significant populations of four restricted-range taxa and is | the only known locality of Namuli Apalis Apalis lynesi. Katrina is returning to Mozambique in October 2008 | to collect birds in the previously unexplored Mt. Mabu region. Michael Casement then outlined and illustrated a recent cruise to the Antarctic. His aim was to demonstrate the remarkable flexibility of modern digital cameras to record identification details of albatrosses and other seabirds in flight. From the stern of the ship, he spent more time looking through his | lens than his binoculars. He also showed images of two aberrant forms of penguins. An unusual melanistic Chinstrap Penguin Pygoscelis antarctica was photographed on Half Moon Island, Antarctica, on 11 January, | by Christopher Wilson. Two ‘leucistic’ Gentoo Penguins P. papua were sighted on 13 January at Waterboat | Point, both sharing nesting duties with ‘normal’ mates (a photograph of one is on the BOC website for the | meeting). In correspondence following this, Katrina Cook forwarded the images to Hein van Grouw, Senior | Collection Manager at The National Museum of Natural History Naturalis, Leiden, who has studied such mutations. He concluded that the Chinstrap was indeed melanistic, but the Gentoo was not a leucistic | mutant, but showed evidence of the mutant Brown, an aberration that normally occurs only in females. He | wrote: “The mutant Brown is widespread and is one of the most common aberrations in birds, and in several! penguin species Brown is reported (sometimes called Isabella)’. The final talk was given by Martin Gauntlett who asked Why can’t the experts agree? The BOU and the | Association of European Records Committees have recently accepted the splitting of the European Herring : Ls Club Announcements 147 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Gull from the American one, but the AOU, presumably considering the same information, have rejected that split. A particularly tangled problem involves some of the Anthus pipits where up to ten taxa have been considered as species, the first eight all being part of the Richard’s Pipit complex at some time. The authorities consulted, in order of publication, are: HM1 (first edition of Howard & Moore, HM2 the second and HM3 the third edition), S&M (Sibley and Monroe), BoA (the relevant volume of the Birds of Africa), HBW (the relevant volume of the Handbook of the birds of the world), IOC (Gill & Wright’s world list on behalf of the IOC, which uses HM3 as its starting point), and BLI (the world list on the BirdLife International website). Martin used a table to illustrate his points. In the 1980s, just about all taxa were considered under A. novaeseelandiae, but S&M recognised seven species. Their specific recognition of Cameroon Pipit A. camaroonensis has not been followed subsequently. S&M also recognised Woodland Pipit A. nyassae as distinct from Long-billed Pipit A. similis. BoA’s only split within the Richard’s Pipit complex was Mountain Pipit A. hoeschi. HM3 split New Zealand Pipit A. novaeseelandiae from Australasian Pipit A. australis (unlike S&M), but this seems unlikely to be the ‘end of the story’ because several forms on remote islands, such as the Campbell group, look rather different. HM3 also does not recognise Paddyfield Pipit A. rufulus, it being lumped in Richard’s Pipit, despite being the size and shape of a Meadow Pipit A. pratensis. HM3 also ‘lumps’ Jackson's Pipit A. latistriatus, within African Pipit A. cinnamomeus. HBW ‘lumps’ the New Zealand forms within Australasian Pipit but accepts the other splits except Cameroon Pipit (lumped with African Pipit). The IOC gives English names to everything except Cameroon Pipit. BLI ploughs its own furrow. It does not recognise New Zealand Pipit as distinct from Australasian, the African forms except Mountain Pipit are ‘lumped’ in richardi, and nor does it recognise Woodland Pipit. As for Jackson’s Pipit, it lumps northern forms with Richard’s Pipit and southern forms with Long-billed Pipit. Kimberley Pipit A. pseudosimilis, which was described in the Bulletin, has been accepted by most subsequent authors, but not BLL, which goes to some length to dispute the evidence. Depending on taxonomy, there are 1-10 species involved, with 21st century systematics indicating anything from four to nine. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913): an ornithological celebration BIS UL\— \OON\ An illustrated talk by the Revd. Tom Gladwin to a meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Club held at the Natural History Museum, Tring, on Saturday 21 June 2008 Tom Gladwin had offered this talk in the belief that the Club should celebrate and thereby mark two 150th anniversaries, especially the reading of the first paper on natural selection by Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858. The other anniversary being the founding in the same year of the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU), the Club’s ‘parent’, with which through common -membership, a partly shared administration, and the Joint Publications Committee, it continues to enjoy a warm relationship. The meeting was appropriately held at the Natural History Museum, Tring, where an important assemblage of skins obtained by Wallace, including many type specimens, are held. Wallace was born in Usk on 8 January 1823. Educated at Hertford Grammar School he found Latin the ‘most painful’ of the subjects he was taught, but he acknowledged, in My Life published in 1905, that it later enabled him ‘to understand the specific descriptions of birds and insects’. There are several memorials to him _in Hertford, where but for the action of his brother John he might have drowned. In 1844 he met the entomologist Henry Bates. They became close friends and in 1848 departed on an expedition to collect in northern Brazil. Bates concentrated on the Amazon, and Wallace, the first European to do so, on the rio Negro and its tributaries. Illness decided Wallace to return in 1852. Unfortunately the _ Helen on which he sailed caught fire and his collections were destroyed. Earlier consignments of specimens _ received by his agent Samuel Stephens had been sold to finance the expedition. The account of his travels in South America, A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, published in 1853, reveals that he was already giving thought to the nature of speciation and the factors limiting a species’ distribution. In April 1854 Wallace arrived in Singapore at the start of his expedition to the Malay archipelago. In eight years he was to travel 14,000 miles and obtain 125,660 specimens including 8,000 birds. In Sarawak in 1855 Wallace wrote the paper entitled “On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species’ (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 16: 184-196). It ended with the now famous words known as the Sarawak Law ‘every species has come into existence both in space and time with a pre-existing closely allied species’. The paper was brought to Charles Darwin’s attention by Sir Charles Lyell and, in 1856, possibly sensing he might lose his priority, Darwin drafted the first two chapters of what was to be come The origin of _ species. In January 1858, whilst in the Spice Islands, Wallace wrote his famous Ternate paper, ‘On the Tendency _ of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type’. This he sent to Darwin who passed it to Lyell _ together with the copy of an essay he had written in 1844. On 1 July 1858 these were read by Lyell and Joseph Hooker to a meeting of the Linnaean Society of London (Proc. Linn. Soc. Zool. 3: 53-62). As Darwin acknowledged, Wallace had independently discovered the theory of natural selection and was the first ' person to write a paper for publication on it. { | | Club Announcements 148 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) In 1857 a group of ornithologists who had been meeting for some years resolved ‘to establish a Magazine devoted entirely to Ornithology’. Thus the BOU was founded in 1858. In that year Philip Sclater, the first editor of Ibis, had a paper on ‘The Geographical Distribution of Birds’ published by the Linnean Society. On reading it Wallace wrote to Sclater who had been appointed the first editor of Ibis. The letter (Ibis 1: 449-454, 1859) mostly dealt with the separation of the Indian (Oriental) and Australian regions. He suggested the divide, known as the Wallace Line, be drawn through the 25 km-wide Makassar Strait between Bali and Lombok, between Celebes and Borneo, and between the Moluccas and the Philippines. As he stated ‘Barbets reach Bali but not Lombok; Cacatua and Tropidorhynchus reach Lombok but not Bali. Cacatua, Trichoglossus and Scythrops in Celebes but not in Borneo.’ His monumental work, which confirmed him as the father of zoogeography, The geographical distribution of animals, was published in 1875. It was Sclater, the Club’s first chairman, who met Wallace at Waterloo Station on his arrival from New Guinea on 1 April 1862. Wallace had brought with him two Lesser Birds-of-Paradise Paradisaea minor which, much to Sclater’s surprise ‘had actually reached London alive’ (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 23: 3). Wallace died on 7 November 1913. Obituaries in Ibis and the Bulletin were among the many tributes paid to him. Buried at Broadstone (Dorset), he is commemorated by a memorial plaque on the floor of Westminster Abbey. At the service of dedication the Dean of Westminster said ‘as is so often observable in true greatness, there was in him an entire absence of that vanity and self-advertisement which are not infrequent with smaller minds—it is great men who work for the work’s sake without regard to recognition and who achieve greatness in spite of themselves’. In pursuit of his studies Wallace had travelled in excess of 20,000 miles. His publications comprised 22 books, 508 scientific papers, and 239 other articles and reviews. In the Malay archipelago alone he discovered over 1,000 animal species new to science. Some of these, including the spectacular Wallace’s or Standardwing _ Bird-of-Paradise Semioptera wallacti and 11 other bird species, are named after him. Wallace was widely honoured in his lifetime. He was elected an Honorary Member of the BOU in 1860, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1893, and in 1908 was presented with the first Darwin—Wallace Medal on the 50th anniversary of the Linnean Society meeting of 1 July 1858. He also received Honorary Degrees from Dublin and Oxford universities and the Order of Merit in 1908. | After the talk, those present moved into the NHM bird collection, where Tom Gladwin illustrated points he had made by reference to specimens collected by and / or named after Wallace. Thereafter, Robert Pr¥s-Jones used a selection of specimens that Wallace collected in Sarawak between late 1854 and early 1856 to illustrate research, based on comparative analysis of Wallace’s field notebooks and specimen labels, which he and Lord Cranbrook are undertaking into the development of Wallace’s ornithological knowledge. During the meeting the Club, recognising its great contribution to ornithology, resolved to send its | greetings and congratulations to the BOU as it celebrated its 150th year. BOA (ee * (D0 | Derek Goodwin 1920-2008 Many BOC members will have been saddened to learn of the death of Derek Goodwin on 14 May, at the age | | of 88. Following army service in North Africa, Derek applied his life-long passion for birds by joining the | ‘Bird Room’ staff in October 1946, and he worked his way up to Experimental Officer (1954) and latterly, Principal Scientific Officer. He became a familiar face and friend to all who visited the bird collections. Derek’s writings and contributions to ornithology have already been covered in the national press, and | other publications, but a few personal memories of this very remarkable and much-loved man are appropriate here. Derek wasn’t a member of the BOC: Effie Warr suggests he didn’t care for joining clubs, or! attending meetings. He preferred to leave work on the dot and go home to his living birds, which he kept in, a small upstairs room, with an observation hole cut into it. | I came to know Derek personally, as he was my mentor at RN College, Greenwich, in 1953, where I had| to undertake a study of a non-naval subject, and I chose ‘ornithological evolution and speciation’. This) involved me travelling to the Bird Room, at South Kensington, where Derek took me in hand, and also} introduced me to many distinguished visitors; I vividly recall the imposing figure of Col. Meinertzhagen. Derek subsequently proposed my membership to the BOU, and we kept in touch spasmodically over many years. He was a lovely man and a special friend to all who came to know him, both professionals and! enthusiastic amateurs like me. | Michael Walters worked closely with him during the transfer of the collections to Tring: ‘Derek! Goodwin was probably one of the most underrated ornithologists of the 20th century, largely because he was) so self-effacing that few who came into contact with him were aware of his full value. I worked closely with him from 1970 onwards during the packing and transportation of the bird collections from South ing ofthe to their new location at Tring. The first two years of my work in the Bird Room involved the packing of th collections, a process not without trauma to all of us. I recall that I once said to Derek, “do you ever drea that one day you'll come in and find that all this transportation is a dreadful nightmare and that everything is as it was before?”. He agreed that such an event would be a revelation. During the early years after moving to Tring, he and I would arrive at 08.15 at Tring station (we were the only staff members to commute fro Club Announcements 149 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) south London) and walk to the museum, rain, hail or shine. None of the other, then current, staff ever understood the camaraderie that developed between us during those years.’ ‘Derek’s knowledge of birds was incredible. He handled and came to have a detailed knowledge of practically every specimen in the collection, and had expertise in all groups of birds, not merely the three families—crows, pigeons and waxbills—on which he published monographs. The many papers he published give no indication of the breadth of his knowledge, much of which has perished with him. One function of the bird section was to identify feathers sent in by members of the public, and Derek was an expert in this field. On one occasion several staff spent a whole morning checking unsuccessfully everything they could think of. Finally, in despair, they asked Derek, who took one look at the feathers and said: “Have you tried undertail-coverts of Golden Eagle?”. It proved to be correct.’ ‘Derek was modest to a fault. Before retiring he destroyed most of his personal correspondence because it never occurred to him that it could possibly be of any interest. He handed over a few selected letters with ‘great’ ornithologists, never thinking that he might be held in equal regard. He attended his own leaving party with the greatest reluctance; it was, I think, an ordeal he would rather not have endured.’ Effie also recalls ‘Derek transferred to Tring in 1971 but decided to continue travelling from his home in Herne Hill. He took part in the third Harold Hall expedition to Australia collecting birds for the museum but I suspect he didn’t enjoy the collecting part very much. We went several times to his Herne Hill home where he cooked supper for us—always chicken and Malaga wine I remember. He worked at Tring until his retirement in 1982, and subsequently moved to Petts Wood.’ Derek’s legacy to the ornithological community is an impressive list of scientific papers and books, and a wide circle of friends who will miss him greatly. Michael Casement Thomas M. Donegan 150 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Geographical variation in Slate-crowned Antpitta Grallaricula nana, with two new subspecies, from Colombia and Venezuela by Thomas M. Donegan Received 19 April 2007; final revision accepted 15 July 2008 Slate-crowned Antpitta Grallaricula nana is a small member of the Grallariidae found in | the northern Andes. The song of most populations has been sound-recorded (Appendix 1) | and some ecological data have been published (Delgado 2002, Greeney & Sornoza 2005, Greeney ef al. 2008, Niklison et al. 2008), but no detailed revision of its taxonomy has been | attempted. Six subspecies of G. nana have been described from eastern Venezuela to north- | ern Peru, with a disjunct population in the tepui region of southern Venezuela and Guyana (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). Subspecies are considered separable by the extent of white on their otherwise red-orange underparts, the colour saturation of the underparts and upper- parts and eye-ring pattern (Figs. 1-7). It has recently been suggested that one of the Venezuelan populations might warrant species rank based on plumage and voice (Ridgely | & Tudor 1994, Boesman 1999). Separately, recent range extensions (i.e. new populations) in | Colombia (Andrade & Lozano 1997, Salaman et al. 2002, Cuervo et al. 2003, Krabbe et al. | 2006, Echeverry & Cérdoba 2007, Donegan et al. 2007) mandate a re-evaluation of subspe- | cific taxonomy. In particular, the nominate subspecies has recently been considered to | encompass all Andean populations from Venezuela to Peru (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003), but published voice recordings (Appendix 1; Figs. 10-12) evidence substantial geographical | variation within this region. Grallaricula is currently treated, together with most other antpitta genera, in the family | Grallariidae (Irestedt et al. 2002, Chesser 2004, Rice 2005a,b, Remsen et al. 2008). Many | species of antpitta occur in montane regions, and individuals probably possess poor disper- | sal abilities, being unable to cross low valleys of unsuitable habitat. Grallaricula are secretive understorey birds that are more frequently heard than seen. Within the Neotropics, these factors have contributed to the family probably being second only to Rhinocryptidae in the | number of new taxa described recently, as previously unknown populations have been dis- covered and sound-recorded (Graves et al. 1983, Graves 1987, Schulenberg & Williams 1992, Stiles 1992, Krabbe et al. 1999). Two subspecies of G. nana are described from Colombia: G. n. nana (Lafresnaye, 1842)| and G. n. occidentalis Todd, 1927. The latter was recently considered a synonym of the nom-) Captions to figures on opposite page Figure 1. G. n. hallsi holotype, Serrania de los Yariguies, Colombia, January 2005 (Blanca Huertas / Proyecto EBA) ae ~~ Figure 2. Immature G. n. nanitaea, Surata, dpto. Santander, Colombia (Jorge E. Avendanio-C.) Figure 3. G. n. pariae, Cerro Humo, Sucre, Venezuela (Joseph A. Tobias) Figure 4. BMNH specimens, showing geographical variation in G. nana, from left to right: (i) G. n. pariag (1951.1.2, formerly COP 44254, paratype); (ii) G. n. kukenamensis (89.7.10.926, holotype); (iii) G. n. olivascen | (1915.3.16); (iv) G. n. nana (89.9.10.927); and (v) G. n. occidentalis (89.7.10.956) (Thomas M. Donegan, © Natural) History Museum, Tring) Figure 5. ICN specimens, from left to right: (i) G. . occidentalis West Andes population (25920); (ii) G. n. nan | (31322); (ii) G. n. hallsi (35555, paratype); (iv) G. n. hallsi (35195, holotype); (v) G. n. hallsi (5193, paratype)} and (vi) G. n. nanitaea Tama population (33933, formerly IAVH 10645) (Thomas M. Donegan) | | O.C. 2008 128 B Bull gS c 6D oD} q ie) QO = ep) o g ‘e) nor cl Thomas M. Donegan 152 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) | Figure 6. Series at BMNH showing differences in underparts plumage saturation between G. n. nana and G. n. occidentalis: at left five G. n. nana, from left to right (i) 44.12.31.21, (ii) 89.9.20.652, (iii) 89.9.20.651, (iv) 54.1.25.81, (v) 89.9.10.927; at right three G. n. occidentalis, from left to right (vi) 89.7.10.956, (vii) 89.7.10.929, and (viii) 89.7.10.928 (Thomas M. Donegan, © Natural History Museum, Tring) i Figure 7. AMNH series of G. n. nanitaea, left to right: (i) 96305 (paratype); (ii) 492316; (iii); 146661 (holotype); (iv) 100209; (v) 492312; (vi) 492311; (vii) 492313; (viii) 492318; (ix) 492315; (x) 492317 (paratype); and (xi), 492314 (Thomas M. Donegan) | Figure 8. Bill morphology of (left to right): (i) G. n. olivascens BMNH 1915.3.16; (41) G. n. kukenamensis BANH 89.7.10.926; and (iii) G. n. pariae BANH 1951.1.2 (Thomas M. Donegan, © Natural History Museum, Tring) inate because West Andean and Ecuadorian specimens possess similar plumage (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). The other described subspecies all occur in Venezuela and Guyana: G| n. olivascens Hellmayr, 1917, of the Coastal Cordillera, G. n. cumanensis E. J. O. Hartert, 1900) of the Caripe Mountains, G. n. pariae Phelps & Phelps Jr., 1949, of the Paria Peninsula, 7 G. n. kukenamensis Chubb, 1918, of the tepuis. | | | eee ee Thomas M. Donegan 153 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Methods Specimens of G. nana and other Grallaricula species were studied at the following insti- tutions: American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH); Natural History Museum, Tring (BMNH); Coleccién Ornitol6gica Phelps, Caracas (COP); Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva, Colombia (IAVH); Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional, Bogota (ICN); Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad de la Salle, Bogota (MLS); and Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (MNHN). Details of other Colombian specimens were taken from Project Biomap (www.biomap.net). Photographs of specimens in the Biomap database held at the following museums were studied: Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (ANSP); Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh (CM); Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA (MCZ); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (FMNH); and Los Angeles County Natural History Museum (LACM). A list of specimens inspected and their localities, which includes type specimens of almost all taxa, is presented in Appendix 1. The following measurements were taken for each specimen: wing-chord and tail length (to nearest 0.5 mm), tarsus length, culmen length from skull to tip of upper mandible and bill width at mid-point of the nostrils (to nearest 0.5 mm) and, from specimen labels, mass (g) data were also obtained. Data from birds in juvenile plumage, moulting from juvenile to adult plumage, or otherwise in moult were excluded from analyses. Juvenile and immature specimens are easily identified in G. nana by the presence of patchy dark rufous feathering. Due to time constraints and the number of specimens, only a sample of G. n. pariae materi- al at COP was measured, but others were inspected. Biometric data are presented in Appendix 2. Vocalisations in suboscines, such as Grallaricula, are considered innate and stereotypi- cal (Kroodsma 1984), and in another high-elevation Andean suboscine genus, Scytalopus, these provide a better reflection of molecular differences than plumage characters (Arctander & Fjeldsa 1994). Vocal differences between populations may therefore have a genetic basis and can inform taxonomy (e.g. Isler et al. 1997, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, Krabbe & Schulenberg 1997). To assess taxon rank, a combination of morphological and vocal evi- dence is often considered helpful under a modern interpretation of the Biological Species Concept (Helbig et al. 2002). Published and unpublished sound-recordings of G. nana were studied. For comparison, Venezuelan recordings of nominate Rusty-breasted Antpitta G. ferrugineipectus, Crescent- faced Antpitta G. lineifrons and presumed recordings of Hooded Antpitta G. cucullata were also studied (Appendix 3). These taxa were chosen because they have structurally similar songs to G. nana taxa and do not present significant taxonomic issues (cf. Ecuadorian and Colombian G. ferrugineipectus). Sonograms were generated using the default settings of Raven Lite 1.0, sometimes adjusted for brightness and expanded to show at least the detail in Figs. 10-12. Audacity 1.2.6 was used to remove ‘noise’ from some recordings. Both the loudsong (sensu Willis 1967, hereafter ‘song’) and calls were analysed. Data from songs that were curtailed (e.g. G. n. olivascens) were ignored. If calls were combined with songs, or elaborate introductory or terminating sequences were included with songs (e.g. some recordings of G. lineifrons and G. ferrugineipectus), such calls or sequences were excluded. Songs and calls were defined as sequences of notes broken by gaps significantly longer than the intervals between individual notes of a sequence. Multiple songs and calls were meas- ured from single recordings and localities, where available, to determine the full range of variables. Recordings of individuals under natural conditions and after playback were Thomas M. Donegan Figure 9. Potential distribution maps using MAXENT 3.0 (Phillips et al. 2006) based on topography and climate layers available from Worldclim (Hijmans et al. 2005) showing records of G. nana taxa. A (above). All G. nana populations. Potential distribution is based on three analyses: (i) nana group; (ii) cumanensis group; and (iii) kukenamensis. The potential range of the species includes unsuitable sites (e.g. west slope of the Andes in Ecuador and lower elevations) probably due to inaccurate locality data for older specimens. B (right). Three Eastern Cordillera G. nana taxa only, including the two new subspecies described in this paper. 154 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) 9 NX G. n. occidentalis n. West Andes . Maha ® 3 . alist . Nanitaea Mérida . Nanitaea Santander-Tama . patiae n n 1 n. olivascens n. n. cumanensis n . kKukenamensis G. n. hallsi | 4. Gn. nanitaea Santander-Tama | Thomas M. Donegan 155 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) included for the same reason. Data on numbers of recordings and sonograms are presented for each taxon in Appendix 3. Appendix 1 contains a gazetteer of recording localities. Various vocal variables described by Isler et al. (1997, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008) were con- sidered for further analysis during a preliminary study of sonograms. Variables that showed variation between populations were analysed further, whilst apparently constant variables and those inappropriate for study were not. For example, as calls and songs com- prise a number of individual notes at the same volume but different acoustic frequency, acoustic frequency variables defined with reference to a ‘principal’ note were not amenable to study. Measurements of frequency bandwidth were avoided because individual notes in the songs of several populations show short, quiet ‘tails’ on sonograms (Figs. 10-11), mean- ing that the lowest or highest recorded point is biased by the quality of the recording equipment and distance of the bird from the microphone. The maximum point of the note excluding such tails, or the maximum point of an up—down stroke, provide a more consis- tent reference point for these birds. Finally, calls of G. n. pariae and G. n. cumanensis comprise a series of fast trills, which were analysed separately, both for series of trills and for each individual trill. Data for the following variables were analysed: (i) number of notes in song; (11) total song duration (seconds); (iii) mean number of notes per second (by dividing i and ii); (iv) maximum acoustic frequency of highest note (kHz); (v) maximum acoustic frequency of lowest note (kHz); (vi) variation in acoustic frequency (kHz) (by calculating iv minus v); (vii) time of peak in frequency (measured from the start of the song until the midpoint of the highest frequency—if various notes shared the peak frequency the middle note was used); (viii) position of peak within call (calculated as vii divided by 11); (ix) note length at start (time from the start of the second note to the start of the third, ignoring ‘rasping’ notes); (x) note length at end (time from the start of the penultimate note to the start of the last, ignoring ‘rasping’ notes); (xi) change of pace (calculated as viii divided by ix); and (xii) subjective description of individual note shape. Individual notes in songs generally appear as ‘blobs’ or up-down strokes (chevrons). ‘Blobs’ were often skewed into a rounded paral- lelogram or u / n shape, and were classed as flat (no or marginal skew), up (left side lower than right), down (left side higher than right), ‘n’ (‘tails’ of decreasing frequency at start and end) or ‘u’ (‘tails’ of increasing frequency at start and end). Of these variables, the following were discarded as being correlated with or dependent upon other variables: (v), (vii), (ix) and (x). For diagnosability analyses (Appendix 4) and mean and standard deviation (Appendix 3), a reduced dataset comprising the first three sonograms with complete data available for each recording was used. An edited dataset alone was compiled for those species studied only for comparative purposes. To analyse species and subspecies limits, biometric and vocal data were subdivided on the basis of plumage differences and well-known biogeographic regions for montane birds: (i) tepuis; (ii) Paria Peninsula, Venezuela; (iii) Caripe Mountains, Venezuela; (iv) Coastal Cordillera, Venezuela; (v) Mérida Andes, Venezuela; (vi) Tama—Santander region, northern East Andes of Colombia; (vii) Serrania de los Yariguies, East Andes, Colombia; (viii) East Andes of Colombia north of the Picachos depression; (ix) East Andes of Colombia south of the Picachos depression; (x) ‘Nudo de Pasto’ region in dptos. Cauca / Huila where Central and East Andes join; (xi) Central Andes, Colombia north of dpto. Huila; (x) West Andes, Colombia; (xii) Ecuador and Peru (subdivision into Ecuador and southern Ecuador / Peru recordings having revealed no vocal differences). Statistical tests —Various diagnosability tests were made for pairs of vocal and biomet- ric variables of these populations, as follows. Thomas M. Donegan 156 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Figure 10. Sonograms of songs of Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian G. nana populations: (a) G. n. occidentalis | (Cabafias San Isidro, Ecuador: N. } Athanas: XC 5060); (b) G. n. occidentalis | (Cerro Chinguela, Peru: T. A. Parker in Isler & Whitney 2002); (c) G. n. occidentalis (Rogitama, Colombia: M. Alvarez: IAVH 10442); (d) G. n. nana | (Serrania de los Picachos, Colombia: | Alvarez 2000); (e) G. n. occidentalis (Rio Blanco, Caldas: Alvarez & Cordoba | 2000); (f) G. n. occidentalis population in | West Andes (Pdramo_ Frontino, | Colombia: N. Krabbe); (g) G. n. nanitaea | Tama, Colombia (Cordoba & Alvarez / 2003); (h) G. n. hallsi (Serrania de los | Yariguies, Colombia: T. M. Donegan: © XC 21498), with noise removal using ~ Audacity. Figure 11. Sonograms of songs of | Venezuelan subspecies of G. nana (at left) and other Grallaricula species (right): (a) G. n. nanitaea Mérida (Paramo Zumbador: P. Schwarz); (b) G. lineifrons | (Cerro Mongus, Carchi, Ecuador: Krabbe & Nilsson 2003); (c) G. n. olivascens (Colonia Tovar: P. Schwarz); | (d) G. ferrugineipectus (Utuana, Loja,| Ecuador: Krabbe & Nilsson 2003); (e) G. n. cumanensis (Piedra de Moler: C. A. Marantz); (f) G. f. ferrugineipectus | (Serrania de San Luis, Venezuela: Boesman 1999); (g) G. n. pariae (Paria Peninsula: Boesman 1999); (h) probable, G. cucullata (upper rio Yurayaco,) Colombia: M. Alvarez: LAVH 4260); (i)) G. n. kukenamensis (upper Escalera: P. Boesman, recording identified as ‘80%’ certain). Some frequency bandwidths; removed to delete calls of other species) and low-frequency ‘noise’. —= — Thomas M. Donegan 57, Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) LEVEL 1: statistically significant differences at p<0.05. A Bonferroni correction was applied for both vocal data (seven variables) and biometrics (five variables), to produce p<0.0071 and p<0.01 respectively. For biometrics, acoustic frequency and other primary data, an unequal variance (Welch’s) t-test was used; for speed and other derived or ratio data, both Kolmogorov-Smirnov and: Mann-Whitney U tests were also applied to account for any non-normal distributions. The Level 1 calculation assesses statistical significance, but tolerates considerable overlap. Further calculations, described below, were undertaken to measure inter-population differences in the context of various species and subspecies concepts. In the formulae used below, y, and s, are the sample mean and sample standard deviation of Population 1; x, and s, refer to the same parameters in Population 2; and the t value uses one-sided confidence intervals at the percentage specified for the lower degree of freedom of the two populations for the relevant variable, with t, referring to Population 1 and ¢, referring to Population 2. LEVEL 2: a ‘50% / 97.5%’ test, following Hubbs & Perlmutter’s (1942) now little-used subspecies concept, which is passed if sample means are two standard deviations or more apart, here defined as the sample mean of Population 1 falling outside the range of 97.5% of Fopulaton 2 controlling tor sample size:: | (x,-7,)| > (S,(4,4 57 6,) + S5\6 @o750,))7 2: LEVEL 3: The traditional ’75% / 99%’ test for subspecies (Amadon 1949, Patten & Unitt 2002) Pmacitied torcontrol for sample size: |\(x,-7%,) | > S:(E, go9,) + So @ 79,) and |6-%,) | > is s(t, @ 75%) LEVEL 4: diagnosability based on recorded values (first part of Isler et al.’s 1999 diag- nosability test). LEVEL 5: so-called “95% / 95%’ diagnosability (i.e. 97.5% /97.5%, given that the lower 2.5% of each population is also outside the range of each population). This occurs when sample means are four standard deviations apart, controlling for sample size, and is the sec- mneypantomslener als (1999) cdiagnosability test: |((y,-7:)| >'Si, or 6o,) + So(b oor 5x.) For one taxon (G. n. kukenamensis) only a single sound-recording of the song and call was available (Fig. 111), and this was identified with only 80% certainty by the recordist (P. Boesman in litt. 2008), based on its locality and resemblance in structure to Grallaricula songs. Songs of all other Grallariidae in the tepuis are known and none of those persons that is familiar with tepui avifauna consulted has proffered an alternative identification. The single-note call given prior to the song (Fig. 12m) also coincides with Braun et al.’s (2003) description and is similar to the single-note calls given by other G. nana taxa. However, the recording differs from unpublished recordings that are certainly of G. n. kukenamensis and which will be published elsewhere (D. Ascanio in litt. 2008), suggesting that G. n. kukena- mensis may possess different calls. The following formulae were used to assess diagnosability of this single recording, where y is the relevant value for the G. n. kukenamen- sis recording; x, and s, are the sample mean and sample standard deviation of the compared population; and the t value uses one-sided confidence intervals at the percentage specified for the lower degree of freedom of the two populations for the relevant variable. The tests were based on the assumption that the recording is of an individual with an unusual song at the highest or lowest 2.5 percentile for each variable studied: Level 2: y < x, - 2s or y pat 2s LE or y Tia 38, bo7 so Helbig et al. (2002) suggested that, to assess the rank of allopatric populations, a com- parison with closely related sympatric or parapatric populations known to be species should be undertaken. Isler et al. (1999) suggested assigning species rank to allopatric Thamnophilidae populations where three or more measured vocal variables for loudsongs differed diagnosably, based on observed differences between closely related sympatric s(t, @ sy) 197.5% Level 4: diagnosability based on recorded values; Level 5: y < x, - 3s,t 97.5% 97.5% Thomas M. Donegan 158 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) ki kHe kHz kHz Figure 12. Sonograms of scolds of G. nana taxa: (a) G. n. occidentalis (Rio Blanco, Caldas, Colombia: D. Calderon: XC ‘Mystery’ 300); (b) G. n. occidentalis (as A, XC ‘Mystery’ 306); (c) G. n. hallsi (holotype, Lepipuerto, Yariguies, Colombia: T. M. Donegan: XC 21508); (d) G. n. hallsi (as C, in-hand distress call: T. M. Donegan: XC 21507); (e) G. n. occidentalis (Guacamayos, Napo, Ecuador: Krabbe et al. 2001); (f) apparent G. n. nana (Parque Nacional Natural Picachos, Caqueta, Colombia: M. Alvarez: IAVH 345); (g) apparent G. n. nanitaea (Tama, Norte de Santander, Colombia: M. Alvarez: IAVH 11722); (h) G. n. nanitaea (Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela: K. J. Zimmer); (i) G. 1. cumanensis (Cerro Negro, Sucre, Venezuela: Boesman| 2007); (j) G. n. pariae (Cerro Humo, Sucre, Venezuela: R. Innes); (k) G. n. olivascens (Colonia Tovar, Aragua, Venezuela: M. L. Isler); (1) G. n. pariae (Cerro Humo, Sucre, Venezuela: J. I. Areta); (m) G. n. kukenamensis (upper Escalera, Venezuela: P. Boesman, recording identified as ‘80%’ certain). Recordings b, d, f, g and m with noise removal by Audacity. Thomas M. Donegan 159 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) species in that family. For Rhinocryptidae, a single diagnostic vocal difference separated sympatric taxa (Donegan & Avendano-C. 2008). Various comparisons between sympatric or parapatric Grallaricula populations were undertaken. Isler et al.’s (1999) diagnosability tests (Levels 4 and 5, or for note shape Level 4) together with my test of statistical significance (Level 1) were met for: (i) nominate G. ferrugineipectus vs. Mérida Andes G. nana (three vari- ables: song speed, highest frequency and position of peak in frequency); (ii) G. lineifrons vs. Ecuadorian G. nana (four variables: song speed, highest frequency, position of peak in fre- quency and note shape); and (iii) G. cucullata vs. G. nana in the East Andes of Colombia (three variables: song speed, highest frequency and note shape). I therefore propose rank- ing allopatric Grallaricula populations as biological species where they show Levels 1, 4 and 5 diagnosability (or Level 4 for note shape) for three or more variables in songs. For subspecies, Isler et al. (2006, 2007) suggested a ‘full diagnosability for one character’ test (whether vocal, biometrics or plumage) to diagnose subspecies of Thamnophilidae (Level 4/5 for at least one variable: essentially a phylogenetic species with small differ- ences). The traditional test in ornithology for diagnosing subspecies is the Level 3 (99% /75%' test. Stiles & Caycedo (2002) ranked an allopatric population with statistically significant means for different variables (my Level 1) subspecifically. Where allopatric pop- ulations meet Levels 1, 3 and 4/5 for at least one character (i.e. satisfy all subspecies definitions), I conservatively describe them as subspecies, and I propose synonymy only if allopatric populations fail to achieve any level of diagnosability (i.e. do not pass any sub- specific definitions). Other putative subspecies are discussed but not described. This approach may produce inconsistency, because historically recognised but dubious taxa maintain their status, but similarly differentiated undescribed populations continue to lack nomenclatural status. However, this approach results in a high threshold for both new taxa and synonymisation treatments, thereby maintaining current taxonomic treatments for other populations pending molecular or other studies. Geographical variation in the northern Andes The Andean races G. n. nana and G. n. occidentalis present a taxonomic challenge due to the provenance of their types. Here, I briefly discuss geographical variation in G. nana in the northern Andes, before going on to assign available names to those populations to which they apparently refer. Specimen and vocal studies (see Appendices) suggest that the follow- ing populations within G. n. nana are differentiated to varying degrees, from west to east and south to north in turn. Differences are illustrated in Figs. 1-7. (i) WEST ANDES.—Records in dptos. Cauca, Valle, Risaralda and Antioquia (Cuervo et al. 2003, Krabbe et al. 2006). A small white chest collar is present on many specimens, a feature reduced in adjacent regions. This population may show small differences in dorsal plumage between (paler) Central Andes and (darker) East Andes specimens (Fig. 5), but this is tentative and Central Andes / Ecuador specimens exhibit some variation in upper- parts plumage. The song differs (mostly Level 1) from other Colombian populations in its duration, greater number of notes, greater frequency variation and greater change of pace (Appendix 4). The call is not known. (ii) CENTRAL ANDES / ECUADOR / PERU.—Records in dptos. Caldas, Risaralda, Quindio and Antioquia, Colombia (Hilty & Brown 1986). In Ecuador and Peru, it occurs along the entire east slope south to dpto. Cajamarca (Fjeldsa & Krabbe 1990, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Ridgely & Greenfield 2001, Schulenberg et al. 2007). Specimens have on aver- age paler, more orange underparts than those in the East Andes, and no significant white breast collar is evident (Fig. 6). The song in the Central Andes has been considered ‘more Thomas M. Donegan 160 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) plaintive’ than in Ecuador (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003), but my sample reveals the record- ing on which this comment was based (Alvarez & Cordoba 2002; Fig. 10e) to be atypical in acoustic frequency variation. Only small but statistically significant differences in acoustic frequency and bill width are evident between Central Andean and Ecuadorian populations, which are not separated by any known ecological divide. I found no differences in plumage or song between Central Andes and Ecuadorian populations. (iii) EAST ANDES.—Records in dptos. Cundinamarca and Boyaca, Colombia (Andrade & Lozano 1997, Salaman et al. 2002). Populations in Serrania de los Picachos, Caqueta, are indistinguishable in plumage and vocals from those north of the Picachos depression (Appendices 2-3). This population has rather dark or ferruginous underparts and a brown- er back than those further north and east (Figs. 4-6). Recent studies in the East Andes and an ICN specimen (Andrade & Lozano 1997) confirm that most of the rather dark-breasted ‘Bogota’ specimens refer to this taxon. The song and calls are of lower frequency than Central Andes, West Andes and more northern populations (except Yariguies) (Figs. 10 and 12). A population at the head of the Magdalena Valley and Nudo de Pasto in dptos. Cauca and Huila, and on the east slope of the Andes in dpto. Narifio is geographically continuous with the Central Andes / Ecuador / Peru population but appears to show some ‘bleeding’ of morphological and vocal features of the East Andes, with on average darker underparts | and lower frequency songs in this region. (iv) SERRANIA DE LOS YARIGUIES.—A population recently discovered in this isolat- | ed mountain range of the East Andes, in Colombia, is described below. (v) TAMA-SANTANDER.—Records in Colombia and Venezuela in Tama National Park (Hilty & Brown 1986), with recent specimens from nearby on the west slope of the East | Andes at Surata, dpto. Santander (J. Avendano-C.). Plumage is similar to that of birds in | Serrania de los Yariguies, but the song is higher frequency (Level 5) than other East Andean | populations and is longer and faster on average. (vi) VENEZUELAN ANDES.—Plumage and voice are similar to the Tama population, but the song is faster and longer on average. No diagnostic differences in voice or plumage are evident from the Tama-Santander population. This population is described below. The absence of G. nana in the Perij4 range requires further investigation given the many | other populations discovered recently, and the lack of field work incorporating mist-netting | and sound-recording in that region. Assignment of existing subspecies names to relevant populations G. n. nana was described from a ‘Colombie’ skin by Lafresnaye (1842). The type (MCZ 76739) has a rather brown back, no white breast collar and a dark orange breast. Todd’s | (1927) notes are also consistent with the type being darker breasted than birds from the | Central Andes that he described as G. n. occidentalis, apparently through direct comparison. | G. n. nana thus probably refers to the main East Andes population. The type of G. n. nana could conceivably be from the head of the Magdalena valley or West Andes based on it) | plumage, but the hypothesis that it is an East Andes bird is not rejected. | G. n. occidentalis was purportedly described from the West Andes of Colombia Be 1927). However, the type locality is ‘Sancudo’ (=Zancudo), in the Central Andes (c.05°41’N,, 75°07'W: Paynter & Traylor 1981). Todd also mentioned three specimens at CM from the| West Andes that he did not designate as types, but the only three Colombian G. nana! presently at CM were collected by Carriker at Sancudo. Todd’s description of the plumage of G. n. occidentalis is consistent with other Central Andes skins, which are rather pale- | : i Thomas M. Donegan 161 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) breasted compared to East Andes birds. Contra almost all literature, G. n. occidentalis there- fore refers to the Central Andes population. Krabbe & Schulenberg (2003) held G. n. occidentalis to be a synonym of G. n. nana on the basis of paler breasted birds in northern Peru similar to G. n. occidentalis. Although Central Andes and Ecuador / Peru populations are indistinguishable by voice or plumage, G. n. nana refers to the East Andes population. Intermediates appear to be present in Nudo de Pasto, but the Central Andes to Peru population and East Andes population are otherwise separable by plumage, and show Level 1/2 (Ecuador / Peru) and 1/2/3 (Central Andes) differences in acoustic frequency of their songs. Though insufficient to describe a new sub- species under the conservative approach adopted here, G. n. occidentalis can be maintained under ’75%' subspecies concepts (e.g. Patten & Unitt 2002). West Andean G. nana exhibit small plumage differences from G. n. occidentalis but no vocal variables are diagnostic. It was impossible to make adequate comparisons between specimens to determine if any diagnosable plumage differences exist, due to the relative lack of relevant material at any single institution, and the difficulty of importing and export- ing biological material from Colombia. For now, the West Andes population is provisionally treated within G. n. occidentalis, but requires further investigation given that the West Andean range is isolated, shows considerable climatic differences from the Central Andes and is a centre of avian endemism (e.g. Salaman et al. 2003). It is evident that at least two G. nana populations meet the level of all modern sub- species and pattern-defined species concepts: (i) Serrania de los Yariguies; and (ii) Mérida-Tama. These are described below. Grallaricula nana hallsi subsp. nov. Holotype.—Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Colombia (ICN 35195). Adult female collected by T. M. Donegan in montane forest just below the treeline at Lepipuerto, upper rio Chimera, on the west slope of Serrania de los Yariguies, Simacota or E] Carmen municipality, dpto. Santander, Colombia (06°28’N, 73°28’W) at 2,900 m, on 10 January 2005. DNA sample, field no. 28C, is held at Instituto Alexander von Humboldt’s molecular laboratory in Cali. A sound-recording of the holotype in the hand is available at www.xeno-canto.org: XC 21507-508. Paratypes.—ICN 35193 is an adult female collected by T. M. Donegan on 8 January 2005 at the type locality. ICN 35555 is an adult female collected by T. M. Donegan and J. E. Avendano-C. at La Aurora, east slope of Serrania de los Yariguies, Galan municipality, dpto. Santander (06°38’N, 73°24’°W) at 2,700 m, on 9 July 2006. An adult was trapped but not collected by J. E. Avendano-C., at Alto Cantagallos, west slope of Serrania de los Yariguies, san Vicente de Chucuri municipality, dpto. Santander (06°49’N, 73°22’W) at 2,450 m, in November 2006. Sound-recordings of songs of G. nana from the type locality are available at XC 21498-21506. Diagnosis.—Referred to the genus Grallaricula by its diminutive size for a Grallariidae (wing 60-68 mm). Upperparts brownish or olivaceous, the pileum cinereous or rufous; entire underparts ferruginous-red or pale cinereous, the feathers sometimes fringed black; tail about one-third length of wing; and conspicuous rictal bristles (Lowery & O’Neill 1969). Referred to G. nana by its slaty crown, rufous underparts, olivaceous back, biometrics (Appendix 2) and generally similar voice consisting of rapidly repeated melancholy hoots that increase and then decrease in acoustic frequency over time. Thomas M. Donegan 162 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) G. n. hallsi differs (in vocal characters to Levels 1, 4 and 5) from G. n. nana of the East Andes by its paler (more orange, less ferruginous) underparts and more olivaceous dorsal plumage; from the northern East Andes population described below in the lower acoustic frequency of its song and call; from G. n. occidentalis of the Central Andes by its more oliva- ceous dorsal plumage and lower acoustic frequency of its song; and from the West Andes population by its more olivaceous dorsal plumage, shorter song length and reduced fre- quency variation in its song. The new subspecies’ song differs in at least three vocal variables from all Venezuelan populations (see Appendix 4), and would merit species rank but for the existence of intermediate populations with fewer diagnosable differences. Other differences between G. n. hallsi and G. nana populations are presented in Appendix 4. } | Description of the holotype-—See Fig. 1. Colours follow Munsell (1977, 2000). Description | taken immediately after collection. Lores, central forehead and crown dark grey (Gley 1 3/N). Mantle, upperwing and tail generally brown (2.5Y 3/2), becoming darker and richer brown (less olivaceous: 2.5Y 2.5/1) on folded wing, particularly on primary-coverts and | cuter webs of flight feathers and rectrices. Large loral spot, eye-ring, breast, throat, flanks, underwing-coverts, tip of largest alula and tip of outermost primary rufous-orange (7.5YR | 5/8 or 5YR 5/8, but more rufous). Lower and central belly white. Feathers of underparts dark grey basally with rufous-orange tips (majority, including flanks and breast), white | basally with rufous-orange tips and dark shaft (throat) or dark basally with white tips | (lower belly). Blackish streaks below eye and in throat area. Rictal bristles black and 5-7 mm | long. Irides dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2.5/3). Legs dark grey (Gley 4/N). Bill mostly dark | grey (Gley 2.5/N) with pinkish base to lower mandible. Longest primary p6; small emarginations on pp7-9. Narrow yellowish tips to median and lesser coverts. Ovary sac | 5 mm x 2 mm. Skull c.90% ossified. Stomach contents: coleoptera exoskeleton and other | insect remains. Measurements (in mm): wing in life: 78.0, wing-chord (skin) 74.0; tail 33.0; | tarsus 32.0; bill to skull 15.0 mm; bill depth at nostrils 4.8 mm; bill width at nostrils 5.2 mm. | Variation in the series—The paratype from Lepipuerto had a smaller ovary sac (<1 mm) and | the skull c.70% ossified, and was thus slightly younger, although it had attained adult | plumage. It lacked yellowish tips to the median and lesser coverts and had stronger (but | still faint) dark throat streaking. The La Aurora bird is similar to other specimens, but had | a larger ovary sac, skull c.90% ossified and more extensive white on the lower belly. | Variation in biometrics and voice of G. n. hallsi are detailed in Appendices 2-3. Vocalisations.—The song of G. n. hallsi is generally similar to that of other taxa, being a rapid | series of melancholy, high-pitched hoots (Fig. 10h; Appendix 2). The call is similar to that of | other populations (except G. n. pariae and G. n. cumanensis), being a single downstroke or | falling whistle (szu) (Figs. 12c—d). A distress call, given in the hand, was a harsh 0.3-second | screech (concentrated at 2-6 kHz) after a typical downstroke, siu-chaaaa, and is perhaps not} | given frequently in nature. Distribution.—Apparently endemic to Serrania de los Yariguies (Fig. 9), where known from| three localities, two on the west slope (2,450-2,900 m) and one on the east (2,750 m). At one site, it was recorded immediately below the treeline. Such habitat occurs to 3,200 m on the east slope of Serrania de los Yariguies (cf., in the west Andes, records up to 3,300 m: Krabbe} et al. 2006). G. n. nana and G. n. occidentalis likewise generally occur only in high-elevation humid. forest. Records of G. nana in Colombia below c.2,000 m (e.g. Hilty & Brown 1986) probably reflect either inaccurate locality data or the lower elevations at which some Venezuelan taxa are found. G. ferrugineipectus / rara, G. cucullata and G. flavirostris generally replace G. nana below 2,000-2,400 m in appropriate habitat in Colombia. Thomas M. Donegan 163 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Habitat and ecology.—Found only in high-elevation montane cloud forest characterised by a broken canopy, many epiphytes, abundant tree ferns, bamboo and other successional plant species. A number of treefalls occurred during field work at study sites where G. nana was recorded. The families Moraceae (Ficus), Clusiaceae, Poaceae (Chusquea) and Actinidaceae (Saurauia) are present in this habitat. G. nana frequently uses Chusquea for nesting (Greeney et al. 2008). Rainfall and humidity is considerably higher in Serrania de los Yariguies than elsewhere in the East Andes (Donegan & Avendano 2008). In January at the type locality and in November at Alto Cantagallos, G. n. nana was heard singing daily in the two hours after dawn (05.30-07.30 h). It was not heard at La Aurora in July 2005 or April 2006. Singing in November-January might be indicative of the onset of breeding, as many birds nest in the middle Magdalena Valley region in March-April (Cuervo et al. 2001). All Yariguies captures were in mid-late morning and immediately prior to the onset of thunderstorms. History.—G. n. hallsi was initially found and collected during an expedition to the highest elevations of Serrania de los Yariguies in January 2005. Personnel comprised TMD, B. Huertas J. J. Arias, M. Donegan and J. Pinto. Two females were collected and sound- recordings were made. Details of the expedition and other ornithological results appear in Donegan & Huertas (2005) and Donegan et al. (2007). A third specimen was obtained in July 2005 at another high-elevation site in Yariguies (Huertas & Donegan 2006) and J. E. Avendano-C. confirmed the presence of G. n. hallsi at a third site in Serrania de los Yariguies in 2006 (Donegan et al. 2007). This is the fourth new taxon to be described as a result of our work (Donegan & Huertas 2006, Huertas & Arias 2007, Donegan & Avendano 2008). Etymology.—The subspecies epithet honours the late Alan G. Halls of Caversham, UK (d. January 2005, simultaneous with the discovery of G. n. hallsi). Alan’s surname is formed as a fictional second declension Latin noun Hallsus and declined in the genitive singular. Alan became a keen birder in the 1950s and his enthusiasm for birds and tutoring younger people, including myself, never waned. He authored monthly bird articles in his local newspaper, Caversham Bridge, for many years. Alan was a modest person and may have baulked at the notion of a bird named in his honour, but this discovery and others owe much to his encouragement. The name /allsi is not known to be preoccupied or used for any other Grallariidae. Discussion.—The reasons for the presence of multiple distinctive subspecies in the East Andes are enigmatic (Donegan et al. 2007). G. n. hallsi is intriguingly closer to G. n. nana in, for instance, acoustic frequency of song, song length and number of notes, but closer to the new taxon described below in, e.g., plumage, song speed and change of pace in the song. The shortest and highest-elevation ‘bridge’ between Yariguies and the main East Andes is closer to the range of G. n. nana. A not dissimilar pattern occurs in Scytalopus griseicollis, with S. g. gilesi endemic to Yariguies and two other subspecies in the main East Andes with a north-south divide. Similar upperparts plumage in Yariguies and Tama may reflect convergent evolution, as Gloger’s Rule (Zink & Remsen 1986) determines that plumage is darker in more humid regions (or here, more olivaceous and less brown dorsal plumage). A new subspecies from the Venezuelan Andes Hellmayr (1917) noted morphological differences between specimens from the Mérida range and ‘Bogota’, and presented biometric data for the two populations. However, he provisionally included the Venezuelan population within G. 1. nana given the lack of reli- Thomas M. Donegan 164 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) able locality data for the Bogota specimens and the paler plumage of one of them. I suspect that the paler bird was of G. n. occidentalis, as this taxon is also represented by ‘Bogota’ spec- imens at BMNH and AMNH. Hellmayr (1917) further commented: “The two Bogota specimens are remarkably dark, the third however is quite consistent with the Mérida series, which by the way to some extent varies in the colouring of the underparts and upperparts. Provisionally, I might have combined therefore the Colombian and west Venezuelan regions’ birds, particularly since the so-called Bogota skin delivers no adequate study objects anyhow.’ Subsequently, Cory & Hellmayr (1924) noted that “Birds from the Andes of Mérida agree with one from ‘Bogota’, while two other ‘Bogota’ skins are conspicuously darker, both above and below. A good series of fresh specimens from the type locality should be compared.’ These remarks appear to have been subsequently forgotten, although K. C. Parkes also considered the Mérida population to represent an undescribed subspecies (handwritten notes at AMNH). Given the availability now of reliable locality, morphological and vocal data for G. nana populations in the East Andes, it is possible, at last, to confirm Hellmayr’s suspicion that | birds from Mérida merit taxonomic recognition. Those on the other side of the Tachira depression, in Tama National Park and environs, show statistically significant differences | in song length, number of notes, song speed and acoustic frequency from Mérida birds. However, none of these differences reaches Level 2 or more. Their plumage is also similar. The Tama population is therefore, provisionally, treated within the following new sub- | species of G. nana in the Venezuelan Andes (and northern East Andes). Grallaricula nana nanitaea subsp. nov. Holotype-—American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA (AMNH 146661). Adult | male collected by Briceno, S. B. Gabaldon and sons at La Culata, near Mérida, Venezuela, at | an elevation of 3,000 m, on 24 January 1911. This locality is at c.08°45’N, 71°05’W (Paynter | 1982). | Paratypes.—All were collected at the same locality as the holotype. AMNH 96305 is an adult | male collected by S. B. Gabald6n at 2,000 m on 28 May 1904. AMNH 492317 is an adult male collected by Briceno (no other data). Other specimens pertaining to this taxon but not designated as types are listed in Appendix 2 and come from the range formerly assigned to | G. n. nana in Venezuela, per Hilty (2003) and Restall et al. (2006). Specimens from the Tama | region and Surata, dpto. Santander, are also provisionally assigned to this subspecies, but | are not designated as types. | Diagnosis.—Referred to the G. nana group by the same rationale as for G. n. hallsi. Differs (in| vocal characters to Levels 1, 4 and 5) from G. n. hallsi in its higher frequency song (and, in| the case of the Mérida population alone, also higher frequency call, faster song with greater | acoustic frequency variation and greater number of notes). From G. n. nana, it can be} separated by its more olivaceous back, paler breast and higher acoustic frequency in its| song and calls. From G. n. occidentalis and the West Andes population it differs in its more, olivaceous mantle, and from G. n. olivascens in its less olivaceous mantle and slower song. Other differences between G. n. hallsi and other G. nana pelgcetios are presented in Appendix 4. Description of the holotype-——Lores, central forehead and crown dark grey (Gley 1 3/N): Mantle and tail generally brown (10YR 3/3), becoming richer brown (less olive) over upperwing, particularly on the primary-coverts and outer webs of the flight feathers and| Thomas M. Donegan 165 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) rectrices. Large loral spot, eye-ring, throat, breast, flanks, underwing-coverts, tip of largest alula and tip of outermost primary orange-rufous (7.5YR 5/8 or 5YR 5/8 but more rufous). Central belly white. Small and indistinct patch of feathering on upper breast white. Breast feathers dark grey basally with rufous tips (most of flanks and breast), white basally with rufous tips (throat) or dark basally with white tips (white of breast and lower belly). Trailing edge of primaries pale grey distally. Rictal bristles black and 5-7 mm long. The specimen’s label states that the irides are blue, as implausibly noted for various other G. nana collected by Briceno and Galbad6n. This population has a dark brown iris. Measurements (mm): Wing chord 66.0; tail 31.0; tarsus 31.0; bill to skull 16.5; bill width at nostrils 4.0. Variation in the series.—Biometric and vocal data (including vocal differences between the Tama and Mérida populations) are presented in Appendices 2-3. Depictions of G. 1. nanitaea appear in Hilty (2003) and Restall et al. (2006), both labelled G. n. nana. Fig. 7 shows the AMNH Mérida series. There is notable variation in the extent of the white breast collar. Photographs of live birds suggest that this is invisible in life, but it may be visible in singing males, and appears reduced in female specimens. Juveniles COP 73942 and 14524 both have asymmetrical patches of dark rufous (2.5YR 3/4) feathering on the rear crown and breast, and stronger blackish markings on the throat and chin (Restall et al. 2006), but typical upperparts (see Fig. 2). Asymmetric dark rufous patches are also a feature of juvenile G. n. occidentalis (e.g. AMNH 184358), the West Andes population (ICN 25921) and G. n. olivascens (Phelps & Phelps 1949, Restall et al. 2006), but unknown in G. n. pariae or G. n. cumanensis. COP 62203-04 possess a less extensive pale bill base. Distribution.—Known from the entire Mérida range of the Andes in Venezuela, at least from north-east Trujillo to Tachira, but replaced in the Coastal Cordillera of Venezuela by G. n. olivascens (Fig. 9a). In the East Andes, the potential ranges of G. n. nanitaea and G. n. nana are separated by a habitat discontinuity associated with the rio Chicamocha Valley (Fig. 9b). Other high-elevation birds showing geographical variation in this region (e.g. Chlorospingus ophthalmicus, Atlapetes schistaceus, Scytalopus griseicollis) may have similar subspecies distributions. Ecology.—Colombian Tama specimens were collected in high-elevation cloud forest with a dense understorey dominated by Rhipidocladium sp. (label data). Etymology.—The subspecies epithet is a non-variable combination of two Spanish-language words, suggestive of a diminutive version of the subspecies name presently assigned to this population, nana. The full name Grallaricula nana nanitaea recalls the Spanish advent carol ‘A la nanita nana nanita ea’. The name nanitea is not known to be preoccupied or used for any other Grallariidae. Is G. n. pariae a valid subspecies? G. n. cumanensis occurs in the Caripe Mountains (type locality Las Palmales and Rincon san Antonio, Cumana, c.10°17’N, 63°45’W: Paynter 1982) in the eastern mainland of Sucre state, Venezuela (Hartert, 1900, 1922). G. n. pariae is considered endemic to the Paria Peninsula, with the type locality at Cerro Azul, Sucre, Venezuela (c.10°40’N, 61°56’W: Paynter 1982). G. n. pariae was described as differing from G. n. cumanensis in its darker upperparts and more olivaceous back with a less yellowish tinge (Phelps & Phelps 1949). Such differ- ences may have been apparent on fresh specimens, but no diagnostic plumage differences Thomas M. Donegan 166 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) were noted during this study, thereby calling into question the validity of G. n. pariae. Nonetheless, songs were statistically significantly different in maximum acoustic frequency (Level 1), whilst G. n. cumanensis has a narrower bill (Levels 1 and 2) and individual trills showed apparent Level 5 differences in song speed, although this is based on a single recording of G. n. cumanensis. Trill speed is thought to be constrained by the size and mass of the bill (Podos et al. 2004). The faster trill and narrower bill of G. n. cumanensis could therefore result from the same adaptation. As G. n. cumanensis meets at least some sub- species concepts, Synonymy is not proposed. Species limits Treatment of G. nana as a single species does not accord with any species concept in modern use. All described taxa, except perhaps G. n. occidentalis and G. n. pariae, are phylo- genetic species (per Cracraft 1983), whilst G. n. cumanensis / pariae and G. n. kukenamensis emerge as candidates for species rank under a modern interpretation of the Biological Species Concept (Helbig et al. 2002). In the Andean and Coastal Cordillera subspecies nana, occidentalis, hallsi, nanitaea and olivascens (hereafter ‘nana group’), inter-population plumage and biometric differences are relatively small. Up to Level 5 differences, in at most a single vocal variable, were observed between geographically adjacent populations. That parapatric or sympatric Grallaricula species studied all show diagnosability in three or more vocal characters does not mean that populations with fewer diagnosable vocal differences would fail to interbreed. However, in light of recently reported inter-species hybridisation between two sympatric Grallariidae (Cadena et al. 2007), a cautious approach is adopted. It is doubtful whether small or over- lapping vocal differences, such as those among adjacent populations in the nana group, would pose a barrier to reproduction in the hypothetical event of their being found togeth- er. Subspecies rank is therefore a plausible treatment under the Biological Species Concept for the nana group. The modest differences between members of the nana group contrasts with the substan- tial shift in biometric, plumage and vocal characters between allopatric G. n. olivascens of the Coastal Cordillera and G. n. cumanensis of the Caripe Mountains (Figs. 3, 8, 11 and 12). G. n. cumanensis and G. n. pariae (hereafter ‘cumanensis group’) are diagnosably different from all | other G. nana populations in their darker and more rufous underparts coloration, more | extensively white belly, presence of a more elongated orange loral mark, presence of a white | postocular spot; broader based, thicker, less tapering and more extensively pale bill; faster, lower frequency song with more staccato note shape; and strikingly different trilling call. Both members of the cumanensis group differ from all populations and subspecies in the | nana group in at least three variables to their song. Vocal differences between the cumanen- | sis and nana groups are therefore equivalent to those between sympatric Grallaricula species. | Moreover, the geographically closest race (G. n. olivascens) differs even more radically from the cumanensis group than some more distant populations of the nana group, exhibiting diagnosable differences in four variables to its song, as well as in tail length, tarsus length, | bill width and bill shape (Appendix 4). The combination of vocal, biometric and plumage differences mandate species rank for the cumanensis group with respect to the nana group. Drawing species limits in G. nana is complicated by the lack of vocal data for morpho- | logically diagnosable G. n. kukenamensis of the tepuis. This is geographically the most | isolated taxon, being separated by at least 350 km of unsuitable lowland habitat from other | populations. By contrast, the nana and cumanensis groups are separated by 200 km (Fig. 9). G. n. kukenamensis occurs in mountains that are considered to predate the Andes and where Thomas M. Donegan 167 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) ‘basal’ taxa are sometimes revealed in molecular studies (Rheindt et al. 2008). It is diagnos- able from all members of the nana group by its shorter tarsus (Level 5), and from geographically proximate olivascens and nanitaea in its broader bill and shorter tail. It is clos- er to the nana group than cumanensis group in overall plumage, but differs in plumage saturation of both upperparts and underparts (Fig. 4). The described single-note call (Braun et al. 2003; Fig. 12m), if confirmed, would be similar in length and acoustic frequency to calls of the nana group but could not be confused with cumanensis group calls. G. n. kukenamen- sis is not diagnosable from the cumanensis group in biometrics, other than bill shape (Fig. 8), but shares all plumage differences from these taxa with the nana group (described above). The tentative recording of the song of G. n. kukenamensis differs (to Levels 4/5) from that of all other G. nana taxa in note shape, song length and number of notes, and compared to the cumanensis group, the song differs in note shape, length, number of notes, speed and acoustic frequency. In each case, more than three differences were observed (the benchmark for species rank). Although the statistical tests employed are highly conservative, they are based on a single recording only tentatively identified and make assumptions about vari- ance of vocal variables in the G. n. kukenamensis population. Four possible approaches to species limits must be considered under a modern inter- pretation of the Biological Species Concept (Helbig et al. 2002): (i) split the cumanensis group and lump kukenamensis within the nana group; (ii) split the cumanensis group and lump kuke- namensis within the cumanensis group; (iii) treat the nana group, cumanensis group and kukenamensis as three species; and (iv) retain G. nana as a single species. The first approach would be supported by differences in plumage and calls, but is inconsistent with biomet- rics. Lumping kukenamensis within the cumanensis group would be supported by biometrics (tarsus length and bill width), but inconsistent with plumage, bill morphology and calls. Retention of G. nana as a single species is precluded because the nana and cumanensis groups exhibit vocal differences equivalent to those between sympatric Grallaricula species. A three-way split is therefore the better approach under a modern Biological Species Concept. Given that several other phylogenetic species are involved, this split is conservative. However, I recognise that taxonomists who prefer a ‘status quo is best’ approach (e.g. some contributors to Remsen et al. 2008) will probably prefer to wait for definitive vocal data for G. n. kukenamensis or a molecular study before changing current treatments. Ridgely & Tudor (1994) proposed Paria Antpitta as a vernacular name for G. n. cuma- nensis. However, the species-group to which it belongs is not restricted to the Paria Peninsula and would not take the name pariae, which is junior to cumanensis. I suggest Sucre Antpitta as a more appropriate name for the cumanensis group given that it is near endem- ic to that state, extending only marginally into north Monagas and north-east Anzoategui. Guianan Antpitta could be used for G. n. kukenamensis (Tepui Antpitta is already used for Myrmothera simplex). Given that the Andean and Coastal Cordillera species G. nana is so widespread, it should retain the English name Slate-crowned Antpitta, even if split. Conservation The cumanensis group is probably threatened. It is locally common but few modern-day localities are known. The two species endemic to the Paria Peninsula and Caripe Mountains with a similar range to the cumanensis group, White-throated Barbtail Premnoplex tatei and Venezuelan Flowerpiercer Diglossa venezuelensis, are both treated as threatened. Various other endemic birds with smaller distributions within the Caripe-Paria region Endemic Bird Area are also threatened (Stattersfield et al. 1998). G. cumanensis is probably Endangered, given its similar habitat use and elevational range to P. tatei. G. n. kukenamensis and the nana Thomas M. Donegan 168 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) group should be regarded as Least Concern on the basis of their range sizes compared to species of similar distribution. Acknowledgements I thank the EBA Project and YARE Project team members, especially Blanca Huertas, for helping organise and lead the expeditions to Serrania de los Yariguies, accompanying me to museums, taking photographs, obtaining references and improving various of the figures; and to Jorge Avendanio, for joining follow-up field work and providing data from Surata. Elkin Briceno, John Arias, Martin Donegan, Cristobal Rios, Laura Rosado and Diana Villanueva, and local guides José Pinto, Alonso Macias and Hernando Figueroa also accompanied me in the field. Jorge Velasquez kindly produced the maps. Those persons listed in Appendix 1 kindly made available their sound-recordings, biometric data or photographs. Jorge Avendafo, Peter Boesman, Edward Dickinson, Blanca Huertas, Mort Isler, Guy Kirwan, Nathan Rice, Paul Salaman, Tom Schulenberg and Thomas Trombone proffered helpful comments on the manuscript. Nick Athanas and David Ascanio commented on P. Boesman’s tepui recording. Corporacién Aut6noma Regional de Santander (resolution no. 832 including collecting permission), and the mayors of San Vicente de Chucuri, Galan and El Carmen provided the necessary permission for field work. Peg Hart and Paul Sweet (AMNH), Robert Prys-Jones, Mark Adams and Douglas Russell (BMNH), Enrique Castillo and Fernando Forero (I[AVH), Roque Casallas and Arturo Rodriguez (MLS), F. Gary Stiles (ICN), J. F. Voisin & C. Voisin (MNHN) and Miguel Lentino (COP) provided access to specimens, whilst Nathan Rice (ANSP), Robin Restall (COP), Jeremiah Trimble (MCZ), Steve Rogers (CM), Kimball Garrett (LACM) and Mary Hennen (FMNH) kindly provided photographs. Mauricio Alvarez made available sound-recordings at IAVH and Christian Devenish IAVH’s locality database. The expeditions to Serrania de los Yariguies were facilitated by the generous finan- cial support of the Royal Geographical Society (with Rio Tinto plc), Duke of Edinburgh, Fondo para Accién Ambiental, Fundacién Omacha, Conservation International Colombia (Becas Iniciativa de Especies Amenazadas—Jorge Ignacio “El Mono” Hernandez-Camacho), the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund (Linnean Society) and Fundacion ProAves. The YARE Project was supported by the BP Conservation Programme (BirdLife International, Conservation International, Flora & Fauna International, Wildlife Conservation Society), Tropical Andean Butterfly Diversity Project, Game Conservancy Trust, Fundacion ProAves, World Pheasant Association, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Universidad de Caldas, Universidad de Tolima and Gobernacion de Santander. References: Alvarez R., M. 2000. Cantos de aves de la Cordillera Oriental de Colombia. Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Biologicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva. 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Zool. 79: 1-132. Zink, R. M. & Remsen, J. V. 1986. Evolutionary processes and patterns of geographic variation in birds. Current Orn. 4: 1-69. Address: Fundacion ProAves, 33 Blenheim Road, Caversham, Reading RG4 7RT, UK, e-mails: | tdonegan@proaves.org / thomasdonegan@yahoo.co.uk. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Thomas M. Donegan IVA Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) APPENDIX 1: Materials examined Specimens G. n. occidentalis ECUADOR: AMNH 184353-55, 184358 (juvenile), 186377 (Sumaco, Napo); MNHN unnumbered (Choconta). WEST ANDES, COLOMBIA: ANSP 142395 (photograph) (Gamboa = San Antonio, Cauca, 02°37'N, 76°54’°W, 2,012 m); IAVH 13387, 13410 (Parque Nacional Natural Tatama, Risaralda, 05°12’N, 76°06’W); ICN 25920-21 (Corea, Farallones de Cali, Valle, 03°22’N, 76°53’W, 2,700 m); LACM 30858-59 (Cerro Munchique, El Tambo, Cauca, 02°32’N, 76°57’W, 2,500 m). Not examined: ANSP 142394, 144677 (El Tambo, Cauca, 02°25’N, 76°49’W, 1,829 m); FMNH 249745—-46 (Cerro Munchique, as above); Museum of Natural History, Geneva (MHNG) 1128.022 (Cerro Munchique, as previous, 2,000 m); NMNH 446635 (Cerro Munchique, as previous); Peabody Museum of Natural History (PMNH) 54539 (Cerro Munchique, as previous, 2,200 m). Note: AMNH 108099 (San Antonio, La Cumbre, Valle del Cauca, 03°30’N, 76°38’W, 1,800 m) is G. flavirostris. CENTRAL ANDES, COLOMBIA: AMNH 112010 (above Salento, Quindio, 04°38’N, 75°34’ W, 3,000 m), 112011 (Laguneta, Quindio, 04°35’N, 75°30’W, 3,090 m), 492309 (‘Bogota’); ANSP 155176 (photograph) (Laguneta, as above, 2,134 m); BMNH 89.9.10.928 (‘Bogota’), 89.9.10.929 (Medellin, 06°15’N, 75°35’W), 89.9.10.930 (Santa Elena, Medellin, 06°15’N, 75°34'W); CM 70299, 70423, 70434 (holotype; photograph) (El Zancudo, Manizales, Caldas, 05°05’N, 75°30’'W); IAVH 13072-73 (Parque Municipal Campoalegre, Risaralda, 04°52’N, 75°31’W, 2,470 m); MNHN 653 (‘Antioquia’). Not examined: Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden (RMNH) g.n.0.1 (Medellin, Antioquia, 06°15’N, 75°35’W); National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (NMNH) 436475-76 (Sons6n, Antioquia, 05°42’N, 75°17’W); Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad del Valle, Cali (MHNUV) 4731 (no locality), 4802-04 (Salento, Quindio, 04°38’N, 75°34’W, 2,140 m), 6165 (Ucumari, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, 04°46’N, 75°37’W, 2,400 m). G. n. subsp.? HEAD OF MAGDALENA VALLEY, COLOMBIA: ANSP 155852 (photograph) (San Agustin, Huila, 01°50’N, 76°20’W); I[AVH 2489 (Quebradén, Moscopan, Cauca, 02°14’N, 76°10’W, 2,285 m). Not examined: MHNUC unnumbered (Moscopan, La Plata, Huila/Cauca, 02°20’N, 76°05’W, 2,300 m); FMNH (photograph) 292120-25 (Llorente, Tumaco, Narino, 00°49’N, 77°15W), 292119 (La Victoria, Ipiales, Narino, 00°35’N, 77°10’W); MNHG 1179.045 (as previous, 2,800 m). G. n. nana EAST ANDES, COLOMBIA: BMNH 44.12.31.21, 54.1.25.81 (“New Grenada’), 89.9.20.651-652, 89.9.10.929 (‘Bogota’); ICN 31322 (Capenta, Junin, Cundinamarca, 04°34’N, 73°41’W, 2,600 m); MCZ 76739 (holotype; photograph) (‘Colombie’). Not examined (presumably this or G. n. occidentalis): MCZ 30816 (‘Bogota’). PICACHOS, COLOMBIA: IAVH 10253-55 (Parque Nacional Natural Los Picachos, Finca Andalucia, Caqueta, 02°44’N, 74°53’W, 2,000 m). G. n. hallsi (for details see text): ICN 35195 (holotype), 35193 (paratype), 35555 (paratype). G. n. nanitaea MERIDA, VENEZUELA: AMNH 96305 (Culata, Mérida, 08°45’N, 71°05’W, 2,000 m), 100209, 492311-13 (Walle [=Valle], 08°70’N, 71°06’W, 2,165 m), 146661 (holotype, Culata, 3,000 m), 492317 (paratype, Culata), 492314-16 (El Escorial, Mérida, 08°38’N, 71°05’W), 492318 (Mérida); COP 4958 (Paramo Misisi, Trujillo, 09°20’N, 70°20’W, 2,100 m), 14524 (Quintero, Mérida, 2,500 m), 19961-62 (Paramo Cendé, Trujillo, 08°40’N, 71°00’W, 2,700 m), 24544-46 (Boca de Monte, Pregonero, Tachira, 08°01’N, 71°46’W, 2,400 m), 65392 (La Azulita, Mérida, 08°43’N, 71°27’W, 2,300 m); MNHN 652 (Mérida). SANTANDER-TAMA: VENEZUELA: COP 73941-43 (Cumbres Cerro Retiro, Revancha, Tachira, 07°30'N, 72°23’W, 2,800 m), 74419-20 (Copas La Revancha, Tachira, 07°30’N, 72°23’W, 2,800 m), 62203—06 (Hacienda La Providencia, Rio Chiquito, Tachira, 07°19’N, 71°37’W, 2,100-—2,300 m). COLOMBIA: IAVH 10702, 10714, 10722 (Parque Nacional Natural Tama, Herran, Norte de Santander, 07°26’N, 72°27’W, 2,430 m); ICN 33933 (as IAVH specimens), 36125 (Vereda El Monsalve, Surata, Santander, 07°23’N, 73°00’W, 3,000 m). Not examined: FANH 43602 (Paramo de Tama, Norte de Santander, 07°25’N, 72°26’W). G. n. olivascens COASTAL CORDILLERA, VENEZUELA: AMNH 155733 (no locality), 322978 (Colonia Tovar, 10°25’N, 67°17’W, 1,900 m), 492319 (Galipan, Cerro del Avila, north of Caracas, 10°32’N, 66°53’W, 2,000 m); BMNH 1915.3.16.8-16.9 (Galipan, Caracas, 10°34’N, 66°54’W); COP 1467-68, 3444 (Colonia Tovar, 1,800-1,950 m), 13052, 50090, 56779 (Junquito, Distrito Federal, 10°28’N, 67°05’W, 2,000 m), 58453—-54 (locality not noted), 61638—41 (Junquito, Distrito Federal), 62590 (Estacién Teleférico, Cerro El Avila, 2,100 m), 62591, 62593-94 (Galipan, 1,900 m), 75776 (Fundo Jeremba, Colonia Tovar). G. n. cumanensis CARIPE, VENEZUELA: AMNH 188255 (La Latal, Sucre, 10°10’N, 63°55’W, 1,000 m), 492322 (Rio San Antonio, Cumana, 10°27’N, 63°50’W), 492321 (paralectotype, Los Palmales, Cumana); COP 15537 (Cerro El Pecnio, Bergantin, Anzoategui, 10°01’N, 64°22’W, 1,300 m), 23057 (Cerro Negro, Caripe, Monagas, 10°12’N, 63°29’W, 1,500 m). G. n. pariae PARIA, VENEZUELA: AMNH 388107 (paratype) (Cerro Humo, Irapa, Sucre, 10°40’N, 62°30’W, 1,100 m); BMNH 1957.1.2 (paratype, Maino, Cerro Humo, Sucre); COP 40514—22 (paratypes) (La Cumbre, Cerro Azul, Sucre, 10°40’N, 61°56’W, 820-920 m), 41051—56 (paratypes) (Cerro Humo, Irapa, Sucre, 1,000 m), 44012-30 (paratypes) (Cerro Azul, Sucre, 900-920 m), 44240-54 and 44256-58 (paratypes) (Cerro Humo, Sucre, 1,000-1,200 m), 57002-12 (Cerro Humo, Irapa, Sucre, 920 m). Thomas M. Donegan 172 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) G. n. kukenamensis TEPUIS, GUYANA?: BMNH 89.7.10.926 (holotype) (Mt. Kukenam, 1,500 m). VENEZUELA: AMNH 236691-92 (Mt. Roraima, 05°09’N, 60°47’W, 2,000 m); COP 4240 (Arabupu, Mt. Roraima, 05°06’N, 60°44’W), 24956, 27095-99 (Ptari-tepui, Bolivar, 05°46’N, 61°46’W, 1,300-1,900 m), 27087-94, (Sororopan-tepui, Bolivar, 05°45’N, 61°43’W, 1,400-1,800 m), 35779-81 (Chimanta-tepui, Bolivar, 05°18’N, 62°10’W, 700-1,850 m), 42094-95 (Acopan-tepui, Bolivar, 05°12’N, 62°14’W, 1,800 m), 79001 (km 125 on El Dorado-Santa Elena road, Bolivar, c.05°28’N, 61°00’W, 1,350 m). G. f. ferrugineipectus VENEZUELA: BMNH 1915.3.16.4, 1915.3.16.7 (Galipan, Caracas); COP 18518-19, 18521-23, 18525-26, 71734, 72054, 72056 (details not noted). COLOMBIA: IAVH 10921 (Parque Nacional Natural Tama, Norte de Santander, 07°06’N 72°14’W, 1,250 m); MLS 3946 (El Diamante, Norte de Santander). G. f. rara VENEZUELA: BMNH 1952.39.1 (Cerro Pejochaina, Caracas); COP 54875-76, 54880, 54921-25, 57608, 72837 (details not noted). COLOMBIA: MLS 3944-45 (La Victoria, Sasaima, Cundinamarca); MNHN 2001.656 (‘Colombia’). G. f. subsp. COLOMBIA: IAVH 11953-54, 11997-98, 12001, 12007 (Rio Tapias, Hacienda Tintina, Neira, Caldas, 05°14’N, 75°41’W, 1,080 m). G. cucullata COLOMBIA: NHM 839.9.10.932, 89.9.20.59 (Santa Elena, Antioquia), 89.9.20.655 (‘Bogota’). Sound-recordings XC = www.xeno-canto.org catalogue numbers; [AVH = Instituto Alexander von Humboldt sound archive numbers; and Cornell to Cornell Lab of Ornithology archive numbers. G. n. occidentalis PERU: Cordillera del Condor, Cajamarca (04°54’S, 78°54’W, 2,300 m) (T. Mark: XC 7013); Cerro Chinguela, Cajamarca (05°07’S, 79°25’W) (T. A. Parker in Isler & Whitney 2002); Montana Negra, Cordillera del Condor, Cajamarca (05°04’S, 78°44’°W, 2,450 m) (T. Mark: XC 10434); Paja Blanca, Cajamarca (06°24’S, 79°07’W, 2,900 m) (F. A. Pratolongo); Bosque de Proteccion Pagaibamba (06°26’S, 79°04’W, 3,000 m) (F. A. Pratolongo). ECUADOR: Guacamayos, Napo (00°37’S, 77°50’W, 2,000-2,200 m) (W. Halfwerk: XC 10602-03; R. Ahlman: XC 13225; Krabbe et al. 2001, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003); Volcan Corazon, Zamora-Chinchipe (Krabbe et al. 2001); Cabaftas San Isidro, Napo (00°35’S, 77°53’W, 2,100 m) (N. Athanas: XC 5060; Moore & Lysinger 1997); Arenales, Rio Paute, Azuay (02°34’S, 78°34’W, 2,350-2,400 m) (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003); km 5 on Santa Barbara—La Bonita road, Sucumbios (00°39’N, 77°30’W, 2,700 m) (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003); Tapichalaca Biological Reserve, Zamora-Chinchipe (04°29’S, 79°07’W) (B. Harris). WEST ANDES, COLOMBIA: Paramo Frontino, Antioquia (06°26’N, 76°05’W, 3,100-3,200 m) (N. Krabbe); Pueblo Rico, Risaralda (05°09’N, 76°02’W, 2,620—2,680 m) (S. Cordoba: IAVH 15968, 15972-76). CENTRAL ANDES, COLOMBIA: Rio Blanco, Caldas (05°04’N, 75°32’W, 2,400—2,500 m) (D. Calderon: XC ‘mysteries’ page, 300, 306; B. Davis: XC 13907, 17622; H. van Oosten: XC 18290; M. Alvarez: IAVH 11452, 11479); El Guayabo, Neira, Caldas (05°14’N, 75°03’W, 3,600 m) (Alvarez & Cérdoba 2002, Alvarez et al. 2007: IAVH 7406, IAVH 7401-08 [treated as same recording], IAVH 7736, 7791, 10055); Alto de San Sebastian—La Castellana, Antioquia (06°03’N, 75°35’W, 2,700 m) (A. M. Cuervo); Finca Los Molinos, Ibague, Tolima (04°26’N, 75°14’W, 2,000-2,200 m) (O. Laverde: XC 12421; IAVH 17268); Reserva Natural Ibanasca, Ibague (04°35’N, 75°14’W, 2,300-2,600 m) (O. Laverde); Parque Municipal Campoalegre, Finca La Granja, Risaralda (04°52’N, 75°31’W, 2,470-2,680 m) (S. Cordoba: IAVH 15266). HEAD OF MAGDALENA VALLEY, COLOMBIA: Reserva Los Yalcones, San Agustin, Huila (01°47’N, 76°21’W, 2,420-2,600 m) (D. Calderén: IAVH 16521, 16523, 16552). G.n. nana EAST ANDES, COLOMBIA: Rogitama, Arcabuco, Boyaca (05°47’N, 73°31’W; 2,500 m) (J. Zuluaga); Canon del Rio Pémeca, Arcabuco, Boyaca (05°48’N, 73°28’W, 2,600 m) (Alvarez 2000: IAVH 10442; also IAVH 10437, 10439-40); Finca San Cayetano, Bojaca, Cundinamarca (04°37’N, 74°18’W, 2,650 m) (O. Laverde); Reserva Forestal Rio Blanco, La Calera, Cundinamarca (04°42’N, 73°51’W, 3,000 m) (F. G. Stiles: IAVH 10848). PICACHOS: Parque Nacional Natural Pichachos—Rio Pato, San Vicente del Caguan, Caqueta (02°48’N, 74°51’W, 1,300-2,000 m) (M. Alvarez: LAVH 345). G. n. hallsi: Serrania de los Yariguies (details above) (T. M. Donegan). G. n. nanitaea MERIDA, VENEZUELA: La Carbonera, Mérida (08°38’N, 71°22’W, 2,300 m) (P. Schwarz: Cornell 62191); Paramo Zumbador, Tachira (08°00’N, 72°05’W, 2,450-2,800 m) (P. Schwarz: Cornell 62189-90, 62192-93); Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada, Mérida (08°37’N, 17°02’W, 2,400 m) (N. Athanas: XC 6858; A. Spencer: XC 9895; B. M. Whitney); Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida (K. J. Zimmer); La Azulita, Mérida (08°43’N, 71°27’W) (R. Behrstock); El Morro—Aricagua road, Mérida (08°17’N, 71°09’W) (Boesman 2007); Parque Nacional Guaramacal, Trujillo (09°10’N, 70°11’W, 1,600-3,000 m) (Boesman 2007). SANTANDER-TAMA, COLOMBIA: Sisavita, Cucutilla, Norte de Santander (07°28’N, 72°51’W, 2,400 m) (S. Cordoba: IAVH 8660, 8662, 8813); Parque Nacional Tama, Herran, Norte de Santander (07°26’N, 72°27’W, 2,430 m) (M. Alvarez in Cordoba & Alvarez 2003, Alvarez et al. 2007: IAVH 11722, D727). Thomas M. Donegan 173 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) G. n. olivascens COASTAL CORDILLERA, VENEZUELA: Colonia Tovar, Aragua (10°25’N, 67°17’W, 1,800—2,200 m) (P. Schwarz: Cornell 62187—88; Boesman 1999; B. M. Whitney; M. Isler; P. Coopmans). G. n. cumanensis CARIPE, VENEZUELA: Cerro Negro, Monagas (10°14’N, 63°34’W, 1,200-1,700 m) (Boesman 2007); Piedra de Moler, Sucre (10°06’N, 63°49’W, 1,840 m) (C. A. Marantz). G. n. pariae PARIA, VENEZUELA: Paria Peninsula, Sucre (10°41’N, 62°37’W, 600-1,000 m) (Boesman 1999); Cerro Humo, Sucre (10°40’N, 62°30’W, 700 m) (R. Innes; J. I. Areta), as previous (10°42’N, 62°37’W, 950 m) (N. Athanas: XC 3533). G. n. kukenamensis TEPUIS, VENEZUELA: (80% certain, as bird unseen) Upper Escalera, Bolivar (05°58’N, 61°24’W) (P. Boesman). G. lineifrons ECUADOR: (all Krabbe & Nilsson 2003, unless stated): Cerro Mongus, Carchi (00°27’N, 77°52’W, 3,300 m); 3-5 km below Oyacachi, Napo (00°13’S, 78°02’W, 3,300 m); Acanama, Loja (03°41’S, 79°15’W, 3,100 m); Paramos de Matanga, Morona-Santiago (03°18’S, 78°53’W, 3,000-3,250 m); Saraguro, Loja (03°36’S, 79°13’W) (A. Spencer: XC 17214-15). G. f. ferrugineipectus VENEZUELA: Serrania de San Luis, Falcon (11°12’N, 69°42’W, 1,000-1,600 m) (Boesman 1999); Turgua, Aragua (10°25’N, 66°48’W, 800-1,100 m) (Boesman 1999); San Isidro, Barinas (08°50’N, 70°35’W, 1,500 m) (N. Athanas: XC 6857); Caracas, Aragua (P. Schwarz in Isler & Whitney 2002). G. cucullata COLOMBIA: La Esmeralda—Rio Yurayaco, San José del Fragua, Caqueta (01°21’N, 76° 06’W) (M. Alvarez: IAVH 4260, 4355-56). Photographs G. n. occidentalis ECUADOR: Cordillera Sabanilla, Zamora-Chinchipe (03°58’S, 79°03’W) (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). WEST ANDES, COLOMBIA: Reserva Natural de Aves (RNA) Mirabilis-Swarovski, Cauca (02°31’N, 76°59’W, 2,200 m) (A. Quevedo). RNA Loro Orejiamarillo, Jardin, Antioquia (05°35’/N, 75°44’W, 2,400-2,850 m) (J. A. Tobias & A. Quevedo). CENTRAL ANDES, COLOMBIA: RNA Loro Coroniazul y El Mirador, Genova, Quindio (04°08’N, 75°44’W, 3,200 m) (A. Quevedo). G. n. nanitaea MERIDA, VENEZUELA: Parque Nacional Guaramacal, Trujillo (09°10’N, 70°11’W) (K. Perez / J. Léon; Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003). SANTANDER-TAMA, COLOMBIA: El Monsalve, Surata, Santander (07°23’N, 73°00’W, 3,000 m) (J. E. Avendano: Fig. 2). G. n. pariae PARIA, VENEZUELA: Cerro Humo, details above (J. A. Tobias: Fig. 3). Biometrics G. n. occidentalis WEST ANDES, COLOMBIA: RNA Mirabilis-Swarovski (details above) (J. P. Lopez et al. / ProAves); RNA Loro Orejiamarillo (details above) (G. A. Suarez et al. / ProAves); RNA Colibri de Sol, Paramo Frontino, Antioquia (06°26’N, 76°05’W, 3,400 m) (D. Caranton / ProAves). CENTRAL ANDES, COLOMBIA: Reservas de Aves Comunitarias, Roncesvalles, Tolima (04°00’N, 75°40’W) (A. Bermudez / ProAves). RNA Loro Coroniazul y El Mirador (details above) (D. Y. Ramirez & D. Osorno / ProAves). G. cucullata COLOMBIA: Nabu, Serrania de los Churumbelos, Cauca (01°36’N, 76°16’W, 1,900 m) (T. M. Donegan, P. G. W. Salaman & A. M. Cuervo). Other records G. n. occidentalis ECUADOR: Cajanuma, Parque Nacional Podocarpus (04°16’S, 79°00’W) (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001); Reserva Ecologica Cayambe-Coca, Napo (77°50’W, 00°01’S) (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003); Parque Nacional Sumaco-Napo Galeras, Napo (00°23’S, 77°45’W) (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003); Corredor Ecolégico Llanganates-Sangay, Tungurahua (01°26’S, 78°10’ W) (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003); Tapichalaca Biological Reserve (details above) (Greeney & Sornoza 2005). WEST ANDES, COLOMBIA: La Linda, Jardin, Antioquia (05°38’N, 75°48’W, 2,400-2,700 m) (Cuervo et al. 2003), Paramo Frontino, Antioquia (06°27’N, 76°05’W, 3,300 m; 06°26’N, 76°05’W, 3,150 m) (Krabbe et al. 2007). CENTRAL ANDES, COLOMBIA: Cuenca del Rio Toche (04°36’N, 75°24’W) (IAVH). HEAD OF MAGDALENA VALLEY, COLOMBIA: Parque Nacional Natural Cueva de los Guacharos, Huila (01°36’N, 76°08’W) (IAVH); Serrania de las Minas, Boyaca (02°10’N, 76°11’W) ([AVF). G. n. nana EAST ANDES, COLOMBIA: Bosques de la Falla del Tequendama, Cundinamarca (04°43’N, 74°22’W) (I[AVH); Vereda Las Minas, Huila (06°04’N, 73°00’W) (IAVH). G. n. kukenamensis TEPUI: VENEZUELA: Ptari-tepui, Cerro Cuquenan, Roraima (04°45’N, 61°30’W) (Hilty 2003). GUYANA: Mt. Roraima (05°16’N, 60°44’W, 1,300 m) (Braun et al. 2003). G. n. nanitaea MERIDA, VENEZUELA: Cuevas de Carache, Trujillo (09°38’N, 70°14’W) (Hilty 2003). Note: an extralimital sight record of G. n. olivascens at Cerro Tucusito, Miranda / Anzoategui, Venezuela (10°00’N, 65°39’W, 550 m) (C. Parrish in litt. 2008; Hilty 2003) is not included pending confirmation, as con- fusion with G. ferrugineipectus, which is known from specimens taken nearby, is possible. Thomas M. Donegan 174 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) APPENDIX 2: Biometrics of Grallaricula nana and G. ferrugineipectus taxa Data are presented as follows: mean + standard deviation (1 = number of specimens or individuals). Taxon G. n. occidentalis? West Andes, Colombia G. n. occidentalis Central Andes, Colombia G. n. occidentalis Ecuador G. n. subsp.? head of Magdalena Valley, Colombia G. n. nana Picachos, Colombia G. n. nana East Andes, Colombia G. n. hallsi Yariguies, Colombia G. n. nanitaea Tama (Colombia—Venezuela) G. n. nanitaea Mérida, Venezuela G. n. olivascens Coastal Cordillera, Venezuela G. n. cumanensis Caripe, Venezuela G. n. pariae Paria, Venezuela G. n. kukenamensis tepuis, Venezuela—Guyana G. f. ferrugineipectus Venezuela G. f. rara Colombia / Venezuela G. f. subsp. Colombia G. cucullata Colombia Wing-chord from skins (mm) 68:9) e7, (66.0-72.0) (n=37) 68.0 + 2.3 (63.5-71.0) (n=15) 68.8 + 2.3 (66.0-71.0) (n=5) 63.8 + 0.4 (63.5-64.0) (n=2) 62.7 ele (61.0-64.0) (n=3) 6837 + 12 (68.0-71.0) (n=6) 70.0 + 2.6 (68.0-73.0) (n=3) 66.9 32 (61.0-73.0) (n=11) 67.4 + 2.3 (63.0-73.0) (n=20) 65.3 + 2.4 (61.0-70.0) (n=22) 63:04 2.3 (60.0-65.0) (n=6) odalee 220 (60.0-67.0) (n=26) 64.5 + 2.0 (60.0-68.0) (n=21) 63.9 + 1.6 (61.0-67.0) (n=14) 63:0 127, (60.0-66.0) (n=13) 67.5 + 0.8 (66.0-68.0) (n=6) 69.8 + 2.0 (68.0-72.0) (n=5) Tail (mm) 34.3 + 3.0 (28.0-38.8) (n=30) Sleeves oN) (30.0-38.0) (n=10) 332,08 (32.0-34.0) (n=5) O1e7 EDS (30.0-33.3) (n=2) S25. 0:7, (32.0-33.0) (n=2) Silpsves 172 (30.0-32.0) (n=3) 32.3 + 0.6 (32.0-33.0) (n=3) 330039 (32.0-35.0) (n=10) 92.8 4108 (29.5-35.5) (n=18) 34.0 + 1.4 (31.5-37.0) (n=20) 26:9 £1.3 (25.0-28.5) (n=6) 2726 0.9 (26.0-29.5) (n=25) DBO rs 7, (25.0-31.5) (n=21) 3007 1k6 (29.0-34.0) (n=13) 30:6. les (29.0-33.0) (n=14) SOE ey, (29.0-33.0) (n=6) 28.6 + 2.2 (29.0-31.0) (n=5) Tarsus (mm) 3 {0 fo gual (27.5-33.4) (n=30) 29:8 lel (27.9-31.4) (n=12) 29.4+0.5 (29.0-30.0) (n=5) 29:8ialal (29,0-30.5) (n=2) 303: =:033 (30.0-30.5) (n=3) 29 8itele (28.0-31.0) (n=5) 31.0 + 0.9 (30.5-32.0) (n=3) 29:2-+ 10:9 (27.5-30.5) (n=10) 30.211 (27.5-32.0) (n=20) 29. 9ee Aa (28.0-32.0) (n=21) 25.4 + 1.4 (23.0-26.5) (n=5) 24.6 + 1.0 (22.5-26.5) (n=25) Perel ee)! (23.0-25.0) (n=21) DD D019) (21.0-23.0) (n=14) 23.0409 (21.0-24.0) (n=14) 22.8 + 0.6 (22.0-23.0) (n=7) 24.1 + 0.9 (23.0-25.2) (n=5) Culmen (mm) 1G. SLMe7, (13.8-18.8) (n=29) 16.0 + 0.5 (14.9-16.8) (n=11) 16.0 + 0.6 (15.5-16.5) (n=4) 16.0 + 0.0 (16.0-16.0) (n=2) 155721088 (15.5-16.0) (n=3) 15:9'02 (15.5-16.0) (n=) 15:8.4,0/8 (15.0-16.5) (n=3) 15.7 + 0.8 (15.0-17.0) (n=9) 16312100 (14.0-18.5) (n=20) 16.0 + 0.9 (14.5-17.5) (n=20) 16.4+0.8 (15.5-17.0) (n=4) 17.22 0:6 (16.0-18.5) (n=25) 16.2 + 0.4 (15.5-17.0) (n=19) 15757271055 (15.0-16.5) (n=13) 16.0 + 0.7 (15.0-17.0) (n=13) 16.4 + 0.4 (16.0-17.0) (n=5) 141+1.1 (13.0-15.5) (n=5) Bill-width (mm) 45+0.2 (4.24.6) (n=4) 44+0.4 (4.0-5.0) (n=8) 4.0+0.1 (3.9-4.0) (n=4) 4.6 + 0.0 (4.6-4.6) (n=2) 44+0.4 (3.9-5.0) (n=6) ones Oy (4.9-5.2) (n=3) 48+0.5 (4.2-5.1) (n=3) 4.0+0.1 (3.9-4.2) (n=10) 3.6 = Onl (3.5-3.7) (n=5) 5.4+0.2 (5.3-5.7) (n=4) 6.0 + 0.2 (5.6-6.3) (n=23) 52 03 (4.8-5.5) (n=17) 5.3 + 0.4 (5.0-5.6) (n=2) 5.0 (n=1) Body mass (g) 20.2 + 0.9 (18.5-22.0) (n=34) 20.7 + 0.8 (19.9-22.0) (n=6) 20.0 (n=1) USO Cab) Thomas M. Donegan Songs For each taxon / song, data are presented as follows: mean + analysed). Taxon G. n. occidentalis? West Andes, Colombia G. n. occidentalis Central Andes, Colombia G. n. occidentalis Ecuador & Peru G. n. subsp.? head of Magdalena Valley, Colombia G. n. nana Picachos, Colombia G. n. nana East Andes, Colombia G. n. hallsi Yariguies, Colombia G. n. nanitaea Tama (Colombia- Venezuela) G. n. nanitaea Mérida, Venezuela G. n. olivascens Coastal Cordillera, Venezuela G. n. cumanensis Caripe, Venezuela G. n. parine Paria, Venezuela G .n. kukenamensis tepuis, Venezuela G. f. ferrugineipectus Merida, Venezuela G. lineifrons Ecuador & Peru G. cucullata Colombia APPENDIX 3: Vocal data for Grallaricula nana taxa No. of notes 20.54 + 2.54 (15-23) (n=13) 16.94 + 3.14 (10-26) (n=35) 16.77 + 1.97 (13-22) (n=48) 14.67 + 1.12 (13-16) (n=9) 19.67 + 0.58 (19-20) (n=3) 16.84 + 3.75 (11-22) (n=19) 13'S 2 119 (12-16) (n=15) 19.85 + 2.34 (13-23) (n=13) 25.88 + 4.16 (17-32) (n=25) SHS) a2 Soy (17-41) (n=20) 33.73 + 4.77 (25-38) (n=11) 32.83 + 1.59 (29-35) (n=12) 69 (n=1) 17.10 + 2.51 (12-20) (n=11) 16.43 + 2.31 (10-20) (n=30) 25.11 + 4.34 (16-32) (n=9) Song duration (s) 2.21 + 0.28 (1.55-2.52) (n=13) 1.76 + 0.25 (1.15-2.60) (n=43) 783+ 0:20 (1.35-2.20) (n=51) 1.69 + 0.14 (1.52-1.87) (n=9) 1.99 + 0.06 (1.95-2.06) (n=3) 735+ 0:31 (1.33-2.20) (n=21) eyes (04 (1.15-1.59) (n=15) 1.81 + 0.28 (1.27-2.15) (n=17) 221 +:0.32 (1.40-2.80) (n=25) 2.17 + 0.40 (1.22-2.75) (n=23) 1.90 + 0.27 (1.49-2.15) (n=13) 1.85 + 0.10 (1.60-2.00) (n=12) 5.07 (n=1) 2.10 + 0.27 (1.50-2.41) (n=11) 2.92 + 0.41 (1.69-3.45) (n=30) 1.84 + 0.30 (1.23-2.40) (n=11) Song speed (notes/s) 9.32 + 0.88 (8.49-10.95) (n=13) 9.50 + 0.78 (8.13-10.81) (n=35) 9.64 + 0.82 (7.91-11.31) (n=48) 8.68 + 0.45 (8.34-9.87) (n=9) 9.88 + 0.27 (9.72-10.20) (n=3) 9.46 + 0.61 (8.21-10.18) (n=19) 10.26 + 0.71 (9.23-11.76) (n=15) 10.40 + 0.75 (9.05-11.29) (n=13) 11.71 + 0.86 W5 Max. frequency of highest note (kHz) 3162/4105 (3.45-3.99) (n=13) (3.37- 3.94) (n=51) 3.40 + 0.05 (3.31-3.48) (n=9) 3.30 + 0.01 (3.29-3.30) (n=3) 3.21 + 0.09 (3.02-3.38) (n=21) 9g 27 +1002 (3.23-3.31) (n=15) 3.73 + 0.08 (3.56-3.85) (n=18) 3.84 + 0.20 (10.43-13.18) (3.35-4.17) (n=25) 14.66 + 0.87 (n=25) 3.74 + 0.18 (13.21-16.50) (3.34-3.96) (n=20) 17.78 + 0.56 (n=24) 2.84 + 0.09 (16.82-18.78) (2.69-2.98) (n=11) VETS OST (n=13) 2.71 + 0.05 (17.30-18.33) (2.63-2.76) (n=12) 13.61 (n=1) 8.13 + 0.76 (6.92-9.71) (n=11) 5.64 + 0.24 (5.14-6.09) (n=30) 14.0 + 0.70 (n=12) 3.55 (n=1) 2.63 + 0.13 (2.36-2.77) (n=11) 4.73 + 0.19 (4.42-5.21) (n=30) 4.40 + 0.07 (13.00-14.81) (4.29-4.55) (n=9) (n=11) Frequency variation (kHz) 0.71 + 0.14 (0.51-0.97) (n=13) 0.51 + 0.13 (0.25-0.91) (n=43) 0.57 + 0.18 (0.31-1.10) (n=51) 0.53 + 0.09 (0.37-0.63) (n=9) 0.51 + 0.09 (0.44-0.61) (n=3) 0.47 + 0.11 (0.26-0.63) (n=21) 0.22 + 0.05 (0.13-0.33) (n=15) 0.45 + 0.12 (0.23-0.62) (n=18) 0.72 + 0.14 (0.33-0.97) (n=25) 0.74 + 0.22 (0.38-1.24) (n=23) 0.32 + 0.10 (0.18-0.45) (n=13) 0.33 + 0.09 (0.18-0.44) (n=12) 0.80 (n=1) 0.48 + 0.30 (0.21-0.97) (n=11) 1.30 + 0.22 (0.86-1.72) (n=30) 0.64 + 0.09 (0.55-0.88) (n=11) Change of speed 2.38 + 0.50 (1.83-3.50) (n=11) 1.69 + 0.38 (1.19-2.88) (n=34) 1.63 + 0.27 (1.06-2.18) (n=46) 1.61 + 0.13 (1.45-1.78) (n=9) 1.62 + 0.42 (1.33-2.10 (n=3) ES e027 (1.19-2.10) (n=15) 1.31 + 0.16 (1.12-1.59) (n=12) 1.88 + 0.62 (0.99-2.78) (n=9) 1.16 + 0.33 (0.68-2.29) (n=24) 1.36 + 0.29 (1.06-2.05) (n=19) 1.08 + 0.05 (1.00-1.15) (n=12) 1.11 + 0.06 (1.02-1.20) (n=12) 0.96 (n=1) 0.98 + 0.19 (0.78-1.35) (n=11) 0.96 + 0.10 (0.72-1.14) (n=30) 1.11 +0.19 (0.77-1.48) (n=9) Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Position of peak 0.21 + 0.04 (0.18-0.31) (n=13) 0.23 + 0.07 (0.02-0.36) (n=36) 0.21 + 0.05 (0.11-0.35) (n=50) 0.27 + 0.04 (0.19-0.32) (n=9) 0.25 + 0.04 (0.21-0.30 (n=3) 0.25 + 0.05 (0.18-0.35) (n=21) 0.17 + 0.05 (0.10-0.23) (n=15) 0.20 + 0.05 (0.14-0.29) (n=15) 0.18 + 0.03 (0.13-0.26) (n=25) 0.17 + 0.04 (0.10-0.22) (n=23) 0.34 + 0.04 (0.29-0.42) (n=13) 0.36 + 0.04 (0.27-0.41) (n=12) 0.18 (n=1) 0.69 + 0.07 (0.51-0.80) (n=11) 0.88 + 0.09 (0.69-1.00) (n=30) 0.39 + 0.11 (0.28-0.57) (n=11) standard deviation (n = number of songs Note shape ‘Blobs’: down and up ‘Blobs’: upward, flat, u and n ‘Blobs’: up, flat, n and u (a Peru recording: upstrokes) ‘Blobs’: down, flat and n ‘Blobs’: flat and up ‘Blobs’: up, down, flat and u ‘Blobs’: up and flat ‘Blobs’: flat, up and down ‘Blobs’: up, down (some long ‘tails’), n and flat ‘Blobs’: up, down, flat and u (some ‘tails’) ‘Blobs’: down with long ‘tails’ ‘Blobs’: down with long ‘tails’ Chevron ‘Blobs’: up and down Chevron Chevron Thomas M. Donegan Calls 176 For each taxon / call, data are presented as follows: mean + analysed). No recordings were available for the West Andes or head of the Magdalena Valley populations. Taxon G. n. occidentalis Central Andes, Colombia G. n. occidentalis Ecuador & Peru G. n. nana Picachos, Colombia G. n. nana East Andes, Colombia G. n. hallsi Yariguies, Colombia G. n. nanitaea Tama (Colombia— Venezuela) G. n. nanitaea Mérida, Venezuela G. n. olivascens Coastal Cordillera, Venezuela G. n. cumanensis Caripe, Venezuela G. n. pariae Paria, Venezuela G.n. kukenamensis tepuis, Venezuela No. of notes 1 (all) (n=12) 1 (all) (n=11) 1 (all) (n=3) 1 (all) (n=3) 1 (all) (n=7) 1 (all) (n=3) 1 (all) (n=3) 1 (all) (n=14) Trills: 5.40 + 0.55 (5-6) (n=5) Notes within a single trill: 6.60 + 2.59 (3-11) All notes in series of trills: 33.00 + 4.36 (28-36) Trills: 4.24 + 2.05 (2-8) (n=17) Notes within a single trill: 5.25 + 2.83 (2-11) All notes in series of trills: 19.29 + 7.19 (13-34) 1 (or very fast 3- note trill?) (n=3) Call duration (s) 0.15 + 0.02 (0.12-0.18) (n=12) 0.10 + 0.01 (0.08—-0.12) (n=11) 0.11 + 0.00 (0.11-0.11) (n=3) 0.11 + 0.01 (0.11-0.13) (n=3) 0.12 + 0.01 (0.12-0.14) (n=7) 0.13 + 0.00 (0.13-0.13) (n=3) 0.11 + 0.01 (0.10-0.12) (n=3) 0.14 + 0.02 (0.10-0.17) (n=14) Total: 0.86 + 0.07 (0.79-0.95) (n=5) For individual trills: 0.12 + 0.15 (0.05-0.21) For series of trills: 0.73 + 0.27 (0.39-1.22) (n=17) For individual trills: 0.13 + 0.07 (0.05-0.29) 0.08 (n=1) Call speed (notes/s) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Trills per second: 6.27 + 0.20 (6.00-6.55) (n=5) Within trills: 58.40 + 3.97 (53.40-65.21) Trills per second: 5.04 + 0.80 (4.26-6.57) (n=17) Within trills: 41.01 + 3.55 (34.48-49.55) n/a Max. frequency of highest note (kHz) 4.08 + 0.31 (3.56-4.50) (n=12) 4.30 + 0.26 (3.90-4.66) (n=11) 3.71 + 0.09 (3.62-3.80) (n=3) 3.85 + 0.01 (3.85-3.86) (n=3) 4.23. + 0.22 (3.85-4.49) (n=7) 4.73 + 0.11 (4.60-4.80) (n=3) 4.81 + 0.02 (4.79-4.82) (n=3) 4.71 + 0.19 (4.48-5.14) (n=14) 3.45 + 0.07 (3.35-3.53) (n=5) 3.60 + 0.12 (3.34-3.76) (n=17) 3.48 (n=1) Frequency variation (kHz) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.26 + 0.23 (0.05-0.65) (n=5) 0.32 + 0.11 (0.03-0.46) (n=17) n/a Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Change of speed n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1.60 + 0.15 (1.39-1.81) (n=5) 1.65 + 0.47 (0.79-2.40) (n=17) n/a Position of peak n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.87 + 0.18 (0.60-1.00) (n=5) 0.20 + 0.21 (0.00-0.84) (n=17) n/a standard deviation (n = number of calls Note shape Downstroke, some broken; flat notes Downstrokes Flat notes Flat notes Downstroke, some broken Sharp note Downstroke Downstroke, some broken Series of short, fast trills Series of short, fast trills Broken downstroke / of three rapid notes 177 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Thomas M. Donegan (PSN (#7 DAW (P)SN (967 I)AIN 7M (7 DMA i) (1s (@&TIISGTTDNN (P'e'C'D IS GPC DUNN (ZT) (FCDA (FTA X (PEL (IM (TYLL 1X1 soyamorg (F)SN (B)SN (7 DAA (c’e'7'T) AA (7 DAA (GDAI@SS (SP Ddd (1)dd (IAS eT Vdd (Vdd (Ad (GF'e'7' DAWN (71) (GPE DAN (SFE? 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DMA (DIM = (F7’D)M9 (TIM (LIM — Soldgatuorg (S'b’e'7'Ddd yseaiq yseaiquajed = jsearqiajed = ysvarquaped ysvaiquafed = ysearquaed —ysvargq sayed (p) SN (71DA (SFE 7 DAN (SFE Ddd (7 DAA qayed “yoeq ‘yoeqsnoesd ‘oeqsnosd ‘oeqsnosd ‘yoeq snoad ‘yoeqsnoad ‘yoeqsnoad suos |x| (S72) 1S (S'V') NN CETDSS (IIS (SP'e'7'DAW (S'V'E'7'D)SS X SNOIRATO AOPY = -BANO AIO. -RANO ATOPY -RAT[O DAOJY_-- -BAYJO SIO -RATIO DIO PAO DIO. aSVUUJ (B1d][IpIOZ [e}SLO-)) SUaISVATIO “U “5 (PSN GFT DAW (PSN (S'e'7' DAW 19D 1X (C‘@AW FTDISGTTDNN (F'¢'7'1)1S (C'F'E'7'DNN x (7'7DMA (Z)MA = Sold Jaulo1g (D)SN GP'E'C'Ddd (PSN (S'F'E'C'T)dd ysvaiq Joped ysvarq roped (b) SN (DAS GF'E'7’ DAN (7 DAS GPEC DAW ‘goeq snoad = yoeq snoad peq —“peqsnosd —8uog |X q (SZ) 1S (SO) NN (SET DSS (TZ DNN (1) IS (SPE'7'D)SS (INN (1) 1S (FE'7’T)SS (1)NN x “PATO MOY] -PATO IOP SNOBIATO IOP -KAYO IOP SVU] e (EpLIayA)/) VavjiuvU ‘u “5) & (PSN (G'¥’e'7 DAN (PSN (eC DAW 12D 1X : (ANOS GCPETTISETZDNN (GPETDIS CHET DNN (FIs x (F)Ma (TAL sonjouorg 2 (DSN (CC Ddd (BSN (P'C'Ddd seo. toed ysearq Joped a (SN (CDdI MAI SPETDAN (Hdd (Ad SPEC DAN (LAS (9'F'E'7'T)SS (T)Ad (1)SS ‘yoeq snoe — yoeq snoad ypeqsnoad ‘yoeqsnosd = Bu0g_| X | = GTO ISGHVAONN GECDSSISVETDNN (GP''7'DSS HTUDNN (Z’T)NN (1) 1S (L)NN (1) 1S x “RATIO OY, -PATO SOY KAYO IOP KATO DIOP ASVUUIN & (JapueyULS-PUILT) VIVJIUVU “U “4 (japueyuReS (topendq)(sepuy [eyuaD) (sepuy 3seM) (sinday) (ele J) (adured) (esa]]1pr0>D Jeyseo>) (eps) —ruey) (samnsuex) (sapuyyseq) syvjuapiz20 — sijvyuapi990 ¢s1jvJUuap1990 SISUIDUAyNy “’) aviuwd ‘U +) SISUIUDUINI ‘U “) SUIISVAL]O ‘U 5) vavjIUvUu ‘Uu 7) vav}luvu ‘Uu ‘r) 1s]]UY ‘U 73) DUVU 'U =) ‘U :4) ‘Uu mo) ‘Uu *£) SSE — ——————x«osss rr drt Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 179 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Redescription of Cip6 Canastero Asthenes luizae, with notes on its systematic relationships by Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Santos D'Angelo Neto & Jon Fjeldsa Received 5 July 2007 Cipo Canastero Asthenes luizae is a recently described furnariid from Alto da Boa Vista, Serra do Cipo (19°17'S, 43°34’W), Minas Gerais, south-east Brazil (Vielliard 1990). This area occupies less than 10 km, of campos rupestres, a distinctive landscape of the Espinhaco high- lands, comprising many endemic herbs and shrubs growing on and among rocky outcrops (Fig. 1) (Menezes & Giulietti 1986, 2000, Collar et al. 1992, Eiten 1992, Giulietti ef al. 1997, Gottsberger & Silberbauer-Gottsberger 2006). The species was known only from the type locality for eight years following its description, which led some authors to consider it threatened (Pearman 1990, Collar et al. 1992, Andrade 1998, BirdLife International 2000, 2004). Nevertheless, A. /uizae was found in other areas north of the type locality, all in the Central Brazilian hills and tablelands (Endemic Bird Area 073; Stattersfield et al. 1998), including three protected areas: Serra do Cip6 National Park, Pico do Itambé State Park, and Rio Preto State Park (Andrade et al. 1998, Cordeiro et al. 1998, Vasconcelos 2002, Vasconcelos et al. 2002, Bencke et al. 2006). Consequently, the species was not treated as threatened in the recent revision of the threatened fauna of Brazil (Machado et al. 2005). The species’ original description was based on two males, an adult and immature (Vielliard 1990), housed in Frederico Lencioni’s private collection. Currently, the holotype is deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo (MZUSP 73831), but the paratype remains in Lencioni’s collection (no. 568). An additional adult male, deposited in the Colegao Ornitol6gica do Departamento de Zoologia da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (DZUFMG 2855), was collected c.170 km north of the species’ known range, but it proved impossible to determine whether small plumage differences from the holotype represent individual or geographical variation (Vasconcelos et al. 2002). Morphology and measurements of female and juvenile plumages are still undescribed. Unfortunately, the original description of A. luizae is not very precise. Plumage col- oration was not described with reference to a catalogue, and no details were given as to the extent of rufous in the tail, an important character for assessing systematic affinities within Synallaxinae. Thus, our aim here is to redescribe A. Juizae using the holotype and ten spec- imens obtained in March 2000-September 2006 from the following localities, all in the Espinhaco range: Alto da Boa Vista (type locality), Santana do Riacho municipality; Serra do Barro Preto (18°36’S, 43°53’W), Gouvéa municipality; Trés Barras (18°30’S, 43°26’W), Serro municipality; Serra Resplandecente (17°02’S, 43°20’W), Itacambira municipality; and Campina do Bananal (16°51’S, 43°02’W), Botumirim municipality. Specimens are deposited in the Colecao Ornitol6gica do Departamento de Zoologia da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (DZUFMG), and in the Museu de Histéria Natural de Taubaté, Taubaté (MHNT). Unfortunately, the paratype could not be analysed. Table 1 presents collection data for the analysed specimens of A. [uizae. We also provide data on the plumage and measurements of females and a juvenile, and discuss the species’ taxonomic relationships. Plumage descriptions were based on Munsell Soil color charts (2000). External topo- graphic anatomy nomenclature follows Meyer de Schauensee (1982) and Clark (1993). Measurements were taken using electronic digital callipers. Measurements taken were: bill- Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 180 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) width (at anterior edge of nares), bill-depth (at anterior edge of nares), nares to tip, culmen from base (at skull), wing-chord (unflattened), tarsus, tail and total length. Where possible, specimens were weighed using pesolas. Specimens of other species of Asthenes were studied in the following institutions: American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia (ANSP), Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (FMNH), Louisiana State University Museum of Zoology, Baton Rouge (LSUMZ), Museo de Historia Natural ‘Javier Prado’, Lima (MJPL), Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (MZUSP), US National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (USNM), and Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen (ZMUC). Redescription of holotype——Upperparts, from forehead to rump, very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2). Uppertail-coverts dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2). Lores pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) with apex of feathers black (SYR 2.5/1). Fine superciliary pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2), becoming light grey (LOYR 7/1.5) posteriorly. Ear-coverts black (5YR 2.5/1) with fine stripes white (2.5Y 8/1). Malar light grey (10YR 6.5/1). Chin white (2.5Y 8/1). Throat feathers black (SY 2.5/1), basally red (2.5YR 4/8) and stripes white (2.5Y 8/1). Sides of neck and breast greyish brown (10YR5/2), becoming light grey (1OYR 7/2) in centre of breast. Belly light grey (10YR 7/2). Flanks and thighs greyish brown (10YR 5/2). Undertail-coverts brown (10YR 5/3). Tail graduated, with 12 rectrices, appearing in dorsal aspect mostly very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2), with fringes rufous (7.5YR 4/6), and, from below, mostly rufous with very dark greyish brown in the centre. The three outermost pairs of rectrices are rufous, inconspicuously washed very dark greyish brown at the base of proximal webs. On each successively longer rectrix the amount of very dark greyish brown increases, whilst the amount of rufous decreases. In the fourth outermost pair, rufous concentrates principally on the feather’s tip, on both margins of the proximal web (narrow and inconspicuous on the inner margin) and on distal web, becoming very dark greyish brown at the feather’s base. The fifth outermost pair is almost entirely very dark greyish brown, with rufous narrow and inconspicuous external margins only on the distal web. Central rectrices are entirely very dark greyish brown. Upperwing-coverts very dark grey (10YR 3/1), finely and inconspicuously fringed yel- lowish red (5YR 5/8). Alula very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2) with fine fringe white (1OYR 8/1) on distal margin. Remiges very dark greyish brown (10YR 2.5/2); primaries have inconspicuous narrow fringes light brownish grey (10YR 6/2) on distal margin. Underwing-coverts yellowish red (5YR 5/6). Bend of wing white (10YR 8/1). Soft-part colours noted in the original label are: irides brown and tarsus black. Description of female from type locality—This female (DZUFMG 5331) has the forehead, crown, nape and hindneck very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2), becoming very dark grey (JOYR 3/1.5) on mantle, scapulars and rump. Uppertail-coverts dark grey (10YR 4/1.5). Lores white (2.5Y 8/1) with feather apex black (5YR 2.5/1). Sides of neck and breast grey (LOYR 5.5/1), becoming light grey (10YR 7/1) in centre of breast. Belly light grey (10YR 7.5/1). Flanks and thighs greyish brown (10YR 5/1.5). Superciliary, auriculars, malar, chin, throat and undertail-coverts similar to holotype. Tail similar to holotype, but with very dark brown (10YR 2.5/2) over same regions that in the holotype are very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2). Central rectrices very dark brown with very narrow and inconspicuous rufous margins on distal web. Upperwing- and underwing-coverts, alula and bend of wing similar to holotype. Remiges very dark grey (10YR 2.5/1); primaries have inconspicuous narrow fringes light Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 181 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) brownish grey (10YR 6/2) on distal margin; secondaries with inconspicuous fringes light brownish grey on both margins. Soft-part colours: irides dark brown, tarsus grey, upper mandible black, lower mandible grey with black tip. Plumage variation in adults.—Mantle, scapulars and rump are very dark grey (10YR 3/1.5) in all except the holotype, which has these parts very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2), and no evident contrast with the head in the latter specimen. Uppertail-coverts vary from dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2) (MZUSP 73831), dark grey (LOYR 4/1.5) (DZUFMG 5327-5332, MHNT 4825), to very dark grey (10YR 3/1.5) (DZUFMG 2855, 5325). Throat feathers with a reddish base are more frequent in the anterior part of the gular patch, being very inconspicuous and almost absent in two specimens (DZUFMG 2855, 5328). The significance of this variation is unknown, as these two specimens represent both sexes and were collected at different sites (Table 1). Those collected at Trés Barras possess a blacker gular patch and narrower white stripes in the throat (Fig. 2). Except the holotype, all have the neck- and breast-sides grey (1OYR 5.5/1), becoming light grey (1OYR 7/1) over the central breast, and belly light grey (10YR 7.5/1). All have the rectrices similar to DZUFMG 5331, admixed very dark brown and rufous, except the holotype, which has these feathers very dark greyish brown and rufous. Some specimens have the three outermost pairs of rectrices inconspicuously washed very dark brown at the tips (DZUFMG 2855, 5325, 5327, 5331, 5332, MHNT 4825). In the fifth outer- most pair, the rufous appears as narrow and inconspicuous external margins only on the distal web (DZUFMG 5325, 5328, 5330, 5331, MZUSP 73831, MHNT 4825), or on both webs (DZUFMG 2855, 5327, 5329, 5332). The central rectrices are entirely very dark brown, some- times with very narrow and inconspicuous rufous margins to the distal web (DZUFMG 5331, 5332), or on both webs (DZUFMG 2855, 5328, 5329). The significance of this variation is also unknown as each of these characters was found in birds in fresh plumage from dif- ferent localities. All specimens have the remiges very dark grey, except the holotype, which has these feathers very dark greyish brown. Most specimens (DZUFMG 2855, 5325, 5328-5332, MHNT 4825) possess inconspicuous light brownish-grey fringes on both margins of the secondaries. Based on those adults analysed, we found no differences between the sexes, and we also found no evidence of geographical variation, except the darker gular patch in those from Trés Barras (Fig. 2). In comparing DZUFMG 2855, from Campina do Bananal, to the holotype, it is impossible to know if the observed differences between them (Vasconcelos et al. 2002) pertain to geographic or individual variation. Based on the additional specimens gathered recently, we conclude that the holotype is in worn plumage, with many degraded feathers, thereby probably explaining the browner tones compared to other specimens, including the adult female from the type locality (DZUFMG 5331). Two other worn speci- -mens (DZUFMG 5327, 5332), albeit less so than the holotype, exhibit slightly paler central rectrices compared to the rest of the series. We found small variation in soft-part colours of adults. All have dark brown irides and a black upper mandible. Tarsi vary between greenish grey (DZUFMG 5327-5330), grey (DZUFMG 2855, 5325, 5331) and dark grey (DZUFMG 5332, MHNT 4825). Most specimens “possess the lower mandible grey with a black tip (DZUFMG 2855, 5325, 5327, 5329-5332, \MHNT 4825), with only one (DZUFMG 5328) having a grey lower mandible with a black tip and base. Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. 182 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) TABLE 1 Collection data for specimens of Cip6 Canastero Asthenes luizae utilised in this study. Localities are presented from south (type locality) to north. Registration Locality Elevation Sex Age Date number MZUSP 73831 Alto da Boa Vista, 1,100 m Male Adult 14 December 1985 (holotype) Serra do Cipo DZUFMG 5331 Alto da Boa Vista, 1,320 m Female (ovary Adult (skull 1 May 2005 Serra do Cipd 7.0 x 2.6 mm) 20% pneumatised) DZUFMG 5332 Serra do Barro Preto 1,300 m Male (testes Adult (skull 18 September 2006 5.7 x 4.1 mm) 35% pneumatised) DZUFMG 5328 Trés Barras 1,230 m Female (ovary Adult (skull 24 April 2004 5.0 x 2.2 mm) 30% pneumatised) DZUFMG 5329 Trés Barras 1,230 m Male (testes Adult (skull 24 April 2004 1.7 x 1.0 mm) 30% pneumatised) DZJUFMG 5330 Trés Barras 1,230 m Female (ovary — Adult (skull 24 April 2004 6.0 x 3.5 mm) 30% pneumatised) DZUFMG 5327 Serra Resplandecente 1,250 m Female (ovary Adult (skull 4 September 2003 7.5 x 4.2 mm) 25% pneumatised) DZUFMG 2855 Campina do Bananal 1,320 m Male (testes Adult (skull 1 March 2000 2 x 1 mm) 25% pneumatised) MHNT 4825 Campina do Bananal 1,250 m Female (ovary Adult (skull 22 March 2003 6.0x 2.5mm) — 25% pneumatised) DZUFMG 5325 Campina do Bananal 1,300 m Female (ovary — Adult (skull 23 March 2003 6 x 3mm) 10% pneumatised) DZUFMG 5326 Campina do Bananal 1,270 m Male (testes Juvenile (skull 23 March 2003 0.9 x 0.6 mm) 5% pneumatised) Description of juvenile-—The most noteworthy plumage difference compared to adults is that the chin and throat are light grey (LOYR 6.5/1) (Figs. 1-2). The breast and belly are similar to adults, but washed inconspicuously greyish-brown (10YR 5/2) and brown (10YR 5/3). Soft-part colours are: irides dark brown, tarsus greenish grey, upper mandible black, lower mandible light grey with a black tip. It is noteworthy that none of the specimens, including those considered adults on plumage, had the skull completely pneumatised. All adults had skull ossification of 10-35%. The juvenile had the skull 5% pneumatised (Table 1). Measurements and mass.—Although the number of adults analysed is still small, it appears that there are no differences in measurements and mass between the sexes (Table 2). There is little evidence of strong size dimorphism in Furnariidae (Remsen 2003). Juvenile measurements fall within the same range (Table 2). Systematic relationships.—As noted by Vuilleumier et al. (1992), in the original description, Vielliard (1990) did not present any evidence why A. Iuizae belongs within Asthenes. Pearman (1990) compared songs of A. Iuizae with Asthenes m. modesta, A. humilis robusta, A. wyatti graminicola, A. d. dorbignyi and A. b. baeri, and concluded that the song of A. luizae | most recalled A. d. dorbignyi. He also concluded, based on plumage and vocalisations, that the closest relatives of A. luizae were possibly A. dorbignyi and A. patagonica. | Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) 183 Marcelo Ferreira de Vasconcelos et al. S aN fe e828 « oe : = =) iS SS co HS VTDM cs N Ea Oy An = EQES 1S So S oo oe fo eos 5 2 Neo S Ee OS 5 NDA J =~ Oy = Tae) SIN] @ tS Tees GS Se ACLS & Sen eS Os Sa = aes). S 5 Ta aac 2 i a 5 a “gal ¢ Boker aang 60 seconds of A. dorsalis. As in A. dorsalis, there is much inter- and intra- | individual variation in the songs of A. fuscus, primarily pertaining to the length of the song | and the presence or absence of the chattering preamble. Other calls of A. fuscus include a harsh, single-note jeck, similar to the individual notes of the song, and an arresting series of 2-7, loud, squealing notes. Mated pairs of both Anabazenops commonly engage in : | | Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 195 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) antiphonal duets, which are variable in nature. These often involve one member of the pair giving a typical loudsong, while the other gives a sustained chatter or rattle call. Syringeal morphology.—The A. roraimae syrinx is a typical tracheophone syrinx, with B and the first two A elements divided. Two narrow flat bars (Processi vocales) are fused posteriorly by elastic connective tissue to the lateral surfaces of the A-1 and A-2 elements (Figs. 3a—b). In lateral view this structure is broader caudally, thinner cranially, but ‘rounded’ in shape (Fig. 3b). The Membranae tracheales begin at the A-3 element, which is complete. This membrane has 6-7 crossbars that are A elements, none of which is exceptionally thin (within the Membranae each element is about one-fifth the width of the unmodified A-element). This structure is limited caudally by A-3, and the cranial limit is A- 10 or A-11, so it consists of 7-8 small membranes. All elements within the limits of the Membranae tracheales cross it dorsally and ventrally (Fig. 3a). At the end of the Membranae tracheales there is a cylinder composed of two complete, partially fused A-elements forming a drum (‘Dr’ in Fig. 3). The extrinsic muscle M. tracheolateralis inserts immediately cranial to the drum, where- as M. sternotrachealis inserts directly on the cranial end of the Processus vocalis. The intrinsic muscle pair M. vocalis dorsalis originates on the lateral and dorsolateral cranial edge of the drum, and the M. vocalis ventralis muscle pair originates on the lateral and ventrilateral sur- faces of the same elements. These muscles insert on the dorsal or ventral caudal portion of the Processus vocalis, respectively (see characters 19 and 20, Appendix 3, for more details). In lateral views of other Automolus syringes analysed, the caudal portion of the Processus vocalis is much wider than the cranial extreme, which is in all cases more acute than in A. roraimae (Fig. 4a, c, e, g, i and k; character 12, Appendix 3, especially so in some cases, like A. infuscatus, Fig. 4a). In Automolus species, when syringes are viewed ventrally (Fig. 4b, d, f, h,j and 1), the crossbars are thinner, being almost absent in A. rubiginosus (Fig. 4h, character 9, Appendix 3). The drums are thicker, with more elements that are more strongly fused (characters 15-14, Appendix 3, respectively). Although Raposo et al. (2006) found that the extent of element fusion within Dendrocolaptinae syringes is intraspecifical- ly variable, we found no variation among three roraimae syringes examined. The Philydor syringes (Fig. 5a-j) also have a Processus vocalis with an acute cranial extreme, except in P. lichtenstein1. On the other hand, P. pyrrhodes, P. erythrocercum and P. lichtensteint have a pair of ‘horns’ on the ventral side of this structure (character 11, Appendix 3). This is particularly interesting because ‘horns’ in the Processi vocales were only known on both the ventral and dorsal sides of Geositta and dendrocolaptid species; indeed, this character was considered a Dendrocolaptinae synapomorph. The significance of this finding is the subject of an ongoing investigation by CK. The drum is strong and complete- ly fused in P. atricapillus, P. erythrocercum and P. pyrrhodes, but there is no drum in P. rufum and P. lichtensteini (see character 14, Appendix 3). Although the number and extent of ele- ment fusion that comprise the drum may vary intraspecifically, it nonetheless is possible to identify the same extent of drum strength among individuals of the same species. The cross- bars in the Membranae tracheales are very thin, especially in P. rufum. Of Syndactyla syringes analysed, dimidiata (Figs. 5k-1, 6c—d), subalaris (Fig. 6g—h) and rufosuperciliata (Fig. 6a—b) had characteristics very similar to those of A. roraimae, with the Processus vocalis lacking an acute cranial extreme, having a ‘rounded’ shape in lateral view, and a drum with only two fused or semi-fused elements (=no well-developed drum) and Membranae tracheales with well-developed (not extremely thin) crossbars. Except for the lat- eral view of Processus vocalis of A. leucophthalmus (Fig. 4i), which is similar to that of Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 196 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 197 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Syndactyla dimidiata (Fig. 5k), these characteristics are not found in other Automolus and Philydor examined. Characteristics of syringeal extrinsic and intrinsic muscles (M. tracheolateralis, M. ster- notrachealis, and M. vocalis ventralis and dorsalis), were the same in A. roraimae and all other species analysed (see characters 17, 18, 21 and 22, Appendix 3), except for the caudal inser- tion of the intrinsic muscles (characters 19 and 20, Appendix 3). Behaviour.—In the Sierra de Lema (Bolivar, Venezuela) and on the north slope of Mt. Roraima, Guyana, individuals or presumed pairs of A. roraimae occupied stunted, melastome-dominated, mossy forest, where they were most frequently seen at the edge of disturbed areas in a large matrix of pristine forest. Individuals were encountered more often than pairs, members of which foraged mostly in fairly close association with their presumed mates, maintaining contact through regular vocalisations. At Sierra de Lema, roraimae regularly associated with mixed-species flocks of other insectivores, but was nearly as often found away from such flocks. In contrast, during late March-early April 2001 on Mt. Roraima, birds were breeding and were not associated with mixed-species flocks. Specimen data from two females indicate that they had just laid eggs on 29 March and 5 April (KUMNH 93464—5). When associated with mixed-species flocks, individual foliage-gleaners exhibited a particular tendency to stay close to pairs of Streak-backed Antshrikes Thamnophilus insignis, following closely behind the antshrikes whenever they moved any significant distance. A. roraimae foraged c.0.5-9.0 m above ground, but primarily at 1-6 m, and often so low to the ground that their movements were obscured by dense vegetation. Progression was through a rapid series of short hops, or ‘hitching’, from side to side, in which the orientation of the body was changed relative to the position of the substrate, from one hop to the next. Much foraging was vertically directed along the main trunks of small trees and slender saplings, but individuals also moved in a lateral path along more open limbs and through vine tangles. Foliage-gleaners frequently wrapped their tails around slender trunks or branches as a sort of brace, particularly when moving vertically. Foraging birds regularly flicked both wings simultaneously, a movement that was usually accompanied by a simultaneous shallow vertical flick of the tail. Arthropod prey was mostly perch-gleaned from branch or vine surfaces by reaching, followed by a quick stab of Captions to plates on opposite page: Figure 3. Alizarine Red and Alcian Blue cleared and stained Automolus roraimae syrinx. (a) ventral view. (b) lateral view. References: A1: ring A1, B1: ring B1, Ca: Caudal part of the syrinx, Cr: Cranial part of the syrinx, Dr: Drum, MS: Sternotrachealis muscle, MTr: Membrana trachealis, Mvd: Vocalis dorsalis muscle, PV: Processus vocalis. Figure 4. Alizarine Red and Alcian Blue cleared and stained syrinx of (a) Automolus infuscatus lateral view. (b) A. infuscatus ventral view. (c) Automolus ochrolaemus lateral view. (d) A. ochrolaemus ventral view. (e) Automolus roraimae lateral view. (f) A. roraimae ventral view. (g) Automolus rubiginosus lateral view. (h) A. rubiginosus ventral view. (i) Automolus leucophthalmus lateral view. (j) A. leucophthalmus ventral view. (k) Automolus rufipileatus lateral view. (1) A. rufipileatus ventral view. References: Ca: Caudal part of the syrinx, Cr: Cranial part of the syrinx, PV: Processus vocalis, MTr: Membranae tracheales, Dr: Drum. Figure 5. Alizarine Red and Alcian Blue cleared and stained syrinx of (a) Philydor lichtensteini lateral view. (b) P. lichtensteini ventral view. (c) Philydor erythrocercum lateral view. (d) P. erythrocercum ventral view. (e) Philydor atricapillus lateral view. (f) P. atricapillus ventral view. (g) Philydor pyrrhodes lateral view. (h) P. pyrrhodes ventral view. (i) Philydor rufum lateral view. (j) P. rufum ventral view. (k) Syndactyla dimidiata lateral view. (1) S. dimidiata dorsal view. Figure 6. Alizarine Red and Alcian Blue cleared and stained syrinx of (a) Syndactyla rufosuperciliata lateral view. (b) S. rufosuperciliata ventral view. (c) Syndactyla dimidiata lateral view. (d) S. dimidiata ventral view. (e) Automolus roraimae lateral view. (f) A. roraimae ventral view. (g) Syndactyla subalaris lateral view. (h) S. subalaris ventral view. Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 198 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) the bill. Acrobatic manoeuvres, such as hanging, were regularly employed, and on several occasions birds used their bill to hammer at nodes of branches, stems or dead leaves, frequently probing into moss on trunks or arboreal leaf litter suspended in vines. KJZ videotaped one individual that clung to a hanging dead branch while hammering and probing in the fractured end with its bill, much in the manner of a Xenops. Singing birds assumed a fairly upright (c.60—70°) position, usually on a more open branch. The tail was vibrated to the rhythm of the song, and the throat feathers were distinctly ruffled. Discussion The generic relationships of the many foliage-gleaners comprising the Philydorinae have long been disputed. Vaurie (1980) employed an expanded concept of the genus Philydor that included, among many others, the currently recognised genera Syndactyla and Simoxenops. Although Vaurie’s views failed to gain wide acceptance, the generic placement of some foliage-gleaners has shifted among Automolus, Philydor and Syndactyla, suggesting that the plumage characters currently used to separate these genera are not well defined. The taxon Syndactyla mirandae was described from Goias, Brazil, and for a time was treated as a subspecies of Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner S. rufosuperciliata, before it was determined to be synonym of P. dimidiatum (Remsen 2003). P. dimidiatum, in turn, was subsequently transferred to Syndactyla (Robbins & Zimmer 2005) as was Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner Automolus ruficollis (Parker et al. 1985, Ridgely & Tudor 1994). The presence or absence of streaking on either the upper- or underparts has tradition- ally been treated as a major plumage distinction within the Philydorinae (e.g. Vaurie 1980). Within the currently recognised Syndactyla, the trans-Andean ruficollis and dimidiata of south-central Brazil and east-central Paraguay are most divergent from the others in being largely unstreaked (Robbins & Zimmer 2005). The emphasis in earlier classifications on the presence or absence of streaking accounts for the placement of ruficollis and dimidiata in Automolus and Philydor, respectively. With the recent generic transfer of these species, Syndactyla, as currently constituted, now comprises a gradient of species, from heavily streaked on both dorsal and ventral surfaces (subalaris, guttulata), to heavily streaked only on the ventral surface (rufosuperciliata), to strongly flammulated ventrally (ruficollis), to only vaguely flammulated below (dimidiata). In an earlier paper (Robbins & Zimmer 2005), we recommended that the genus Simoxenops be subsumed into Syndactyla, and pointed out that the inclusion of (then) Philydor dimidiatum in Syndactyla bridged the perceived plumage morphological gap between Syndactyla and Simoxenops. The ongoing debate as to whether A. roraimae belongs in Automolus or Philydor has been similarly based almost entirely on the perceived importance of plumage characters. Historically, there has been little or no discussion of the possibility that roraimae is a Syndactyla, primarily because roraimae is unstreaked, and prior to 1985, all species included in Syndactyla were boldly streaked. In addition to lacking streaking, roraimae has a striking white or cream-coloured throat that contrasts strongly with the darker underparts, and a bold white supercilium that contrasts strongly with the dark ear-coverts. In these charac- ters, and in its overall plumage pattern, roraimae bears a striking resemblance to Anabazenops | dorsalis, a species previously placed in Automolus based on plumage similarities to | Automolus infuscatus, but since transferred to Anabazenops largely on the basis of vocal and ecological characters (Kratter & Parker 1997). Vaurie (1980: 293) used the shared characters | of uniformly coloured upperparts (excluding the tail and rump), pale whitish throat and absence of streaking to suggest a possible close relationship between A. infuscatus, A. leu- cophthalmus and Anabazenops dorsalis, inexplicably excluding A. roraimae (which shares all of | Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 199 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) the same characters) from the discussion. In his key to Automolus, Vaurie (1980: 298) further noted that A. albigularis (=roraimae) and dorsalis also share a distinctly well-defined whitish supercilium and postocular streak. Despite the striking similarity in plumage pattern of roraimae to these other species, it is increasingly apparent that such plumage similarities do not reflect phylogenetic relation- ships. Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaner Anabazenops dorsalis has been shown to belong in Anabazenops despite its plumage similarities to Automolus infuscatus, and all plumage char- acters used by Vaurie (1980) to unite those species can also be found in Philydor erythrocercum. Indeed, until recently (Dickerman et al. 1986) the emphasis on plumage char- acters in elucidating relationships among the foliage-gleaners had resulted in the classification of the juvenile of roraimae as a distinct species in a separate genus from the adult! The use of alternative plumage characters could lead to a completely different inter- pretation of generic relationships. The roraimae juvenile plumage differs from that of adults in having the supercilium and the underparts tinged rich ochraceous-buff, and in having dusky fringes to many of the breast feathers (Dickerman et al. 1986, Hilty 2003, Remsen 2003), a juvenile vs. adult plumage distinction which parallels that found in Syndactyla sub- alaris (Vaurie 1980, Remsen 2003), but which is without parallel in any species of Automolus (Kratter & Parker 1997, Remsen 2003). Unlike roraimae, none of the nine currently recog- nised species of Philydor has a well-defined white throat that contrasts strongly with much darker underparts, nor does any species of Philydor or Automolus possess a bold white supercilium and postocular streak. Conversely, two species of Syndactyla, subalaris and gut- tulata, are similar to roraimae in having a distinct pale supercilium and dark underparts that contrast strongly with a well-delineated pale (whitish or pale buff) throat, the principal dif- ference being that those species are also boldly streaked above and below. In having a distinctly white throat and supercilium, roraimae most closely approaches Anabazenops (dor- salis and fuscus), but neither of these has sharply delineated, contrasting dark underparts, and fuscus has a bold, white hindcollar. Other morphological characters are more suggestive of a close relationship between A. roraimae and Syndactyla. Like all Syndactyla, and both species of Simoxenops, A. roraimae has an upturned mandible, or ‘ascending gonys’ (Vaurie 1980, Remsen 2003), although the angle is not nearly as pronounced as in Simoxenops. Kratter & Parker (1997) presented mor- phometric data for 18 species of foliage-gleaners, including roraimae, three other species currently included in Automolus (infuscatus, melanopezus and ochrolaemus), and Syndactyla rufosuperciliata. In bill-length, bill-width, bill-depth and wing-chord, roraimae was distinctly smaller than the other three species of Automolus, but nearly identical to S. rufosuperciliata. Additionally, syringeal morphology, which has been considered an important higher taxonomic character in suboscines, including Furnariidae (Muller 1878, Ames 1971, Remsen 2003) supports a relationship between roraimae and Syndactyla, whilst showing roraimae to be distinct from both Automolus and Philydor in Processus vocalis shape in lateral view, drum strength, and width of elements crossing the Membranae tracheales. Excluding A. roraimae, Automolus and Philydor species examined had syringes in which the Processi vocales had an acute proximal extreme (except A. leucophthalmus) and a stronger drum consisting of more fused elements, as well as a Membrana trachealis in which the cross- bars were extremely narrow or nearly lacking. In each of these characters, syringes of both roraimae and S. dimidiata more resembled those of the Syndactyla species examined (Fig. 6), thereby adding support for the inclusion of these two species within Syndactyla.. Unfortunately, Simoxenops syringeal material was not available. Because of the inherited nature of vocalisations within the suboscines (Lanyon 1978, Kroodsma 1984, Kroodsma 1989), vocalisations are often a strong indication of relationships Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 200 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) within this group. Within the Furnariidae, vocalisations in concert with morphological and behavioral aspects have been used to elucidate relationships at the species and generic lev- els (Parker et al. 1985, Whitney & Pacheco 1994, Kratter & Parker 1997, Zimmer 1997, Remsen 2003, Robbins & Zimmer 2005). Indeed, Vaurie’s (1971, 1980) systematic revisions of this family, which did not include vocal information, but were based primarily on plumage and external structural characters, led to conclusions that have not been generally accepted by the ornithological community (Fitzpatrick 1982, Sibley & Monroe 1990, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Remsen 2003). Vocal characters may provide the strongest argument for the relatedness of roraimae to Syndactyla. Loudsongs of the five Syndactyla species represented in our inventory were remarkably uniform in pattern and note quality. Calls of these species were also strikingly similar to one another. Indeed, vocalisations of all five are so similar that they are easily con- fused by the uninitiated listener. All are united by the harsh, nasal quality of their notes in both loudsongs and in calls, the accelerating pattern of the loudsong, the often stuttering start to the loudsong, and the variation in loudsong length, changes of pace, and frequency shifts displayed by individuals, particularly in response to playback. The vocalisations of A. roraimae are strikingly similar to those of Syndactyla, and are not similar to those of any of the other recognised species of Automolus, Philydor or Anabazenops, none of which shares the distinctive nasal, scratchy quality that immediately distinguishes roraimae, Syndactyla and Simoxenops. Vocal similarities between Simoxenops and Syndactyla were first noted by Parker (1982), and have been amplified by subsequent authors (Parker & Bates 1992, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Remsen 2003, Robbins & Zimmer 2005). Willard et al. (1991) described the foraging behaviour of roraimae as primarily by ‘prob- ing in medium to large arboreal bromeliads’, Kratter & Parker (1997) reported searches of clasping sheaths around bamboo nodes, and Hilty (2003) noted it probing in dead palm fronds. Behaviourally, roraimae is also a closer fit with Syndactyla in gleaning primarily from branch or vine surfaces, employing hammering or chiseling motions of the bill, in hitching up vertical trunks, and in often foraging apart from mixed-species flocks. The hammering or chiseling of substrates has been noted for S. guttulata (Hilty 2003), S. rufosuperciliata (Remsen 2003), S. dimidiata (Robbins & Zimmer 2005) and S. ruficollis (pers. obs.), and is a primary search manoeuvre of both Simoxenops (Parker 1982, Parker & Bates 1992, Zimmer et al. 1997, Remsen 2003). Conversely, this behaviour is rare or absent among species of Automolus and Philydor, most of which are dead-leaf specialists (Remsen 2003). One study, conducted in south-east Peru, showed that 88-100% of all search manoeuvres by each of four species of Automolus (infuscatus, ochrolaemus, melanopezus and rufipileatus) were direct- ed to dead leaves. Less rigorously quantified observations of the foraging behaviour of A. paraensis and A. leucophthalmus from Brazil (Zimmer 2002, 2008) suggested that those two species directed more than 75% of their search manoeuvres to dead leaves as well. Although roraimae frequently inspects arboreal leaf-litter, such manoeuvres do not, in our experience, constitute an obvious majority of all foraging manoeuvres, nor is any such specialisation _ indicated in the scant literature (Willard et al. 1991, Hilty 2003, Remsen 2003). B. M. Whitney — is cited (Kratter & Parker 1997) as having described the foraging behaviour of roraimae as | being similar to that of Syndactyla, but without further elaboration. Although all Syndactyla | species regularly associate with mixed-species flocks, they are less habitual in their atten- | dance than are the species of Philydor, most of which are inveterate members of such flocks, | and rarely encountered away from them (pers. obs.; Remsen 2003). Unlike the two species | of Anabazenops (Kratter & Parker 1997), roraimae does not show any strong specialisation on bamboo. Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 201 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) In vocal characters, syringeal morphology, morphometrics and foraging behaviour, roraimae is much more like currently recognised species of Syndactyla than currently recog- nised species of Automolus or Philydor. It is somewhat divergent from Syndactyla with respect to its adult plumage pattern (although more similar in its juvenile plumage), which more closely resembles some Automolus and Anabazenops. Based on all other characters, these plumage similarities appear convergent and not reflective of relationship. Taxonomic recommendation We recommend that ‘Automolus’ roraimae be placed in the genus Syndactyla; the name would thus become Syndactyla roraimae (Hellmayr). Because the adult plumage pattern of roraimae is unique among Syndactyla, whereas the vocalisations of all species in the genus are similar, it is difficult to identify its sister. Accordingly, we suggest that in a linear sequence, roraimae be placed at the beginning of the Syndactyla, reflecting its plumage uniqueness. At the same time, we acknowledge that a molecular-based analysis is required to recover phylogenetic relationships within the genus. Hellmayr (1925) coined the English name of White-throated Automolus for A. roraimae and White-throated Foliage-gleaner has been used by most subsequent authors (e.g., Meyer de Schauensee 1970, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Remsen 2003). Although not inaccurate, the modifier ‘White-throated’ could just as readily describe A. leucophthalmus, A. infuscatus, A. paraensis and A. ochrolaemus pallidigularis, as well as Anabazenops fuscus and A. dorsalis. Hilty (2003) used the English name of Tepui Foliage-gleaner for A. roraimae. Given that roraimae is a restricted-range species endemic to the Tepui Endemic Bird Area (Stattersfield et al. 1998, Remsen 2003), and that within this region it is found only in montane evergreen for- est, primarily on the slopes and tops of tepuis, the name Tepui Foliage-gleaner is not only appropriate but is also more informative. We therefore recommend adopting the English name of Tepui Foliage-gleaner for Syndactyla roraimae. Acknowledgements Special thanks to Phyllis Isler for lending her time and talent in producing the spectrograms used here. Greg Budney, Andrea Priori and Martha Fischer provided access to recordings and data for recordings deposited at the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, Cornell University (MLNS). Marcos Raposo, Terry Chesser and Van Remsen provided helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank Kimball Garrett (Los Angeles County Museum; LACM) and John Bates (Field Museum of Natural History; FMNH) for loaned specimen material under their care, and Alexandre Aleixo (Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi; MPEG) and Luis Fabio Silveira (Museu de Zoologica da Universidade de Sao Paulo; MZUSP) for access to the collections under their care. Steve Hilty, Curtis Marantz, Gary Rosenberg and Andrew Whittaker provided invaluable vocal material. Pablo Goloboff, Martin Ramirez, Cristian Grismado, Pablo Guaglianone, Daiana Ferraro, Marcos Mirande, Francisco Firpo and Pablo L. Tubaro kindly facilitated syringeal analyses. We thank Storrs Olson, Christopher Milensky and James Dean (NMNH, Smithsonian Institution) for loaned syringes under their care. CK’s work was supported by CONICET PIP 2006/2007 0032. References: Ames, P. L. 1971. The morphology of the syrinx in passerine birds. Peabody Mus. Nat. Hist., Yale Univ. Bull. oF Boesman, P. 1999. Birds of Venezuela: photographs, sounds, and distributions. CD-ROM. Bird Songs International BV, Westernieland. Cannell, P. F. 1988. Techniques for the study of avian syringes. Wilson Bull. 10: 289-293. Coopmans, P., Moore, J. V., Krabbe, N., Jahn, O., Berg, K. S., Lysinger, M., Navarrete, L. & Ridgely, R. S. 2004. The birds of southwest Ecuador. CDs. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San Jose, CA. Dickerman, R. W., Barrowclough, G. F., Cannell, P. F., Phelps, W. H. & Willard, D. E. 1986. Philydor hylobius Wetmore and Phelps is a synonym of Automolus roraimae Hellmayr. Auk 103: 431-432. Fitzpatrick, J. W. 1982. 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Wetmore, A. & Phelps, W. H. 1956. Further additions to the list of birds from Venezuela. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 69212. Whitney, B. M. & Pacheco, J. F. 1994. Behavior and vocalizations of Gyalophylax and Megaxenops (Furnariidae), two little-known genera endemic to northeastern Brazil. Condor 96: 559-565. Willard, D. E., Foster, M. S., Barrowclough, G. F., Dickerman, R. W., Cannell, P. F., Coats, S. L., Cracraft, J. L. & O'Neill, J. P. 1991. The birds of Cerro de la Neblina, Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela. Fieldiana, Zool. 65: 1-80. Zimmer, K. J. 1997. Species limits in Cranioleuca vulpina. Pp. 849-864 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Zimmer, K. J. 2002. Species limits in Olive-backed Foliage-gleaners (Automolus: Furnariidae). Wilson Bull. 114: DU=BT/ Zimmer, K. J. 2008. The White-eyed Foliage-gleaner (Furnariidae: Automolus) is two species. Wilson J. Orn. 120: 10-25. Zimmer, K. J., Parker, T. A., Isler, M. L. & Isler, P. R. 1997. Survey of a southern Amazonian avifauna: the Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Pp. 887-918 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Addresses: Kevin J. Zimmer, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA, e-mail: kjzimmer@charter.net. Mark B. Robbins, Division of Birds, University of Kansas Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center, Dyche Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA, e-mail: mrobbins@ku.edu. Cecilia Kopuchian, Division Ornitologia, CONICET, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Av. Angel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina, e-mail: ckopuchian@macn.gov.ar © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 APPENDIX 1 Recording locations and recordists. Numbers following each name represent the number of individual birds recorded by the recordist at each site. Automolus roraimae.-—GUYANA: Mt. Roraima (M. B. Robbins, 4; MLNS 130494—7). VENEZUELA: Sierra de Lema, Bolivar (S. L. Hilty, 1; K. J. Zimmer, 4). Automolus ochrolaemus.—BRAZIL: Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 6); Borba region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Labrea region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Manaus region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Maués, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1). COSTA RICA: Arenal (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Braulio Carrillo National Park (K. J. Zimmer, 9); Las Cruces OTS Station (K. J. Zimmer, 13); La Selva OTS Station (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Rio Sierpe (K. J. Zimmer, 2). ECUADOR: Tiputini Biodiversity Center, Napo (K. J. Zimmer, 3). PANAMA: Nusagandi (K. J. Zimmer, 7). PERU: Hacienda Amazonia, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Manu Wildlife Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Tambopata Research Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 2). VENEZUELA: Alechiven Camp, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Escalera Road, Bolivar (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Hato Las Nieves, Bolivar (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Junglaven Camp, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 3). Automolus infuscatus—BOLIVIA: Suarez, Pando (T. A. Parker, 1). BRAZIL: Labrea region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); left bank of rio Negro, north of Manaus, Amazonas (M. Cohn-Haft, 1; A. Whittaker, 1); Palmari Lodge, rio Javari, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Porongaba, Acre (A. Whittaker, 2); Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 3); Serra do Navio, Amapa (K. J. Zimmer, 1). ECUADOR: La Selva Lodge, Napo (R. A. Behrstock, 2; G. H. Rosenberg, 1); Santiago, Morona-Santiago (M. B. Robbins, 3; MLNS 49248, 49284, 77244); Tiputini Biodiversity Center, Napo (K. J. Zimmer, 15). GUYANA: Iwokrama Reserve (R. S. Ridgely, 1; M. B. Robbins, 1; MLNS 125886); Waruma River (M. B. Robbins, 3; MLNS 85740, 85755, 85760); Baramita (M. B. Robbins, 1; MLNS 125887). PERU: south bank of rio Napo, 80 km north of Iquitos, dpto. Loreto (T. A. Parker, 2; G. H. Rosenberg, 1); Quebrada Sucusari, dpto. Loreto (T. A. Parker, 6); Yanamono, dpto. Loreto (G. H. Rosenberg, 2); Cocha Cashu, Manu National Park, dpto. Madre de Dios (T. A. Parker, 1); Tambopata Reserve, dpto. Madre de Dios (M. L Isler, 1; L. Kibler, 3; M. Palmer, 2; T. A. Parker, 16; G. H. Rosenberg, 1; A. van den Berg, 4; K. J. Zimmer, 1) Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 204 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Automolus paraensis—BRAZIL: Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 20); Borba region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Caxiuana Forest Reserve, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 11); Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Serra dos Carajas, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 5). Automolus leucophthalmus.—BRAZIL: Augusto Ruschi Reserve, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Boa Nova, Bahia (A. Whittaker, 1); Caetés, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Crasto Reserve, Sergipe (K. J. Zimmer, 9); Fazenda Palmeiras, Bahia (K. J. Zimmer, 12); Iguacu National Park, Parana (K. J. Zimmer, 33); Itabeguara, Alagaos (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Linhares CVRD Reserve, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 3); Murici Reserve, Alagaos (K. J. Zimmer, 5; C. A. Marantz, 3); Porto Seguro, Bahia (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Santa Teresa, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Serra do Caraga Natural Reserve, Minas Gerais (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Sooretama Biological Reserve, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Ubatuba, Sao Paulo (K. J. Zimmer, 17); Una Ecological Park, Bahia (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Volta Velha Reserve, Santa Catarina (K. J. Zimmer, 2) Automolus melanopezus—ECUADOR: Tiputini Biodiversity Center, Napo (K. J. Zimmer, 3). PERU: Tambopata Research Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 4). Automolus rubiginosus—COSTA RICA: Las Cruces OTS Station (K. J. Zimmer, 4). ECUADOR: Tinalandia, Pichincha (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Tiputini Biodiversity Center, Napo (K. J. Zimmer, 2). VENEZUELA: Santa Elena, Bolivar (K. J. Zimmer, 1). Automolus rufipileatus—BRAZIL: Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 19); Boa Vista, Roraima (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Fazenda Rancho Grande, Rondonia (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Serra dos Carajas, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 6). PERU: Hacienda Amazonia, dpto. Cusco (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Manu Wildlife Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Tambopata Research Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 3). VENEZUELA: Rio Caura, Bolivar (K. J. Zimmer, 1). Philydor ruficaudatum.—BRAZIL: Serra dos Carajas, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 2). Philydor erythrocercum.—BRAZIL: Caxiuana Forest Reserve, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 3); Fazenda Rancho Grande, Rondonia (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Labrea region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Maués, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Rio Mapia, Borba region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Serra dos Carajas, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 3); Tupana Lodge, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1). ECUADOR: Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Napo (K. J. Zimmer, 1). Philydor erythropterum.—BRAZIL: Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Fazenda Rancho Grande, Rondonia (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Labrea region, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Rio Roosevelt, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Tupana Lodge, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1). ECUADOR: Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Napo (K. J. Zimmer, 4). PERU: Manu Wildlife Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 2). Philydor lichtensteint—BRAZIL: Iguacu National Park, Parana (K. J. Zimmer, 25); Volta Velha Reserve, Santa Catarina (K. J. Zimmer, 3). PARAGUAY: dptos. Caazapa and Concepcién (M. B. Robbins, 7; MLNS 120472-7). Philydor atricapillus—BRAZIL: Augusto Ruschi Reserve, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Fazenda Palmeiras, Bahia (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Garuva, Parana (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Iguacu National Park, Parana (K. J. Zimmer, 6); Perequé, Rio de Janeiro (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Ubatuba region, Sao Paulo (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Una Ecological Park, © Bahia (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Volta Velha Reserve, Santa Catarina (K. J. Zimmer, 3). PARAGUAY: dpto. Caazapa (M. B. Robbins; MLNS 120471). Philydor rufum.—BRAZIL: Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro (K. J. Zimmer, 14); Augusto Ruschi Reserve, | Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 1), Caetés, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 3). PERU: Manu Wildlife Center, dpto. iI Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Tambopata Research Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 1). VENEZUELA: Henri Pittier National Park (K. J. Zimmer, 1) Philydor pyrrhodes.—BRAZIL: Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 1). GUYANA: Acari Mts., Rupununi, Barima River (M. B. Robbins, 3; MLNS 120478-80). PERU: Tambopata Research Center, dpto. | Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 1). VENEZUELA: Yapacana National Park, Amazonas (K. J. Zimmer, 1). [ { 1) Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 205 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Anabazenops dorsalis BRAZIL: Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 20). PERU: Manu Wildlife Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Tambopata Research Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 6). Anabazenops fuscus—BRAZIL: Boa Nova, Bahia (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro (K. J. Zimmer, 32); Santa Teresa region, Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 5). Syndactyla subalaris—COSTA RICA: Cerro de la Muerte (K. J. Zimmer, 1); Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (K. J. Zimmer, 12); Tapanti Faunal Reserve (K. J. Zimmer, 1). ECUADOR: Morona-Santiago (M. B. Robbins, 2; MLNS 41285 and 41287). PANAMA: Chiriqui (M. B. Robbins, 2; MLNS 120481-2; K. J. Zimmer, 2). PERU: Abra Patricia, dpto. San Martin (K. J. Zimmer, 2). Syndactyla rufosuperciliata—BRAZIL: Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro (K. J. Zimmer, 17); Espirito Santo (K. J. Zimmer, 2); Sao Francisco de Paula region, Rio Grande do Sul (K. J. Zimmer, 13); Serra do Caraga, Minas Gerais (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Serra da Graciosa, Parana (K. J. Zimmer, 1). PARAGUAY: dpto. Caazapa (M. B. Robbins, MLNS 120483). PERU: Cosnipata Road, dpto. Cusco (K. J. Zimmer, 2). Syndactyla guttulata—VENEZUELA: Palmichal, Carabobo (P. Boesman, 1). Syndactyla ruficollis —ECUADOR: Loja (M. B. Robbins MLNS 57080). PERU: Abra Porculla, dpto. Piura (K. J. Zimmer, 6); Tumbes Reserved Zone, dpto. Tumbes (K. J. Zimmer, 1). Syndactyla dimidiata—BRAZIL: Brasilia National Park, Distritio Federal (K. J. Zimmer, 5); Emas National Park, Goias (K. J. Zimmer, 4); Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais (A. Whittaker, 1); Retiro das Pedras, Distrito Federal (K. J. Zimmer, 3). PARAGUAY: San Luis National Park (M. B. Robbins, 2; MLNS 120469-70). Syndactyla (=Simoxenops) ucayalae——BRAZIL: Alta Floresta region, Mato Grosso (K. J. Zimmer, 8); Serra dos Carajas, Para (K. J. Zimmer, 4). PERU: Tambopata Research Center, dpto. Madre de Dios (K. J. Zimmer, 2). APPENDIX 2 Syringes examined with country, sex, and institution catalogue numbers. Anabacerthia variegaticeps—PANAMA: male (KUNHM 86939) Automolus roraimae—GUY ANA: females (KUNHM 93465; KUNHM 93464; NMNH 626785) Automolus ochrolaamus.—GUY ANA: male (KUNHM 92922) Automolus infuscatus—GUYANA: male (KUNHM 92921) Automolus leucophthalmus—PARAGUAY: male (KUNHM 88042) _ Automolus rufipileatus —GUY ANA: male (KUNHM 89746) | Automolus rubiginosus.—ECUADOR: unsexed (KUNHM 65571); GUYANA: male (NMNH 621751) Berlepschia riker.— GUYANA: male (NMNH 621990) Hyloctistes subulatus—PERU: male (KUNHM 87368) _ Philydor erythrocercum.—GUY ANA: males (KUNHM 89748-49) ‘| ] Philydor lichtensteini —PARAGUAY: male (KUNHM 88359) _ Philydor atricapillus.—PARAGUAY: male (KUNHM 88043) | Philydor rufum.—P ARAGUAY: male (KUNHM 87925) - Philydor pyrrhodes—GUY ANA: male (KUNHM 94833) Syndactyla subalaris —PANAMA: male (KUNHM 86937). _ Syndactyla rufosuperciliata—P ARAGUAY: male (KUNHM 87921). ; Syndactyla dimidiata—PARAGUAY: female (KUNHM 88363); male (KUNHM 92935). | Thripadectes rufobrunneus—PANAMA: male (KUNHM 86942) } / ! } Kevin J. Zimmer et al. 206 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) APPENDIX 3 Syringeal characters from Automolus, Philydor, Syndactyla and related group species. 1-5 6-10 115 16-20 222. Anabacerthia variegaticeps 10100 12011 1210? 21120 00 Automolus roraimae 00111 1[12]201 O31 11111 00 Automolus ochrolaemus 00110 13202 01124 01120 01 Automolus infuscatus 00110 ANS 01123 2a 01 Automolus leucophthalmus 00111 13114 02124 ft 00 Automolus rufipileatus 00120 13112 £1123 01111 00 Automolus rubiginosus 00110 1002[01] 011[12][12] 11100 00 Berlepschia rikert 20001 10211 OD Mais 01133 00 Hyloctistes subulatus 00110 13114 01124 11120 00 Philydor erythrocercum 00101 12013 11122 01121 00 Philydor lichtensteint 00110 1211 22110 11110 01 Philydor atricapillus 00110 22203 00023 11120 00 Philydor rufum 00110 11011 00010 01121 00 Philydor pyrrhodes 01121 2 ZAN22 11110 00 Syndactyla subalaris 00110 11200 13121 2a 00 Syndactyla rufosuperciliata 00111 IAI Ih 03120 11110 00 Syndactyla dimidiata 00111 11[02]11 0311[01] 11100 00 Thripadectes rufobrunneus 00111 03013 01123 01122 00 Description of syringeal characters A and B elements: 1—Bronchial bifurcation beginning at element: (0) A-2, (1) A-3; 2—The composition of the elements is both osseous and cartilaginous from the element: (0) A-3, (1) A-2; 3—Ventral widening of the element A-3: (0) absent, (1) present; 4—Elements A-2 and A-3: (0) not fused, (1) dorsally fused, (2) dorsally and ventrally fused. Membranae tracheales: 5—Caudal extreme of the ventral Membrana trachealis at element: (0) A-4, (1) A-3; 6— Caudal extreme of the dorsal Membrana trachealis at element: (0) A-2, (1) A-3; 7—Cranial extreme of the ventral Membrana trachealis at element: (0) A-9, (1) A-10, (2) A-11, (3) A-12; 8—Membrana trachealis elements are: (0) cartilaginous, (1) both, cartilaginous and ossified, (2) ossified; 9—Membrana trachealis: (0) with narrow elements, (1) with very narrow elements, (2) almost without elements. Processi vocales: 10—Number of elements at the extension of Processi vocales: (0) 9, (1) 10, (2) 11, (3) 12, (4) 13; 11—Horns in Processi vocales: (0) absent, (1) present ventrally, short, (2) present ventrally, long; 12—Processi vocales: (0) narrow caudal extreme with narrowed cranial extreme, (1) broad caudal extreme with narrow cranial extreme, (2) broad cranial extreme and broader caudal extreme, (3) rounded; 13—Outline in lateral view of Processus vocalis: (0) it narrows abruptly, (1) it narrows smoothly. Drum: 14—Drum A elements: (0) not fused (=no drum), (1) partially fused, (2) totally fused; 15—Drum | cranial limit at element: (0) A11, (1) A12, (2) A13, (3) A14, (4) A15; 16—Elements which comprise the drum | are: (0) more narrow dorsally and ventrally, (1) with uniform width. | Muscles—Intrinsic muscles: 17—Intrinsic muscles: (0) absent, (1) present; 18—Cranial insertion of M. vocalis ventralis and dorsalis: (0) anterior to the drum, (1) in the drum; 19—Insertion of ventral intrinsic muscles at element: (0) A-3, (1) A-4, (2) A-5, (3) A-6; 20—Insertion of dorsal intrinsic muscles at element: (0) A-3, (1) A- | 4, (2) A-5, (3) A-6. Extrinsic muscles: 21—M. sternotrachealis cranial insertion: (0) at the cranial extreme of | Processi vocales, (1) at the cranial extreme of Processi vocales and the A elements cranial to Membranae tracheales; — 22—M. tracheolateralis caudal insertion: (0) cranial to the drum or the element immediately cranial to | Membranae tracheales, (1) in the drum or the element immediately cranial to Membranae tracheales. George Sangster 207 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) A revision of Vermivora (Parulidae), with the description of anew genus by George Sangster Received 5 August 2007 The genus Vermivora Swainson, 1827, currently comprises nine species (Curson ef al. 1994, AOU 1998, Dickinson 2003). The genus includes three rather colourful species found in eastern North America—V. pinus (Linnaeus, 1766), V. chrysoptera (Linnaeus, 1766) and V. bachmaniu (Audubon, 1833), of which the latter is possibly extinct—and six rather plain species whose ranges are concentrated on northern and western North America: V. peregri- na (A. Wilson, 1811), V. celata (Say, 1823), V. ruficapilla (A. Wilson, 1811), V. virginiae (S. F. Baird, 1860), V. crissalis (Salvin and Godman, 1889) and V. luciae (J. G. Cooper, 1861). Two further species, Parula gutturalis (Cabanis, 1860) of Costa Rica and western Panama, and P. superciliosa (Hartlaub, 1844) of Central America, are currently placed in Parula Bonaparte, 1838 (Curson et al. 1994, AOU 1998, Dickinson 2003) but have been included in Vermivora by some authors (e.g. Hellmayr 1935, Lowery & Monroe 1968, Webster 1997). Systematics Three independent molecular phylogenetic studies indicate that Vermivora, as present- ly constituted, is polyphyletic. Avise et al. (1980) used protein differentiation to construct a phylogeny of 28 species of parulids, including four species of Vermivora. They found sister- group relationships between V. pinus and V. chrysoptera and between V. celata and V. peregrina. However, these two pairs were not closely related. Klein et al. (2004) examined mitochondrial cytochrome-b sequence data (1,140 bp) of 50 parulids, including all extant species of Vermivora plus P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa. Their results corroborated and extended those of Avise et al. (1980): V. pinus and V. chrysoptera were found to be sister taxa, whilst the six ‘plain’ species of Vermivora formed a second, distantly related clade. Lovette & Hochachka (2006), who examined mitochondrial sequence data (4,116 bp) of 43 North American parulids, also found a sister-group relationship between V. pinus and V. chrysoptera and a distantly related clade of ‘plain’ species of Vermivora. Recent studies have also clarified the position of P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa. Klein et al. (2004) found that P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa are sister to the clade of plain species of Vermivora, and are not closely related to either P. americana or P. pitiayumi with which they are currently included in the genus Parula. Another molecular study based on mito- chondrial DNA sequences found that P. gutturalis clustered with V. ruficapilla, rather than with P. americana (Lovette & Bermingham 2002). The latter study included only three species of Vermivora and Parula but was based on long DNA sequences (3,638 bp). In a study of the skeletal characters of New World warblers, Webster (1997) concluded that P. gut- turalis and P. superciliosa belong in Vermivora rather than Parula based on their long retroarticular processes. Taxonomy The polyphyly of Vermivora and the position of P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa close to the ‘plain’ clade of Vermivora warblers warrant a revision of the generic limits of Vermivora. The evidence summarised above indicates that the eastern clade (V. pinus, V. chrysoptera) 208 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) George Sangster WM | Wty George Sangster 209 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) 2 SSS SSeS SSS SESS SS EEE A RS RU NR = | Eg é 24 a ES 4 ce) Figure 1. Sonograms of songs of Vermivora (A-F), Leiothlypis (G-M) and Oreothlypis (N-P) warblers. (A) Vermivora bachmanu, Virginia, USA, May, Arthur A. Allen (Borror & Gunn 1985); (B) V. bachmanti, South Carolina, USA, May, Stuart Keith (Borror & Gunn 1985); (C) V. chrysoptera type 1 song, Ohio, USA, May, Donald J. Borror (Borror & Gunn 1985); (D) V. chrysoptera type 2 song, New York, USA, May, Lang Elliott (Elliot 1997); (E) V. pinus type 1 song, Ohio, USA, May, Donald J. Borror (Borror & Gunn 1985); (F) V. pinus type 2 song, New York, USA, May, Lang Elliott (Elliot 1997); (G) Leiothlypis celata, Saskatchewan, Canada, June, John Neville (Neville 2005); (H) L. crissalis, Texas, USA, May, William W. H. Gunn (Borror & Gunn 1985); (I) L. ruficapilla ruficapilla, New York, USA, June, Lang Elliott (Elliot 1997); (J) L. ruficapilla ridgwayi, Washington, USA, May, Ken J. Hall and Peter R. B. Ward (Hall & Ward 1983); (K) L. luciae, Arizona, USA, June, Donald J. Borror (Borror & Gunn 1985); (L) L. virginiae, Colorado, USA, June, Donald J. Borror (Borror & Gunn 1985); (M) L. peregrina, Quebec, Canada, June, Lang Elliott (Elliot 1997); (N) Oreothlypis superciliosa sodalis, Sinaloa, Mexico, July, John W. Hardy (Hardy et al. 1994); (O) O. superciliosa mexicana, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, May, Ben B. Coffey (Hardy et al. 1994); (P) O. gutturalis, Cartago, Costa Rica, March, Kevin J. Zimmer (Hardy et al. 1994). X axis in seconds, Y axis in kHz. and the plain species forming the northern/ western clade should be placed in separate gen- era, and that P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa form a third group. The ‘plain’ species and P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa are sister groups and thus may be combined in a single genus or, alternatively, be recognised as two genera. All three groups strongly differ in plumage (e.g. Curson et al. 1994). V. pinus and V. chrysoptera have distinctive head and wing patterns that are not found in any of the species of the two other groups. The six ‘plain’ species lack distinctive features, although some have a yellow (V. crissalis) or rufous (V. luciae) rump, or a (concealed) rufous crown patch (V. cela- ta, V. ruficapilla, V. crissalis, V. luciae). P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa are colourful species. Adult male P. gutturalis has a black mantle and lores, and a bright orange throat and upper breast. Adult male P. superciliosa has an olive-green mantle, a broad white supercilium, a bright yellow throat and breast, with a distinctive chestnut mark across the breast. The three groups can also be distinguished by their songs. V. pinus and V. chrysoptera have two types of song (Gill & Lanyon 1964). Type 1 songs (Fig. 1c and le) seem to be used primarily in the early breeding season in male-female communication (Ficken & Ficken 1969, Gill & Murray 1972a). Type 1 songs are characterised by two (V. pinus) or more (V. chrysoptera) buzzes of short duration (<0.5 seconds) over a narrow-frequency band (<2 kHz). Type 2 songs (Fig. 1d and f) are more prevalent after incubation and function prima- rily in male—male interactions (Ficken & Ficken 1969, Gill & Murray 1972a). Type 2 songs of both species also include buzzes. The characteristics of the buzzes of type 1 and 2 songs were described in detail by Gill & Murray (1972b). Songs of P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa consist of a single buzzy trill (Fig. In—p), tiie differs from the buzzes of V. pinus and V. chrysoptera in having a broad-frequency band (>3 kHz) and a longer duration. The total duration of the songs of P. gutturalis and P. supercil- iosa, however, is shorter than that of V. pinus and V. chrysoptera. Songs of the six ‘plain’ species of the northern/ western clade differ strongly from those of the other two clades by their of lack rapid buzzes and their much slower tempo (Fig. lg—m). As a result, songs of the ‘plain’ species are much clearer and separate notes can be discerned by human listeners. In addition, song notes of the ‘plain’ species are more com- George Sangster 210 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) plex than those of the other two clades, and often have both upslurred and downslurred ele- ments. Furthermore, the duration of songs of the ‘plain’ species is more than 50% longer than that of P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa. The average song duration of all species in the ‘plain’ clade is 1.5 seconds or more (Stein 1968; pers. obs.), whereas 25 songs of P. gutturalis and 61 songs of P. superciliosa measured by the author were all less than 1.0 second (P. gut- turalis, average 0.9 seconds, n=3; P. superciliosa, average 0.6 seconds, n=7). In fact, the songs of the ‘plain’ species are as distinct from those of P. gutturalis/P. superciliosa as they are from V. pinus/V. chrysoptera. Thus, the three groups defined by molecular phylogeny are supported by differences in morphological and multiple acoustic characteristics. The dichotomy between the six ‘plain’ species and P. gutturalis/P. superciliosa is further underscored by a difference in migratory behaviour: all six ‘plain’ species are migrants, whereas both P. gutturalis and P. superciliosa are resident. On these grounds, I contend that the six ‘plain’ species and P. gut- turalis and P. superciliosa should not be included in a single genus, and that all three groups be recognised as separate genera. The position of Bachman’s Warbler V. bachmanii has not been analysed using phyloge- netic methods. However, from its plumage pattern, especially the presence of black on the throat and upper breast of the male, and its song, which consists of a series of short, narrow- frequency band buzzes (Fig. la—b) reminiscent of V. chrysoptera (Fig. 1c) and V. pinus (Fig. le), V. bachmani is probably more closely related to V. chrysoptera and V. pinus than to the other two clades. Nomenclatural consequences The type species of Vermivora Swainson is Certhia pinus Linnaeus, 1766 (currently Vermivora pinus; see Oberholser 1905). Consequently, the generic name Vermivora should be restricted to V. pinus and V. chrysoptera and, provisionally, V. bachmani. The names Helminthophaga Cabanis, 1851 (type: Motacilla chrysoptera Linnaeus, 1766, currently Vermivora chrysoptera) and Helminthophila Ridgway, 1882 (replacement name for Helminthophaga Cabanis, preoccupied) are synomyms of Vermivora (Oberholser 1905, Hellmayr 1935). The name Oreothlypis Ridgway, 1884 (type species Compsothlypis gutturalis Cabanis, | 1860), which currently rests in the synonymy of Parula or Vermivora (depending on the | generic placement of P. gutturalis), is available for P. gutturalis (Cabanis, 1860) and P. super- ciliosa (Hartlaub, 1844). The name Oreothlypis should be reinstated for O. gutturalis and O. | superciliosa. No generic name has been proposed for the clade formed by the six ‘plain’ species | (Ridgway 1902, Hellmayr 1935, Lowery & Monroe 1968). Therefore, I propose a new genus | taxon for this clade. Leiothlypis, gen. nov. Type species Sylvia peregrina Wilson, 1811 (currently Vermivora peregrina). Diagnosis.—Differs from Oreothlypis (O. gutturalis and O. superciliosa) in plain plumage | without black markings on the head, upperparts and underparts. Differs from Vermivora (V. pinus, V. chrysoptera, V. bachmanii) in the plain head and wing pattern. George Sangster Dal Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Taxonomic content.—The genus Leiothlypis includes six currently recognised species: L. peregrina (A. Wilson, 1811), L. celata (Say, 1823), L. ruficapilla (A. Wilson, 1811), L. virginiae (S. F. Baird, 1860), L. crissalis (Salvin and Godman, 1889) and L. luciae (J. G. Cooper, 1861). Etymology.—tThe name Leiothlypis is derived from the Greek Aeioc, meaning plain and the Greek OAumntc, the name of a kind of finch said to be found in the codices of Aristoteles (Stejneger 1884). The gender of the name Leiothlypis is feminine. Acknowledgements I thank Richard C. Banks, J. Martin Collinson, Frank B. Gill, Irby J. Lovette and David T. Parkin for reading the manuscript and John Burt for allowing me to use his sound analysis program Syrinx. Iam grateful to the referees, Terry Chesser and Steven Gregory, and Richard Schodde of the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature, for their constructive comments. References: American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edn. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington DC. Avise, J. C., Patton, J. C. & Aquadro, C. F. 1980. Evolutionary genetics of birds. Comparative molecular evo- lution in New World warblers (Parulidae) and rodents (Cricetidae). J. Heredity 71: 303-310. Borror, D. J. & Gunn, W. W. H. 1985. Warblers. Audiocassettes. Cornell Lab. of Orn., Ithaca, NY & Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Toronto. Curson, J., Quinn, D. & Beadle, D. 1994. New World warblers. Christopher Helm, London. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Elliott, L. 1997. Field guide to bird songs. Eastern region. CDs. Time Warner Audio Books, NY. Ficken, M. S. & Ficken, R. W. 1969. Responses of Blue-winged Warblers and Golden-winged Warblers to their own and the other species’ song. Wilson Bull. 81: 69-74. Gill, F. B. & Lanyon, W. E. 1964. Experiments on species discrimination in Blue-winged Warblers. Auk 81: 53-64. Gill, F. B. & Murray, B. G. 1972a. Discrimination behavior and hybridization of the Blue-winged and Golden- winged Warblers. Evolution 26: 282-293. Gill, F. B. & Murray, B. G. 1972b. Song variation in sympatric Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers. Auk 89: 625-643. Hall, K. J. & Ward, R. B. 1983. Nature sounds of the northwest, vol. 1. Audiocassette. Total Recording Co., Vancouver. Hardy, J. W., Coffey, B. B. & Reynard, G. B. 1994. Voices of Neotropical wood warblers. Audiocassette. ARA, Gainesville, FL. Hellmayr, C. E. 1935. Catalogue of birds of the Americas, part 8. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 13(8): 284-526. Klein, N. K., Burns, K. J., Hackett, S. J. & Griffiths, C. S. 2004. Molecular phylogenetic relationships among the wood warblers (Parulidae) and historical biogeography in the Caribbean basin. J. Carib. Orn. 17: 3-17. Lovette, I. J. & Bermingham, E. 2002. What is a wood-warbler? Molecular characterization of a monophylet- ic Parulidae. Auk 119: 695-714. Lovette, I. J. & Hochachka, W. M. 2006. Simultaneous effects of phylogenetic niche conservatism and compe- tition on avian community structure. Ecology 87: S14-S28. Lowery, G. H. & Monroe, B. L. 1968. Parulidae. Pp. 3-93 in Paynter, R. A. (ed.) Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 14. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, MA. Neville, J. 2005. Bird songs western boreal forest. CDs. Neville Recording, Saltspring Island, BC. Oberholser, H. C. 1905. Notes on the nomenclature of certain genera of birds. Smiths. Misc. Coll. 48: 59-68. Ridgway, R. 1902. The birds of North and Middle America, part 2. US Natl. Mus. Bull. 50: 1-834. Stein, R. C. 1968. Correlations among song pattern, morphology and distribution within the genus Vermivora (Parulidae). Vogelwelt Suppl. 1: 139-146. Stejneger, L. 1884. Analecta ornithologica. Auk 1: 166-173. Webster, J. D. 1997. Skeletal characteristics and the genera of warblers. Pp. 187-202 in Dickerman, R. W. (ed.) The era of Alan R. Phillips: a festschrift. Horizon Communications, Albuquerque, NM. Address: Stevenshof 17, 2312 GM Leiden, The Netherlands, g.sangster@planet.nl © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 George Sangster 242 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) A new genus for the waterthrushes (Parulidae) by George Sangster Received 12 October 2007 The genus Seiurus Swainson, 1827, currently comprises three universally recognised species (Lowery & Monroe 1968, AOU 1998, Dickinson 2003). Northern Waterthrush S. noveboracensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) and Louisiana Waterthrush S. motacilla (Vieillot, 1809) are very similar and can be difficult to separate in the field (Binford 1971, Wallace 1980), where- as Ovenbird S. aurocapilla (Linnaeus, 1766) is unmistakable due to its very distinct head pattern and coloration, and its olive upperparts (Cramp & Perrins 1994). Inclusion of the waterthrushes and Ovenbird in a single genus implies a close relationship, but whilst Ovenbird and the waterthrushes do share some morphological and ecological traits, they are distinct in several others (Baird et al. 1875, Ridgway 1902, Eaton 1957, Griscom & Sprunt 1957, Bent 1963). Recent molecular phylogenetic studies indicate that Seiurus does not rep- resent a monophyletic grouping and that generic separation is warranted. Systematics Barrowclough & Corbin (1978) described electrophoretically assayed protein variation — and differentiation in 15 species of Parulidae. They inferred phylogenetic relationships of nine species for which 30 or more loci could be examined (S. aurocapilla, S. noveboracensis, four species of Dendroica and three species of Vermivora). Their study indicated rather large | allele differences between S. aurocapilla and S. noveboracensis at c.5 of 30 loci. The two species were distinct from seven other parulids on an unrooted dendrogram. However, the small | number of ingroup species and the lack of any outgroup species precluded an assessment of whether they are sister taxa or not. Avise et al. (1980) also examined protein data but included more species in their phylo- | genetic analysis than Barrowclough & Corbin (1978). Their results indicated strong differentiation between S. aurocapilla and S. noveboracensis, which showed little overlap in — electromorph frequences at five of 26 loci. A UPGMA dendrogram of 28 species of Parulidae indicated that S. aurocapilla and S. noveboracensis are not closely related. Lovette & Bermingham (2002) used mitochondrial data to test monophyly of the Parulidae and included samples of S. noveboracensis and S. aurocapilla. Maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony trees of nucleotide-intensive (3,638 bp, 45 species including 35 | parulids) and taxon-intensive (1,935 bp, 82 taxa including 36 parulids) analyses indicated | that S. noveboracensis and S. aurocapilla are not closely related. Maximum likelihood analy- ses indicated that S. noveboracensis is sister to a clade of Catharopeza bishopi, Parula americana, | Setophaga ruticilla and the three Dendroica species included in the study. This relationship was strongly supported (0.91 posterior probability). S. aurocapilla was sister to all other | wood-warblers, including S. noveboracensis, except for a few aberrant species that formed | part of other clades (e.g. Cardinalini) and should be excluded from Parulidae (Lovette & | Bermingham 2002). Maximum parsimony trees were less resolved but supported the non- | sister group relationship of S. aurocapilla and S. noveboracensis. Hebert et al. (2004) analysed a 648-bp region of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome-c ; oxidase I (COI) for 260 species of North American birds, including 22 parulids. A neigh- bour-joining tree based on Kimura two-parameter distances indicated that S. aurocapilla and 5. noveboracensis are not closely related, and placed these taxa on separate branches. A draw- ack was that branch support was not presented and may be low. George Sangster AMIS) Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Klein e¢ al. (2004) studied mitochondrial cytochrome-b sequence data (1,140 bp) of 56 species, including S. aurocapilla and S. motacilla, and 48 other parulids. Their study includ- ed shorter sequences but more ingroup taxa than Lovette & Bermingham (2002). S. aurocapilla was found to be sister to a large clade which included all species of Parulidae except a few ‘oddball’ genera probably best assigned to other families (e.g. Icteria virens, Xenoligea montana, Microligea palustris, Teretistris fernandinae). The position of S. motacilla was unstable between parsimony analyses with different weighting schemes. Although strong support for its relationships to other species was not identified, S. motacilla was not closely related to S. auricapilla in any of the trees of this study. Most recently, Lovette & Hochachka (2006) presented a phylogeny of 43 North American Parulidae, including all three Seiurus species, based on Bayesian analysis of long mtDNA sequences (4,116 nucleotides). The waterthrushes were shown to be sister taxa. S. aurocapilla was found to be sister to all other ‘true’ Parulidae species examined (including S. noveboracensis and S. motacilla), supporting the polyphyly of Seiurus as currently constituted. Taxonomy and nomenclature Polyphyly of Seiurus is supported by five studies (Avise et al. 1980, Lovette & Bermingham 2002, Hebert et al. 2004, Klein et al. 2004, Lovette & Hochachka 2006). That by Barrowclough & Corbin (1978) did not include an outgroup, but their unrooted dendro- gram is consistent with the phylogenetic trees of Lovette & Bermingham (2002) and Klein et al. (2004), if the root is placed on the lineage leading to S. aurocapilla. Because polyphyly of Seiurus is documented by several studies with high support values in some, Ovenbird and the waterthrushes should be recognised as separate genera. The distant phylogenetic posi- tion of the Ovenbird and the waterthrushes indicates that similarities in morphology (marked underparts, lack of rictal bristles) and ecology (terrestrial lifestyle) probably reflect convergence rather than common ancestry (Klein et al. 2004). The name Seiurus was established by Swainson (1827a), who subsequently designated S. aurocapilla (Linnaeus, 1766) as its type species (Swainson 1827b). The evidence reviewed above implies that the generic name Seiurus should be restricted to Ovenbird; Seiurus thus becomes a monotypic genus. The synonymy of Seiurus includes five names (Ridgway 1902, Hellmayr 1935): Enicocichla G. R. Gray, 1840 (type species: Motacilla aureocapilla [Linnaeus, 1766], hence a jun- ior synonym of Seiurus); Siurus Strickland, 1841 (subsequent spelling of Seiurus); Senurus Reichenbach, 1849 (subsequent spelling of Seturus); Henicocichla Cabanis, 1851 (subsequent spelling of Enicocichla); and Exochocichla van der Hoeven, 1855 (new name for Seiurus). None of these, however, is applicable to the waterthrushes. Because no generic name is currently available for the Northern and Louisiana Waterthushes, this group may be known as: Parkesia, gen. nov. Type species _ Motacilla noveboracensis J. F. Gmelin, 1789 (currently Seiurus noveboracensis). _ Diagnosis.—The two species of Parkesia are large, terrestrial parulids with plain upperparts and streaked underparts. Parkesia most closely resembles Seiurus aurocapilla but differs in (1) absence of an orbital ring, (2) presence of white or yellowish superciliary, (3) presence of _ dusky pre- and postocular stripe, (4) crown uniformly olive or sooty-brown without (pale) : : | | | rufous central crown-stripe and dark lateral crown-stripes, and (5) upperparts dark olive- _ to grey-brown. George Sangster 214 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Some of the studies cited above suggest that Parkesia is closely related to Catharopeza bishopi, Setophaga ruticilla, Parula americana and Dendroica. Parkesia, however, clearly differs from all these; from Catharopeza bishopi mainly in (1) presence of a pale supercilium, (2) streaked underparts and (3) olive- to grey-brown crown and upperparts; and from all species of Dendroica and from Setophaga ruticilla, Parula americana and P. pitiayumi by a com- bination of (1) lack of pale wingbars, (2) presence of a white or yellowish superciliary and (3) plain upperparts. Taxonomic content.—Parkesia comprises two extant species: P. noveboracensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) and P. motacilla (Vieillot, 1809). Based on their extremely similar morphology, a close relationship has been accepted ever since the two were recognised as separate species. Their sister relationship is also supported by molecular evidence (Lovette & Hochachka 2006). Etymology.—lt is a great pleasure to name this taxon for the late Kenneth C. Parkes, former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, to honour his lasting contributions to avian taxonomy, moult terminology, hybridisation and faunistics. /,ttachment of his name to the waterthrushes is appropriate given his long interest in Parulidae (e.g. Parkes 1951, 1961, 1978, 1995, Keppler & Parkes 1972, Latta et al. 1998, Latta & Parkes 2001). The gender of the name Parkesia is feminine. Acknowledgements I thank the referees, Terry Chesser and Steven Gregory, and Richard Schodde of the Standing Committee on | Ornithological Nomenclature, for their helpful comments. References: American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edn. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington DC. Avise, J. C., Patton, J. C. & Aquadro, C. F. 1980. Evolutionary genetics of birds. Comparative molecular evo- | lution in New World warblers (Parulidae) and rodents (Cricetidae). J. Hered. 71: 303-310. Baird, S. F., Brewer, T. M. & Ridgway, R. 1875. A history of North American birds: land birds, vol. 1. Little, Brown. | & Co., Boston. | Barrowclough, G. F. & Corbin, K. W. 1978. Genetic variation and differentiation in the Parulidae. Auk 95: 691-702. Bent, A. C. 1963. Life histories of North American wood warblers. Dover Publications, New York. Binford, L. C. 1971. Identification of Northern and Louisiana Waterthrushes. Calif. Birds 2: 1-10. Curson, J., Quinn, D. & Beadle, D. 1994. New World warblers. Christopher Helm, London. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Chistopher | Helm, London. | Eaton, S. W. 1957. A life history study of Seiurus noveboracensis (with notes on Seiurus aurocapillus and the species of Seiurus compared). Sci. Stud., St Bonaventure Univ. 19: 7-36. | Gray, G. R. 1855. Catalogue of the genera and subgenera of birds contained in the British Museum. Brit. Mus., | London. | Griscom, L. & Sprunt, A. 1957. The warblers of North America. Devin-Adair Co., New York. | Hebert, P. D. N., Stoeckle, M. Y., Zemlak, T. S. & Francis, C. M. 2004. Identification of birds through DNA | barcodes. Public Library of Sere (Biol.) 2(10): 1657-1663. Hellmayr, C. E. 1935. Catalogue of birds of the Americas. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 13(8). Keppler, C. B. & Parkes, K. C. 1972. A new species of warbler (Parulidae) from Puerto Rico. Auk 89: 1-18. Klein, N. K., Burns, K. J., Hackett, S. J. & Griffiths, C. S. 2004. Molecular phylogenetic relationships among | the noo warblers (Parulidae) and historical biogeography in the Caribbean basin. J. Carib. Orn. 17; | 3-17. Latta, S. C. & Parkes, K. C. 2001. A possible Dendroica kirtlandii hybrid from Hispaniola. Wilson Bull. 113: 378-383) Latta, S. C., Parkes, K. C. & Wunderle, J. M. 1998. A new intrageneric Dendroica hybrid from Hispaniola. Auk 115: 533-537. Lovette, I. J. & Bermingham, E. 2002. What is a wood-warbler? Molecular characterization of a monophylet- ic Parulidae. Auk 119: 695-714. Lovette, I. J. & Hochachka, W. M. 2006. Simultaneous effects of phylogenetic niche conservatism and compe- tition on avian community structure. Ecology 87: $14-S28. George Sangster PANS Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Lowery, G. H. & Monroe, B. L. 1968. Parulidae. Pp. 3-93 in Paynter, R. A. (ed.) Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 14. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, MA. Parkes, K. C. 1951. The genetics of the Golden-winged x Blue-winged Warbler complex. Wilson Bull. 63: 5-15. Parkes, K. C. 1961. Taxonomic relationships among the American redstarts. Wilson Bull. 73: 374-379. Parkes, K. C. 1978. Still another parulid intergeneric hybrid (Mniotilta x Dendroica) and its taxonomic and evo- lutionary implications. Auk 95: 682-690. Parkes, K. C. 1995. Reinterpretation of the probable parentage of a hybrid wood-warbler (Seiurus x Dendroica). Auk 112: 510-511. Ridgway, R. 1902. The birds of North and Middle America, pt. 2. US Natl. Mus. Bull. 50: 1-834. Swainson, W. 1827a. A synopsis of the birds discovered in Mexico by W. Bullock, F. L. S., and H. S., Mr. William Bullock, jr. Philos. Mag., n. s. 1(5): 364-369, 433-442. Swainson, W. 1827b. On several groups and forms in ornithology, not hitherto defined. Zool. J. 3(15): 158-175, 343-363. Wallace, D. I. M. 1980. A review of waterthrush identification with particular reference to the 1968 British record. Pp. 199-204 in Sharrock, J. T. R. (ed.) Frontiers of bird identification. Macmillan, London. Address: Stevenshof 17, 2312 GM Leiden, The Netherlands, e-mail: g.sangster@planet.nl © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The range of Long-tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti extends to Minas Gerais (Brazil) by Guilherme Henrique Silva de Freitas, Lilian Mariana Costa, Jordana Demicheli Ferreira & Marcos Rodrigues Received 22 October 2007 Long-tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti is an ovenbird endemic to the highlands of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Sick 1973). Besides C. pabsti, 12 other species are currently recognised in Cinclodes, ten of them restricted to the Andes, ranging from Venezuela to Argentina (Tierra del Fuego) and some at very high elevations. The other two species are endemic to isolated highlands in southern Cordoba and San Luis, Argentina (Ridgely & Tudor 1989, Remsen 2003). The occurrence of Long-tailed Cinclodes in southern Brazil—disjunct from its congeners—evidences the biogeographical relationship between faunas of the Andes and the mountains of southern Brazil (Simpson-Vuilleumier 1971, Simpson 1979, Sick 1985, Safford 1999, Cheeser 2004), which is important for a better understanding of the geograph- ical history of South America. The presence of Long-tailed Cinclodes in Minas Gerais, c.1,000 km north of its north- ernmost known locality, is reported here. Serra do Cip6 (19°12’-19°34’S, 43°27’—43°38’W) is in central Minas Gerais, south-east Brazil, in the southern Espinhaco range. Altitudinal range is c.800-1,600 m (Melo-Junior et al. 2001). These mountains separate two important biomes: the Atlantic Forest to the east and the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) to the west (Giulietti et al. 1997). The highest parts of the Espinhaco comprise campos rupestres, grass- land with many endemic plant taxa growing on shallow-ground rocky outcrops, with scattered shrubs and small trees (Giulietti et al. 1997). The first record was on 29 December 2006, when a single was observed foraging near a _ small lodge in Serra do Cip6 National Park, Barraco de Tabua (19°21’S, 43°29’W; 1,496 m). ' In January 2007 one was photographed near a lodge locally known as Alto do Palacio, with- in the park boundaries (19°15’S, 43°31’W; 1,345 m). What was presumably the same bird remained there until 26 February 2007. The photograph was compared to specimens in the Guilherme Henrique Silva de Freitas et al. 216 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(3) Museu de Ciéncias Naturais do Jardim Botanico de Porto Alegre, confirming the identifica- tion. On 4 May 2007, two were observed singing near Barraco de Tabua and on 27 February 2008 one was collected in the same place. The specimen is an adult male, mass c.40 g and total length 22.5 cm, and is retained in the ornithological collection of the Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (DZUFMG 5763). It is remarkable that C. pabsti had gone unrecorded at Serra do Cip6, as the locality has been well surveyed by ornithologists for many years (Willis & Oniki 1991, Melo-Junior et al. 2001, Rodrigues et al. 2005). Our observations suggest that an overlooked population occurs in the highest parts of the Serra do Cip6, supporting the biogeographical relationship of the Espinhaco range with the Andes and the mountains of southern Brazil (Vielliard 1990, Silveira & Cure 1993, Stehmann & Semir 2001, Vasconcelos et al. 2006). Further surveys are needed to assess the status of the species in the area and to check for possible geographic and genetic variation in this isolated population. Acknowledgements Weare grateful to FAPEMIG, Fundagao O Boticario de Protegao a Natureza, and CNPq (473428/2004-0 and a research grant to MR) for financial support. G. A. Bencke permitted our visit to Museu de Ciéncias Naturais in Porto Alegre. M. F. Vasconcelos and A. Nemésio commented on drafts of the manuscript, and the first- named also prepared the specimen. We thank the Serra do Cip6 National Park administrators for enabling our research and IBAMA for a collecting permit (no. 12743-1). References: Chesser, R. T. 2004. Systematics, evolution, and biogeography of the South American ovenbird genus Cinclodes. Auk 121: 752-766. Giulietti, A. M., Pirani, J. R. & Harley, R. M. 1997. Espinhaco range region, eastern Brazil. Pp. 397—404 in Davis, S. D., Heywood, V. H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J. & Hamilton, A. C. (eds.) Centres of plant diversity: a guide and strategy for their conservation, vol. 3. Information Press, Oxford. Melo-Juinior, T. A., Vasconcelos, M. F., Fernandes, G. W. & Marini, M. A. 2001. Bird species distribution and | conservation in Serra do Cip6, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Bird Conserv. Intern. 11: 189-204. Remsen, J. V. 2003. Family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). Pp. 162-357 in Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) | Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1989. The birds of South America, vol. 1. Oxford Univ. Press. Rodrigues, M., Carrara, L. A., Faria, L. P. & Gomes, H. B. 2005. Aves do Parque Nacional da Serra do Cip6: | 0 Vale do Rio Cip6. Rev. Bras. Zool. 22: 326-338. Safford, H. D. 1999. Brazilian paramos II. Macro- and mesoclimate of the campos de altitude and affinities with | high mountain climates of the tropical Andes and Costa Rica. J. Biogeogr. 26: 713-737. Sick, H. 1973. Nova contribuicao ao conhecimento de Cinclodes pabsti Sick, 1969 (Furnariidae, Aves). Rev. Brasil. Biol. 33: 109-117. Sick, H. 1985. Observations on the Andean-Patagonian component of southeastern Brazil’s avifauna. Pp. 233-237 in Buckley, P. A., Foster, M. S., Morton, E. S., Ridgely, R. S. & Buckley, F. G. (eds.) Neotropical ornithology. Orn. Monogr. 36. Silveira, F. A. & Cure, J. R. 1993. High-altitude bee fauna of southeastern Brazil: implications for biogeo- | graphic patterns (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Stud. Neotrop. Fauna & Environ. 28: 47-55. Simpson, B. B. 1979. Quaternary biogeography of the high montane regions of South America. Pp. 157-188 in Duellman, W. E. (ed.) The South American herpetofauna: its origin, evolution, and dispersal. Univ. of | Kansas, Lawrence. Simpson-Vuilleumier, B. 1971. Pleistocene changes in the fauna and flora of South America. Science 173: | T7780: Stehmann, J. R. & Semir, J. 2001. Biologia reprodutiva de Calibrachoa elegans (Miers) Stehmann & Semi | (Solanaceae). Rev. Brasil. Bot. 24: 43-49. Vasconcelos, M. F., D’Angelo Neto, S., Kirwan, G. M., Bornschein, M. R., Diniz, M. G. & Silva, J. F. 2006. Important ornithological records from Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. CI. 126: 212-238. Vielliard, J. M. E. 1990. Estudo bioactistico das aves do Brasil: 0 género Scytalopus. Ararajuba 1: 5-18. | Willis, E. O. & Oniki, Y. 1991. Avifaunal transects across the open zones of northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. | Ararajuba 2: 41-58. | Address: Laborat6ério de Ornitologia, Departamento de Zoologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, 30123-970, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. E-mail: guilhermehsfreitas@gmail.com © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 BOC OFFICE P.O. Box 417, Peterborough PE7 3FX, UK E-mail: boc.office@bou.org.uk. Website: www.boc-online.org Tel. & Fax: +44 (0)1733 844820. MEMBERSHIP Subscriptions for 2008 were due for renewal from 1 January 2008. Please note that a single subscription rate of £20 applied from 1 January 2008 regardless of whether the member is a member of the BOU or not. The USS alternative is no longer available. 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PUBLICATION PROPOSALS Ideas for future publications and policy should be referred direct to the BOC: Prof. R. A. Cheke, Hon. Publications Officer BOC, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich at Medway, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB (e-mail: r.a.cheke@greenwich.ac.uk). PAYMENTS All amounts quoted are net, should be paid in £ Sterling and sent to the BOC Office (above). Other currencies are not accepted. Other currency users can pay by credit card from which the Sterling amount will be deducted and the amount in your local currency will be indicated on your card statement. All cheques or drafts should be made payable to British Ornithologists’ Club. Direct bank transfers can be made to Barclays Bank, Wavertree Boulevard, Liverpool L7 9PQ. Sort Code: 20-00-87. Account no. 10211540, with confirmation to the BOC Office (above). CLUB CORRESPONDENCE Correspondence on all general Club matters should be addressed to: The Hon. Secretary, S.A.H. (Tony) Statham, Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST, UK. E-mail: boc.sec@bou.org.uk. See inside front cover for details of Club meetings. COMMITTEE Cdr. M. B. Casement OBE RN (Chairman 2005) Dr J. H. Cooper (2005) Miss H. Baker (Vice-Chairman) (2005) P. J. Wilkinson (2005) _S. A. H. Statham (Hon. Secretary) (2004) D. J. Fisher (Hon. Website Manager) (2007) _D.J. Montier (Hon. Treasurer) (1997) Dr R. P. Prys-Jones (2007) M. J. Walton (2008) } Ex-officio members | Hon. Editor: G. M. Kirwan (1 January 2004) _ Chairman of BOU/BOC Joint Publications Committee (JPC): Revd. T. W. Gladwin | Administration Manager: S. P. Dudley (2005) BOC Publications Officer: Prof. R. A. Cheke (2001) | | Registered Charity No. 279583 | Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club ISSN 0007-1595 Edited by Guy M. Kirwan Volume 128, Number 3, pages 145-216 CONTENTS Club Annowncements: ... 06556. be bee ee a ee eee DONEGAN, T. M. Geographical variation in Slate-crowned Antpitta Grallaricula nana, with two new — subspecies, from Colombia and Venezuela ...0...... 00: 5--0)-e VASCONCELOS, M. A., D’ANGELO NETO, S. & FJELDSA, J. Redescription of Cipé Canastero Asthenes luizae, with notes on its systematic relattonships .....°.......9-..-5. 905 ee ZIMMER, K.J., ROBBINS, M. B. & KOPUCHIAN, C. Taxonomy, vocalisations, syringeal morphology and natural history of Automolus roraimae (Purmatiidae) ......--........)...2.3 SANGSTER, G. A revision of Vermivora (Parulidae), with the description of anew genus .......... SANGSIER, G: A new genus for the waterthrushes (Parulidae) ...2....5..-. 5 FREFFAS: G. H. S., COSTA, L. M., FERREIRA, J: D. & RODRIGUES, M. Ihe range of Lone tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti extends to Minas Getais (Brazil). --. 5. EDITORIAL BOARD Murray Bruce, R. T. Chesser, Edward C. Dickinson, Francoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Steven M. S. Gregory, José 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 and distribution of birds. Descriptions of new species of birds 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, preferably 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). As far as possible, review, return of manuscripts for revision and subsequent stages of the publica | process will be undertaken electronically. For instructions on style, see the inside rear cover of Bulletin 128 (1) or the BOC website Registered Charity No. 279583 © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 www.boc-online.org Printed on acid-free paper. Published by the British Ornithologists’ Club Typeset by Alcedo Publishing of Arizona, USA, and printed by Latimer Trend, UK 145 | 150 179 187 | 207 4 2129 215 British Ornithologists’ Club 4 oF ee $s Oe, ] | HISTORY MUSEUM | A 5 IAN 9nNG PRESENTED TRING Urmany Volume 128 No. 4 _ December 2008 MEETINGS are normally held in the Sherfield Building of Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7. The nearest Tube station is at South Kensington; a map of the area will be sent to members, on request. (Limited car parking facilities can be reserved [at a special reduced charge of £5.00], on prior application to the Hon. Secretary.) , The cash bar is open from 6.15 pm, and a buffet supper, of two courses followed by coffee, is served at 7.00 pm. (A vegetarian menu can be arranged if ordered at the time of booking.) Informal talks are given on completion, commencing at about 8.00 pm. Dinner charges are £22.50 per person. FORTHCOMING MEETINGS See also BOC website: http://www.boc-online.org Piease note: the provisional dates for meetings in 2009 advertised in Bulletin 128(3) have been amended and are now confirmed as follows: 3 February 10 March 29 April—AGM—note that this is a Wednesday 23 June 6 October 24 November The venue for all meetings in 2009 will be in the Ante-room on the ground floor of the Sherfield Building, Imperial College, South Kensington. 3 February—Douglas G. D. Russell (Curator, Bird Group, Natural History Museum)—The Worst Journey in the World: an ornithological tale of bravery and endurance. In the depths of the Antarctic midwinter of 1911 three men embarked on one of the most difficult and dangerous ornithological expeditions ever undertaken. Braving cold and misery that is difficult to imagine, they trod silently in darkness around Ross Island to retrieve three of the hardest won specimens in the Natural History Museum (NHM) bird collections. The tale of the five weeks they spent battling against the winter weather, sheer bad luck and their own fears, to bring back early embryos of the Emperor Penguin, required to test a then current theory in evolutionary biology, was superbly told by Apsley Cherry Garrard in his narrative of Scott’s last expedition. Drawing on unpublished information from the NHM archives and elsewhere, the talk will précis the story itself and place the tale in the context of Scott’s overall Antarctic research and the ornithology of the expedition as a whole. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 20 January 2009 10 March—Thomas Donegan (Fundacion ProAves)—Ornithological exploration in the Colombian Andes. Thomas and his colleagues have been undertaking field expeditions in Colombia’s Andes for over ten years. These have led to the description of three new species and four subspecies, two national parks and five nature reserves being established, and hosts of range extensions, rediscoveries and other findings. Colombia is one of the few countries in the world where ornithological exploration (as opposed to the study of previously known areas) is ongoing. The country’s long-running civil war makes for an interesting background to ornithological exploration, as remote regions are frequently controlled by armed non- government groups. The talk will focus on explorations of two previously unstudied and geographically isolated mountain ranges, the San Lucas and Yariguies mountains. There will be something here for everyone: joy, love, tears, toil and, of course, photographs of beautiful tropical birds. Applications to Hon. Secretary (address below) by 24 February 2009 Overseas Members visiting Britain are especially welcome at these meetings, and the Hon. Secretary would be very pleased to hear from anyone who can offer to talk to the Club giving as much advance notice as possible—please contact: S. A. H. (Tony) Statham, Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 . 2ST, UK. Tel. +44 (0)1442 876 995 (or e-mail: boc.sec@bou.org.uk). Contributors See the March issue of each volume for guidelines or the BOC website Bulletin pages, at www.boc- online.org/bulletin.htm DVO SST PVE ey Club Announcements 217 ABR TAN ONAN nBull. B. bie, 2008 128(4) Bulletin of the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Vol. 128 No. 4 Published 5 December 2008 ee ce po SENT! ‘DE | CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS The Committee welcomes the following new members who recently joined the Club and have not been previously notified: Dr J. Bates (USA), Mr W. Bryne (Republic of Ireland), Mr S. Gillies (Scotland), Ms Yang Liu (Switzerland), Mr W. L. McCleland (South Africa), Mr A. Pittie (India), Dr John S. Pringle (UK) and Mr Carlos A. Santos (Brazil). Members are reminded that subscriptions for 2009 are due on 1 January and are kindly asked to check that any standing orders with their banks are recorded at the correct amount (£20 per annum). Regrettably several members are still paying incorrect subscription rates, causing the Club unnecessary time and expense in administration duties. The 951st meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 8 July 2008, in the Rector’s Residence at 170 Queens Gate, Imperial College, London. Twenty members and eight et were present. Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), Miss H. BAKER, Mrs D. M. BRADLEY, D. R. CALDER, Dr J. COOPER, J. B. FISHER, F. M. GAUNTLETT, Revd. T. W. GLADWIN, D. GRIFFIN, K. HERON JONES, R. H. KETTLE, D. J. MONTIER, P. J. OLIVER, R. C. PRICE, Dr R. P. PRYS- JONES, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R. STOREY, M. J. WALTON and P. J. WILKINSON. Guests attending were: D. BRADLEY, M. BRADLEY, Mrs J. CALDER, Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J. M. GLADWIN, Mrs J. HERON JONES and Mrs M. MONTIER. After dinner, Dr Jo Cooper gave a talk about Charles Darwin entitled Fancy that: pigeons, finches, chickens and the Origin of Species. On the evening of 1 July 1858, at the Linnaean Society in London, the scientific world was changed forever by the reading of two papers on natural selection by Charles Robert Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace. Taking place exactly a week after the 150th anniversary of the great event, this occasion presented the ideal opportunity to celebrate Darwin and the ornithological research that played a crucial role in the formation of his theory. Popular myth still frequently credits the Galapagos finches, with their diversity of beak shapes and sizes, as Darwin's ‘Eureka!’ inspiration during the voyage of the Beagle (1831-36). While it is true that Darwin did gain an inspirational insight from the birds of the Galapagos, it was the archipelago’s mockingbirds that provided this. Although this key point has been widely noted in ornithological and scientific literature, it is only just beginning to sink into popular culture. Darwin’s critical observation was that on each of the islands he visited there was only one kind of resident mockingbird, and that each one was different from the others. The second specimen Darwin collected, of the bird now known as the Floreana Mockingbird Nesomimus trifasciatus, can be regarded as the vital one. By its larger size and diagnostic dark breast-band, it was so markedly different to the San Cristobal Mockingbird N. melanotis he had already obtained that Darwin realised it was almost certainly a separate species. It impressed him sufficiently to ensure that he recorded individual island localities for each of his mockingbird specimens; something he famously did not do with the finches. His hunch about the mockingbirds was later confirmed by John Gould, who also recognised that the finches were a single related group of birds. Following a conversation with Gould about the mockingbirds and the finches in 1837, Darwin opened his first notebook on species transmutation. However, more than 20 years would elapse before the Origin of species finally reached publication. The birds of the Galapagos had shown Darwin that species might change, but did not provide him with sufficient evidence to explain how this might occur. So, in 1855, Darwin took up keeping fancy pigeons, with a view to exploring natural selection through artificial selection. In addition to the collection he established in aviaries at his home at Down House, Kent, he also solicited specimens of pigeons and other domestic birds, particularly ducks and chickens, from correspondents around the world. Darwin meticulously studied his collection of pigeons, both living and dead, enthusing about them to various correspondents. However, his dedication to pigeons seems to have exasperated some of his friends, notably Charles Lyell, who seemed more alert to the danger posed to Darwin’s priority on natural selection by delaying publication to gather yet more data. Eventually, the shocking arrival, in 1858, of Wallace’s Ternate Paper forced Darwin into publication. Club Announcements 218 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) In November 1859, On the origin of species by means of natural selection finally appeared. Given the fame of the finches, it can come as a surprise to discover that the first creatures to be discussed in any detail are fancy pigeons; the birds of the Galapagos get only a passing mention. But Darwin was still not finished with pigeons and continued to work on them for almost another decade. In 1868, his exhaustive work The variation of animals and plants under domestication appeared. He had already begun to present his cherished pigeons to the British Museum in 1867, completing the transfer in 1868 and thereby marking the conclusion of his research. The entire collection comprises some 120 pigeon skins and skeletons, and nearly 50 chicken and duck skeletons, many of them still retaining Darwin’s own labels and annotations. From the birds of the voyage of the Beagle to fancy pigeons and chickens, the importance of ornithology in Darwin’s work is clearly evident. Yet it is also clear that Darwin has been important to ornithology, enabling the study of birds to claim a pivotal role in the history of science. As the anonymous author of Darwin’s obituary put it: “We venture to believe that we shall be only echoing the voice of all our readers when we assert that there is not one of them but has felt the dignity of the study which he pursues was raised every time that Mr Darwin drew from it evidence in support of that theory with which his name will be in all time associated’ (Ibis, 1882: 479-484). REFEREES Iam grateful to the following, who have reviewed manuscripts submitted to the Bulletin during the last year (those who refereed more than one manuscript are denoted by an asterisk in parentheses): Norbert Bahr, Richard Banks, Bruce Beehler, Walter J. Bock, Hugh Boyd, Vincent Bretagnolle, Michael Brooke (*), Daniel Cadena, Caio Carlos, Terry Chesser, Nigel Cleere, Jo Cooper, John Cooper, Pierre-André Crochet, Andrés Cuervo, Edward C. Dickinson (*), Thomas Donegan (*), Bob Dowsett (*), Francoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Guy Dutson, Jon Fjeldsa, Mike Fraser, Anthony J. Gaston, Jacob Gonzalez-Solis, Steven Gregory (*), Steve N. G. Howell, Julian Hume, Mike Imber, Johan Ingels, Morton & Phyllis Isler, David James, Frederic Jiguet, H. Lee Jones, Niels Krabbe, Wayne Longmore, Storrs Olson (*), Fernando Pacheco (*), Alan Peterson (*), Robert Pitman, H. Douglas Pratt, Robert Prfs-Jones, Marcos Raposo (*), Pamela C. Rasmussen, Van Remsen (*), Robin Restall, Mark Robbins, Kees Roselaar (*), Roger Safford, Richard Sale, Richard Schodde (*), Thomas S. Schulenberg, Frank Steinheimer (*), F. Gary Stiles, Marcelo Vasconcelos, Dick Watling, David Wells, Andrew Whittaker, Kevin J. Zimmer and Francis Zino.—THE EDITOR NAT al, Vural. n10 MDW MMM ANAA man(4) Dinner Meetings — February & March 2009 BOOKING FORM Because arrangements for meetings have to be made with Imperial College well in advance, Members are asked to send bookings 14 days beforehand. If you book and subsequently find you are unable to attend, please notify the Hon. ‘Secretary as soon as possible. If the booking is cancelled less than 5 days before a meeting, the payment will not normally be refunded, unless the booking can be offered to another member. (Late applications can usually be taken up to am. on the Friday preceding a meeting). Vegetarian meals can be provided - please make your request at the time of booking. Limited car parking (at a special charge of £5.00 - this is no longer free), can be arranged on prior application to the Hon. Secretary, giving details of car registration. Have you recently looked at our website - http://www.boc-online.org? Tuesday 10 March — Thomas M. Donegan - Fundacion ProAves - “Ornithological exploration in the Colombian Andes" . I wish to attend with ............. DUESISS INaIMIe(S) Of MAyGUESUS): 5 ac6.-cce-icsccesctereedec: casdvaanénnae BE LS OT ee ae ccg eae ease nannadeeeesnconscoonds (£22.50 per head) is enclosed. ©» TEP. cobige setiouen so SoCo ee ene Melee ae ag oe ‘> Please retum (or e-mail) to: The Hon. Secretary BOC, (Tony Statham), Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road , Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST. Tel: 01442-876995 by Tuesday 24th February a ee een rena oer eRe aN ee SeN ene EnNe ean Soannetannme Tuesday 3™' February — Douglas Russell, Curator, Bird Group, Natural History Museum— “The Worst Journey in the World: an Ornithological Tale of Bravery and Endurance’”’ I wish to attend with ............. PuEsiss | Naimie(S) Ok mA PUeESt(S) caer sewers eee teense eee BN Pe OT ocd coke cae p cp ayseae so0leonenaaces (£22.50 per head) is enclosed. Name ee Heigccsachadcivsnesieepdatsvonosctoavenoutcass eb -23 cb eee ™® Please return (or e-mail) to: The Hon. Secretary BOC, (Tony Statham), Ashlyns Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2ST. Tel: 01442-876995 by Tuesday 20" January published intormation. Niels Krabbe PANY) Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Vocal evidence for restitution of species rank to a Santa Marta endemic: Automolus rufipectus Bangs (Furnariidae), with comments on its generic affinities by Niels Krabbe Received 27 November 2007 Some passerines in the family Tyrannidae possess entirely innate songs (Stein 1963, Lanyon 1978, Kroodsma 1984, 1989, Kroodsma & Konishi 1991), with no local dialects. A similar lack of dialects in several other families strongly suggests that song is innate in near- ly all suboscines, which has led to a recent re-evaluation of the taxonomic ranks of many forms (see, e.g., Remsen 2005). Several of these are members of the Furnariidae (Vaurie & Schwartz 1972, Whitney & Pacheco 1994, Kratter & Parker 1997, Zimmer 1997, 2002, Robbins & Zimmer 2005, Zimmer et al. 2008), which includes a large number of taxa that occur in dense and dark habitats, where vocalisations, rather than visual signals, probably play a major role in species recognition. The furnariid taxa Furnarius cinnamomeus, F. lon- girostris, Synallaxis maranonica and Hyloctistes virgatus are afforded species rank on the basis of vocal characters by some authors, whereas others (e.g. Remsen et al. 2007) await the pub- lication of vocal studies before accepting taxonomic changes. During field work to document the voices of birds in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, northern Colombia, in February 2007, I ascertained that the songs of several endemic taxa presently treated as subspecies are quite distinct from purported conspecifics. The present paper addresses Automolus rubiginosus rufipectus, described as a full species, Ruddy Foliage- gleaner A. rufipectus, by Bangs (1898), which differs so much from its alleged conspecifics that even its generic placement may demand re-evaluation. A. rufipectus was ranked as a subspecies of A. rubiginosus by Hellmayr (in Cory & Hellmayr 1925), a treatment that has been widely followed until the present. Methods I tape-recorded songs of four individuals of rufipectus at 1,200-1,800 m in the recently established ProAves Colombia reserve ‘El Dorado’ on the San Lorenzo ridge in the north- western part of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, dpto. Magdalena, Colombia (11°06—-08'N, 74°03-06’W). Birds were first taped under natural conditions and then attracted using play- back for identification. Three of the four recorded birds were seen, and one was photographed (Fig. 1) near its nest. Eight months later, an individual was collected near this nest (C. D. Cadena, specimen in Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, catalogue number ANDES-O-0433). Recordings were made using a Sennheisser ME67 microphone and a Sony TCM5000 tape recorder with Type I cassettes. Two additional recordings of rufipectus were consulted (Boesman 1999, Strewe et al. 2003). Sonograms were compared among rufipectus and all other species or vocally distinct subspecies or subspecies-groups of Automolus, Hylocryptus, Anabazenops and Syndactyla, the latter three genera all encompassing species formerly included in Automolus. Sonograms were generated using the sound-editing program CoolEdit Pro (Syntrillium Software), which was also used for vocalisation analysis. Observations on habitat and behaviour were noted in the field and are compared with published information. Niels Krabbe 220 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Results Vocalisations.—A total of 196 song phrases (from 5-6 different individuals) of rufipectus were analysed. Songs consisted of resonant notes (3-4 harmonics), given in a series of 4—6 simi- lar notes, loudest at 1,800-3,000 Hz (second or third harmonic). Individual notes were up-—downstrokes, the downstroke slightly more pronounced, and the peak volume at high- est pitch. The loudest pitch was the second harmonic (1,800-2,000 Hz) in two or three individuals, the third harmonic (2,400-3,000 Hz) in two individuals, and second and third equally loud in one individual. The song was usually given in sets of two (less commonly one, rarely three) phrases, with a brief pause of 0.3-0.5 seconds between the two phrases. The first of the two phrases frequently had an extra, often slightly weaker and lower pitched introductory note, and was thus longer (0.42 + 0.04 seconds) than the second (0.36 + 0.03 seconds). The double phrases were delivered fairly regularly with pauses between them 2-4 seconds long. All the individuals of rufipectus compared had similar songs, differing in virtually all aspects from songs of other forms of Automolus rubiginosus (Figs. 2a—-i, 3a—b), the only simi- larities being the length of the song phrases and the tendency of rufipectus to deliver two song phrases in succession, a tendency also noticed in some individuals of other forms of A. rubiginosus from both Central America (rubiginosus, veraepacis, saturatus) and the Amazon (unnamed taxon). The song of rufipectus was more similar, indeed remarkably so, to the song of Hylocryptus erythrocephalus (Fig. 3b-c). Calls of rufipectus recorded were churrs, two- to three-noted whilst foraging (Fig. 4d) and three- to four-noted when given in alarm (Fig. 4e), at 0.8-2.0 kHz (first and second, or second and third harmonic), lower pitched than song and differing distinctly from calls of both A. rubiginosus (Fig. 4a—b) and Hylocryptus erythrocephalus (Fig. 4c), which in turn have fairly similar calls except for the latter being lower pitched. No call resembling the high- pitched (4 kHz) call (not shown) purportedly given by H. erythrocephalus (Coopmans et al. 2004, cut 5; misidentified?) was ever heard from rufipectus. Figure 1. Automolus rufipectus, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, February 2007 (Joe Tobias) Niels Krabbe 221 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Songs of eight of the other 13 currently recognised subspecies of A. rubiginosus (Remsen 2003), as well as of an unnamed taxon from the Amazonian lowlands, were compared (Fig. 2a-i). They all consist of a single, 0.3-0.6 seconds-long, distinctly rising note, sometimes (with intra-individual variation) possessing a short introductory note. As in other species of Automolus, the notes are highly resonant (with 3-4 audible harmonics), and as in rufipectus the pitch is variable. The single recording of the unnamed taxon from the Amazonian low- lands (all other forms being lower montane) is decidedly higher pitched (Fig. 2i), thus suggesting an isolated position of this form. The five forms for which no recordings were avilable at the time of the study were guerrensis, fumosus, cinnamomeigula, venezuelanus and caquetae. Songs of the former four are described as being similar to songs of adjacent forms (Howell & Webb 1995, Stiles & Skutch 1989, Hilty 2003; A. M. Cuervo pers. comm.). Only caquetae appears to be vocally unknown, but its poor morphological differentiation from, and seemingly continuous distribution with brunnescens suggest that it may be also similar. Natural history.—On three occasions rufipectus was observed foraging. It remained within 0.5 m of the ground, and spent most of its foraging time on the ground, rummaging among large dead leaves as does Hylocryptus erythrocephalus (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001, Remsen 2003; pers. obs.), only once pecking briefly at a decaying trunk as does Automolus rubiginosus regularly (Remsen 2003; J. A. Tobias pers. comm.). This concurs with Todd & Carriker (1922), who wrote that it ‘does little climbing, but keeps hopping about on or near the ground’. A vertical bank with several entry holes 1-2 m above was found. The bird would always leave from the same hole when disturbed, but when entering, it would usually briefly enter one of the other holes before moving to the final one. Habitat.—A. rufipectus was found in forest and second-growth habitats, which were transitional between the dry Acacia scrub at sea level and the humid forest above 2,100 m, but more similar to the latter. The undergrowth was dense, and the litter included many large leaves. In February, a dry month with occasional rain, the habitat at 1,200—1,800 m was reminiscent of dry-forest haunts of Hylocryptus erythrocephalus in south-west Ecuador and north-west Peru. On two occasions I found rufipectus in heavily disturbed areas. Todd & Carriker (1922) noted: ‘It is partial to the heavy forest or thick second growth, and is fond of dark tangles and ravines’. I did not find it or its habitat above 1,800 m on the San Lorenzo ridge 70 km east-north-east of Pueblo Viejo (the type locality). This is evidently in agreement with Carriker’s experience; although the type of rufipectus was originally said to have been taken at c.8,000 feet [2,438 m] (Bangs 1898), Todd & Carriker (1922) gave the species’ altitudinal range as 3,000-6,000 feet [914-1,829 m], and added the note ’7500 feet, according to Mr Brown’ [the collector of the type]. The nest I found on the San Lorenzo ridge was at c.1,750 m. Distribution, population and conservation.—All records are from the north-western and northern slopes of the Santa Marta Mountains. Collecting sites are from around the San Lorenzo ridge (Cincinnati; Las Vegas; Agua Dulce) and in the upper rio Ancha drainage (La Concepcién; San Antonio; Pueblo Viejo; Chirua; Heights of Chirua) in dptos. Magdalena and Guajira (Todd & Carriker 1922). These and some additional, more recent sight or vocal records were mapped by R. Strewe, G. Lobaton & S. Sanchez, of Fundacion ProSierra Nevada, in 2004 (see http://www.alpec.org/Atlas/Tama%FloFinal/Automolus rubiginosus.jpg). However, the southern slopes of the mountains (large parts of which have been converted for coffee farming) have been subject to very little ornithological investigation to date. I found the species widespread but uncommon on the San Lorenzo Niels Krabbe 222 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) FREQUENCY (kHz) TIME (sec.) Figure 2. Songs of 12 taxa of foliage-gleaners. A-J ten different subspecies of Automolus rubiginosus: A: rubiginosus (Oaxaca, Mexico; P. Boesman). B: veraepacis (Chiapas, Mexico; P. Boesman). C: saturatus (Darien, Panama; L. R. Macaulay). D: nigricauda (Pichincha, Ecuador; N. Athanas). E: sasaimae (Boyaca, Colombia; O. Laverde). F: obscurus (Surinam; O. Ottema). G: brunnescens (Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador; N. Krabbe). H: waikinsi (Pando, Bolivia; T. S. Schulenberg). I: possibly the unnamed taxon referred to by Remsen (2003) (Amazonas, Brazil; C. A. Marantz). J: rufipectus (Magdalena, Colombia; N. Krabbe). K: Hylocryptus erythrocephalus (Loja, Ecuador; N. Krabbe). L: Hylocryptus rectirostris (Minais Gerais, Brazil; H. G. Remold). FREQUENCY (kHz) 2 3 TIME (sec.) Figure 3. Songs of three foliage-gleaners. A: Automolus rubiginosus brunnescens. B: A. r. rufipectus. C: Hylocryptus erythrocephalus. Same as Fig. 2G, J and K, but with a different time scale. FREQUENCY (kHz) 0 1 2 2.5 TIME (sec.) Figure 4. Calls of four taxa of foliage-gleaners. A: Automolus rubiginosus brunnescens (Napo, Ecuador; N. Krabbe). B: A. r. nigricauda (Esmeraldas, Ecuador; O. Jahn). C: Hylocryptus erythrocephalus (Piura, Peru; H. van Oosten). D-E: Automolus rubiginosus rufipectus (Magdalena, Colombia; N. Krabbe), D foraging calls, E alarm- calls. Note time scale. ridge, apparently occurring wherever there was available habitat. The two closest territories found were c.200 m apart. Todd & Carriker (1922) noted ‘It was perhaps most numerous at Pueblo Viejo in the thick scrub, but cannot be considered a common bird anywhere’. Large i | Niels Krabbe 228 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) areas around Pueblo Viejo have been denuded by burning, but considerable expanses of forest and scrub occur between Pueblo Viejo and the San Lorenzo ridge. In view of the species’ tolerance of disturbed habitats, there seems to be no grounds for considering it immediately threatened. It is probably best given the IUCN status of Near Threatened, approaching the status of Vulnerable (criteria B1(b), B2(b) and C1). To my knowledge, only a small part of its range is effectively protected (the ‘El Dorado’ reserve on the San Lorenzo ridge). The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park only includes higher elevations in this part of the mountains, and nearby Tayrona National Park only elevations below the range of rufipectus. Discussion A detailed study and analysis may reveal the small differences between songs of some of the other subspecies of Automolus rubiginosus to be constant and perhaps sufficiently dif- ferent for species recognition (see Remsen 2003), were they ever to come into contact. However, their close similarity to each other suggests that they likely form a monophyletic unit. In contrast, lesser vocal differences between A. rufipectus and H. erythrocephalus sug- gest that A. rufipectus may not be a close relative of its proposed congeners and conspecifics. The habitat of rufipectus is distinctly drier than those of other forms referred to A. rubigi- nosus. However, in absence of a study of molecular or other characters, convergent evolution cannot be ruled out. Independent of whether rufipectus is a close or distant relative of other taxa currently placed in A. rubiginosus, the dramatic vocal differences demonstrate that rufipectus merits species recognition. The two sympatric species A. infuscatus and rufipileatus differ in fewer vocal variables (Fig. 5a—c), indicating that even small vocal differences may be sufficient for species recognition in foliage-gleaners. I therefore recommend that species rank be restitut- ed for rufipectus. Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner (rather than Rufous-chested Automolus as employed by Cory & Hellmayr 1925) might be an appropriate vernacular name. Vocalisations of the other six species referred to Automolus (Figs. 5a—g, 6a—c, 7a) are highly diverse and do not, in general, offer clues as to relationships among species. Only songs of infuscatus and rufipileatus (Fig. 5a—c) bear sufficient resemblance to each other that they could be confused by experienced field ornithologists. Inter-relationships among the ten presently recognised genera of foliage-gleaners and allies are unclear, and several genera are so poorly defined that the the only solution to avoid problems in defining them morphologically would be to merge them all (Remsen 2003). In relation to other furnariids, the multiple-gene molecular studies by Irestedt et al. (2006; unpubl. data) provide strong evidence that foliage-gleaners and allies (including Megaxenops and Heliobletus) form a monophyletic unit; within the foliage-gleaner assembly these authors found two clades, one comprising Automolus/Hyloctistes, Hylocryptus/Clibanornis and Thripadectes, and the other consisting of Philydor, Syndactyla, Anabacerthia, Heliobletus and Megaxenops. Genus Hylocryptus was erected for erythrocephalus when that species was described by Chapman (1919), mainly on the basis of its long, straight bill. Hellmayr (in Cory & Hellmayr 1925) left rectirostris in Automolus, but noted that its juvenile plumage and certain structur- al characters suggest affinities with erythrocephalus. Despite the widely disjunct distributions of the two species, Zimmer (1936) had ‘no hesitation’ in assigning rectirostris to Hylocryptus, partly because of its similar general colour pattern to erythrocephalus, but pri- marily because its bill, though shorter, approaches that of erythrocephalus in length and shape. Zimmer’s treatment has been followed by all subsequent authors. Songs of the two Niels Krabbe 224 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) FRECUENCY (kHz) 5 10 13 TIME (sec.) 3 Figure 5. Songs of different Automolus foliage-gleaners. A: A. rufipileatus consobrinus (Sucumbios, Ecuador; J. V. Moore). B: A. infuscatus badius (Amazonas, Venezuela; C. Parrish). C: A. 1. turdinus (Orellana, Ecuador; R. S. Ridgely). D: A. paraensis (Mato Grosso, Brazil; C. A. Marantz). E: A. leucophthalmus lammi (Alagoas, Brazil; C. A. Marantz). F: A. 1. sulphurascens (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; L. P. Gonzaga). G: A. melanopezus (Orellana, Ecuador; R. S. Ridgely). FREGUENCY (kHz) TIME (sec.) Figure 6. Songs of different Automolus and Anabazenops foliage-gleaners. A: Automolus ochrolaemus cervinigularis (Veracruz, Mexico; L. Irby Davis). B: Automolus 0. exsertus (Costa Rica; L. Irby Davis). C: Automolus o. turdinus (Sucumbios, Ecuador; P. Coopmans). D: Anabazenops fuscus (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; T. A. Parker). E: Anabazenops dorsalis (Mato Grosso, Brazil; M. D. Medler). Se FREQUENCY (kHz) So ee sg Saar i arp i (AR rik pectin TIME (sec.) Figure 7. Songs of different Automolus and Syndactyla foliage-gleaners. A: A. r. roraimae (Bolivar, Venezuela; M. Van Beirs) (species removed to Syndactyla by Zimmer et al. 2008). B: S. ruficollis (Loja, Ecuador; N. Krabbe). C: S. subalaris mentalis (Napo, Ecuador; M. Lysinger). D: S. g. guttulatus (Aragua, Venezuela; C. A. Marantz). E: S. rufosuperciliata cabanisi (Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador; N. Krabbe). For sonograms of S. dimidiata see Robbins & Zimmer (2005). Note frequency scale. Niels Krabbe 225 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) species have rather different patterns, but show some similarity in pitch and quality (Fig. 2k-l). The resemblance of the song of rufipectus to that of the much longer and straighter billed Hylocryptus erythrocephalus (Figs. 2j-k, 3b-c) might be coincidental, as perhaps also suggested by their different calls (Fig. 4c-e), but is so striking, that the possibility that they are sister taxa demands consideration. Were such a relationship confirmed, it would add to the already interesting evolutionary and biogeographic history of the genus Hylocryptus (which would comprise three relictual species with disjunct distributions in widely separat- ed dry-forest areas of the Neotropics). It would also show that songs of foliage-gleaners, even in relatively small populations, may remain unchanged for extended periods of time, and would call for additional caution when using bill shape as a taxonomic character in this group. A similar case of vocal resemblance in song between forms whose morphologies do not suggest that they are closely related has been reported between the fairly straight- mandibled (and rather uniform) Automolus roraimae (Fig. 7a) and the distinctly recurve-mandibled (and more or less streaked) members of the genus Syndactyla (Fig. 7b-e) (see also Hilty 2003, Robbins & Zimmer 2005, Zimmer et al. 2008). In view of the highly dis- puted merging of many foliage-gleaner genera by Vaurie (1980) (see Remsen 2003, Robbins & Zimmer 2005) and the conflicting indications of morphological and vocal data as to the relations of the taxon rufipectus, | would propose awaiting the results of a molecular study before making a generic change for this foliage-gleaner. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated massif in northern Colombia with an area of c.5,900 km?. With no fewer than 70 endemic bird taxa, it is perhaps the most diverse smaller centre of terrestrial endemism in the world. Most of the endemic taxa are derived from Andean forms (Todd & Carriker 1922), and their many different levels of differentia- tion suggest that multiple colonisations have occurred. Seventeen are presently ranked as species by Remsen et al. (2007). Many of these species are in groups with colourful plumage, whilst many suboscines remain ranked only as subspecies. It therefore comes as no great surprise that A. rufipectus is better ranked as a biological species. Preliminary analyses of vocalisations suggest that species rank is likely to be appropriate for several other taxa endemic to the Santa Marta mountains, such as Trogon personatus sanctaemartae, Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger sanctaemartae, Grallaria rufula spatiator, Henicorhina leucophrys ana- choreta, Arremon torquatus basilicus (already shown to be genetically distinct by Cadena 2006, Cadena et al. 2007), and possibly others. Acknowledgements I thank C. D. Cadena, M. B. Robbins, J. Fjeldsa, J. V. Remsen, A. M. Cuervo and T. M. Donegan for useful comments on the manuscript. The field work was partially sponsored by ProAves, Colombia. References: Bangs, O. 1898. On some birds from Pueblo Viejo, Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 12: 157-160. Boesman, P. 1999. Birds of Venezuela. Photographs, sounds and distributions. CD-ROM. Bird Songs International, Westernieland. Boesman, P. 2007. Birds of Venezuela. DVD-ROM. Birdsounds.nl, Winsum. Cadena, C. D. 2006. Biogeography of Buarremon brush-finches (Aves, Emberizinae): integrating ecology, evo- lution, and systematics. Ph.D. dissertation. Univ. of Missouri, St Louis. Cadena, C. D., Klicka, J. & Ricklefs, R. E. 2007. Evolutionary differentiation in the Neotropical montane region: molecular phylogenetics and phylography of Buarremon brush-finches (Aves: Emberizidae). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 44: 993-1016. Chapman, F. M. 1919. Descriptions of proposed new birds from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 32: 253-268. Coopmans, P., Moore, J. V., Krabbe, N., Jahn, O., Berg, K. S., Lysinger, M., Navarrete, L. & Ridgely, R. S. 2004. The birds of southwest Ecuador. CDs. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San, Jose, CA. Niels Krabbe 226 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Cory, C. B. & Hellmayr, C. E. 1925. Catalogue of birds of the Americas, part 4. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser. 13(4): 1-369. Gonzaga, L. P. & Castiglioni, G. 2001. Aves das montanhas do sudeste do Brasil. CD. Arquivo Sonoro Prof. Elias Coelho, Rio de Janeiro. Hilty, S. 2003. Birds of Venezuela. Princeton Univ. Press. Howell, S. N. G. & Webb, S. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford Univ. Press. Irestedt, M., Fjeldsa, J. & Ericson, P. G. P. 2006. Evolution of the ovenbird-woodcreeper assemblage (Aves: Furnariidae)—major shifts in nest architecture and adaptive radiation. J. Avian Biol. 37: 260-272. Jahn, O., Moore, J. V., Valenzuela, P. M., Krabbe, N., Coopmans, P., Lysinger, M. & Ridgely, R. S. 2002. The birds of northwest Ecuador, vol. 2. CDs. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San Jose, CA. Krabbe, N. & Nilsson, J. 2003. Birds of Ecuador. Sounds and photographs. DVD-ROM. Bird Songs International, Westernieland. Krabbe, N., Mazar Barnett, J., Sureda, A. L. & Lacci, A. 2001. Sonidos de aves-de Calilegua. Cassette. Literature of Latin America, Buenos Aires. Kratter, A. W. & Parker, T. A. 1997. Relationship of two bamboo-specialized foliage-gleaners: Automolus dor- salis and Anabazenops fuscus (Furnariidae). Pp. 383-397 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Kroodsma, D. E. 1984. Songs of the Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) and Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) are innate. Auk 101: 13-24. Kroodsma, D. E. 1989. Male Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe, Tyrannidae, Passeriformes) fail to imitate songs. J. Comp. Psychology 103: 227-232. Kroodsma, D. E. & Konishi, M. 1991. A suboscine bird (Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe) develops normal song without auditory feedback. Anim. Behav. 42: 477-487. Lanyon, W. E. 1978. Revision of the Myiarchus flycatchers. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 161: 429-627. Lysinger, M., Moore, J. V., Krabbe, N., Coopmans, P., Lane, D. F., Navarrete, L., Nilsson, J. & Ridgely, R. S. 2005. The birds of eastern Ecuador: the foothills and lower subtropics. CDs. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San, Jose, CA. Moore, J. V. 1993. Sounds of La Selva. Cassette. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San Jose, CA. Moore, J. V. 1996. Ecuador, more bird vocalizations from the lowland rainforest, vol. 2. Cassette. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San Jose, CA. Moore, J. V. & Lysinger, M. 1997. The birds of Cabanas San Isidro. Cassettes. John V. Moore Nature Recordings, San, Jose, CA. Remsen, J. V. 2003. Family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). Pp. 162-357 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Remsen, J. V. 2005. Pattern, process, and rigor meet classification. Auk 122: 403-413. Remsen, J. V., Cadena, C. D., Jaramillo, A., Nores, M., Pacheco, J. F., Robbins, M. B., Schulenberg, T. S., Stiles, F. G., Stotz, D. F. & Zimmer, K. J. 2007. A classification of the bird species of South America. www.museum.|lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html (accessed October 2007). Ridgely, R. S. & Greenfield, P. J. 2001. The birds of Ecuador. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. Robbins, M. B. & Zimmer, K. J. 2005. Taxonomy, vocalisations and natural history of Philydor dimidiatum (Furnariidae), with comments on the systematics of Syndactyla and Simoxenops. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 125: 212-228. Schulenberg, T. S., Marantz, C. A. & English, P. H. 2000. Voices of Amazonian birds: birds of the rain forest of southern Peru and northern Bolivia, vol. 2. CD. Cornell Lab. of Orn., Ithaca, NY. Sibley, C. G. & Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Gir Stein, R. C. 1963. Isolating mechanisms between populations of Traill’s Flycatchers. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 107: 21-50. Stiles, F. G. & Skutch, A. F. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Christopher Helm, London. Strewe, R., Alvarez-Rebolledo, M. & Mejia Giraldo, D. F. 2003. Guia sonora de las aves de Vista de Nieve y San Lorenzo, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta—Colombia. Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Bioldégicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva. Todd, W. E. & Carriker, M. A. 1922. The birds of the Santa Marta region of Colombia: a study in altitudinal distribution. Ann. Carnegie Mus. 14. Vaurie, C. 1980. Taxonomy and geographical distribution of the Furnariidae (Aves, Passeriformes). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 166: 1-357. Vaurie, C. & Schwartz, P. 1972. Morphology and vocalizations of Synallaxis unirufa and Synallaxis castanea (Furnariidae, Aves), with comments on other Synallaxis. Amer. Mus. Novit. 2483. Whitney, B. M. & Pacheco, J. F. 1994. Behavior and vocalizations of Gyalophylax and Megaxenops (Furnariidae), two little-known genera endemic to northeastern Brazil. Condor 96: 559-565. Zimmer, K. J. 1997. Species limits in Cranioleuca vulpina. Pp. 849-864 in Remsen, J. V. (ed.) Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Orn. Monogr. 48. Niels Krabbe 227 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Zimmer, K. J. 2002. Species limits in olive-backed foliage-gleaners (Automolus; Furnariidae). Wilson Bull. 114: 20-37. Zimmer K. J., Robbins, M. B. & Kopuchian, C. 2008. Taxonomy, vocalizations, syringeal morphology and nat- ural history of Automolus roraimae (Furnariidae). Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 128: 187-206. Address: Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen ©, Denmark, e-mail: nkkrabbe@snm.ku.dk © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 APPENDIX Songs examined. Abbreviations used are: XC = Xeno-canto website at www.xeno-canto.org; LNS = Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, Cornell, website at www.animalbehaviorarchive.org/loginPublic.do. Recordings known to be given by an individual already represented, were avoided or counted as one. Automolus rubiginosus: A. r. rubiginosus 6 (Boesman 2007; LNS 89684, 95077, 127210, 127230, 127246, 127247, 127271); A. r. veraepacis 3 (Boesman 2007; XC 11012, 14140); A. r. saturatus 1 (LNS 108866); A. r. nigricauda 9 (Jahn et al. 2002, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003; XC 5576, 6598, 8000, 8308 (call), 13139); A. r. sasaimae 1 (XC 12728, 12729, 12731); A. r. obscurus 1 (XC 7520); A. r. brunnescens 4 (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003; XC 6575; also an unpubl. recording of calls by N. Krabbe); A. r. watkinsi 1 (Schulenberg et al. 2000); A. r. ssp. nov.: 1 (LNS 117196, 117197). Automolus rufipectus: 6 (Boesman 1999; Strewe et al. 2003; also songs of four individuals and calls of one recorded during the present study). Automolus roraimae: 3 (Boesman 2007). Automolus ochrolaemus: A. o. cervinigularis 5 (LNS 7009, 7011, 7012, 102599; XC 14133); A. 0. hypophaeus 2 (LNS 7012; XC 11011); A. o. exsertus 1 (LNS 7013); A. o. pallidigularis 11 Jahn et al. 2002, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003; LNS 7014, 82449; XC 1490, 12898); A. o. turdinus 12 (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003, Moore 1993; XC 6094, 8704; also 7 unpubl. recordings from Ecuador by P. Coopmans and J. V. Moore); A. 0. ochrolaemus 5 (LNS 39003; XC 85, 8361, 8538, 13424); A. o. auricularis 4 (LNS 88948; XC 9540, 9541, 14773). Automolus infuscatus: A. 1. infuscatus 15 (Boesman 2007, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003, Moore 1993; XC 3434, 10324; LNS 53363, 53377, 110437; also 4 unpubl. recordings from Ecuador by P. Coopmans, M. Lysinger, J. V. Moore and R. S. Ridgely); A. 1. badius 4 (Boesman 2007; LNS 117037; XC 6229). Automolus paraensis (see Zimmer 2002): 11 (LNS 88849, 88900, 88950, 89066, 89067, 106198, 110005, 113065, 115019, 115233, 115237). Automolus leucophthalmus: A. 1. lammi 3 (LNS 127914, 127950, 127992); A. 1. sulphurascens 10 (Gonzaga & Castiglioni 2001; LNS 19082, 19086, 19214, 113312, 113394, 113395, 115354, 115426, 115429). Automolus rufipileatus: A. r. consobrinus 22 (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003, Moore 1996; LNS 115874, 119700, 110635, 106422, 110523, 129499, 129534; XC 222, 3206, 6409, 9926, 13425; also 4 unpubl. recordings from Ecuador by J. V. Moore and R. S. Ridgely); A. r. rufipileatus 8 (LNS 88386, 88462, 88522, 88634, 88668, 106104, 10630, 109948). Automolus melanopezus: 13 (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003; LNS 26565, 38862, 38865, 38885, 38914; XC 12027; Moore 1993; also 5 unpubl. recordings from Ecuador by P. Coopmans, M. Lysinger, J. V. Moore and R. S. Ridgely). Hylocryptus erythrocephalus: 11 (Coopmans et al. 2004, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003; LNS 122729; XC 4152, 4191, 8306, 8308 (call), 8727, 14414). Hylocryptus rectirostris: 2 (LNS 114856; XC 11924). Anabazenops fuscus: 8 (Gonzaga & Castiglioni 2001; LNS 39082, 103868, 112723; XC 4861, 4862, 5468, 14680). Anabazenops dorsalis: 8 (LNS 88418, 106182, 106092, 106175, 106200, 109946; XC 6574, 11902). Syndactyla guttulata: S. g. guttulata 6 (Boesman 2007; LNS 127816, 127819). Syndactyla ruficollis: 6 (Coopmans et al. 2004, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003). Syndactyla rufosuperciliata: S. r. rufosuperciliata 2 (Gonzaga & Castiglioni 2001; LNS 108238); S. r. acrita 2 (LNS 19094; XC 8195); S. r. oleaginea 1 (Krabbe et al. 2001); S. r. cabanisi 3 (Lysinger et al. 2005, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003). Syndactyla subalaris: S. s. mentalis 3 (Moore & Lysinger 1997, Krabbe & Nilsson 2003); S. s. subalaris 3 (Krabbe & Nilsson 2003). Trevor H. Worthy et al. 228 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) A reassessment of the fossil goose Anser scaldii Lambrecht, 1933 by Trevor H. Worthy, Storrs L. Olson & Thierry Smith Received 27 November 2007 The name Anser scaldii was first used by Van Beneden (1872) in a brief text that read ‘Nous avons recu un humérus dans un parfait état de conservation, trouvé dans le crag, a Anvers’. The name was also used by Van Beneden (1873), but in both instances it is a nomen nudum. The name was made valid for the purposes of nomenclature by Lambrecht (1933: 368) when he entered Anser scaldit Van Beneden, 1872, with the following description and information: ‘Humerus typisch anserin, von der Grofe von Tadorna casarca. Lange 129 mm. Material: Humerus im Mus. Bruxelles. Alter und Fundort: Obermiozan (Bolderian), Antwerpen. Etymologie: Artname nach der Schelde: Scaldia.” At the same time he mistak- enly gave the original combination as Anas scaldit Van Beneden 1872, which error was perpetuated by Gaillard (1939), Brodkorb (1964), Howard (1964), and Bochenski (1997), as noted by Mlikovsky (2002: 125). The statement by Lambrecht that this fossil is of similar length to humeri of Tadorna prompted Worthy et al. (2007) to suggest that Anser scaldii may have a bearing on the evo- lution of Tadornini in Europe. Accordingly, we re-examined the holotype in the Department of Paleontology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium, to ascertain its relationships and its significance in Anseriform evolution. Abbreviations Institutions—ANWC, Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra, ACT, Australia; BMNH, Natural History Museum, London, UK; CM, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand; IRSNB, Département de Paléontologie, Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium; MNZ, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand (formerly National Museum of New Zealand, Dominion Museum, and Colonial Museum); MV, Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; SAM, South Australia Museum, Adelaide; SMF, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany; USNM, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Materials and Methods A cast was made of the fossil by R. Smith of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and provided to THW for study in Australia. Comparisons were made with recent skeletons of a wide range of waterfowl taxa in the SAM. Additional observations were made on specimens from the collections of ANWC, CM, MV, MNZ and USNM. Measurements were made with dial callipers and rounded to 0.1 mm. Anatomical nomen- clature of specific bone landmarks follows Baumel & Witmer (1993) with English translations, or names follow Howard (1929), thereafter. Comparative material used in this study—Tadorna tadornoides (Jardine & Selby, 1828), Australian Shelduck: SAM B39873, female; SAM B39591, male. T. variegata (J. F. Gmelin, 1789), Paradise Shelduck: MNZ 25139, 25669. T. ferruginea (Pallas, 1764), Ruddy Shelduck: SAM B.38602. T. tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758), Common Shelduck: MNZ 12280; MV B25679; Trevor H. Worthy et al. 229 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) ANWC 22408, male. T. radjah (Lesson, 1828), Radjah Shelduck: MNZ 26206, 26207; ANWC 22411, male. Alopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766), Egyptian Goose: ANWC 22239, male; BMNH 1930.3.24.217, unsexed; MNZ 24283; MV B25678. Chloephaga picta (J. F. Gmelin, 1789), Upland Goose: BMNH 1860.11.4.15. C. poliocephala P. L. Sclater, 1857, Ashy-headed Goose: MV B13714, female. C. hybrida (Molina, 1782), Kelp Goose: MV B13227, male. Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758), Canada Goose: MNZ 23745, 26738—-41; SAM B31086; MV B6364, male. B. bernicla (Linnaeus, 1758), Brent Goose, MV B5156; eastern USA, five males: USNM 561418, 501611, 553108, 500361, 492443; five females: USNM 561415, 561417, 561016, 561416, 561028; Europe: SMF 452, 1940, 4394, 6562, female. B. leucopsis (Bechstein, 1803), Barnacle Goose: USNM 246190, 343808, 489420, SMF 619, SME 6231, female. Anser brachyrhynchus Baillon, 1834, Pink-footed Goose: MV B25672. A. caerulescens (Linnaeus, 1758), Snow Goose: SAM B36868, female. A. anser (Linnaeus, 1758), Greylag Goose: MNZ 20812, 24519. A. ery- thropus Linnaeus, 1758, Lesser White-fronted Goose: IRSNB 22.431 (IG 18.059). Cygnus atratus (Latham, 1790), Black Swan: MNZ 15266, 15267, 17250; SAM B46110, male. Results Holotype——IRSNB Avé69, a right humerus, reassembled from three pieces, complete except for some erosion to the rim of the deltoid crest. The bone was separated at the re- assembly point for this investigation and it was determined to lack the infilled sediment of other fossil bones from the Bolderian, and instead had been filled with plaster. The bone appears relatively fresh and unmineralised. Measurements.—Length 129.7 mm, maximum proximal width from dorsal tubercle 27.2 mm, mid-shaft width 8.5 mm, maximum distal width 17.7 mm. Locality— Antwerp, Belgium; ‘trouvé dans la nouvelle enceinte d’Anvers, deuxieme section, en Avril 1864’ (Van Beneden 1873: 372). Stratigraphy / Age.——Dollo (1909) listed A. scaldii in the fauna of the marine sands of the local Bolderian Stage, then assumed to be Upper Miocene but now considered to be early to middle Miocene (Louwye et al. 2000, Laga et al. 2001). Brodkorb (1964) modified this to the ‘Anversian black sands’. Fossils from the different layers of the Bolderian regional stage in the Anvers area are always dark grey to black (M. Bosselaers pers. comm. to TS). Because IRSNB Av69 is pale brownish, and lacks typical infilled sediment, it is probably not derived from the Bolderian and is more likely from overlying Pleistocene-Holocene deposits, which is supported by the fact that the specimen is indistinguishable from a living species. Systematic palaeontology Family ANATIDAE Leach, 1820: Swans, geese, ducks Subfamily ANSERINAE Leach, 1820: Geese and swans We retain A. scaldii in Anserinae because it possesses the following unique combination of characters: (1) similar proportions, particularly to the smaller Anser and Branta species; (2) the caudal facies extends as a lamina around the distoventral margin of the fossa pneu- motricipitalis ventralis (ventral pneumotricipital fossa), partially occluding the fossa and this lamina remains elevated from the base of the fossa and extends under the tuber. ventralis (ventral tubercle); (3) the crista deltopectoralis (deltoid crest) is concave dorsally and is elon- gate, extending 37% of its length further distally than the crista bicipitalis (bicipital crest); (4) the tuberculum dorsale (dorsal tubercle) is elevated above the shaft; (5) there is a prominent capital shaft ridge; (6) the ventral pneumotricipital fossa is highly pneumatic; (7) the ventral tubercle is directed proximally; (8) in cranial view the capital incisura (capital groove) forms Trevor H. Worthy et al. a very shallow notch in the proximal pro- file; and (9) in caudal view the ventral margin from the ventral tubercle around the bicipital crest is evenly convex. The humeri of Anhimidae and Anseranatidae differ markedly as follows: capital shaft ridge strongly directed towards the head; dorsal pneumotricipital fossa obsolete; lamina around the disto- ventral margin of the ventral pneumatic fossa (character 2) larger, partially occlud- ing the fossa; ventral pneumatic fossa comparatively smaller; distal extent of entepicondyle less than dorsal condyle; distinct dorsal supracondylar prominence; and external tricipital groove lacking. The humeri of Dendrocygna differ markedly in having a prominent capital shaft ridge directed towards the head and a promi- nent dorsal supracondylar prominence. The pneumatic ventral pneumotricipital fossa distinguishes A. scaldii from the non- pneumatic state in Thalassornis, Oxyura, Biziura, Malacorhynchus, some Mergini e.g. Somateria, Melanitta, Clangula, Bucephala, and some Aythyini. The Tadornini, although having similar proportions, differ in character 2, with the distoventral lamina merging with the floor in the ventral half of the ventral pneumatic fossa. Tadornini further differ in the configuration of the ventral margin of the bicipital crest. In A. scald this is evenly convex and extends ventrally of the ventral tubercle, as in Anserini, but in Tadornini (Tadorna, Alopochen, Cyanochen) the ventral tubercle is more prominent ventrally, so that when the humerus is viewed in a proximo- caudal direction, the ventral margin either forms a straight edge parallel to the capital shaft ridge, or it has a shallow notch distal of the ventral tubercle. Presence of a capi- tal shaft ridge, elevated dorsal tubercle, and the dorsally concave deltoid crest, as in Anserini and Tadornini, are all ple- siomorphic states relative to those seen in 230 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Figure 1. Humeri in caudal view. A. Anser scaldii IRSNB Av69; B. Branta bernicla USNM 492443; C. B. leucopsis USNM 343808. The figured B. bernicla humerus is the largest specimen in USNM and that of B. leucopsis the smallest, showing the near size | continuum of these taxa. B. leucopsis is from a zoo bird and has a little pathological deformation notably of the dorsal tubercle. Anatomical abbreviations.—bc, bicipital | crest; bf, brachial fossa; cdf, crus dorsale fossa (median crest); cg, capital groove; csr, capital shaft ridge; dc, deltoid crest; dpf, dorsal pneumotricipital fossa; dsp, | dorsal supracondylar prominence; dt, dorsal tubercle; fp, flexor. process;, ob, jesseus, laminas eter scapulotricipital groove; vc, ventral condyle; vpf, | ventral pneumotricipital fossa; vt, ventral tubercle. — Scale bar = 10 cm. Anatini (no ridge, tubercle not elevated, deltoid crest flat or convex dorsally). Also, all Anatini possess a marked notch formed by the capital groove in the profile of the proximal | end. Trevor H. Worthy et al. 231 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Genus Branta Scopoli, 1769 Amongst Anserinae, A. scaldii is referred to Branta by the following characters. Swans (Cygnini) have much more elongate humeri. Amongst osteological characters, most obvi- ous is the orientation of the capital shaft ridge towards the ventral side of the dorsal tubercle, a derived feature relative to most Anserinae (Cygnus, Anser), in which the capital shaft ridge is directed towards the head. In Anser, the ridge intercepts the middle of a line connecting the distal end of the median crest and the dorsal tubercle, whereas in A. scaldii and Branta, the ridge passes dorsal to the midpoint of such a line. Thus, in Branta the dorsal pneumotricipital fossa is relatively wider. Moreover, as the capital ridge passes towards the head in Anser, it forms the ventral side of a distinct groove between itself and the dorsal tubercle: the orientation of the capital ridge towards the immediate ventral side of the dor- sal tubercle prohibits such a groove in Branta. In A. scaldii, the external tricipital groove is present caudally and extends around the distal end as a shallow groove, much like that in Branta. The external tricipital groove is present caudally but does not continue around the distal end in Anser. A. scaldii has a small, indistinct, separate dorsal supracondylar promi- nence distinct from the dorsal epicondyle. In most Anserinae this is prominent, but is small in A. caerulescens, Branta bernicla and B. canadensis. A. scaldii possesses an elongate entepi- condyle (flexor process), unlike in Cygnus and B. canadensis where the entepicondyle has less distal extent than the dorsal condyle. But in other Anserinae, notably smaller taxa such as Branta bernicla, Anser erythropus and A. caerulescens, the entepicondyle has similar distal extent to the dorsal condyle as in A. scaldii. In northern Europe, the species of Branta most similar to A. scaldii are B. bernicla and B. leucopsis, both of which overwinter in countries around the southern North Sea, including Belgium (Kear 2005). B. leucopsis is the larger (Kear 2005), which is reflected in measure- ments of humeri (Table 1). Humeri of B. leucopsis have significantly more robust proximal and distal ends than B. bernicla (t-Test assuming unequal variances: PW, t-Statistic = 3.87107, P(T<=t) two-tail = 0.012, t Critical two-tail = 2.570; DW, t-Statistic = 2.9359, P(T<=t) two-tail = 0.032, t Critical two-tail = 2.570582). As the length ranges of these two species in the small available samples nearly abut, the value for A. scaldii could fall in the expected range of either taxon, and the value for SW meets this expectation. The values for PW and DW are within the range of B. bernicla and outside that of B. leucopsis; importantly relative DW of the two species does not overlap and that for A. scaldii falls within that of B. bernicla. These observations support referring A. scaldii to B. bernicla, albeit a large individual, rather than B. leucopsis. TABLE 1 Measurements (mm) for Branta leucopsis and B. bernicla: data given as mean (range), standard deviation. Specimens measured listed in Methods. DW%L is width of distal; width as percentage of length. PW includes deltoid crest. Length Max. PW SW Max. DW DW%L B. leucopsis 132.6 (129.6-139.2), 29.8 (28.0-32.0), 8.8 (8.39.6), 19.6 (18.7-20.5), 14.7 (14.3-15.4), (n=5) 3.90 1.90 0.59 0.82 0.54 B. bernicla 118.9 (111.8-128.2), 26.3 (24.1-27.9), 7.8 (7.1-8.6), 16.6 (15.6-17.9), 14.0 (13.2-14.3), (n=15) 5.76 1.10 0.45 0.67 0.34 Anser scaldii 129.7 DD 8.5 WAT 13.6 Trevor H. Worthy et al. DS2. Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) We therefore synonymise A. scaldii Lambrecht, 1933 with B. bernicla (Linnaeus, 1758) as follows: Branta bernicla (Linnaeus, 1758) Anser scaldii Van Beneden, 1872: 288—nomen nudum Anser Scaldii Van Beneden, 1873: 372—nomen nudum Anser scaldii ‘Van Beneden, 1873’: Dollo 1909: 19: 116—nomen nudum Anser scaldii ‘(Van Beneden, 1872)’ Lambrecht 1933: 368—new synonymy Anser Scaldii ‘(van Beneden)’: Gaillard 1939: 78. Anser scaldii ‘(Van Beneden, 1872)’: Brodkorb 1964: 212; Howard 1964: 267 Anser scaldii ‘(Van Beneden, 1871)’: Bochenski 1997: 40, 304 Anser scaldit Lambrecht: Mlikovsky 2002: 125 Acknowledgements We thank Philippa Horton (SAM) for access to comparative specimens and facilitating loans, Richard Smith (RBINS) for the cast of A. scaldti, Robert Palmer (ANWC), Joanne Cooper (BMNH), Paul Scofield (CM), Rory O’Brien (MV), Alan Tennyson (MNZ) for access to comparative material, and Gerald Mayr (SMF) for provid- ing measurements. References: Baumel, J. J. & Witmer, L. M. 1993. Osteologia. Pp. 45-132 in Baumel, J. J., King, A. S., Breazile, J. E., Evans, H. E. & Vanden Berge, J. C. (eds.) Handbook of avian anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium. Second edn. Publ. Nuttall Orn. Cl. 23. Nuttall Orn. Cl., Cambridge, MA. Bochenski, Z. 1997. List of European fossil bird species. Acta Zool. Cracoviensia 40: 293-333. Brodkorb, P. 1964. Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 2 (Anseriformes through Galliformes). Bull. Florida State Mus., Biol. Sci. 8: 195-335. Dollo, L. 1909. The fossil vertebrates of Belgium. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 19: 99-119. Gaillard, C. 1939. Contribution a l’étude des oiseaux fossils. Nouv. Arch. Mus. Lyon 15(2): 1-100. Howard, H. 1929. The avifauna of Emeryville Shellmound. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 32: 301-394. Howard, H. 1964. Fossil Anseriformes. Pp. 233-326 in Delacour, J. (ed.) The waterfowl of the world. Country Life, London. Kear, J. (ed.) 2005. Ducks, geese and swans. Oxford Univ. Press. Laga, P., Louwye, S. & Geets, S. 2001. Paleogene and Neogene lithostratigraphic units (Belgium). Geol. Belgica 4: 135-152. Lambrecht, K. 1933. Handbuch der Palaeornithologie. Gebriider Borntraeger, Berlin. Leach, W. E. 1820. Eleventh room. Pp. 65-70 in Synopsis of the contents of the British Museum. Seventeenth edn. Brit. Mus., London. Louwye, S., de Coninck, J. & Verniers, J. 2000. Shallow marine Lower and Middle Miocene deposits at the southern margin of the North Sea Basin (northern Belgium): dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy and depositional history. Geol. Mag. 137: 381-394. Mlikovsky, J. 2002. Cenozoic birds of the world, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. Van Beneden, M. P. J. 1872. Oiseaux de L’Argile Rupelienne et du Crag D’Anvers. J. Zool. 1: 282-288. Van Beneden, P. J. 1873. Paléontologie des vertébrés. Pp. 353-376 in Bemmel E. van (ed.) Patria Belgica [Encyclopédie nationale], vol. 1. Bruylant-Christophe, Brussels. Worthy, T. H., Tennyson, A. J. D., Jones, C., McNamara, J. A. & Douglas, B. J. 2007. Miocene waterfowl and other birds from Central Otago, New Zealand. J. Syst. Palaeontology 5: 1-39. Addresses: Trevor H. Worthy, Darling Building, DP 418, Dept. Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia 5005; e-mail: trevor.worthy@adelaide.edu.au. Storrs Olson, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Division of Birds, NHB MRC 116, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA; e-mail: olsons@si.edu. Thierry Smith, Dept. Paleontology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 rue Vautier, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium; e-mail: thierry.smith@naturalsciences.be © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Juan F. Freile 233 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) New distributional records of birds from western Ecuador, and comments on the avifauna of Isla de La Plata by Juan F. Freile Received 14 December 2007 Distribution of birds in Ecuador is fairly well documented based on more than a centu- ry of collections and field research recently summarised by Ridgely & Greenfield (2001), which facilitated the identification of 107 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the country (Freile & Santander 2005). New distributional records are published with regularity as new areas are explored or bird lists are compiled as a result of intensive field work. Here I present new records of birds from the western lowlands, based on visits to deciduous and semi- deciduous forests and wetlands of the Tumbesian Endemic Bird Area (Stattersfield et al. 1998). I also document new breeding records for Isla de la Plata (see Cisneros-Heredia 2005) and briefly discuss the dynamics of avian colonisation and breeding on this small continen- tal island. I follow Ridgely & Greenfield (2001) for systematics and BirdLife International Figure 1. Map of western Ecuador showing study sites (circles and numbers, see Table 1). The grey-shaded area represents land above 600 m. Juan F. Freile 234 TABLE 1 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Localities in western Ecuador where bird species herein reported were recorded. Site, province 1) Reserva Integral Montecaimito, south-west Esmeraldas 2) Mompiche, Esmeraldas Coordinates 00°42’N, 80°05’W 00°28’N, 80°00’W Elevation Habitat 0-50 m woodland, coastal scrub sea level humid secondary forest, coastal scrub, young mangrove humid hill forest, secondary Survey dates 4-7 and 27-31 December 2004 24-27 March 2005 3) Cojimies estuary, Manabi 00°21’N, 80°01’W sea level mangrove, muddy banks, 29 July 2006 beaches 4) Chorrera, Manabi 00°03’N, 80°03’W sea level coastal estuary 28 July 2006 5) Finca Integral Rio Muchacho, 00°25’S, 80°26°W Ss 30m semi-deciduous forest 8-12 September 20 km north of Bahia de Caraquez, and woodland 2005; 8-12 Manabi February 2006 6) Reserva Cerro Seco, Bahia de 00°35’S, 80°25°W 0-30m _ deciduous forest and scrub 30 October-2 Caraquez, Manabi November 2004 7) Humedal La Segua, Manabi 00°41’S, 80°09'W 10m freshwater marshland 3 March 2007 8) Isla de La Plata, Manabi 01°16’S, 81°03’W_~—s—- 0-150 m__s coastal scrub, woodland, 5-9 February 2008 shrubby open land 9) Refugio de Vida Silvestre 02°31'S, 80°04’W 5m dry scrub, artificial wetland 29-31 August Parque Lago, Guayas 2005 10) El Aromo, 8 km east of Naranjal, Guayas 02°43’S, 79°38’W humid foothill secondary 26-28 August forest and borders 2005 (2008) for conservation status (IUCN threatened categories are indicated following the sci- entific name). Study sites Field work was undertaken from December 2004 through February 2008 at ten locali- ties in Esmeraldas, Manabi, Guayas and the recently created Santa Elena provinces (Table 1, Fig. 1). Field work consisted primarily of 3-4 days of intensive observations in each area, using playback to elicit rapid responses from key species. Single days of intensive observa- tions were made at sites 3, 4 and 7 and six mist-nets were opened at sites 1, 5 and 6 during two days (=12 sampling hours/site). Observations at Isla de La Plata were made during five intensive days totalling nearly 40 observation hours throughout ‘inland’ habitats. New records and range extensions PALE-BROWED TINAMOU Crypturellus transfasciatus Natural vocalisations and responses to playback were regularly heard and tape-recorded in secondary forest at Cerro Seco (November 2004) and in secondary forest, woodland and agricultural fields at Rio Muchacho (September 2005 and February 2006). Dry forest at Cerro Seco is dominated by young second growth with a few Ceiba trees, whilst forests at Rio Muchacho are more extensive, with taller remnant trees and dense understorey, and agricultural areas are interspersed with woodland and small patches of remnant scrub. At least three also heard in secondary forest patches and scrub around La Villega lagoon (00°03’N, 80°02’W), 5 km east of Pedernales, prov. Manabi (July 2006). Previously known north to the Bahia de Caraquez region (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001), but recent records from, e.g. Rio Muchacho, La Villega and Reserva Lalo Loor (pers. obs. April 2008), have extend- ed its range north to the Pedernales area (Ridgely & Greenfield 2006). Juan F. Freile 235 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) NORTHERN SHOVELER Anas clypeata A male was seen briefly with a group of 35 Blue-winged Teals Anas discors on open water near floating vegetation, and subsequently was observed in flight amongst a flock of c.235 A. discors, at La Segua wetland on 3 March 2007, using a telescope. It was identified by its green head contrasting markedly with the white foreparts, and massive bill, which pattern was noted both on the water and in flight, and is quite unlike that of other Aas in the area (discors and bahamensis). Its flight silhouette also differed from A. discors by its long neck and heavier body. Madge & Burn (1988) was consulted shortly after the observation. This is the second record of this boreal migrant in Ecuador, following one at Ecuasal, prov. Santa Elena (formerly Guayas) (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). One was also observed by R. S. Ridgely, B. Haase, F. Sornoza and R. Quinn (R. S. Ridgely pers. comm.) at Humedales de Pacoa, prov. Santa Elena on 20 January 2007, which was perhaps the same individual moving north. Evidence (i.e. photographs, recordings or specimens) is still needed to document the species’ occasional presence in Ecuador. YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON Nyctanassa violacea In March 2005 two were at a small estuary surrounded by young mangrove near Mompiche town. In waterbird censuses at La Chorrera and the Cojimies estuary, 15 and 80 individuals were recorded, at least 50% of them juveniles (suggesting local breeding). There are few records north of the environs of Bahia de Caraquez (just two mentioned by Ridgely & Greenfield 2001, from prov. Esmeraldas). These records suggest a continuous distribution along the entire Ecuadorian coast (see Solano-Ugalde et al. submitted). WOOD STORK Mycteria americana A single soaring over abandoned shrimp ponds at Chorrera on 28 July 2006 eventually flew off south. One was also observed in February 2005 at the same wetland (T. Santander pers. comm.), and a few have also been observed there since then, always in flight (L. Madrid pers. comm.). Not previously recorded north of the rio Chone. However, records at Pedernales might only represent vagrants from the Chone estuary. RUFOUS-NECKED WOOD RAIL Aramides axillaris Two singles in degraded mangrove at the Cojimies estuary in July 2006, foraging on open mud then rapidly scurrying inside the mangrove. Ridgely & Greenfield (2001) already sug- gested that the species might be continuously distributed along the entire Ecuadorian coast (see Solano-Ugalde et al. submitted). Nevertheless, they knew of only one record from Esmeraldas (at Muisne mangroves) and none from Manabi. The extensive destruction of mangrove in Ecuador makes this and other mangrove-dwellers highly threatened (Hilgert & Benavides 2002). ANDEAN COOT Fulica ardesiaca One observed at close range with a telescope within a small flock of Common Gallinules Gallinula chloropus at La Segua in March 2007. The frontal shield was all white and extend- ed towards the front. A previous observation at this site was mentioned by Lopez-Lanus & Gastezzi (2000) but was regarded as unconfirmed due to the lack of evidence. Also record- ed at La Segua in August 1995 (D. F. Cisneros-Heredia in litt. 2008) and November 2003 (R. Ahlman in litt. 2008). Juan F. Freile 236 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER Pluvialis dominica One observed for c.40 minutes at a small estuary north of Mompiche in March 2005. It was foraging with several Wilson’s Plovers Charadrius wilsonia, Least Calidris minutilla and Spotted Sandpipers Actitis macularius, and Whimbrel Numentius phaeopus. The following fea- tures were noted: pale gold spots and stripes, a fairly conspicuous whitish superciliary contrasting with the duskier crown, and the lack of black axillaries (as in Grey Plover P. squatarola). Known from few sites in western Ecuador, primarily in the south, but could occur as a transient almost anywhere in the country (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). I am unaware of any other records from provs. Manabi and Esmeraldas. WILSON’S PLOVER Charadrius wilsonia A flock of 5—6 was observed at the small estuary north of Mompiche in March 2005 (see pre- vious species), repeatedly performing a hide-and-run behaviour when followed by the observer. Two were also observed foraging on mudflats at the Cojimies estuary within a large flock of sandpipers, plovers and egrets in July 2006. The species’ presence north the Chone estuary is not well documented but is probably continuous. GULL-BILLED TERN Sterna nilotica A total of 153 was counted at the Cojimies estuary in July 2006. Groups of up to 40 were observed, mainly at shrimp ponds, but no direct evidence of breeding was noted. They were identified by the heavy and fairly short bill (compared to Sandwich Tern S. sandvicensis also present). Henry (2005) reported adults feeding dependent young, whilst a breeding colony was observed by D. F. Cisneros-Heredia (in litt. 2008) in April 2006, at Isla Jupiter, just south of Mompiche. Breeding is therefore confirmed for northern Manabi and southern Esmeraldas. OCHRE-BELLIED DOVE Lepitotila ochraceiventris Several responded to playback in secondary forest at Rio Muchacho in September 2005, but none was heard there in February 2006. There is an old record from central Manabi, c.10 km south of Rio Muchacho (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001, 2006). Beyond the Chone estuary it probably extends to the Pedernales area, c.70 km to the north, but this requires confirmation. CENTRAL AMERICAN SCREECH OWL Otus (Megascops) centralis One heard on 6 December and two heard (one tape-recorded) on 28-30 December 2004 in secondary forest and forest borders at Reserva Integral Montecaimito, with two additional birds heard at Playa Coquito, c.5 km to the south, also in secondary woodland in March 2007. Forest at the latter has been regenerating over the last ten years, with some small for- est corridors and secondary forest patches connecting to more extensive forest to the east. A recent record from Partidero-Poza Honda, 5 km south-southwest of Montecaimito (Benitez 2005) was based only on comments from local people. All previous records are from the Andean foothills (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). It should be searched for in the near- by Mache-Chindul Mountains as other species of the Andean foothills and slopes have been recorded there (Carrasco et al. 2008), as well as in the forested hills of the Quingue—Caimito—Cabo San Francisco area to the west (see below). WEST PERUVIAN SCREECH OWL Otus (Megascops) roboratus At least six individuals responded to playback on 30 October—1 November 2004 in second- ary forest and adjacent areas at Reserva Cerro Seco. Ridgely & Greenfield (2001) do not Juan F. Freile 237, Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) mention records from central Manabi. My record extends its distribution north to the Bahia de Caraquez region. Playback at Rio Muchacho, c.20 km further north, failed to detect the species. GREEN-CROWNED BRILLIANT Heliodoxa jacula A female was mist-netted in primary forest, close to a forest border, at Reserva Montecaimito on 5 December 2004. The species was recently recorded in the nearby Mache- Chindul Mountains down to 300 m (Parker & Carr 1992) and at Partidero-Poza Honda, 5 km south-southwest of Montecaimito, at 150 m (Benitez 2005). My record extends the range of H. jacula further west, close to the coast and down to 100 m. It has been suggested that the presence of H. jacula in the lowlands is only seasonal (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). RUFOUS-TAILED JACAMAR Galbula ruficauda One seen and heard in a secondary forest fragment at Caimito on 29 December 2004. According to Ridgely & Greenfield (2001) there are no records from the Caimito area, and its presence in the Mache-Chindul Mountains is only suspected but has not been recorded to date. BLACKISH-HEADED SPINETAIL Synallaxis tithys On 31 October-1 November 2004 a pair was observed and tape-recorded in secondary woodland dominated by young trees and cacti, at Reserva Cerro Seco. They had a nest in a dense spiny Mimosaceae tree, 3 m above ground, similar to that described by Balchin (1996). This Endangered species (BirdLife International 2008) occurs north to the Bahia de Caraquez region. Numbers have seemingly declined in recent years, making new records— particularly from protected areas—important. EASTERN KINGBIRD Tyrannus tyrannus One was observed for over 15 minutes atop Ceiba and Bursera trees in Reserva Cerro Seco, on 1 November 2004. Vegetation is dominated by dry forest on a steep slope overlooking the ocean. This is the first record of T. tyrannus south of prov. Pichincha and from the Ecuadorian coast, as well as one of the few records west of the Andes (see Vogt 2007). TAWNY-CROWNED GREENLET HAylophilus ochraceiceps Several were observed on visits to Reserva Montecaimito and surroundings on 4-7 and 27-31 December 2004, mostly in the canopy and borders of secondary forest patches, often within mixed-species flocks. No previous records from southern prov. Esmeraldas (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001), even from the fairly well-known Bilsa Biological Station, in Mache- Chindul Ecological Reserve, c.45 km east of the Quingue-Caimito area (Hornbuckle & Mudd 1997; L. Carrasco in litt. 2008). SPECKLE-BREASTED WREN Thryothorus sclateri On 11 September 2005 a group of at least four was seen and heard in a dense aun of vines and understorey vegetation at Rio Muchacho. The northernmost records in coastal Ecuador known to Ridgely & Greenfield (2001) were from the environs of Bahia de Caraquez, 20 km south of Rio Muchacho, but subsequently they (Ridgely & Greenfield 2006) extended its range to Pedernales. Juan F. Freile 238 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) PROTONOTARY WARBLER Protonotaria citrea On 5 December 2004 I observed three foraging in secondary forest at Reserva Integral Montecaimito, at 20 m. They were accompanying a mixed-species flock including Dot- winged Antwren Microrhopias quixensis, Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus, Red-legged Honeycreeper Cyanerpes cyaneus, White-shouldered Tanager Tachyphonus luctuosus and Buff-winged Saltator Saltator maximus, and were in the subcanopy near a small stream that flows into a freshwater pond near the sea. They were observed at close range (3-5 m), and identified by the bright yellow extending to the belly and flanks, white undertail-coverts and greyish flight-feathers. One appeared duller and was perhaps a female. They were not observed again on the following days. There are few records of P. citrea in Ecuador, and this is the first from southern prov. Esmeraldas, the closest being -an old specimen taken at Esmeraldas city (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). New sites for threatened species Though not extending current ranges, Table 2 summarises new sites for threatened species (BirdLife International 2008) and Tumbesian EBA endemics (Stattersfield et al. 1998). Cerro El Aromo On 28-29 August 2005 the following widespread species were noted c.20 km south of pre- viously known localities. Their presence was not unexpected as humid foothill forest continues south to southern prov. Guayas and adjacent El Oro. Four pairs of White-flanked Antwrens Myrmotherula axillaris and at least three pairs of Dot-winged Antwrens Microrhopias quixensis were observed and heard in mixed-species flocks in secondary forest at El Aromo. Flocks were led by M. axillaris and Checker- throated Antwren M. fulviventris, and also comprised One-coloured Becard Platypsaris homochrous, Plain Xenops Xenops minutus, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher Mionectes oleagineus, Tropical Gnatcatcher Polioptila plumbea, White-shouldered Tanager Tachyphonus luctuosus, Olivaceous Woodcreeper Sittasomus griseicapillus, Pacific Elaenia Myiopagis subplacens, Lesser Greenlet Hylophilus decurtatus and Blue-black Grosbeak Cyanocompsa cyanoides. Also, Masked Tityra Tityra semifasciata was observed in the canopy, Southern Nightingale Wren Microcerculus marginatus was heard inside secondary forest and three pairs of Guira Tanagers Hemithraupis guira foraged within mixed-species flocks at forest borders. Isla de La Plata Cisneros-Heredia (2005) recently updated bird records from this small island just 30 km off the Manabi coast. Isla de La Plata has been repeatedly visited by ornithologists since Chapman (1926) and Murphy (1936), but the most intensive effort to survey its avifauna only came in 1990 (Ortiz-Crespo & Agnew 1992). I recorded six new landbirds to the island during a strong rainy season that permitted intense vegetation growth (pers. obs.). Grey-capped Cuckoo Coccyzus lansbergi was heard daily and three were seen at close range in dense woodland. Song is reportedly given only when breeding (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001) thus suggesting local nesting. Anthony’s Nightjar Caprimulgus anthonyi was heard only once, but nocturnal surveys were not specif- ically performed, so it could be more numerous. A single female Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquata was observed twice on one day but not subsequently. Streaked Flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus was observed three times at woodland borders, whilst two Baird’s Flycatchers M. bairdii were heard daily and seen chasing each other, also at woodland borders. Finally, Black-lored Yellowthroat Geothlypis auricularis (sensu Ridgely & Juan F. Freile 239 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) TABLE 2 List of Tumbesian EBA endemics and threatened species recorded at seven study sites (excluding wetlands). See Table 1 for site details: (1) Reserva Integral Montecaimito, (2) Mompiche, (5) Finca Integral Rio Muchacho, (6) Reserva Cerro Seco, (8) Isla de La Plata, (9) Refugio de Vida Silvestre Parque Lago, (10) Cerro El Aromo. Endemism follows Stattersfield et al. (1998) and threat category follows BirdLife International (2008). Species 1 2 5 6 8 9 10 Pale-browed Tinamou Crypturellus transfasciatus (NT) i Grey-backed Hawk Leucopternis occidentalis (EN) ‘ i . Rufous-headed Chachalaca Ortalis erythroptera (VU) : Brown Wood Rail Aramides wolfi (VU) - Ecuadorian Ground Dove Columbina buckleyi ‘ ‘ ° $ Ochre-bellied Dove Leptotila ochraceiventris (VU) Red-masked Parakeet Aratinga erythrogenys (NT) ‘ . Grey-cheeked Parakeet Brotogeris pyrrhopterus (EN) ; ‘. Pacific Parrotlet Forpus coelestis “ : i Anthony’s Nightjar Caprimulgus anthonyi * z e West Peruvian Screech Owl Otus (Megascops) roboratus - Little Woodstar Chaetocercus bombus (VU) Z Orange-fronted Barbet Capito squamatus (NT) @ 3 Ecuadorian Piculet Picumnus sclateri Guayaquil Woodpecker Campephilus gayaquilensis (NT) z : Blackish-headed Spinetail Synallaxis tithys (EN) : Collared Antshrike Sakesphorus bernardi : Elegant Crescentchest Melanopareia elegans 7 Pacific Elaenia Myiopagis subplacens , a : Grey-breasted Flycatcher Lathrotriccus griseipectus (VU) ‘ Sooty-crowned Flycatcher Myiarchus phaeocephalus ; * é Baird’s Flycatcher Myiodynastes bairdii : Pacific Royal Flycatcher Onychorhynchus occidentalis (VU) : Slaty Becard Pachyramphus spodiurus (EN) : Ecuadorian Thrush Turdus maculirostris 4 - : 2 Plumbeous-backed Thrush Turdus reevei ‘ Fasciated Wren Campylorhynchus fasciatus . : Grey-and-gold Warbler Basileuterus fraseri : Black-capped Sparrow Arremon abeillei ‘ Crimson-breasted Finch Rhodospingus cruentus z ‘ : White-edged Oriole Icterus graceannae : Greenfield 2001, 2006) was observed daily in reasonable numbers (four singing males along a 200-m trail). Local breeding seems probable. To date the avifauna of Isla de La Plata (76 species) includes 34 marine or coastal species and 42 landbirds (Table 3). However, only six seabirds and ten landbirds are reported to breed (Cisneros-Heredia 2005). I noted breeding evidence (nests, begging chicks, courtship display, intense singing) for 15 species, including seven not previously reported to do so (Table 3). Further, I did not record the introduced House Sparrow Passer domesticus, a species unlikely to be overlooked, whilst Tumbes Pewee Contopus punensis, previously reported as a breeder, was also apparently absent during my survey. The differences in landbird composition, especially the breeding community, reported here suggest regular immigration and extinction/emigration from the mainland. This might also account for 28 terrestrial species recorded only once on the island (Cisneros- Heredia 2005). I suspect that the breeding avifauna of Isla de La Plata will continue to change in the future, and that climate plays a key role in shaping species composition on Juan F. Freile 240 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) TABLE 3 Landbird avifauna of Isla de La Plata. Bold indicates breeding species; 28 species recorded just once are omitted (see Cisneros-Heredia 2005). Note different survey months (=seasons), more birds are expected to breed during rainy months (December—April/May) than dry months (June-November). July-September 1990 July 2000 February 2008 (Ortiz-Crespo & Agnew 1992) (Cisneros-Heredia 2005) (this study) Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Plumbeous Kite Ictinia plumbea Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura Striated Heron Butorides striatus Croaking Ground Dove Columbina cruziana Ecuadorian Ground Dove Columbina buckleyi Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris Croaking Ground Dove Columbina cruziana Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus Short-tailed Woodstar Myrmia micrura Short-tailed Woodstar Myrmia micrura Croaking Ground Dove Columbina cruziana Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus Little Woodstar Chaetocercus bombus Eared Dove Zenaida auriculata Long-tailed Mockingbird Mimus longicaudatus Grey-and-white Tyrannulet Pseudelaenia leucospodia Grey-capped Cuckoo Coccyzus lansbergi House Wren Troglodytes aedon Yellow-bellied Elaenia Elaenia flavogaster Anthony’s Nightjar Caprimulgus anthonyi Southern Yellow Grosbeak Pheucticus chrysogaster Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus Short-tailed Woodstar Myrmia micrura Collared Warbling Finch Poospiza hispaniolensis Long-tailed Mockingbird Mimus longicaudatus Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquita Peruvian Meadowlark Sturnella bellicosa Southern Yellow Grosbeak Pheucticus chrysogaster | Grey-and-white Tyrannulet Pseudelaenia leucospodia House Sparrow Passer domesticus Collared Warbling Finch Poospiza hispaniolensis Tawny-crowned Pygmy Tyrant Euscarthmus meloryphus House Sparrow Passer domesticus Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus Streaked Flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus Baird’s Flycatcher Myiodynastes bairdti Snowy-throated Kingbird Tyrannus niveigularis Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus Long-tailed Mockingbird Mimus longicaudatus House Wren Troglodytes aedon Black-lored Yellowthroat Geothlypis auricularis Southern Yellow Grosbeak Pheucticus chrysogaster Crimson-breasted Finch Rhodospingus cruentus Collared Warbling Finch Poospiza hispaniolensis Peruvian Meadowlark Sturnella bellicosa the island. Annual surveys will provide further insights into the dynamics of the landbird community. Acknowledgements For company in the field I thank Ana Torres, Daniel Cisneros, Lorena Delgado, Gabriela Irazabal, Francisco Benitez, Paola Moscoso, Amaranta Valencia and David Diaz. Carlos Robles, Luis Madrid, Carlos Vinueza, Andy Aguirre and Paola Moscoso joined field work at Chorrera, Cojimies and La Segua, which was part of the 2007 Neotropical Waterbird Census of Aves&Conservacién (formerly Corporacién Ornitoldgica del Ecuador), funded by Wetlands International. Most field trips were funded by the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) through the International Center of Tropical Ecology, University of Missouri—St. Louis. My deepest thanks go to Bette Loiselle for her support, friendship and encouragement, and to Olga Martha Montiel at MBG for her support. Tatiana Santander and Irina Munoz of Aves&Conservacion invited me to Cojimies, and Felipe Campos of Instituto Nazca to Isla de La Plata. Thanks to Robert Ridgely and Roger Ahlman for sharing field data, to Diego Cisneros-Heredia for his comments and to Elisa Bonaccorso for help in prepar- ing the map. This paper is dedicated to the late Paul Coopmans for his support and friendship, and for his many contributions to Ecuadorian ornithology. References: Balchin, C. S. 1996. The nest of the Blackish-headed Spinetail, Synallaxis tithys. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 116: 126-127. Benitez J., V. 2005. Evaluacion ecoldgica rapida de la avifauna en los bosques del suroccidente de la provin- cia de Esmeraldas. Pp. 67-101 in Vazquez, M. A., Freile, J. F. & Suarez, L. (eds.) Biodiversidad en el suroccidente de la provincia de Esmeraldas. Un reporte de las evaluaciones ecolégicas y socioeconémicas rapidas. EcoCiencia & Ministerio del Ambiente, Quito. BirdLife International. 2007. The BirdLife checklist of the birds of the world. Version 0. www.birdlife.org /datazone/species / downloads /BirdLife_Checklist_Version_0.xls. Juan F. Freile 241 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Carrasco, L., Cook, A. & Karubian, J. 2008. Extension del rango de distribucion de ocho especies de aves en las montafias de Mache-Chindul, Ecuador. Cotinga 29: 72-76. Chapman, F. M. 1926. The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 55. Cisneros-Heredia, D. F. 2005. La avifauna de la isla de La Plata, Parque Nacional Machalilla, Ecuador, con notas sobre nuevos registros. Cotinga 24: 22-27. Freile, J. F. & Santander, T. 2005. Areas importantes para la conservacién de las aves en Ecuador. Pp. 283-470 in Boyla, K. A. & Estrada, A. (eds.) Areas importantes para la conservacion de las aves en los Andes tropicales. Sitios prioritarios para la conservacién de la biodiversidad. BirdLife International & Conservation International, Quito. Henry, P. Y. 2005. New distributional records of birds from Andean and western Ecuador. Cotinga 23: 27-32. Hilgert, N. & Benavides, V. 2002. Aramides axillaris. Pp. 126-127 in Granizo, T., Pacheco, C., Ribadeneira, M. B., Guerrero, M. & Suarez, L. (eds.) Libro rojo de las aves del Ecuador. Simbioe, Conservation International, EcoCiencia, Ministerio del Ambiente & UICN, Quito. Hornbuckle, J. & Mudd, A. 1997. A survey of the birds of Bilsa Biological Reserve, Mache hills, northwest Ecuador. Report of Mache-Chindul expedition. Unpubl. Lopez-Lants, B. & Gastezzi, P. 2000. Inventario, listado comentado y cuantificacion de la poblacién de aves de la Ciénega de La Segua, Manabi, Ecuador. UICN & Programa de Manejo de Recursos Costeros, Guayaquil. Madge, S. & Burn, H. 1988. Waterfowl. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Murphy, R. C. 1936. Oceanic birds of South America. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York. Ortiz-Crespo, F. & Agnew, P. 1992. The birds of La Plata Island, Ecuador. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 112: 66-73. Parker, T. A. & Carr, J. L. (eds.) 1992. Status of forest remnants in the Cordillera de la Costa and adjacent areas of southwestern Ecuador. RAP Working Papers No. 2. Conservation International, Washington DC. Ridgely, R. S. & Greenfield, P. J. 2001. The birds of Ecuador. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. Ridgely, R. S. & Greenfield, P. J. 2006. Aves del Ecuador. Fundacion Jocotoco & Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Quito. Solano-Ugalde, A., Freile, J. F., Moscoso, P. & Prieto-Albuja, F. submitted. New bird records from northern Esmeraldas province, Ecuador. Cotinga. Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. & Wege, D. C. 1998. Endemic Bird Areas of the world: priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Vogt, C. A. 2007. Range extensions and noteworthy records from mainland Ecuador. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 127: 228-233. Address: Fundacion Numashir, Casilla Postal 17—12-122. Quito, Ecuador, e-mail: jfreileo@yahoo.com © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 242 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) The biology and conservation status of Gough Bunting Rowettia goughensis by Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert Received 21 December 2007 Gough Bunting Rowettia goughensis is a large (60 g) finch endemic to Gough Island in the central South Atlantic Ocean. It evolved from South American finches and is closely related to Nesospiza buntings from Tristan da Cunha (Ryan et al. 2007), but also bears a strik- ing resemblance to Melanodera, a genus of finches found in southern South America and the Falklands (Lowe 1923). Gough Bunting was initially described as two species: Nesospiza goughensis for birds in the plain olive adult plumage and N. jessiae for birds in the distinc- tive, streaky juvenile plumage (Clarke 1904, 1905). Clarke assumed that the transitional iminature plumage was the winter plumage of N. goughensis. Lowe (1923) corrected this misconception and, given its unusually long bill and apparent affinity to Melanodera, placed the species in its own genus. Relatively little has been published on the biology of Gough Bunting (Collar & Stuart 1984) and its nest and eggs were described as recently as 1979 (Voisin 1979). The species is currently listed as Vulnerable because it is confined to a single, small island (BirdLife Round Cone Lot's Wife S&S. ince » Church Rock Isolda Rock — [ Tristania “> Penguin Island Rock - ag Buttress Rock . 1 The Glen Seal Beach Sadde island = ————————— ______ South West island a 5 km Figure 1. Gough Island, showing the locations mentioned in the text, as well as the large offshore stacks. The dark shaded area is the approximate extent of highland habitats (wet heath, Sphagnum bogs and feldmark). Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 243 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) International 2004), and is at risk from the accidental introduction of predators such as rats Rattus spp. or cats Felis catus. Tristan Bunting Nesospiza acunhae became extinct on the main island of Tristan da Cunha barely 50 years after the island was settled by humans, probably as a result of the introduction of House Mice Mus musculus and feral cats (Ryan in press). They apparently were extinct prior to the arrival of Black Rats Rattus rattus, which were only introduced to Tristan in 1882 (Hagen 1952). Recently, concern has been raised about the status of Gough Bunting, given probable predation of eggs and chicks by introduced House Mice (Cuthbert & Hilton 2004). Impacts are probably greater in the lowlands, where mouse densities are greater, resulting in most buntings being confined to highlands (Cuthbert & Hilton 2004). The few nests found at low elevations in 2000/01 were confined to coastal cliffs, where the risk of mouse predation pre- sumably is reduced. The higher predation rate of artificial nests in lowland areas than in highland areas was used to support this hypothesis (Cuthbert & Hilton 2004). If mice have impacted Gough Bunting, it is important to test whether a new equilibrium has been reached after more than a century of interaction, or whether the bunting population contin- ues to decrease. Here, we present recent observations on the distribution and abundance of Gough Bunting, suggesting that the population has decreased significantly, and continues to decline. We estimate the abundance of invertebrate prey in different habitats to assess whether competition or predation is the main driver of bunting population decreases. We also summarise information on the bird’s plumage development and morphology, foraging behaviour, breeding biology and movements. Review of status Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, the position of Gough Island was incorrectly recorded, and it was only rediscovered in 1731. The island’s inhospitable coast and lack of sheltered anchorages resulted in few landings until the start of commercial sealing in the early 19th century, when mice were introduced accidentally (Wace & Holdgate 1976). The first records of the terrestrial biota were made by George Comer, a sealer who spent five months based at The Glen in 1888-89. He reported that buntings were ‘very common’ (Verrill 1895: 463). At least five were collected close to the shoreline in The Glen during a four-hour visit by naturalists from the Scotia in April 1904 (Clarke 1905), and Wilkins (1923) collected 28 specimens during a four-day visit in May-June 1922. Wilkins reported that buntings occurred in ‘considerable numbers’ at The Glen, becoming ‘not quite so plentiful’ at higher elevations (p. 505). He usually found them foraging in groups of 5—7 birds, with roughly equal numbers of adults and juveniles. Gough Bunting was still quite common in the 1950s to 1970s. The Gough Scientific Expedition estimated a total population of 2,000 birds in 1956, when they were common in The Glen (Holdgate 1957, 1958). Based on their experience in 1956, Wace & Holdgate (1976) reported buntings to be more common than moorhens. In May 1968, Clive Elliott found buntings to be ‘numerous’ along the beach at The Glen (Elliott 1969); he observed 16 buntings (50% in juvenile or immature plumage) at The Glen during two days ashore (Elliott 1970). In 1977, Voisin (1979) reported the bunting to be ‘fairly abundant’, and in 1980 Clancey (1981) judged it to be ‘not uncommon’ around the weather station, occurring in thickets of island tree Phylica arborea as well as coastal tussock. By comparison, Richardson (1984) found the bunting to be not particularly common on a five-day visit in October-November 1974. He proposed a total population as low as 200 pairs, based on an estimate of 4 pairs/km*. His assessment may have been influenced by his experience of Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert Nesospiza buntings at Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands in the Tristan group, which occur at much higher densities than Gough Buntings (up to 20 pairs/ha* in coastal tussock on Inaccessible; PGR unpubl.). Surprisingly, Richardson (1984) did not record buntings above 300 m elevation, although it is unclear to what extent he explored upland areas. Subsequent to 1980, there are few published data on the abun- dance and distribution of the bunting. BirdLife International (2000) gave an estimate of 1,500 pairs, based on density estimates made by territory mapping in 1990-91 (this paper). This was revised to 400-500 pairs (BirdLife International 2004) based on Cuthbert & Sommer’s (2004) esti- mate of 23 pairs/km7 in wet heath vegetation at Gonydale, extrapo- lated across 15.2 km2 of wet heath, and 1.7 pairs/km* along 42 km of coastal cliffs. Cuthbert & Sommer (2004) ignored pairs nesting in other habitat types. However, their estimate of density in the high- lands was in error, being incorrectly calculated from a mean nearest-neighbour distance of 118 m between nests to provide an estimated density of 23 pairs/ km. The correct figure should be roughly 90 pairs/km (Cuthbert & Sommer 2004). Using inter-nest distances is biased, however, because nests are clustered along stream banks and gulleys. A better estimate is obtained by dividing the number of nests (13) by the area of Gonydale (c.65-85 ha), which gives roughly 15-20 pairs/km? in upland wet heath vegetation. 244 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Figure 2. Gough Buntings Rowettia goughensis, showing the three main plumages exhibited in spring: a) a streaky juvenile which is presumably one year old, b) an immature female in transitional plumage (males have a black bib in this plumage), and c) an adult male in plain olive plumage, showing a relatively large and intense dark face mask and bib (P. G. Ryan) Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 245 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Study area and methods Gough (40°S, 10°W) is a remote, cool temperate island of 65 km? lying 380 km south- southeast of Tristan da Cunha. It is mountainous, with convex cliffs along the west coast, gently sloping lowlands in the south, and deeply incised valleys along the north and east coasts, of which The Glen is the largest. The island has five main vegetation types (Wace 1961). Tussock grassland, dominated by Spartina arundinacea and Paridochloa flabellata, occurs up to 300 m on coastal cliffs, mainly along the west coast. Fern bush is a diverse plant community found in coastal lowlands, locally to c.450 m. Characteristic species include the island tree Phylica arborea and bogfern Blechnum palmiforme. At higher elevations, fern bush grades into wet heath, a transitional vegetation type with large numbers of grasses, sedges and mosses. Areas of impeded drainage in the highlands support Sphagnum bogs, whereas the highest peaks and exposed ridges have short feldmark vegetation (Ryan 2007). In addi- tion to the main island, there are several offshore stacks (Fig. 1). The largest and most isolated stack is Penguin Island, a 2.2-ha vegetated stack 750 m off the east coast. The only other large stack with extensive vegetation is Saddle Island (c.0.8 ha), 250 m off the west coast. Gough Buntings were caught with long-handled scoop nets by PGR during 3-4 week visits to the South African weather station in the spring (September—October) of 1990, 1991, 1999, 2001, 2006 and 2007. All birds were weighed, measured and banded, with most being given unique colour band combinations. The following measurements were taken: mass to the nearest 0.2 g, flattened wing chord and tail to the nearest 1 mm, tarsus to the nearest 0.2 mm, and total head, culmen length and bill depth at the base to the nearest 0.1 mm. Adults and immatures could be sexed on the basis of plumage characters (males have larger masks and bibs), behaviour and vocalisations. However, streaky juveniles could not be sexed reli- ably. Some additional birds, mainly fledglings, were colour banded during the summers of 2000/01 by RJC and 2004/05 by Marie-Heléne Burle. The age and sex ratios of banded birds are not considered to be representative of the population as a whole, because juveniles are easier to catch than older birds, and the difficulty of catching adult males and females varies during the breeding season. Bunting movements were estimated from re-sightings of indi- vidually colour-marked birds. In 1990, 1991 and 2007, territories were mapped in the South Peak—Tafelkop region (c.30 ha) using individually colour-marked birds to determine territory boundaries. Approximate numbers of pairs also were counted in several other areas, based on observa- tions of singing males and nest searches. Density estimates were extrapolated across the island, assuming 25 km? of suitable habitat above 450 m (wet heath and sheltered slopes). In September 2007, all buntings encountered in upland areas were counted during a survey of Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena chicks, and classified in three age classes (Fig. 2): streaky juveniles (birds 1-2 years old), immatures in transitional plumage (presumably 2-3 years old), and adults (plain olive plumage, 3+ years old). The proportion of juveniles in dif- ferent areas was then related to the breeding success of Tristan Albatrosses in these areas (Cuthbert et al. 2004, Wanless 2007), to test whether areas with high mouse predation on albatross chicks have fewer juvenile buntings. We also visited Penguin Island to assess the numbers of buntings there. Penguin Island is very seldom visited, and is apparently free of introduced mice; searches for droppings and burrows (readily found on the main island) revealed no sign of their presence. Bunting foraging behaviour and diet were studied by direct observation during all vis- its to Gough. Most prey items were small invertebrates that could not be identified accurately, but the foraging technique and the substratum from which they were obtained Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 246 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) TABLE 1 Numbers of pairs of Gough Buntings Rowettia goughensis holding territories in different areas of Gough Island in 1990/91 and 2007. Numbers in parentheses include pairs not in adult plumage. Region Habitat Approximate area 1990/91 2007 South Peak—Tafelkop wet heath 30 ha 10 4 (7) Waterfall Camp wet heath 10 ha 5 1 (2) Golden Highway cliffs fern bush 15 ha 1 (2) 0 Seal Beach to Admirals coastal tussock 5 ha 2 (3) D The Glen tussock and fern bush 4ha 5 1 Total 66 ha 23 (25) 8 (12) were recorded. In addition, in 1990 bunting faeces and the stomach contents of one bird killed accidentally in a mouse trap at Waterfall Camp were examined under a dissecting microscope. To assess the abundance of invertebrate prey in different habitats, we placed pitfall traps in coastal tussock, fern bush and wet heath in December 2000. Two sites were selected in each habitat, with 20 traps deployed at each site. The traps were emptied after six days in coastal tussock and fern bush, and after ten days in wet heath. The numbers of invertebrates were counted, with no attempt to correct for the different exposure periods. The locations and contents of all bunting nests found were described. Nests were read- ily located during the incubation and brood stage, because males regularly feed females at the nest (see Results), with females uttering a distinctive begging call. Not all nests on cliffs could be accessed, and thus sample sizes for nest sites are larger than those for other nest parameters. Nest dimensions were measured to the nearest 5 mm and eggs to the nearest 0.1 mm. The behaviour of breeding buntings was observed during nest observations lasting 80 hours at 15 nests in 1990 and 2000. The male and female of each breeding pair could be distinguished in the field based on plumage and vocal differences. Results A total of 117 Gough Buntings was banded on Gough between 1990 and 2007: 106 in the highlands, nine in coastal tussock around the weather station between Seal Beach and the Admirals, and two at The Glen. Most were full grown, but 27 were banded as chicks or fledglings, all in the highlands. Fifteen (nine adults, one immature, three juveniles and two fledglings) were re-sighted at least six months after being banded. Most were seen 1-2 years later, but two (one banded as an adult male and one as a fledgling) were seen seven years later. Median displacement was 0 m (mean 230 m). The longest movements were 1.2 km, made by a juvenile after seven months, and 0.8 km, by a fledgling in just less than two years. All other movements were <500 m, and not readily distinguished from no movement, given that buntings were seen to fly at least 500 m on occasions during intraspecific aerial chases. Adults usually remained in their territories, but occasionally chased other buntings over adjacent territories. Juveniles tended to be more mobile, sometimes being chased at least 800 m by two or more pairs of territory holders. Occasional juveniles were observed making long-distance movements of their own volition; one flew c.1 km from the upper reaches of Sophora Glen south beyond Tafelkop, travelling high over at least three territories. All birds banded in adult plumage retained this plumage in subsequent sightings. The only bird banded in transitional immature plumage had moulted into adult plumage a year later. Two birds banded in streaky juvenile plumage in spring, at least one year after fledg- ing, had moulted into immature plumage a year later. Another juvenile, banded in March, still retained juvenile plumage in October. However, a fledgling seen almost two years later Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 247 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) TABLE 2 Mass (g) and morphometrics (mm) of Gough Buntings Rowettia goughensis. Juveniles cannot be sexed reliably on external characters. Character Male (n=20) Female (n=27) Juveniles (n=40) mean + SD (range) mean + SD (range) mean + SD (range) Mass 60.1 + 3.4 (53.0-66.1) 57.2 + 3.9 (50.2-67.8) 58.1 + 3.5 (48.0-64.7) Wing 106.5 + 1.1 (104-108) 103.0 + 1.6 (100-106) 105.2 + 2.3 (99-109) Tail 86.9 + 4.0 (76-91) 85.5 + 4.4 (76-92) 82.3 + 4.5 (71-92) Tarsus 31.2 + 1.0 (29.2-32.8) 30.9 + 0.8 (29.2-32.6) 31.3 + 1.0 (28.8-33.0) Total head 42.9 + 0.6 (42.0-44.2) 42.6 + 0.6 (41.5-43.9) 42.7 + 0.7 (41.1-44.2) Culmen 19.0 + 0.6 (18.0-20.0) 18.8 + 0.5 (18.0-20.1) 18.8 + 0.5 (17.9-19.9) Bill depth 8.7 + 0.2 (8.2-9.0) 8.6 + 0.2 (8.3-9.0) 8.7 + 0.2 (8.1-9.2) was still in streaky juvenile plumage, indicating that at least some retain this plumage for two years. Abundance and distribution—Gough Buntings were observed throughout the island, but were rare in fern bush, and most abundant at higher elevations, especially in wet heath. Territory mapping in wet heath in the South Peak—Tafelkop region found ten pairs of adult buntings holding territories in 1990 and 1991. Given an area of 30 ha, this suggests a mean density of c.30 pairs/km~. In 2007, this had fallen to seven pairs, of which in only four were both birds in adult plumage. Two of the other three pairs comprised an immature male and an adult female, whilst the final pair was a juvenile (presumably male) and an adult female. Only two ‘mixed’ pairs comprising immature and adult birds were found in 1990, both at low elevation (Table 1). No bunting pairs were found in fern bush in 2007 (Table 1). The most dramatic decrease between 1990 and 2007 occurred at The Glen. Five pairs were found along the beach and adjacent valley up to the Northern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome colony in 1990, but only one bird was seen in this area in 2007. The contrast between The Glen and Penguin Island, lying just offshore, was remarkable. We heard at least four singing males in c.1 ha on Penguin Island during a brief visit on 30 September 2007, whereas no singing was heard over a much larger area on the same morning at The Glen. Surveys of upland areas in September 2007 counted 148 buntings. Of these, 20% were streaky juveniles, 8% were immatures in transitional plumage and 72% were adults. There was a tendency for the proportion of juveniles to be lower in areas where Tristan Albatross breeding success was low (Fig. 3), although this was only marginally significant (r,=0.674, F, =4.98, P=0.07). No juveniles were observed in the north-west of the island, where buntings were scarce (only 18 buntings seen north-west of a line between Big Gulch and Barren Dome). Buntings also were scarce in this area in 1990, where the mean distance between pairs was estimated to be c.500 m, compared to 100-200 m in similar habitat in the southern highlands. Population size—A population of 1,500 pairs was estimated based on the density of pairs in 1990-91 (BirdLife International 2000). This assumed that South Peak—Tafelkop and Waterfall Camp were typical of favourable upland areas (25 km? with 40 pairs/km = 1,000 pairs). Of the remaining 40 km2, half was assumed to be moderate habitat including cliffs suitable for breeding (20 km? with 20 pairs/km? = 400 pairs), and the other half was largely unsuitable, flat lowland (20 km? with 5 pairs/km? = 100 pairs). The density estimate of Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 248 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) TABLE 3 Foraging behaviour and diet (% of observations) of Gough Buntings Rowettia goughensis in lowland and highland habitats at Gough Island. Prey obtained from the first seven behaviours listed was mainly small invertebrates. Character Lowland (n=88) Highland (n=446) Digging and pulling up vegetation 21.6 Oi) Pulling apart rotten Phylica arborea wood ile 0.0 Gleaning epiphytes on Phylica arborea 20.5 0.0 Gleaning epiphytes on Blechnum palmiforme 10.2 0.4 Gleaning other vegetation 25.0 23.3 Entering seabird burrows 2.3 0.7 Hawking flying insects ie 0.4 Seeds of grasses and sedges 5:7 os) Nertera depressa fruits 13.6 O27), Empetrum rubrum fruits 1.1 3) Scavenging muscle from bird carcasses 0.0 abt around 15-20 pairs/km* in Gonydale in 2000/01 is similar to that in the Tafelkop—South Peak area in 2007. The population estimate requires revision in view of our recent density data. The south- ern highlands (15 km?) may support c.20 pairs/km, but this is probably optimistic for the northern highlands (10 km’), where 5 pairs/km 7 is more likely. This yields a highland pop- ulation of c.350 pairs. If the lowlands around the weather station and at The Glen are typical of the entire island, there are probably few buntings away from coastal cliffs over the remainder. Given a coastline of c.40 km, and using Cuthbert & Hilton’s (2004) inter-nest dis- tance on coastal cliffs of 600 m, this adds a further 65 nests. Offshore stacks may support relatively high densities of buntings, but they are small and unlikely to support more than a few tens of pairs. Thus the breeding population is probably 400-500 pairs. If 20% of birds are juveniles, and only half of the 8% immatures are paired, the total population in spring, in the pre-breeding season, is likely to be 1,050-1,350 birds. Morphology and moult.—There was little difference between the sexes in terms of morphology, with males averaging 5% heavier and 1-3% larger in most linear measurements (Table 2). The mean size of juveniles, comprising both sexes, was intermediate between males and females, apart from the shorter tail length of juveniles. This is a function of the heavy wear exhibited in the tail-feathers of many juvenile buntings in spring. No birds were moulting flight-feathers; they presumably undergo a complete post- breeding moult in February—April like Nesospiza (PGR unpubl). Foraging behaviour, diet and the abundance of invertebrates—Gough Buntings spent a large proportion of daylight hours foraging. Most food was obtained on or close to the ground, but birds in lowland habitats often gleaned prey from epiphytes on island trees and bogferns (Table 3). In the highlands, invertebrate prey was obtained by pulling up tufts of moss and other loose vegetation, or by gleaning insects from a wide variety of plants. Occasionally buntings would hawk airborne flies and moths, as well as scavenge flesh from seabird carcasses. Most invertebrate prey could not be identified, but large items included earthworms, caterpillars and moths. Bunting faeces contained the remains of flightless moths, spiders, and adult and larval beetles. Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 249 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) TABLE 4 Mean numbers of invertebrates per pitfall trap set at two sites in three habitats on Gough Island in December 2000. Taxon Coastal tussock (n=40) Fern bush (n=36) Wet heath (n=16*) mean + SE mean + SE mean + SE Diptera 16.4 + 4.5 7.2+1.4 0:2) 0s Coleoptera 47 VA 7.9% 4.9 0:3! 250.2 Lepidoptera 0.0 + 0.0 0.0 + 0.0 Tle 30.9 Arachnida O03 1.7 + 0.4 0.6 + 0.2 Acari igs (O6) P25) pad 0.1+0.1 Annelida 0302 O20 0.0 + 0.0 Mollusca 0.1 + 0.0 0.8 + 0.2 Oe 0:1 Isopoda 2 7at40.6 6.0 + 1.0 0.2+0.1 Myriopoda 8.9+4.2 92.9 + 45.4 0.0 + 0.0 Other insect orders Ones On On OF Ot 0A *Sample size in wet heath reduced because Subantarctic Skuas Catharacta antarctica dug up many traps. The most conspicuous food taken in large quantities in the highlands was Nertera depressa fruit. All age classes ate these fruits, sometimes in large numbers. One adult male was observed to eat 37 fruits in two minutes. Nertera fruits were nibbled, apparently to extract the fleshy pulp, and the skin dropped. Each fruit contains two hard seeds, and these usually are discarded. Of 20 fruits discarded by a foraging bunting, 13 contained two seeds and the remainder one seed. Despite this, bunting faeces contained up to 20 Nertera seeds, and the gizzard of a juvenile contained 300 Nertera seeds. Buntings also ate seeds of a range of sedges (Carex insularis, C. thouarsii, Scirpus sulcatus, S. bicolor, Uncinia compacta) and grass- es, including native (Agrostis, Calamagrostis and Deschampsia spp.) and introduced species (Holcus lanatus, Poa annua). Pitfall traps caught 5,752 invertebrates. Most (64%) were millipedes (Myriopoda), which apparently are not consumed by buntings. Of the remaining 2,051 invertebrates, 45% were flies (Diptera), 23% beetles (Coleoptera), 16% woodlice (Isopoda), 12% spiders and ticks (Arachnida and Acari), and smaller proportions of molluscs, earthworms and other insect orders. Apart from moths (Lepidoptera), invertebrate prey was more abundant in lowland habitats than in wet heath (Table 4). Breeding biology.—Most breeders were in adult plumage, but some in transitional immature plumage were found, including a pair of immatures at Seal Beach in 1990. Breeding occurs from September to December. We found 12 nests with eggs or chicks in October, nine in November and nine in December, but breeding commences earlier at lower elevations. Voisin (1979) reported that chicks from a nest near sea level at the weather station fledged in early October, suggesting that the eggs were laid at the end of August. The earliest we saw fledged chicks was 18 October at c.200 m and 25 October at 500 m. The latest nests with eggs were found on 23 December at 450 m in Gonydale (one with two eggs, and another with one egg and one newly hatched chick). Nests were open cups, constructed on or close to the ground, sheltered by overhanging vegetation or a rock. All nests in coastal tussock and fern bush (<450 m elevation) were sited on cliffs at least 4 m above ground (n=8). Most nests in upland areas also were on steep slopes (n=26), usually along stream banks, gulleys or on rock outcrops; only three were on relatively flat ground. The female constructed the nest, usually gathering material within 20 m of the nest site and flying with it to the nest. Initial material was coarse and large (up to Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 250 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) 20 cm long), mainly grass and sedge leaves plus occasional fern fronds. Once the basic structure was assembled, it was lined with finer material, usually Scirpus bicolor stems. Completed nests measured 148 + 16 mm (SD, range 130-190 mm) across, with a cup 92 + 12 mm (75-100 mm) across and 55 + 15 mm (35-90 mm) deep (n=14). The pale blue eggs, variably speckled grey-brown, with markings usually concen- trated at the blunt end, were laid 1-2 days apart. Clutch size was 2.0 + 0.25 eggs (1-3; n=33 including data from Voisin 1979, Williams & Imber 1982). The mean size of _ 36 eges was 27.7 + 1.2mm (25.5-30.2) x 19.4 Figure 3. Correlation (r?=0.45, P<0.07) between the i proportion of juvenile Gough Buntings Rowettia + 0.5 mm (18.3-20.4) (including the two goughensis and Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena eggs reported by Voisin 1979). Incubation | breeding success in different highland areas in 2007. was by the female alone. Duration of the incubation period is unknown. The male assisted by feeding the female on average every 22.7 + 9.5 minutes (range 4-50 minutes, n=64 inter-visit intervals), calling to her, whereupon she left the nest to be fed. She also foraged for herself, leaving the eggs unattended for on average 6.3 + 5.5 minutes (1-28 minutes, n=73 incubation absences). After hatching, the chicks were brooded by the female for several days. Brood shifts averaged shorter (10.4 + 7.7 minutes, 1-31 minutes, n=29) than incubation shifts (15.3 + 9.7 minutes, 2-44 minutes, n=62), but periods away from the nest were only slightly longer (8.7 + 5.9 minutes, 1-24 minutes, n=37). The male continued to feed the female during brooding, but the interval between feeds increased (average 32.7 + 15.4 minutes, 10-69 minutes, n=20). The male did not feed the chicks directly while the female was brooding, but once she started to spend more time foraging, he delivered food directly. Large chicks (>10 days old) were fed every 16.5 + 11.4 minutes (1-55 minutes, n=83). Chicks fledged after c.20 days, but remained con- cealed in cover for another week or so. Thereafter, they remained on the natal territory, and were fed by the adults at least occasionally, for several weeks. The only breeding success data are those reported by Cuthbert & Hilton (2004) from Gonydale. Overall, 52% of nests fledged at least one chick, and given a mean 1.67 fledglings per successful nest, this results in a mean of 0.87 fledglings per breeding attempt. There is no evidence that pairs raise more than one brood per season, but at least one pair re-laid 23 days after the loss of its first clutch. The second clutch also failed. % Juvenile buntings 0 10 20 30 40 50 BO % albatross breeding success Discussion Numbers of Gough Buntings have decreased since the first records were made of the species in the late 19th century, and they continue to do so. Most significantly, territory mapping in 2007 suggests that the population has roughly halved within the last two decades. The increasing occurrence of birds breeding in immature plumage and holding territories in juvenile plumage also is indicative of a decreasing population. Gough Buntings are strongly territorial, with adults chasing young from their territories (Holdgate 1958; pers. obs.). That juveniles and immatures now hold territories suggests that there are more vacant territories than was the case even a decade or so ago. Wilkins (1923) reported Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 251 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) that most buntings occurred in flocks of up to seven; this is no longer the case. Birds are typ- ically solitary or in pairs; one group of four seen in September 2007 was exceptional. Recent decreases have been most marked at lower elevations. Buntings were still fairly common in fern bush around the weather station in the 1970s (Voisin 1979, Clancey 1981), but were virtually absent by 1990. They disappeared from mid-elevation cliffs inland of the weather station between 1990 and 2007, and have become much less abundant at The Glen over this period. This apparently continues a long-term trend of a decrease in numbers at low elevation. Cuthbert & Hilton (2004) considered the possibility that the greater abun- dance of buntings at higher elevations may simply reflect the pre-mouse distribution of the birds, but Wilkins (1923) specifically mentioned that buntings were more common along the coast than inland. Nesospiza buntings also are more abundant at low elevations on Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha (PGR unpubl). Two findings support the hypothesis that mice are responsible for the decrease in bunting numbers. First is the abundance of buntings on Penguin Island. Landing on this apparently mouse-free islet was reminiscent of landing on Inaccessible or Nightingale in the Tristan group, both of which are free of introduced rodents and support high densities of buntings. The density of buntings on Gough is almost two orders of magnitude lower than that in coastal tussock on Inaccessible. Second is the paucity of juveniles in the population. Wilkins (1923) suggested that streaky juveniles occurred in equal numbers to adults in 1922, and Elliott (1957) reported that juveniles were rather more common than adults in 1952. This contrasts with the situation in 2007, when only 20% of birds were juveniles. The low proportion of juveniles suggests that recruitment is insufficient to maintain the population. Mice could affect buntings either through competition for food or predation of eggs and chicks (Cuthbert & Hilton 2004). These are not mutually exclusive impacts, but their rela- tive importance can be assessed by examining the distribution of buntings in relation to the availability of their food. If competition is the main factor, we would expect buntings to per- sist in areas where their food is most abundant. Our pitfall trap data refute this, suggesting that food is not preventing Gough Buntings from occurring in the coastal lowlands on Gough. Predation is thus probably the main factor driving the population decline, which supports the finding that artificial bunting nests suffered much greater predation by mice in the lowlands than the highlands (Cuthbert & Hilton 2004). It is perhaps surprising that juvenile buntings do not descend to the lowlands to forage, especially in the face of aggres- sion by territory holders in the highlands. This may be a consequence of their limited dispersal range, or possibly other issues, such as disturbance by mice while roosting in the lowlands. The limited movements exhibited by individually marked buntings accord with previous observations of banded birds at The Glen (Holdgate 1958). The breeding biology of Gough Buntings is similar to that of Nesospiza buntings on Inaccessible Island (Fraser & Briggs 1992, Ryan & Moloney 2002). The main difference is the selection of nest sites. Most Nesospiza nests are on the ground in fairly flat terrain (Ryan & Moloney 2002), whereas Gough Buntings typically nest on cliffs or steep slopes. There are no historical records to test whether this difference is an adaptive response to reduce the risk of mouse predation, or simply a function of the heavier rainfall on Gough. However, it is certain that buntings no longer breed in fern bush around the weather station where the first nest was described (Voisin 1979). Also, the prevalence of cliff nesting is greatest at low elevations, where mouse densities are greater, and predation of artificial nests much greater (Cuthbert & Hilton 2004), suggesting that mice are indeed responsible for buntings avoid- ing nesting in easily accessible sites on Gough (or the selective removal of pairs that nest in readily accessible sites). The rate of delivery of food to the nest was similar to that of Tristan Buntings N. acunhae at Inaccessible (Fraser & Briggs 1992), both during incubation (2.6 h! at Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert DESY Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Gough, 2.7 h' at Inaccessible) and when provisioning chicks (3.6 h! at Gough, 5.7 h" at Inaccessible). This suggests that, at least in Gonydale, Gough Buntings did not struggle to | obtain invertebrate food. However, competition for food between mice and buntings is like- ly to be most severe in winter, when mouse populations decrease dramatically due to starvation (Wanless 2007; RJC unpubl.). Competition for food in winter is likely to result in reduced annual survival, especially among juvenile buntings. Unfortunately we lack suffi- cient data to test this hypothesis. Gough Bunting breeding success in Gonydale in 2000/01 was not particularly low. The estimate of 0.87 fledglings per breeding attempt compares favourably with data for Nesospiza buntings at Inaccessible (0.82 fledglings per attempt, n=139 nests; PGR unpubl.). However, breeding success in Gonydale may be atypical, given that Tristan Albatrosses consistently have better breeding success here than anywhere else on the island (Cuthbert et al. 2004, Wanless 2007). The reason for spatial heterogeneity in mouse impacts across Gough is obscure, and it is not immediately evident why there should be a link between predation on albatross chicks in winter and that on bunting eggs and chicks in early sum- mei. One possibility is that higher winter survival of albatross-eating mice enhances local mouse populations, increasing pressure on nesting buntings in spring. The low proportion of juvenile buntings elsewhere on the island, especially in the north-west, where albatross breeding success is invariably very poor, suggests that bunting breeding success probably is lower in other areas than that recorded at Gonydale. Climate change may exacerbate this problem, as warmer winters will presumably permit more mice to survive. We lack sufficient data on survival to construct a robust demographic model for the bunting. It is unclear when mice arrived on the island (although it was presumably between 1800 and 1888), or when they started to impact the bunting. It may be a relatively recent phenomenon, because the climate at Gough has warmed over the last 40 years (Jones et al. 2003). Irrespective of the considerable uncertainty regarding this system, it seems clear that the Gough Bunting population is decreasing, and that its threat status should be revised. With a population of c.1,000 mature individuals confined to a single site of only 65 km?, and having experienced a population decrease of c.50% over the last three generations (assum- ing the mean age of breeding adults is 5-6 years), it qualifies as Critically Endangered under IUCN Criterion B1 a+b (ii, v), a recommendation accepted by BirdLife’s assessment panel (S. Butchart in litt. 2008). The plight of this distinctive endemic species provides further, urgent impetus for calls to eradicate mice from Gough (www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/ conservation / projects /tristandacunha /index.asp). Acknowledgements We thank Coleen Moloney, Erica Sommer and Marie Heléne Burle for their assistance in the field, and Petrus Kritzinger for re-sightings of banded buntings. Funding and logistical support were provided by the South African Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism: Directorate Antarctica and Islands, the UK Overseas Territories Environment Programme, and University of Cape Town. The Administrator and Island Council of Tristan da Cunha kindly gave permission to conduct research on Gough. References: BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened birds of the world. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona & BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Clancey, P. A. 1981. On birds from Gough Island, central South Atlantic. Durban Mus. Novit. 12: 187-200. Clarke, W. E. 1904. [Nesospiza goughensis, n. sp. and Nesospiza jessiae, n. Sp: | Bull Brit. Orns Cialon leo: Clarke, W. E. 1905. Ornithological results of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. I. On the birds of Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Ibis (8)5: 247-268. Collar, N. J. & Stuart, S. N. 1985. Threatened birds of Africa and related islands: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data book. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK. Peter G. Ryan & Richard J. Cuthbert 253 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Cuthbert, R. J. & Hilton, G. M. 2004. Introduced House Mice Mus musculus: a significant predator of endan- gered and endemic birds on Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean? Biol. Conserv. 117: 483-489. Cuthbert, R. J. & Sommer, E. 2004. Gough Island bird monitoring manual. RSPB Res. Rep. 5. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy. Cuthbert, R. J., Sommer, E. S., Ryan, P. G., Cooper, J. & Hilton, G. 2004. Demography and conservation sta- tus of the Tristan Albatross Diomedea [exulans] dabbenena. Biol. Conserv. 117: 471-481. Elliott, H. F. I. 1957. A contribution to the ornithology of the Tristan da Cunha group. Ibis 99: 545-586. Elliott, C. C. H. 1969. Gough Island. Bokmakierie 21: 17-19. Elliott, C. C. H. 1970. Additional note on the sea-birds of Gough Island. Ibis 112: 112-114. Fraser, M. W. & Briggs, D. J. 1992. New information on the Nesospiza buntings at Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha, and notes on their conservation. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 112: 191-205. Hagen, Y. 1952. The birds of Tristan da Cunha. Results of the Norwegian scientific expedition to Tristan da Cunha 1937-1938 20: 1-248. Holdgate, M. W. 1957. Gough Island — a possible sanctuary. Oryx 4: 168-176. Holdgate, M. W. 1958. Mountains in the sea. Macmillan, London. Jones, A. G., Chown, S. L., Ryan, P. G., Gremmen, N. J. M. & Gaston, K. J. 2003. A review of conservation threats on Gough Island: a case study for terrestrial conservation in the Southern Oceans. Biol. Conserv. 113: 75-87. Lowe, P. R. 1923. Notes on some land birds of the Tristan da Cunha group collected by the Quest Expedition. Ibis 11(5): 511-529. Richardson, M. E. 1984. Aspects of the ornithology of the Tristan da Cunha group and Gough Island. Cormorant 12: 123-201. Ryan, P. G. (ed.) 2007. Field guide to the animals and plants of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island. Pisces Publications, Newbury. Ryan, P. G. 2008. Taxonomic and conservation implications of ecological speciation in Nesospiza buntings at Tristan da Cunha. Bird Conserv. Intern. 18: 20-29. Ryan, P. G. & Moloney, C. L. 2002. Breeding behaviour, clutch size and egg dimensions of Nesospiza buntings at Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha. Ostrich 73: 52-58. Ryan, P. G., Bloomer, P., Moloney, C. L., Grant, T. & Delport, W. 2007. Ecological speciation in South Atlantic island finches. Science 315: 1420-1423. Verrill, G. E. 1895. On some birds and eggs collected by Mr. Geo. Comer at Gough Island, Kerguelen Island, and the Island of South Georgia, with extracts from his notes, including a meteorological record for about six months at Gough Island. Trans. Connecticut Acad. 9: 430-478. Voisin, J. F. 1979. The nest and eggs of the Gough Island Bunting. Ostrich 50: 122-124. Wace, N. M. 1961. The vegetation of Gough Island. Ecol. Monogr. 31: 337-367. Wace, N. M. & Holdgate, M. W. 1976. Man and nature in the Tristan da Cunha Islands. IUCN Monogr. 6: 1-114. Wanless, R. M. 2007. Impacts of the introduced House Mice on seabirds of Gough Island. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Cape Town. Wilkins, G. H. 1923. Report on the birds collected during the voyage of the Quest (Shackleton-Rowett Expedition) to the southern Atlantic. [bis 11(5): 474-511. Williams, A. J. & Imber, M. J. 1982. Ornithological observations at Gough Island in 1979, 1980 and 1981. S. Afr. J. Antarct. Res. 12: 40-45. Addresses: Peter G. Ryan, Percy FitzPatrick Institute DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa, e-mail: peter.ryan@uct.ac.za. Richard J. Cuthbert, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, SG19 2DL, UK, e-mail: Richard.Cuthbert@rspb.org.uk © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer 254 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) On Elminia nigromitrata (Reichenow, 1874) (Monarchidae): subspecies and lectotype designation by Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer Received 11 February 2008 In 1994, Dickerman described a new subspecies of Dusky Crested Flycatcher, Elminia nigromitrata colstoni (originally described in the genus Trochocercus), based on type material from Liberia, leaving the exact distribution of this western population and the geographical barriers between subspecies vague. Current taxonomy accepts the taxon as valid (e.g. Erard 1997, Dickinson 2003, Clement 2006). Apart from the holotype and other specimens from Liberia, a single individual from southern Nigeria was reluctantly assigned by the describer to E. n. colstoni, though subspecific determination seemed difficult. Whilst Dickerman (1994) stated that colstoni ‘probably occupies forested regions west of the Dahomey forest gap’ (despite the single specimen from Nigeria), all verified specimens of nominate E. n. nigromitrata (Reichenow, 1874), including its lectotype (see below), are from south-east Cameroon and further east. This leaves the question of subspecific identity of individuals of E. nigromitrata east of the Dahomey Gap (Benin), but west of the Cameroonian moun- tains, i.e. in Nigeria and south-west Cameroon. Field data from south-west Cameroon All eight birds mist-netted during a field survey in Banyang-Mbo (05°20’N, 09°28’E), near Nguti, south-west Cameroon, were determined as E. n. colstoni (see Sammler 2007). They showed the characters described by Dickerman (1994), viz ‘similar to the nominate population but slightly paler and brighter blue both dorsally and ventrally, less dull, flat grey’. The ‘distinct tendency dorsally to have a white-tinged collar’ was also recorded. Additionally, in subsequent comparisons with museum specimens, a difference in tail colour was noted: blackish (Smithe 1975: colour 89, Jet Black) in colstoni (contra Clement 2006) including individuals from Banyang-Mbo, compared to brownish in the nominate (Smithe 1975: colour 119, Sepia). Measurements of wing, tail, tarsus and bill confirm the two subspecies. Twenty-five specimens of E. n. colstoni from Liberia in BMNH and AMNH (for museum acronyms see Acknowledgements), and 56 specimens of E. n. nigromitrata from south-east Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Kenya, in BMNH, AMNH, ZMB and RMCA, are significantly different in these measurements (see Table 1; p=0.004, Monte Carlo Permutation Test, 499 permutations). Western colstoni has a smaller wing, and a slightly shorter tail and bill, compared to nomi- nate nigromitrata (Table 1). Tarsi of both populations are similar in size. Measurements of one specimen from Nigeria (BMNH 1950.9.8) and one collected in Banyang-Mbo (BMNH 2008.2.9) are broadly similar to colstoni from Liberia (cf. Table 1). However, nine specimens collected by W. Serle from the region of Kumba (the so-called Kumba Gap) are intermediate in coloration (tail between 89, Jet Black, and 119, Sepia in smithe 1975) and measurements, slightly weighted towards colstoni (p=0.552 compared to colstoni; p=0.048 compared to nominate nigromitrata, see Table 1; Monte Carlo Permutation Test, 499 permutations). Serle (1950) himself regarded six of them, all collected pre-1950, as nigromitrata; the other three taken post-1950 are not discussed in his subsequent papers (Serle 1954, 1965). Given the record of E. n. colstoni in Banyang-Mbo, its range now extends Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer 259 TABLE 1 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Measurements of Elminia nigromitrata (Reichenow, 1874) held at BMNH, AMNH, ZMB and RMCA (for museum acronyms see Acknowledgements), by locality, from west to east, and by sex. Measurements in mm; m = male, f = female; localities per labels (countries/regions added); wing = maximum chord from carpal to tip; tail from skin to tip of longest feather; tarsus from distal margin of intertarsal joint to distal margin of last undivided scale; bill (upper mandible) from skull insertion to tip. Asterisks indicate measurements of damaged parts (not used for mean and range)—these specimens and those of uncertain subspecies (without number) were not used in the permutation test. No sex Inventory numbers 1 m 2 m 3 m 4 m 5 m 6 m Hi m 8 m 9 m saa) hm 30 iopauamee Lee tat 1G" “se ye? af toy of IQ it 20 et DN bast Dore £ TB, i 24 f 25 t m BMNH 1977.20.2208 BMNH 1977.20.2225 BMNH 1977.20.2212 BMNH 1977.20.2209 BMNH 1977.20.2204 BMNH 1977.20.2205 BMNH 1977.20.2206 BMNH 1977.20.2207 BMNH 1977.20.2210 BMNH 1977.20.2213 BMNH 1977.20.2226 AMNH 827746 BMNH 1977.20.2218 BMNH 1977.20.2216 BMNH 1977.20.2220 BMNH 1977.20.2215 BMNH 1977.20.2223 BMNH 1977.20.2221 BMNH 1977.20.2224 BMNH 1977.20.2217 BMNH 1977.20.2222 BMNH 1977.20.2219 BMNH 1977.20.2227 AMNH 827745 AMNH 827743 BMNH 1950.9.8 subspecies colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni colstoni Location Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Mine Road, Liberia (1,000 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Liberia Mt. Nimba, Mine Area, Liberia Lofa Country, Liberia (750 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Grassfield, Liberia (550 m) Mt. Nimba, Yekepa, Liberia Lofa Country, Liberia (750 m) Lofa Country, Liberia (750 m) Isoba, Port Harcourt, Nigeria date 12.07.1967 11.07.1968 24.01.1969 13.01.1968 08.06.1967 26.07.1967 28.06.1967 23.08.1967 25.09.1967 11.09.1965 24.01.1968 16.03.1990 28.06.1967 24.08.1967 18.01.1966 12.07.1967 25.06.1966 14.06.1967 23.01.1969 27.07.1967 05.06.1967 05.07.1976 25.04.1968 15.03.1990 13.03.1990 23.10.1949 collector (no.) Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Schmitt Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Forbes-Watson Schmitt Carter Marchant (334) wing tail 60.2 59.0 63.3 61.8 60.0 60.8 64.2 60.9 60.0 58.9 59.0 63.6 57.8 57.6 57.0 er) 58.8 58.3 58.6 54.5 56.0 57.0 58.0 Wer Oe) 60.1 59.6 64.0 66.2 65.0 66.0 63.3 67.0 63.0 62.2 61.5 60.0 66.0 59.8 60.0 57.0 57.6 62.0 61.0 58.4 58.6 56.5 57.8 - 58.7 55.8 58.3 63.4 tarsus bill 16.1 14.0 15.0 15.6 16.5 16.0 16.6 16.4 16.5 15.3 155 15.8 15.4 15.4 14.3 15.2 159 14.7 15.0 14.0 15.3 1322 15.5 Aleit 14.5 15:5 13.6 125 14.2 13.2 14.3 14.3 13.1 13.7 14.5 14.4 13:5 15.0 124 iS) 13.5 ike} 14.2 14.1 i322. 127 12.3 13.0 13.6 14.1 14.0 SS) Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer =_ Sa3. 898 BMNH 2008.2.9 BMNH 1952.20.248 BMNH 1952.20.246 BMNH 1952.20.247 BMNH 1966.16.4884 BMNH 1966.16.4885 BMNH 1952.20.243 BMNH 1952.20.244 BMNH 1952.20.245 BMNH 1966.16.4886 ZMB 21935 [Lectotype] BMNH 1909.8.8.34 BMNH 1920.6.26.300 BMNH 1909.8.8.35 BMNH 1926.8.8.213 BMNH 1906.12.14.66 BMNH 1909.8.8.36 BMNH 1904.18.72 BMNH 1926.6.26.296 BMNH 1906.12.14.67 BMNH 1920.6.26.297 BMNH 1903.10.26.63 AMNH 650074 BMNH 1923.8.7.1529 BMNH 1923.8.7.1530 BMNH 1920.6.26.299 BMNH 1903.10.26.62 BMNH 1920.6.26.298 ies) MNH 1906.12.14.65 BMNH 1909.8.8.37 w MNH 1906.12.14.68 MB 2000.10314 N ZMB 2000.10315 RMCA 127823 RMCA 17591 RMCA 34933 RMCA 45980 colstoni [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] [intergradient] nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata 256 Banyang-Mbo, Cameroon Kumba, Cameroon (245 m) Kumba, Cameroon (215 m) Kumba, Cameroon (215 m) Kumba, Cameroon (365 m) Kumba, Cameroon (365 m) Kumba, Cameroon (245 m) Kumba, Cameroon (215 m) Kumba, Cameroon (245 m) Kumba, Cameroon (245 m) Cameroon River, Cameroon Zima, Cameroon Bitye, River Ja, Cameroon (610 m) between Kribi and Efulen, Cameroon Bitye, River Ja, Cameroon (610 m) Efulen, Cameroon between Kribi and Efulen, Cameroon Efulen, Cameroon Bitye, River Ja, Cameroon (610 m) Efulen, Cameroon - Bitye, River Ja, Cameroon (610 m) Efulen, Cameroon Bitye, Cameroon Lolodorf, South Cameroon Lolodorf, South Cameroon Bitye, River Ja, Cameroon (610 m) River Ja, Cameroon Bitye, River Ja, Cameroon (610 m) Efulen, Cameroon between Kribi and Efulen, Cameroon Efulen, Cameroon Bebai, Equatorial Guinea, border to Cameroon Nkolentangan, Equatorial Guinea Isopo, DRC (1,330 m) Manda, DRC Bambesa, DRC Bokungu, DRC 25.03.2006 22.09.1947 02.02.1950 26.06.1950 09.06.1947 14.04.1947 22.09.1947 14.10.1949 04.06.1947 05.02.1947 30.01.1873 05.10.1905 08.03.1915 25.07.1907 02.06.1924 03.07.1905 13.07.1907 29.03.1904 18.06.1910 07.08.1905 23.11.1910 23.05.1903 06.07.1914 ? 24.09.1909 01.02.1903 06.07.1910 16.06.1905 13.07.1907 05.08.1905 16.02.1909 14.04.1908 04.02.1973 26.03.1925 24.03.1939 28.02.1949 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) | Steinheimer & 56.8 56.8 Sammler Serle (C.810) 60.2 65.0 Serle (C.3809) 62535263'3 Serle (C.4278) 65.83 56tps Serle (C.304) 5/9582 Serle (C.85) 61.8 64.0 Serle (C.809) 58.7 56.8 Serle (C.3454) 592 Oooh Serle (C.287) 574 57.8 Serle (C.1055) 58-7 55.0 Reichenow (332) 65.8 66.0 Bates 58.8 57.0 Bates (5941) 63.2 62.8 Bates (2561) 58.4 57.2 Bates (7909) 63.8 64.2 Bates (837) 64.9 63.8 Bates (2622) 62.2) .59.5 Bates (408) 61.9 61.2 Bates (4222) 60.7. 63.0 Bates (1012) 62.3 62.0 Bates (4494) 61.3) 16227 Bates (163) 60.0 61.4 Bates (5822) 64.2 63.7 Clarke 62.0 61.3 Clarke 66.5 65.2 Bates (3926) 60.3 57.5 Bates (84) 60.0 59.0 Bates (4266) 56.4 54.0 Bates (789) 58.1 54.2 Bates (2623) 62.0 58.0 Bates (1007) 60.1 56.4 Tessmann (463) 58.4 58.0 (ex B 599) Tessmann (383) 57.1 58.3 (ex B 599) Prigogine (17197) 63.0 67.4 Schouteden (718) 65.5 70.6 Vrydagh (10472) 62.0 65.8 Dupuis G2or 16253 15:9) 15.1 15.8 16.5 15.4 15.7 14.5 14.6 15.3 14.9 16.8 15.5 15.6 14.0 14.7 15.5 522 15.8 13.5 16.5 L631 14.5 14.8 15.0 15.8 14.6 14.1 14.1 14.5 13.8 14.2 15.8 14.4 14.8 15.2 16.1 14.5 14.4 15.1 HS if5:8 13.7 152 14.3 14.3 13.0 13 12.8* 14.7 14.5 149 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 14.2 14.0 15.0 14.8 14.9 14.2 14.3 14.5 13.2 | 13.4 13.6 14.8 13.9 13.2 13.9 | 14.4 14.9 14.1* IS 14.3 Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer 26 he 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 oY 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 mh Re FR FP FH eS ER UE eC en en len 2 oe RMCA 103821 RMCA 80-24-A-111 RMCA 109056 RMCA 118861 RMCA 80-24-A-112 ZMB 2000.10313 RMCA 101193 AMNH 832193 RMCA 124783 RMCA 31403 RMCA 101194 RMCA 125827 RMCA 84767 RMCA 122568 RMCA 118828 RMCA 69560 RMCA 80-24-A-113 RMCA 77-14-A-88 BMNH 1913.6.24.117 BMNH 1913.6.24.118 AMNH 650080 AMNH 650082 AMNH 810287 AMNH 831044 AMNH 810284 AMNH 810288 AMNH 831613 BMNH 1971.16.111 BMNH 1933.5.29.25 BMNH 1913.6.24.119 AMNH 650091 AMNH 650086 AMNH 650097 BMNH 1971.16.112 nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromuitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata nigromitrata colstoni Range Mean (n=25, 25, 25, 25) Standard deviation nigromitrata Range Mean (n=60, 60, 60, 58) Standard deviation Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) 257) Namoya, DRC 07.01.1957 ~—- Prigogine (9722) 64.2 Kiloboze, Kivu, DRC 05.08.1979 Prigogine (19363) 61.9 (1,020 m) Kakanda, DRC 22.12.1961 — Prigogine (10599) 64.0 Lukigi, DRC (1,350 m) 09.03.1969 — Prigogine (13803) 64.8 Kiloboze, Kivu, DRC 31.08.1979 — Prigogine (19364) 63.8 (1,030 m) Beni, DRC Jan 1908 Schuboiz (483) 61.2 Lima, DRC 12.07.1959 — Dyleff (Lukala) 64.8 Bayanga, Central African 24.06.1998 Sweet 59.7 Republic (350 m) Nyamugu, DRC (1,360 m) 13.09.1970 Prigogine (15090) 62.2 Angumu, DRC 28.09.1934 Dyleff 58.0 Lima, DRC 09.07.1959 Dyleff (Lukala) 65.2 Kaseberi, DRC 06.01.1971 — Prigogine (15806) 57.8 Namoya, DRC (730m) — 15.12.1956 ~—_—~ Prigogine (6813) 61.0 Kaseberi, DRC 07.02.1970 Prigogine (14603) 61.0 Igogo, DRC 12.12.1968 — Prigogine (13770) 66.8 Masongo, DRC 18.06.1951 — Prigogine (4443) 63.4 Kiloboze, Kivu, DRC 05.08.1979 Prigogine (19365) 60.2 (1,020 m) Kiloboze, Kivu, DRC 08.10.1976 — Prigogine (18463) 59.5 (1,080 m) Toro Forest, Sanyo Bay, 29.09.1911 Neave 63.0 Uganda (3,800 m) Budongo Forest, Unyoro, 12.12.1911 Neave 63.0 Uganda (3,400 m) Budongo, Uganda 06.06.1919 van Someren 64.8 Budongo, Uganda 14.12.1918 van Someren 62.0 Kagamega Forest, 23.06.1966 Zimmerman 62.9 Nyanza, Kenya (1,615 m) Kagamega Forest, 01.08.1963 Zimmerman 62.1 Nyanza Dist., Kenya Kagamega Forest, 14.06.1963 Zimmerman 61.7 Nyanza, Kenya (1,615 m) Kagamega Forest, 28.06.1966 Zimmerman 62.0 Nyanza, Kenya (1,615 m) Kagamega Forest, 04.08.1965 Zimmerman 61.7 Nyanza, Kenya Kagamega Forest, Kenya 21.06.1970 Colston 65.0* Mabira, Uganda (4,000 m) 28.10.1913 Rosenberg 61.0 Budongo Forest, Unyoro, 12.12.1911 Neave 58.1 Uganda (3,400 m) Budongo, Uganda 20.05.1907 van Someren 64.4 Budongo, Uganda 12.12.1918 van Someren 63.0 Mabura, Uganda 03.05.1914 van Someren 64.2 Kakamega Forest, Kenya 22.06.1970 Colston 58.0 54.5-64.2 55.8-67.0 13.2-16.6 59M 61.01 153i 2.36 3.33 0.86 56.4-66.8 54.0-70.6 13.5-17.1 61.88 62.87 5st 2.46 3.83 0.81 65.6 64.6 65.8 66.7 61.3 62.7 65.0 58.8 61.2 60.1 67.0 57.2 63.4 62.2 70.5 68.2 60.7 61.2 65.3 64.8 68.8 64.9 64.8 64.7 66.2 66.1 69.0 66.8 59D 00.0* 64.2 64.3 63.8 64.6 14.0 ilepll 14.9 14.3 14.4 171 15.6 15:3 14.9 13.8 157 1312" 14.4 15.1 14.9 14.8 Toul 14.6 14.5 [52 52 15:9 16.1 15:9 15.7 15.1 15.8 16.8 15.0 13.8 16.0 153 15.4 15.9 11.5-15.0 13:51 0.84 13.0-15.8 14.42 0.68 15:1 14.0 15:1 15:7, 15.4 14.6 13:9 14.0 14.5 13:5 15.8 13:85 13:9 14.2 15.8 14.4 13.9 13.0 Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer 258 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) west to the Cameroon Mountains, where it meets and hybridises with E. n. nigromitrata at the Kumba Gap. In fact, the Kumba Gap probably constitutes a second contact zone after separation of the two taxa during the Pleistocene, where montane forest then prevented contact between lowland forest species on either side (cf. Rand 1951). Lectotype designation for Terpsiphone nigromitrata Reichenow, 1874 Our examination of the type material of Elminia nigromitrata (Reichenow, 1874) in the Museum ftir Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin (ZMB) has also shown that Reichenow (1874: 110) based the name on a mixed series of two syntypes: a juvenile female Trochocercus nitens Cassin, 1859 (ZMB 21936), and an adult male of the species known today as Elminia nigromitrata (ZMB 21935). Subsequently, Reichenow (1890: 118-119, 1903: 500) voiced his doubts about ZMB 21936, due to its glossy head, and corrected its label to read ‘nitens’, but without taking further action. When Sharpe (1879) first examined Reichenow’s type specimens he failed to note their different identities and, lacking typical specimens of Trochocercus nitens, inclined to the view that both differed from the latter. Later, after studying additional material in Leiden, he fur- ther confounded the situation by treating nigromitrata Reichenow as conspecific with T. nitens Cassin (Sharpe 1879: 301, footnote). The confusion continued (Sharpe 1904, 1907) until resolved by Bates (1911), who nevertheless still did not fix Reichenow’s name firmly to the species known today as nigromitrata. To end this uncertainty, we designate the male speci- men, of the taxon now known as Elminia n. nigromitrata (Reichenow, 1874) [ZMB 21935, Cameroon, collected by Reichenow (No. 332) on 30 January 1873, cf. Reichenow 1903: 500, specimen I. (Rchw.)], as the lectotype of Terpsiphone nigromitrata Reichenow, 1874: 110. The type locality was originally stated as ‘Camerungebiet’ but can formally be restricted to the ‘Kamerunflufs’ (Reichenow 1903: 500) = Cameroon estuary, Douala, Littoral Province, Cameroon. The female, of Trochocercus nitens Cassin, 1859 [ZMB 21936, Cameroon, collect- ed by Reichenow (No. 199) on 5 November 1872] thus becomes a paralectotype. Acknowledgements We particularly thank Ragnar Kinzelbach, who initiated and part-funded our study of lowland forest birds at Banyang-Mbo. We acknowledge the use of the library and bird collections of the Museum ftir Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin (ZMB) and The Natural History Museum, London/Tring (BMNH). We especially thank Sylke Frahnert (ZMB), Alison Harding, Mark Adams and Robert Pr¥s-Jones (BMNH), Paul Sweet (American Museum of Natural History, New York, AMNH) and Michel Louette and Alain Reygel (Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, RMCA) for access to and loans of specimens, respectively. Many thanks also to Bob Dowsett, Michel Louette, Richard Schodde and Guy Kirwan for commenting on an earlier draft. References: Bates, G. L. 1911. Further notes on the birds of Southern Cameroon. [Part 1]. [bis (9)5: 479-545. Clement, P. 2006. Genus Elminia (monarch-flycatchers). Pp. 325-327 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 11. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Dickerman, R. W. 1994. Trochocercus nigromitratus colstoni subsp. nov. P. 272 in Dickerman, R. W., Cane, W. P., Carter, M. F., Chapman, A. & Schmitt, C. G. Report on three collections of birds from Liberia. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 114: 267-274. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Erard, C. 1997. Genus Elminia. Pp. 514-525 in Urban, E. Ki; Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) The birds of Africa, vol. 5. Academic Press, London. Rand, A. L. 1951. Birds from Liberia: with a discussion of barriers between Upper and Lower Guinea sub- species. Fieldiana, Zool. 32: 561-653. Reichenow, A. 1874. [Terpsiphone nigromitrata n. sp.] J. Orn. 22: 110. Reichenow, A. 1890. Die Vogel von Kamerun. J. Orn. 38: 103-128. Reichenow, A. 1903. Die Végel Afrikas, vol. 2(2). J. Neumann, Neudamm. Svenja Sammler & Frank D. Steinheimer 259 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Sammler, S. 2007. Studien zur Avifauna im Tieflandregenwald des Wildlife Sanctuary Banyang-Mbo, Siidwestkamerun. Diploma thesis. Univ. of Rostock. Serle, W. 1950. A contribution to the ornithology of the British Cameroons. [Part 2]. Ibis 92: 602-638. Serle, W. 1954. A second contribution to the ornithology of the British Cameroons. [bis 96: 47-80. Serle, W. 1965. A third contribution to the ornithology of the British Cameroons. [Part 1]. [bis 107: 60-94. Sharpe, R. B. 1879. Catalogue of the Passeriformes or perching birds in the collection of the British Museum. Cichlomorphae: Part I, containing the families Campophagidae and Muscicapidae. Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, vol. 4. Trustees of the Brit. Mus., London. Sharpe, R. B. 1904. On further collections of birds from the Efulen District of Camaroon [sic], West Africa. Part 2. Ibis (8)4: 591-638. Sharpe, R. B. 1907. On further collections of birds from the Efulen District of Camaroon [sic], West Africa. Part 4. Ibis (9)1: 416-464. Smithe, F. B. 1975. Naturalist’s color guide. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York. Address: Wohlertstrasse 5, D-10115 Berlin, Germany, e-mails: svenja.sammler@uni-rostock.de, franksteinheimer@yahoo.co.uk © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Sylke Frahnert & Donald W. Buden 260 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) The overlooked collection of Ludwig Kaiser and a little-known report on birds of Nauru by Sylke Frahnert & Donald W. Buden 1 November 2007 Nauru (00°32’S, 166°56’E) is a small (21 km?) single-island republic in the west-central Pacific Ocean, c.2,100 km north-east of New Guinea. Banaba (Ocean Island) is its nearest neighbour, c.300 km to the east. A 100-300 m wide coastal belt, where most of the c.10,000 islanders reside, abuts a scarp that rises to a max. 72 m on the central plateau. Coastal veg- etation consists largely of strand, ruderal weeds and shrubs, ornamentals, and scattered coconut Cocos nucifera and fruit trees. More than 100 years of continuous phosphate mining has eliminated much of the plateau’s original forest, leaving just remnants, mainly along the edges and slopes of the scarp. The interior is largely a regenerating scrubland within a skeletal framework of coral pinnacles 4-8 m high, from around which the soil and phos- phate deposits have been excavated. The avifauna of Nauru has received scant attention over the past nearly 130 years since Otto Finsch reported the five species he observed on 24 July 1880 (Finsch 1881). Pearson (1962) recorded at least 16 species over a period of six months in 1961, and he stated that Finsch’s work comprised ‘the only previous ornithological literature available concerning Nauru’. King (1967) and Garnett (1984) merged seabird records from Nauru with those from the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), without stating which may have pertained only to the Gilberts. More recent checklists of Nauru birds (e.g. Owen 1977, Pratt et al. 1987, Cain et al. 1997) cite Pearson (1962) as a primary reference. However, none of these mentions an arti- cle that appeared in the notes section of volume 2 of the Journal fiir Ornithologie describing a collection of birds from Nauru made by Ludwig Kaiser in 1900, nor is this article men- tioned in either of the two bibliographies of Nauru (Krauss 1970, Pollock 1994). Ludwig Kaiser, born 21 March 1862 in Obergebisbach, Germany, held several different administrative positions in the German Marshall Islands at different times between 1889 and 1906—Deputy Landeshauptmann (Deputy Chief of Administration) in Jaluit, 1889-92; Stationsleiter (Station Chief) in the Protectorate of Nauru, 1899-1905?; and Acting Landeshauptmann in Jaluit in 1906 until his suicide later that year (Spennemann 1999-2000). Kaiser’s Nauru collection (16 specimens of 12 species plus two skeletons, a nest, and two eggs of Acrocephalus luscinius rehsei) has been housed at the Museum fiir Naturkunde zu Berlin (ZMB) since it arrived in November 1901 via the Jaluit Corporation Hamburg and the Konigliches Museum ftir Vélkerkunde (Berlin). Kaiser apparently sent an accompanying annotated list that included measurements and colour notes of the speci- mens, as well as information concerning the status of the species on Nauru (breeder, non-breeder, captive). This list is not in the museum archives, and only the letter regarding delivery of the collection remains (ZMB archives, Zool. Mus. Sign. S III, Kaiser, L., p. 1). However, information from this list was published in the Journal fiir Ornithologie as a con- tribution to the meeting of the board of the German Ornithological Society, in January 1902 in Berlin, written by Paul Matschie. Given the scarcity of information on the birds of Nauru, the obscure nature of the Kaiser publication, and the overall paucity of museum specimens from the island, we list here all of the specimens in this collection, with updated taxonomy following the nomen- clature of Dickinson (2003), along with pertinent data from original specimen labels. Sylke Frahnert & Donald W. Buden 261 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Additional information contributed by the authors is enclosed in brackets. Measurements are reported for selected specimens if important for species determination. They were taken from the label or directly from the skins (given in brackets) by one of us (SF). Procellariidae Audubon’s Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri—ZMB 2000.3375 (coll. no. 10), 5 March 1900. Kaiser (1902) stated that the species nests in deep rock holes and crevices, but did not explic- itly indicate that it breeds on Nauru. Murphy (1927) remarked on having examined specimens of P. /herminieri in the Berlin Museum from Nauru and the Palau Islands. His Nauru material probably was confined to the specimen collected by Kaiser, which still appears to be the only specimen record of Audubon’s Shearwater from Nauru. Fregatidae Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel —ZMB 2000.2891 (coll. no. 1), 15 February 1900 [immature], apparently male; ZMB 2000.2890 (coll. no. 2), 15 February 1900 [immature]; ZMB 2000.2892 (coll. no. 3), 20 February 1900 [adult], male; noted on the label as having been kept in cap- tivity for several months, and in having the naked skin (presumably referring to the gular pouch) ‘blood red’. Kaiser (1902) remarked that the species does not breed on Nauru and that it arrives as singles or in small groups attracted by tamed birds. Sulidae Red-footed Booby Sula sula—ZMB 2000.8517 (coll. no. 5), 3 March 1900 [juvenile], appar- ently male, feet grey. The only documented record of Red-footed Booby from Nauru. Kaiser (1902) wrote that lone birds were seen occasionally and were easy to catch by hand, though whether he was referring solely to that he collected or to others as well is unclear. Charadriidae Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva—ZMB 2000.9504 (coll. no. 9d), 30 July 1900, female. Scolopacidae Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus.—ZMB 2000.8515 (coll. no. Ye), 30 July 1900, male. Kaiser (1902) indicated that it occurs on Nauru occasionally, and that he saw another ‘Strandschnepfe’ (possibly a Limosa), similar to N. phaeopus but with a straight bill, which he was unable to collect. Wandering Tattler Heteroscelus incanus.—ZMB 2000.9508 (coll. no. 9c), 4 March 1900. Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres—ZMB 2000.9506 (coll. no. 9a), 3 March 1900, female; ZMB 2000.9507 (coll. no. 9b), 3 March 1900. Laridae Greater Crested Tern Sterna bergii—ZMB 2000.9509 (coll. no. 4), 1 March 1900 [immature], male, feet brown. The only documented record of S. bergii from Nauru. Kaiser (1902) record- ed it as S. media (=S. bengalensis Lesser Crested Tern), but specimen comparison at the Museum ftir Naturkunde reveals that it was misidentified. Kaiser (1902) wrote that the species occurs very seldom on Nauru, and the birds are solitary. Measurements: total length 490 mm, [wing 323 mm (max. chord), bill 51 mm]. Brown Noddy Anous stolidus——ZMB 2000.9510 (coll. no. 7), 3 March 1900, female. Kaiser (1902) stated that it breeds in large numbers on Nauru. Sylke Frahnert & Donald W. Buden 262 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) ae She! Calamoherpe repset Mauri Maiser Figure 1 (above). Nest of Nauru Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus luscinius rehsei (Vera Heinrich) Figure 2 (right). Eggs of Nauru Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus luscinius rehsei (Vera Heinrich) Black Noddy Anous minutus—ZMB 2000.9511 (coll. no. 8), 3 March 1900. Kaiser (1902) stated that it breeds in large numbers on Nauru. White Tern Gygis alba.—ZMB 2000.9512 (coll. no. 6), 3 March 1900; specimen obtained from captivity (Kaiser 1902). Sylviidae Nauru Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus luscinius rehsei [following Dickinson (2003), although most authors treat Nauru Reed-Warbler as a species endemic to Nauru].—ZMB 2000.3199 (coll. no. 11), 30 April 1900; ZMB 2000.3374 (coll. no. 11), 30 April 1900. Kaiser’s (1902) report mentioned only one skin of Nauru Reed-Warbler, but the collection includes two. Only one bears an original (collector’s) label, but both possess the same information on their museum labels, including the same field collection number. Given that 16 birds are mentioned in the original packing list, there is no doubt that both belong to the Kaiser collection. The pack- ing list for the collection also mentions two skeletons, a nest and two eggs of Nauru Reed-Warbler. The skeletons were collected on 4 March 1900 and both are catalogued 0/2266. The museum has two nests of A. |. rehsei. One is labelled as from the Kaiser collec- tion (ZMB 2000.10012; Fig. 1) and the other is unlabelled, with no indication of provenance. The museum egg collection includes three eggs, one belonging to the Adolph Nehrkorn col- lection, whilst of the others (Fig. 2), one is recorded in the egg catalogue as ZMB 10346, but without any collection data. One or both eggs may belong to the Kaiser collection, but cor- roborating documentation is lacking. | Acknowledgements We thank Mrs Hannelore Landsberg (Berlin) for providing the correspondence concerning the acquisition of the Nauru material from Ludwig Kaiser and Mrs Vera Heinrich for providing the photographs. We also thank staff of the ornithological collection at the Museum ftir Naturkunde for their assistance. Sylke Frahnert & Donald W. Buden 263 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) References: Cain, J., Jimwereiy, A., Debao, A., Deiye, C., Pitcher, A., Agadio, P. R. & Tebano, T. 1997. Nauru plant, fish and bird names, a preliminary listing. Atoll Res. Program, Univ. of South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Finsch, O. 1881. Ornithological letters from the Pacific. VII. Nawodo (Pleasant Island). Ibis (4)5: 245-249. Garnett, M. C. 1984. Conservation of seabirds in the south Pacific region: a review. Pp. 547-558 in Croxall, J. P., Evans, P. G. H. & Schreiber, R. W. (eds.) Status and conservation of the world’s seabirds. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK. Kaiser, L. 1902. [List of birds from Nauru]. In Matschie, P. Deutsche Ornithologische Gesellschaft, Bericht liber die Januarsitzung. J. Orn. 50: 254-257. King, W. B. 1967. Preliminary Smithsonian identification manual: seabirds of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Krauss, N. L. H. 1970. Bibliography of Nauru, western Pacific. Honolulu. Murphy, R. C. 1927. On certain forms of Puffinus assimilis and its allies. Amer. Mus. Novit. 276: 1-15. Owen, R. P. 1977. A checklist of the birds of Micronesia. Micronesica 13: 65-81. Pearson, A. J. 1962. Field notes on the birds of Ocean Island and Nauru during 1961. Ibis 104: 421-424. Pollock, N. J. 1994. Nauru bibliography. Revised edn. Victoria Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand. Pratt, H. D., Bruner, P. L. & Berrett, D. G. 1987. A field guide to the birds of Hawaii and the tropical Pacific. Princeton Univ. Press. Spennemann, D. H. R. 1999-2000. Administrators of the German Marshall Islands. www.marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/german2/admin.html. Addresses: Sylke Frahnert, Museum fiir Naturkunde Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany, e-mail: sylke.frahnert@museum.hu-berlin.de. Don Buden, Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, College of Micronesia-FSM, P.O. Box 159, Kolonia, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, e-mail: don_buden@comfsm.fm © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 First records of Yellow-cheeked Becard Pachyramphus xanthogenys for Brazil, with comments on the validity of P. x. peruanus by Alexandre Aleixo, Edson Guilherme & Kevin J. Zimmer Received 8 November 2007 Yellow-cheeked Becard Pachyramphus xanthogenys occurs predominantly on the east slope of the Andes, in eastern Ecuador and central and south-east Peru, usually at 650-1,700 m (Mobley 2004). P. xanthogenys was formerly considered conspecific with the more wide- spread Green-backed Becard P. viridis (e.g. Traylor 1979), but Ridgely & Tudor (1994) treated it specifically, based on plumage and habitat differences, and geographical disjunc- tion. Subsequent authors have been divided in their treatment of xanthogenys: Ridgely & Greenfield (2001) and Mobley (2004) treat it as a species, whereas others (e.g., Schulenberg et al. 2007) retain it as a race of P. viridis, pending a published analysis of the complex. When treated specifically, P. xanthogenys is considered to comprise two allopatric subspecies: P. x. xanthogenys Salvadori & Festa, 1898, in eastern Ecuador and northern Peru; and P. xan- thogenys peruanus Hartert & Goodson, 1917, in central and south-east Peru (Mobley 2004). Because the holotype of P. x. peruanus is a female with supposed signs of immaturity (Hartert & Goodson 1917), the validity of this taxon has been considered uncertain (Mobley 2004). On 25 August 2005, AA mist-netted and collected an adult male P. xanthogenys in breed- ing condition (left testis 9 x 5 mm; deposited at Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Alexandre Aleixo et al. 264 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) FOOTE FEU Ser Figure 1. Locations where Yellow-cheeked Becard Pachyramphus xanthogenys has been recorded and collected to date in the Brazilian state of Acre: (a) Estagao Ecoldgica do Rio Acre (11°00’S, 70°13’W), and (b) ‘Transacreana’ road (09°55’S, 68°20’W). Brazil [MPEG 58925]), on hilly and broken terrain covered by Guadua bamboo with scat- tered emergent trees along the ‘igarapé do Tombo’ creek (elevation c.250 m), at Estacao Ecoldgica do Rio Acre, a 77,500-ha conservation unit on the Brazilian / Peruvian border, in south-east Acre, Brazil (Fig. 1). The specimen showed all those characters distinguishing P. xanthogenys from congenerics, most conspicuously: the bright golden-yellow cheeks and throat, and lack of a grey nuchal collar (Fig. 2). Prior to this, a pair of P. xanthogenys was seen and heard above the mist-net where the specimen was taken; earlier, on 15 August, anoth- er pair was located vocalising intensively and chasing each other on the north bank of the rio Acre at a similar altitude and habitat, c.5 km away. Unfortunately, on neither occasion were birds observed carefully, mainly because AA thought they were P. viridis, whose song is very similar to that of P. xanthogenys (KJZ tape-recordings). During a second trip to Estacgao Ecolégica do Rio Acre in the following rainy season (3-16 February 2006), no P. xan- thogenys were located. Subsequently, on 8 September 2006 EG collected another specimen (tentatively sexed as female by plumage) of P. xanthogenys (MPEG 61447) in a logged forest c.3 km from the ‘Transacreana’ road (AC 090), c.60 km west of Rio Branco, the state capital of Acre (Figs. 1-2). These specimens are the first records of P. xanthogenys for Brazil, and represent a signif- icant range extension into lowland Amazonia. The nearest previous record is from ‘Hacienda Amazonia’, near Manu National Park, dpto. Madre de Dios, Peru, in June-July 2002 (Lebbin 2004), which involved a presumed pair that frequented successional scrub in a regenerating landslide atop a ridge at 880 m. Published elevational ranges for P. xan- thogenys list the lower limit as 650 m in Ecuador (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001) and 800 m in Peru (Schulenberg et al. 2007), although KJZ has recorded it at 323 m in the foothills of the Tumbes Reserved Zone, dpto. Tumbes, Peru. It is interesting that the first Brazilian and the recent Madre de Dios records were in June-September, during a period coinciding with the austral winter, when the slopes of the eastern Andes are swept by strong Antarctic cold Alexandre Aleixo et al. Figure 2. The first Brazilian specimens of Yellow- cheeked Becard Pachyramphus xanthogenys, from the state of Acre, compared to specimens of Green- backed Becard P. v. viridis, from Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais. (a) Lateral view. Top to bottom: 1) P. xanthogenys, male (MPEG 58925); 2) P. v. viridis, male (MPEG 41284). Note the bright golden-yellow cheeks and throat, absence of a grey nuchal collar, and greyish-white (not creamy) belly of the male P. xanthogenys. (b) Dorsal view. Left to right: 1) P. xanthogenys, presumed female (MPEG 61447); 2) P. xanthogenys, male (MPEG 58925); 3) P. v. viridis, female (MPEG 51850); and 4) P. v. viridis, male (MPEG 41284). Note the nearly uniform ash- grey crown, hindneck and nape of the presumed female P. xanthogenys. The dull greenish line extending back from the eye is barely visible here. Note also the well-defined grey nuchal collar in both the P. v. viridis. (c) Lateral view. Left to right: 1) P. xanthogenys, presumed female (MPEG 61447); 2) P. xanthogenys, male (MPEG 58925); 3) P. v. viridis, female (MPEG 51850); and 4) P. v. viridis, male (MPEG 41284). The differences in ventral color (whitish grey in xanthogenys; creamy white in viridis) can be seen here. Note also the near- complete lack of rufous on the upperwing-coverts of the presumed female P. xanthogenys; otherwise, this specimen matches well the description of the P. x. peruanus holotype. 265 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Alexandre Aleixo et al. 266 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) fronts that often reach western Amazonia. Given that the records occurred in three differ- ent years (2002, 2005 and 2006), it is probable that P. xanthogenys is a regular altitudinal / austral migrant, rather than a resident in lowland Amazonia, mirroring the status of P. viridis in south-east Brazil, where the latter is considered an austral migrant (Willis & Oniki 2002). A comparison of the unsexed Brazilian specimen (MPEG 61447) with the description of the P. x. peruanus holotype revealed that they are very similar (Hartert & Goodson 1917). P. x. peruanus was described from a single female collected at Chanchamayo, dpto. Cuzco, Peru, in January 1905, not far from Manu National! Park and c.300 km south-west of Estagao Ecoldgica do Rio Acre; its short description reads: ‘Crown ash-grey, over the eyes a dull greenish line, hind-neck and nape ash-gray, rest of upper surface yellowish green as in P. viridis; tail and wings as in the latter, 7.e. with a rufous patch on the upper wing-coverts. Sides of head and the throat pale gray; chest-band and sides of breast olivaceous green with yellow edges to the feathers, not uniform yellow as in P. v. viridis and cuvieri. Rest of under surface white with a greyish tinge on the breast—not creamy as in P. v. viridis and cuvieri. Wing, 73 mm’ (Hartert & Goodson 1917). MPEG 61447 fits almost exactly this description, the only exception being its near- complete lack of rufous on the upperwing-coverts, where only a discrete tinge of rufous is found on the fringes of a few feathers (Fig. 2). Given that no gonad or age-related data are available for MPEG 61447, this lone difference is not easily interpreted. Schulenberg et al. (2007) noted that some females of xanthogenys lack rufous in the wing-coverts. Interestingly, Hartert & Goodson (1917) made the following comments about the age of the holotype of P. x. peruanus: “The grey head and somewhat undecided superciliary line point towards immaturity, and it is probable that the specimen—unfortunately only the one female has been received—is not fully adult, but it is not like young P. viridis, which agree with it only in having the top of head greyish’. In any event, both MPEG 61447 and the holotype of P. x. peruanus are very similar but very distinct from the female of nominate xanthogenys, which has a conspicuous blackish forecrown and greyish lores (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001, Mobley 2004). If either, or both, the holotype of P. x. peruanus and MPEG 61447 are in fact adults, peruanus could be diagnosed from the nominate form mainly by female head colour. More definitively sexed and aged specimens are needed to resolve this matter. Female head colour also differs between the two subspecies of the closely related Pachyramphus viridis: P. v. viridis (contrasting grey cheeks and nuchal collar) and P. v. griseigularis (pale green cheeks and no nuchal collar), suggesting that this could also be true of the two allopatric popula- tions of P. xanthogenys (Mobley 2004). Acknowledgements We thank IBAMA, SOS Amazénia and WWE-Brazil for permits and logistical support during surveys at Estagao Ecoldgica do Rio Acre. Field work along the “Transacreana’ road was funded by Conservation International via the project ‘Avifauna do Estado do Acre: Composicao, Distribuigao Geografica e Conservagao’. A. Aleixo thanks the CNPq/SECTAM joint Regional Development Research Program for a research fellowship (grant #35.0415/2004-8). We are indebted to Luis Claudio F. Barbosa (Conservation International) for kindly providing Fig. 1 and to T. S. Schulenberg for information clarifying the status of P. xanthogenys in Peru. References: Hartert, E. & Goodson, A. 1917. Notes and descriptions of South American birds. Novit. Zool. 24: 410-419. Lebbin, D. J. 2004. First record of Yellow-cheeked Becard Pachyramphus xanthogenys in Madre de Dios, Peru, and notes on birds from the same locality. Cotinga 22: 30-33. Mobley, J. A. 2004. Pachyramphus xanthogenys (Yellow-cheeked Becard). Pp 453-454 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 9. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Ridgely, R. S. & Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. Alexandre Aleixo et al. 267 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Ridgely. R. S. & Greenfield, P. J. 2001. The birds of Ecuador, vol. 2. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. Schulenberg, T. S., Stotz, D. F., Lane, D. F., O’Neill, J. P. & Parker, T. A. 2007. Birds of Peru. Princeton Univ. Press. Traylor, M. A. 1979. Tyrannidae. Pp 1-229 in Traylor, M. A. (ed.) Checklist of the birds of the world, vol. 8. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Willis, E. O. & Oniki, Y. 2002. Birds of a central Sao Paulo woodlot: 1. Censuses 1982-2000. Braz. J. Biol. 62: 197-210. Addresses: Alexandre Aleixo (corresponding author), Coordenacgao de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, CP 399, Belém, PA, Brazil, e-mail: aleixo@museu-goeldi.br. Edson Guilherme, Universidade Federal do Acre, Departamento de Ciéncias da Natureza, Laboratorio de Paleontologia, BR-364, km 04, Campus, 69915—-900, Rio Branco, AC, Brazil, e-mail: guilherme@ufac.br. Kevin J. Zimmer, 1665 Garcia Road, Atascadero, CA 93422, USA, e-mail: kjzimmer@charter.net © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The authorship of Parus ater hibernicus by Edward C. Dickinson & Paul Milne Received 14 December 2007 Reference to checklists such as Kennedy et al. (1954) and Dickinson (2003) will supply Ogilvie-Grant as the author of Parus ater hibernicus (Irish Coal Tit). However, all these list- ings are rooted in a historical objection to recogitising that priority can be accorded to names proposed in newspapers. Reference to Witherby et al. (1938) will show, correctly, that Ogilvie-Grant published on 31 December 1910 in this Bulletin, but that the name had appeared three days earlier in the Daily Mail. The reason the newspaper was not accorded priority was not stated. It was necessary, therefore, to verify that the description provided in the Daily Mail article was sufficient for the purpose of establishing authorship. With the kind permission of the Daily Mail and General Trust we reproduce below the brief note that appeared. NEW BRITISH BIRD Yellow Coal-Tit found in Sligo Mr. Collingwood Ingram, a well-known naturalist, has discovered in the pine woods of County Sligo, Ireland, an entirely new indigenous bird to be added to the list of British birds. Such an event has not occurred for nearly fifty years. The new bird is allied to the coal-tit (Parus ater), which, although it is distrib- uted throughout the world in varied forms, in no instance has a distinctive variation so pronounced as in the new species, in which the parts of the plumage that in all other coal-tits are pure white assume a clear sulphurous yellow hue. These parts are the cheeks and a spot on the back of the neck. Mr. Louis Wain, who has given The Daily Mail particulars of the new bird on the authority of Sir William Ingram, states that the bird’s variation of colour is in no way an abnormality confined to one individual, as Mr. Ingram found all the coal-tits of the district where he made his discovery characterised in the same man- ner. A specimen has been examined by the Natural History Museum authorities, who have given the name Parus Hibernicus (Irish Tit). Mr. Ingram, who is a mem- ber of the British Ornithological Union, has already discovered several new species of birds in other parts of the world. Edward C. Dickinson & Paul Milne 268 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) It will be observed that the description is quite sufficient to justify its recognition as a valid description. Witherby et al. (1938) also stated ‘Author not clearly stated, either ‘Natural History Authorities’, Louis Wain, or Sir William Ingram.’ That the identity of the author of the name be clear is not a requirement of the International code for zoological nomen- clature (1999); Art. 50.1, dealing with apparent anonymity, permits internal evidence to be weighed to determine authorship. The article in the Daily Mail used the phrase ‘on the authority of Sir William Ingram’ and we consider that he must be viewed as author, having made the story available to the newspaper. Sir William was the father of Collingwood Ingram, the collector of the specimen named by Ogilvie-Grant. We therefore propose that priority be respected and that this taxon be credited to Sir William Ingram, whilst the appropriate citation for this taxon is as follows: Parus ater hibernicus W. Ingram, 1910 (Dec. 28), Daily Mail, p. 3, col. 3. Acknowledgements We acknowledge the assistance of Nigel T. Monaghan, Keeper, Natural History Division, National Museum of Ireland, and of Richard Schodde, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature. References: Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Kennedy, P. G., Ruttledge, R. F. & Scroope, C. F. 1954. The birds of Ireland. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh. Witherby, H. F., Jourdain, F. C. R., Ticehurst, N. F. & Tucker, B. W. 1938. The handbook of British birds, vol. 1. H. F. & G. Witherby, London. Addresses: Edward C. Dickinson, Flat 3, Bolsover Court, 19 Bolsover Road, Eastbourne BN20 J7G, UK. Paul Milne, Secretary, Irish Rare Birds Committee, 100 Dublin Road, Sutton, Dublin 13, Republic of Ireland. © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The etymology of Gallinago hardwickii (J. E. Gray, 1831), Latham’s Snipe by Murray Lord & Bob Forsyth Received 23 December 2007 Who was the Hardwicke for whom Gallinago hardwickti was named? Several publica- tions, including the official Australian checklist of 1926 (RAOU 1926) and Gotch (1981), state that the name hardwickii honoured Maj.-Gen. Thomas Hardwicke (c.1760-1835). Yet a simi- larly extensive list, including Higgins & Davies (1996), attribute the name to Charles Hardwicke of Tasmania. Maj.-Gen. Thomas Hardwicke is well known for his early contributions to the zoology of the Indian subcontinent. Hardwicke’s life and career have been the focus of several papers, including Kinnear (1925) and Dawson (1946). He was resident in India from at least 1778 until December 1823. Thomas Hardwicke’s major zoological publication was Illustrations of Indian zoology, co-authored by J. E. Gray of the British Museum, who named the snipe hardwickit. Charles Hardwicke was born in south Lincolnshire in 1780, and arrived in Australia in 1814. He was the nephew of Maj.-Gen. Thomas Hardwicke. As a reasonably prominent cit- izen in early Tasmania he has been the subject of a biography (Anderson 1978). Aside of his Murray Lord & Bob Forsyth 269 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) link to the snipe, the only surviving evidence of his ornithological knowledge is in a report by him on an expedition to north-west Tasmania (quoted in Anderson 1978). Gray (1831) states: ‘Description of a new species of Snipe discovered by Charles Hardwicke, Esq., in Van Dieman’s Land [now Tasmania]’, and goes on ‘Van Dieman’s Land Snipe, Scolopax hardwickii ...’. Whilst no mention is made of Thomas Hardwicke in that passage, the Natural History Museum’s Old Vellum Catalogue indicates that the specimen (Vel. Cat. 38: 73b) was presented by Thomas Hardwicke. The Old Vellum Catalogue implies there may have been a second specimen (Vel. Cat. 38: 73a), but no subsequent reference to it can be found. That Gray worked extensively with Thomas Hardwicke presumably explains why various authors have assumed the snipe was named for him. The museum’s catalogue of type specimens (Warren 1966) incorrectly referred to Thomas Hardwicke as the collector as well as donor due to a transcription error, which can only have compounded confusion in the literature; Warren’s own notes listed Charles Hardwicke as collector (R. Prys-Jones pers. comm.). Whilst one cannot eliminate the possibility that Gray intended to name the bird for both Hardwickes, given that he specifically named Charles as the discoverer of the snipe but made no reference to Thomas’ role, the available evidence rather suggests that the species was named to honour its collector. What implication does this have for the claim, advanced in several publications, that Thomas Hardwicke visited Australia? For example, Whitley (1975) stated Thomas Hardwicke visited Tasmania and collected the snipe in 1824 en route from India to England, a date consistent with records that Thomas obtained leave of absence from India in late December 1823 (Dawson 1946). Certainly, Thomas Hardwicke had an interest in Australian zoology. His papers in the British Library contain references to having received specimens from various Australian sources and contain lists of Australian species. Other papers of his in the Natural History Museum contain illustrations of Australian birds. He donated several Australian specimens from both New South Wales and Tasmania (R. Prys-Jones pers. comm.), but no evidence establishes that Thomas Hardwicke did visit Australia. Given the lack of references to Australia in extensive biographical articles on him, it appears likely Thomas Hardwicke never visited the country, and suggestions he did are a result of him being incorrectly con- sidered the snipe’s collector. Acknowledgments We particularly thank Robert Prys-Jones for his assistance with material located in England. Penny Olsen, John Penhallurick, Colin Finney, Edward Dickinson, Gina Douglas of the Linnean Society, and Michael Walters and Alison Harding of the Natural History Museum, Tring, also provided assistance. Richard Schodde and an anonymous reviewer provided useful comments on an earlier draft of this note. References: Anderson, S. 1978. Charles Browne Hardwicke, an early Tasmanian pioneer. Wentworth Books, Sydney. Dawson, W. R. 1946. On the history of Gray and Hardwicke’s Illustrations of Indian zoology, and some biogra- phical notes on General Hardwicke. Arch. Nat. Hist. 2: 71-166 Gotch, A. F. 1981. Birds: their Latin names explained. Blandford Press, Dorset. Gray, J. E. 1831. [Description of a new species of snipe discovered by Charles Hardwicke, Esq., in Van Dieman’s Land.] Zool. Misc. 12: 16. Higgins, P. J. & Davies, S. J. J. F. (eds.) 1996. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, vol. 3. Oxford Univ. Press, Melbourne. Kinnear, N. B. 1925. The dates of publication of the plates of the birds in Gray and Hardwicke’s ‘Illustrations of Indian Zoology’, with a short account of General Hardwicke. Ibis (12)1: 484-489. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU). 1926. The official checklist of the birds of Australia. RAOU, Melbourne. Murray Lord & Bob Forsyth 270 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Warren, R. L. M. 1966. Type specimens of birds in the British Museum (Natural History), vol. 1. Trustees of the Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London. Whitley, G. P. 1975. More early history of Australian zoology. Roy. Zool. Soc. NSW, Sydney. Addresses: Murray Lord, 14 Morotai Crescent, Castlecrag, NSW, 2068, Australia, e-mail: mklord@iinet.net.au. Bob Forsyth, P.O. Box 933, Mount Isa, Queensland, 4825, Australia, e-mail: isabird0@bigpond.net.au © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 A replacement name for Coracina papuensis intermedia Rothschild, 1931 by T. H. C. de Kok Received 6 February 2008 Generic regrouping of the species of cuckooshrikes under Coracina Vieillot in Peters (1960: 180, 194) and Dickinson (2003: 467, 470) has duplicated the species-group name inter- media, creating secondary homonymy (ICZN 1999, Arts. 53.3, 57.3.1). The senior name is Coracina melaschistos intermedia (Hume, 1877) for the central and southern Chinese form of the Black-winged Cuckooshrike, and the invalid junior name under Art. 59.1 is Coracina papuensis intermedia Rothschild, 1931, for the south-west New Guinean population of the White-bellied Cuckooshrike. No other names are available for the south-west New Guinea population, and accordingly I propose for it: Coracina papuensis rothschildi, nom. nov. As a replacement name for Coracina papuensis intermedia Rothschild, this new name takes the type of intermedia Rothschild. It should be noted that this form is questionably dis- tinct, Mees (1982) and LeCroy (2003) regarding it as consubspecific with nominate C. p. papuensis. Its minimal colour differences could well be caused by age, dirt or simply clinal variation. Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of John Penhallurick, Alan P. Peterson, Dick Schodde and Edward Dickinson. References: Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. LeCroy, M. 2003. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 5. Passeriformes. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 278. Mees, G. F. 1982. Birds from the lowlands of southern New Guinea (Merauke and Koembe). Zool. Verh. Leiden 191: 1-188. Peters, J. L. 1960. Family Campephagidae. Pp. 194 in Mayr, E. & Greenway, J. C. (eds.) Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 9. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Address: Verdistraat 20, 5654 DL Eindhoven, The Netherlands, e-mail: theodekok@kpnplanet.nl © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Jeremy N. M. Flanagan & Brad Millen 27a Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) First nest and egg records of Peruvian Plantcutter Phytotoma raimondii, by O. D. Boggs by Jeremy N. M. Flanagan & Brad Millen Received 11 February 2008 Peruvian Plantcutter Phytotoma raimondii is endemic to the dry forests of coastal north- ern Peru in dptos. Piura, Lambayeque, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Ancash and Lima. Through a review of specimen material at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Toronto, we are able to provide the first description of its nest and eggs, based on the collection of O. D. Boggs, a Canadian geologist who worked in the Talara oilfields of north-west Peru in the 1930s (McNicholl & Cranner-Byng 1994). His work took him to Peru and Ecuador several times in 1926-39 and Colombia in 1945-46, during which he col- lected a total of 637 bird skins and 124 eggs, all deposited at the ROM, with a few at the Natural History Museum, Tring, UK (M. P. Adams pers. comm.). Boggs collected two clutches belonging to Peruvian Figure 1. Eggs of Peruvian Plantcutter, with the following information adapted fromhis Plantcutter Phytotoma raimondii 2 ; taken near Peru, north-west Peru, specimen labels: Clutch 1—Locality: Near Talara, Peru joi4 at the Ruel) Onlents (04°33’S 81°13’W; elevation 82 m. Date: 27 March 1934. Eggs: Museum, Toronto (Brad Millen) two, incomplete clutch. Incubation: fresh. Identity: female taken [ROM 36.7.20.12]. Nest: c.2 m up in a small algarroba tree. Remarks: one fully devel- oped egg similar to others found in oviduct of female. Clutch 2—Locality: Near Talara, Peru (coordinates and elevation as previous). Date: 4 April 1934. Eggs: three, complete clutch. Incubation: advanced. Identity: both birds seen; male collected but not preserved. Nest: a frail, shallow affair of twigs, c.2.5 m up near the centre of a small, dead, algarroba tree. Eggs vis- ible from below. Remarks: male had very little red on the forehead. Measurements of the five eggs taken by the authors give a mean length of 24.17 mm and mean width at circum of 19.13 mm. They are short oval to subelliptical and smooth with a slight gloss, light drab to drab varying to greyish olive, with fine to coarse dark brownish- olive flecks at the larger end. Some fading can be assumed due to time in storage. Counting the egg found in the oviduct, clutch size for both nests was three eggs, assum- ing the females had completed ovulation. The algarroba trees mentioned would be Prosopis sp., probably Prosopis pallida, the commonest species in coastal north-west Peru. Acknowledgements Mark Adams (Natural History Museum, Tring), Todd Mark and Tom Schulenberg are thanked for their assistance. This paper is an output of the DEFRA / Darwin Initiative funded project DarwinNet—The Peru / Ecuador Dry Forest Clearing-house Mechanism. Reference: McNicholl, M. K. & Cranner-Byng, J. L. 1994. Ornithology in Ontario. Special Publ. 1. Ontario Field Ornithologists, Toronto. Addresses: Jeremy N. M. Flanagan, ProAvesPert, Calle Santa Clara 599, Urb. Santa Rosa, Sullana, Peru, e- mail: jnm.flanagan@gmail.com. Brad Millen, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2C6, e-mail: bradm@rom.on.ca © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 John Penhallurick 272 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) On some generic names amongst the Bucconidae (puffbirds) by John Penhallurick Received 18 March 2008 Rasmussen & Collar (2002) made several changes to the taxonomy and nomenclature of the Bucconidae. An important change occurred in their treatment of taxa formerly assigned to the genus Bucco Brisson, 1760 (as in Peters 1948, Howard & Moore 1980 and Dickinson 2003). They stated (p. 104): ‘The most perplexing problem at the generic level involves the Collared Puffbird, which in bill shape and colour, as well as plumage pattern, is closer to species of Nystalus than to other members of an expanded genus Bucco. Since it is the type species of the genus and family, however, it cannot be removed from the genus Bucco. Resurrection of generic names in former widespread usage, until they were all placed in Bucco by J. L. Peters provides an interim solution to the problem, pending further study.’ Incidentally, P. L. Sclater (1891) placed all of these taxa in Bucc, long before Peters (1948). Nonetheless, Rasmussen & Collar’s reasoning seems sound. As a result, Bucco becomes a monotypic genus, containing only Collared Puffbird Bucco capensis Linnaeus, 1766. Similarly, their removal to Nystactes Gloger, 1827, of Spotted Puffbird Nystactes tama- tia (J. F. Gmelin, 1788), and Sooty-capped Puffbird Nystactes noanamae (Hellmayr, 1909), is uncontroversial. However, in adopting Argicus Cabanis & Heine, 1863, Museum Heineanum 4(1): 148, for Cyphos macrodactylus von Spix, 1824, Rasmussen & Collar (2002) seem to have discarded another earlier available name: Cyphos von Spix, 1824, Avium species novae, quas in ttinere per Brasiliam annis 1817-20 collegit et descripti, 1: 51 (type, by monotypy, Cyphos macrodactylus von Spix, 1824). Peters (1948: 12) has recorded under Argicus Cabanis & Heine, in the syn- onymy of Bucco Brisson, that Cyphos von Spix, 1824, was a junior homonym of Cyphus Schonherr, 1823. But, under the Code’s (ICZN 1999) one-letter-difference rule (Art. 56.2), Cyphus Schonherr, 1823, does not pre-occupy Cyphos von Spix, 1824. As Argicus Cabanis & Heine is hardly in widespread use, having apparently last been used by Chapman (1926) outside synonymies, Cyphos von Spix should replace it under the normal course of priority. Thus the scientific name of the Chestnut-capped Puffbird becomes Cyphos macrodactylus von Spix, 1824. Acknowledgements Thanks to Dick Schodde for his opinion regarding the principles of Prevailing Usage and Priority. References: Bonaparte, C. L. 1838 [1837]. Report on a communication from the Prince of Musignano regarding birds from Mexico and South America. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1837: 119. Chapman, F. M. 1926. The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 55. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. Gray, G. R. 1846. The genera of birds, vol. 1. Trustees of the Brit. Mus., London. Howard, R. & Moore, A. 1980. A complete checklist of the birds of the world. Oxford Univ. Press. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. International code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, London. j Lesson, R. P. 1830-31. Traité d’ornithologie ou tableau méthodique des ordres, sous-ordres, familles, tribus, genres, sous-genres et races d’oiseaux {...], livr. 3. F. G. Levrault, Paris, Strasbourg & Brussels. Peters, J. L. 1948. Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 6. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. John Penhallurick 273 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Rasmussen, P. C. & Collar, N. J. 2002. Family Bucconidae (puffbirds). Pp.102-138 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 7. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Sclater, P. L. 1891. Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, vol. 19. Trustees of the Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London. Wagler, J. G. 1827. Systema Avium. J. G. Cotta, Stuttgart & Tiibingen. Address: 86 Bingley Crescent, Fraser, ACT, Australia, e-mail: jpenhall@bigpond.net.au © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 The gender of genera ending in -oenas by Normand David & Steven M. S. Gregory Received 30 April 2008 Many avian genus-group names have been formed from the feminine Greek word oivac [wild pigeon]. Some, like Oena, Reinwardtoena and Turacoena, are Latinised with a change of ending [-«¢ to -a], here indicative of the feminine gender (ICZN 1999, Art. 30.1.3) that is correctly reflected by current combinations (Peters 1937, Dickinson 2003). Names ending in -oenas (this is not the transliterated -oinas, to be treated under Art. 30.1.2) are also Latinised, but this ending is not indicative of a particular gender under Art. 30.1.3. In such cases, the gender must be determined under Art. 30.1.4.2: a name that ends in -oenas is masculine unless its author, in the original work, stated that it is feminine or combined it with an adjectival species-group name in the feminine form. Table 1 shows the grammatical gender of the generic names ending in -oenas that are to be encountered within Peters (1937), Wolters (1975) and Dickinson (2003). A considerable number of other avian generic names ending in -oenas are to be found as subgenera or jun- ior synonyms in other works, but they are not treated here. TABLE 1 Gender of generic names ending in -oenas as found in Peters (1937), Wolters (1975), and Dickinson (2003). Genus-group name Original combination Gender Alectroenas G. R. Gray, 1840 A. franciae Masc. Alopecoenas Sharpe, 1899 A. hoedti Masc. Caloenas G. R. Gray, 1840 C. nicobarica Fem. Chloroenas Reichenbach, 1853 C. monilis Masc. Compsoenas Riley, 1921 C. radiata Fem. Coryphoenas Wardlaw Ramsay, 1890 C. crassirostris Masc. Janthoenas Reichenbach, 1853 J. janthina Fem. Lepidoenas Reichenbach, 1853 L. speciosa Fem. Lithoenas Reichenbach, 1853 L. livia Fem. Nesoenas Salvadori, 1893 N. mayeri Masc. Notioenas Ridgway, 1915 No combination Masc. Oenoenas Salvadori, 1893 No combination Masc. Patagioenas Reichenbach, 1853 P. leucocephala Fem. Starnoenas Bonaparte, 1838 S. cyanocephala Fem. Taenioenas Reichenbach, 1853 T. albitorques Masc. Zonoenas Reichenbach, 1853 Z. miilleri Masc. Normand David & Steven M. S. Gregory 274 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) Some Latinised names having identical final components are not necessarily of the same gender, as shown by the treatment of genera in section 7c (see in particular those end- ing in -myias, from the Greek via) of David & Gosselin (2002). Of the genus-group names in Table 1 that Dickinson (2003) used as valid, two—Alectroenas and Nesoenas—must be treated as masculine (instead of feminine), and of all the species-group names combined with them only two require a mandatory gender ending change (Arts. 31.2, 34.2) as follows: Alectroenas nitidissimus and Alectroenas pulcherrimus. References: David, N. & Gosselin, M. 2002. The grammatical gender of avian genera. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 122: 257-282. Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Third edn. Christopher Helm, London. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 1999. I eran code of zoological nomencla- ture. Fourth edn. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, London. Peters, J. L. 1937. Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 3. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Wolters, H. E. 1975. Die Vogelarten der Erde, Lieferung 1. Paul Parey, Hamburg & Berlin. Addresses: Normand David, 516 Shakespeare, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec, Canada, H9G 1A2, e-mail: normanddavid@videotron.ca. Steven M. S. Gregory, 35 Monarch Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN2 6EH, UK, e-mail: sgregory.avium@ntlworld.com © British Ornithologists’ Club 2008 Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club ISSN 0007-1595 Edited by Guy M. Kirwan Index for Volume 128 2008 Author and Contents Index 276 Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) LIST OF AUTHORS AND CONTENTS ACOSTA CRUZ, M. see WILEY, J. W. AGUILERA ROMAN, R see WILEY, J. W. ALEIXO, A. see PENHALLURICK, J. ALEIXO, A. see WHITTAKER, A. ALEIXO, A., GUILHERME, E. & ZIMMER, K. J. First records of Yellow-cheeked Becard Pachyramphus xanthogenys for Brazil, with comments on the validity of P. x. peruanus ........ceceene 263 AZPIROZ, A. B. & MENENDEZ, J. L. Three new species and novel distributional information for birds TM PU SAY 2nd. sss lecscss descr scsspecesccnaconsatedsesasinc stysesnea sons Basie atenese) Cee noe case cacti “cae acct Mice oe eee eee reece 38 BENSCH, S. see PEARSON, D. J. BOCK, W. J. see SCHODDE, D. BUDEN, D. W. see FRAHNERT, S. CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS Notice and Agenda for the AGM on 24 April 2008 wr S205, suena. oct sacrtos credeere ou seohe tiene ee noe mua etches 1 Réportiof the AGM held on 24 April 2008... ooo ec ivicsc sss dcstogstesessnscete ose este tose snanstonsnses casement nseneseneses 73 Trustees’ Annual Report for 2007 & Financial! Statement 2.2.0.0. 22528 aecresgetis cs sectosevassd eaceeten steel stark. Hi) Meeting, REPOnts 55. ecceeses's.cSvabsvavssctssssas.seacoantiageiototsarsesacsbsoabaesBaousses sachs ssetaSetsuateens icseeisecees soaked 1,73; 145,217 COSTA, L. M. see FREITAS, G. H. S. CUTHBERT, R. J. see RYAN, P. R. G. D’ANGELO NETO, S. see VASCONCELOS, M. A. DAVID, N. Megalaiminae: the correct subfamily-group name for the Asian barbets............cccccccceeeeeee 72 DAVID, N. & GREGORY, S. M. S. The gender of genera ending im -0ends 2....0.1..5:..50.:. Seco coe eee 273 DE KOK, T. H. C. A replacement name for Coracina papuensis intermedia Rothschild, 1931............c:.000 270 DICKINSON, E. C. see FRAGA, R. DICKINSON, E. C. see FRAGA, R. DICKINSON, E. C. see PENHALLURICK, J. DICKINSON, E. C. The name of the easternmost population of Common Nightingale EUSCINIA MEQATHYMCHOS 5. sas sncecnicesson tens scees sos ecessdssucatiesentevecesosodesce se suscdentscnesesthceusentoste use si ae ee ne 141 DICKINSON, £. G..& MILNE, P: Theauthorship of Parus ater hibernicus ce vsiec...sens- septs sesestergesncereesen: 267 DONEGAN, T. M. Designation of a neotype for the dove known as ‘Streptopelid riSOrid’ ........:ccccccseeeeeeee 138 DONEGAN, T. M. Geographical variation in Slate-crowned Antpitta Grallaricula nana, with two new subspecies, from ‘Colombia and Venezuela ...2.:c..:i.5s:.5, se eens ovoa consnsee estos suse sess oeaes eee eee ete 150 FERREIRA, J. D. see FREITAS, G. H. S. FJELDSA, J. see VASCONCELOS, M. A. FLANAGAN, J. N. M. & MILLEN, B. First nest and egg records of Peruvian Plantcutter Phytotoma parmondit, Dy OD. BOGS Si... ssessticsteusdlesashounta scudeeesdadulsnoros ssn owes udsaboeussnbasasuteias setts. seese cee eee amet 2AM FORSYTH, B. see LORD, M. FRAGA, R. M. Invalid specimen records of Saffron-cowled Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus from Argentina and! Para S Ways coc. csts.scstackcsesscststacicetesred aqpuascoterssooeenee dene shceleneacmte uaa cat uoe Ae Mec detec sate sa ieOsa ae ee ee eceeae 36 FRAGA, R. & DICKINSON, E. C. A substitute name for Celeus lugubris castaneus OL0g uu... 69 FRAGA, R. & DICKINSON, E. C. A substitute name for Turdus serranus unicolor Olrog & Contino......... 70 FRAHNERT, S. & BUDEN, D. W. The overlooked collection of Ludwig Kaiser and a little-knowa reporton birdsiof Nett... arc eee sere eee at ae er ar a 260 FREILE, J. F. New distributional records of birds from western Ecuador, and comments on the avifauna-ofIsla de la Plata 272. o csc se ee 233 FREITAS, G. H. S., COSTA, L. M., FERREIRA, J. D. & RODRIGUES, M. The range of Long-tailed @inclodes 'Gimelodes pabsti extends to: Minas Gerais (Brazil) 22... e ce ee 215 GUILHERME, E. see ALEIXO, A. GREGORY, S. M. S. see DAVID, N. Author and Contents Index PT, Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(4) HOFFMANN, D. see VASCONCELOS, M. F. HOSNER, P. A. see MOYLE, R. G. KENNERLEY, P. R. see PEARSON, D. J. KIRKCONNELL, A. see WILEY, J. W. KIRWAN, G. M. see VASCONCELOS, M. A. KIRWAN, G. M. see WHITTAKER, A. KIRWAN, G. M. Studies of Socotran birds III. Morphological and mensural evidence for a ‘new’ species in the Rufous Sparrow Passer motitensis complex endemic to the island of Abd ’Al-Kuri, Wath tnenvalidation.of Passerunsularis Sclater & Hartlatib, 1881 ......c..cecce--c-cccceoscecececdosce ce «eves t0eslnetekekls 83 KOPUCHIAN, C. see ZIMMER, K. J. KRABBE, N. Vocal evidence for restitution of species rank to a Santa Marta endemic: Automolus rufipectus Bangs (Furnariidae), with comments on its generic affinities «0.0.0... 2AQ KRABBE, N. & STEJSKAL, D. J. A new subspecies of Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris HTOMMESO UMN Se AS ESTING CULAC OIG coz sess earive etic dasa basco Mecen ce cece cate de WO a Pree ic danas tdadideoet anche soauesoues tse dewsnest 126 LAKIM, M. see MOYLE, R. G. LEES, A. C. & PERES, C. A. A range extension for Curl-crested Aracari Pteroglossus beauharnaesii: implications for avian contact zones in/southern Amazonia taic..c..002c io coks sete ebeccactceeebecsaceessesnostdecancoetouce 68 LOPES, L. E. see VASCONCELOS, M. F. LORD, M. & FORSYTH, B. The etymology of Gallinago hardwickii (J. E. Gray, 1831), Latham’s SIMI Sree veces sit Soo Sudblsates Sas cSev bate vadst dscsondesaanedecseveon ued Ronsbcoeeneeasasbas bee acek saaneeeatobeadetocew dod abel tae stbcbasusee Sith eoseben 268 MAURICIO, G. N. see VASCONCELOS, M. A. MENENDEZ, J. L. see AZPIROZ, A. B. MILLEN, B. see FLANAGAN, J. N. M. MILNE, P. see DICKINSON, E. C. MOYLE, R. G., HOSNER, P. A., NAIS, J., LAKIM, M. & SHELDON, F. H. Taxonomic status of the lRatival ovale, “Ustrevel atm hii (eS eae ert CTO” Pte na inet Ana ee ce en 94. NAIS, J. see MOYLE, R. G. OLSON, S. L. see WORTHY, T. H. ORTEGA PIFERRER, A. see WILEY, J. W. PEARSON, D. J., KENNERLEY, P. R. & BENSCH, S. A second museum specimen of Large-billed REE Nath ety CHO CEDIAIUS: OTUNUS is 5..ss.uvon0s : See ee ae - Sane ! 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