VOL. XI, PART 12 ISSUED 30th SEPTEMBER, 1977
MISCELLANEOUS TAXONOMIC NOTES ON AFRICAN BIRDS XLIX
b y
P. A. CLANCEY
(Director, Durban M useum, Durban)
SUBSPECIFIC VARIATION IN THE REDCRESTED
K O R H A A N EUPODOTIS (LOPHOTIS) RUFICRISTA
(SM ITH ), 1836
The small Redcrested Korhaan or Bustard Eupodotis (Lophotis)
ruficrista was described by Dr. Andrew Smith in his Report of the
Expedition for Exploring Central Africa, 1836, p. 56, where it is
stated to inhabit the country between Latakoo (Kuru m an) and the
T ropic of Capricorn. In his Illustrations o f the Zoology o f South Africa,
Aves, 1838, pi. iv (and text), the collecting local ity is m ore precisely
given by the author, when Sm ith states that the “sp ecies w as first
discovered in the vicinity of Latakoo,” which m ay b e accepted as
the type-locality. The Redcrested Korhaan is freque ntly considered
to be conspecific with two northern Ethiopian Afric an bustards:
Eupodotis (L .) gindiana Oustalet, 1881: between Som aliland and
Zanzibar, East A frica=B ardera, Giuba R ., south-west ern Som alia,
according to M ackworth-Praed and Grant, Birds Eastern and North Eastern Africa, vol. i, 1952, p. 323, send Eupodotis (L .) savilei L y n e s , 1920: En Nahud, western K ordofan, Sudan, though Scl a t e r , Syst.Av. Aethiop., part i, 1924, p. 115, treats ruficrista, gindiana a n d savilei a s
three separate species, w hich latter arrangem ent ap pears to be nearer
the truth of the m atter.
The north-eastern gindiana differs in the adult m ale in lacking the
leaden streak below the eye, in being paler and m or e cream y, less
bluish grey, over the sides of the neck, and on the breast the w hite is
[Price R 1,00 nett] Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by by P. A . Clancey 2 2 9
m eet in southern Malawi, zombae is under the Rules the correct nam e to use for the present L.t.albigularis. W i t h zombae being treated as an earlier nam e for N eum ann’s albigularis, t h e L.t.zombae o f m y
revision of 1956 and later writings on this barbet will require to be
described as a new subspecies. This, when proposed, should be based
on specim ens obtained near the delta of the Zam besi .
VARIATION IN THE SOUTHERN POPULATIONS OF
BUB A LORN IS NIGER A. SM ITH, 1836
In dealing w ith the genus Bubalornis Sm ith, 1836, H all and M oreau, Atlas of Speciation in African Passerine Birds, 1970, m ap 371, ex
press the view that B.albirostris (Vieillot), 1817: Senegal, and B.
niger Smith, 1836: Kurrichaine=Zeerust, western Transvaal , a r e
specifically distinct, whereas the generally held v iew is that they are
conspecific. In contrast to the stand taken in the Atlas, M oreau, in
his (earlier) treatm ent of the African Ploceidae in the continuation
of Peters’ Check-list (vol. xv, 1962, pp. 3, 4), places albirostris a n d ni
ger as com ponent form s of a single species. In B.albirostris the b i l l
in the non-breeding m ale is blackish, changing in t he breeding season
to white or pinkish yellow with a dusky tip, the ba se of the culm en
becom ing swollen. In plum age, the sexes are virtual ly alike. In the
case of niger, the bill of the adult m ale is a dull coral red or light car
m ine, the tip darker, and there is little or no sea sonal change in bill
colour or in the profile of the basal culm en associ ated w ith breeding.
The inner vanes of the rem iges are broadly white, n ot entirely black
a s i n albirostris, and the sexes are dissim ilar in dress in that the a d u l t
fem ale is distinctly m ore slaty, less black, than t he m ale. In addition,
there are other differences in both the im m ature an d juvenile stages.
H a r t e r t , Novit.Zool., vol. xiv, 1907, pp. 485, 486, was the first to review the races of B.albirostris, sensu lato, which were again con sidered in som e detail by Van Som eren, Novit.Zool., vol. xxix, 1922,
pp. 133, 134 (wherein Van Someren treats albirostris a n d niger a s
separate species), but the later pronouncem ents of both Sclater,
Syst.Av.Aethiop., part ii, 1930, p. 175, and M oreau, in Peters’ Check
list (as above), are sim ply taxonom ic arrangem ents of po pulations,
lacking constructive and worthwhile com m ent on the relationship
b e t w e e n albirostris a n d niger.
I n B.niger Van Someren, loc.cit., l i s t e d B.n.niger, B.n.inter-
medius (Cabanis), 1868: K isuani, U sam bara, north-eastern T a n z a n i a ,
B.n.scioanus (Salvadori), 1884: Daim bi, Shoa, Ethiopia (surely a
lapsus calami f o r schoanus), a n d B.n.nyansae (Neum ann), 1905: K w a
K itoto, K avirondo, south-western K enya, the last th ree names com
prising the intermedius group of populations of East Africa, which is Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by 2 3 0 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
considered an incipient second species of the prese nt Buffalo W eaver
by H all and M oreau in their Atlas. W hile the taxon intermedius i s
universally accepted, both scioanus a n d nyansae are generally rele
gated to its synonym y, though the form er of the tw o questionable
races was acknow ledged as valid by H artert (1907) a nd Van Som eren
(1922). On the other hand, Friedm ann, Bull.U.S.Nat.Mus., N o. 153,
1937, pp. 376, 377, in considering the subspecific status of the
K enyan and Ethiopian birds, found no significant di fference betw een
adults from Ethiopia, K enya and Tanzania, concludin g t h a t scioanus
was in all probability invalid and a synonym of intermedius.
In the case of the austral subspecies, B enson, Occ.Papers Nat.Mus. S.Rhod., vol. iii, N o. 21B, 1956, p. 41, appears to have bee n the first
to dem onstrate a tendency to sm allness in the isola ted population of
niger in the upper Luangw a Valley of eastern Zam bia, and, p e r h a p s ,
in the littoral of Angola representatives. The poss ible discreteness
of the Luangwa isolate is again referred to in Bens on and W hite,
Check List Birds of Northern Rhodesia, 1957, p. 119, and m ore re
cently in Benson et al., Birds o f Zambia, 1971, p. 331. In dealing w ith
the Luangwa isolate, Benson only gave consideration to the length
of the wing, giving the wings of adult $($ as 114-122, $$ (with
which he included measurements of immature which ar e n o t
strictly com parable) 109 -115, versus 121 - 128, $$ 108 - 118m m
in a good sam ple from South W est Africa, Botswana a nd the Trans
vaal. M y measurem ents for juvenile and im m ature bir ds from Lu
angwa are: $($ 116 - 120, $$ 109 - 113m m . Judging from these find
ings, males from eastern Zam bia are dem onstrably sm aller than
those from the South W est Arid District but with ov erlap, whereas
females, the wing-measurements of the latter which com pletely
subsum e those of the Luangwa sample, are not.
Through the courtesy of the Director of the N ationa l M useum of
Rhodesia, B ulaw ayo, I have exam ined a series of 21 specim ens from
Luangw a, w hich w ith the rest of the m aterial in the Durban, Trans
vaal and N ational M useum s has provided about tw ice the com para
tive m aterial of southern African niger available to Benson in 1955/
1956. Taking care to exclude adult males still reta ining abraded
juvenile rem iges and rectrices, m y m easurem ents for fully adult £ £
from South W est Africa, Botswana, the Transvaal and w e s t e r n
Rhodesia are 119-128, females 113-118, against 116, 5-122,5 in
eight m ales and 109,5 and 110m m in tw o fem ales from Luangwa, the
short w ings of these latter perhaps not diagnostic as juvenile fem ales
from Luangwa measure 109 - 113mm. These findings co nfirm that
while eastern Zam bian birds are on the whole sm alle r than those of Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by by P . A . Clancey 2 3 1
the South W est Arid populations, they are not satis factorily taxo-
nom ically distinguishable on such grounds.
Flattened wing- and tail-m easurem ents of fully adul t 3 S e x a
m ined during the course of this research are tabula ted hereunder in
Table I. As a like num ber of adult is not available from the same
range of territories at this stage, m easurem ents of fem ales have been
e x c l u d e d .
The pooled series of the present B.n.niger reveal, apart from the
size dim inution in the north-east of the range disc ussed above, little
variation of m om ent in adult males, im m ature males and fem ales
and juveniles, though immatures from the east of th e r a n g e ,
i.e. from eastern Zam bia, Rhodesia, central and eastern T r a n s
vaal, M oQam bique and Swaziland, appear to be m ore e xtensively and
deeper black over the caudad ventral surface. In th e case of adult
fem ales, a valid difference between the South W est Arid birds and
those of the m ore m esic east is readily dem onstrabl e, the western
(xeric) birds being light slaty black below , with m uch white showing
over the fore-throat and pronounced white sub-term i nal m ottling
to the breast and sides in m ost (twelve out of four teen exam ined).
In eastern specim ens, the white has been lost in th e m ajority, and
the entire ventral ground is dark fuscous, versus greyish hair brow n
in the western exam ples, w ith the w hite bases to th e breast and later
al feathers reduced, resulting in a m ore uniform br ownish black as
pect to the venter. This pattern of variation is an alogous to that of
m any predom inantly South W est Arid bird species, so m e p o p u l a
tions of which extend to the m esic east and onto th e eastern littoral.
Cognisance requires to be taken of the m arked diffe rences shown by
the adult females in southern African populations o f B.niger b y
adm itting two races instead of the current one in o ur taxonom ic
treatm ent of the species in the South of it’s range .
In the case of B.n.intermedius, m aterial of the various plum age
stages in southern A frican collections is too lim it ed for a study sim i
lar to that undertaken in respect of the austral po pulations of the
species. Variation in our adult m ale specim ens of intermedins c o r r o
borates the conclusions of Friedm ann, and contradic ts the findings
of Neum ann, Zedlitz and others, that the am ount of vestigial w hite
to the bases of the rem iges is too unreliable to su pport the break
down of the subspecies on this variable alone. On t he other hand,
possible variation in adult fem ales, im m atures and juveniles seem s
not to have been closely investigated in the past, with the result
that the validity or otherwise of both scioanus a n d nyansae m ust still
be considered open questions. Friedm ann, loc.cit., p. 377, draws at- Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by 232 232
T A B L E I iclaeu Txnmc oe o Arcn Birds African on Notes Taxonomic Miscellaneous W i n g T a i l P o p u l a t i o n N o . R a n g e A v e . SDSE N o . R a n g e A v e . S D SE CV
Btibalornis niger niger S m i t h
W .Transvaal ...... 9 119 - 128 122,8 2,68 0 , 8 9 8 9 9 - 1 0 9 , 5 103,5 3,05 1,08 2 , 9 5
N .B o t s w a n a ...... 1 0 1 1 9 - 1 2 7 1 2 3 , 7 2 , 9 8 0 , 9 4 10 100 - 109 1 0 4 , 8 2 , 3 7 0 , 7 5 2 , 2 6
S .W .Z a m b ia ...... 5 121,5 - 127 1 2 4 , 1 2 , 0 7 0 , 9 2 5 9 8 - 1 0 7 1 0 3 , 7 3 , 7 3 1 , 6 7 3 , 6 0
S .W . A fr ic a ...... 4 1 2 2 - 1 2 6 1 2 4 , 2 1 ,7 1 0 , 8 6 4 102 - 103 102,6 0 , 4 8 0 , 2 4 0 , 4 7
Bubalornis niger militaris C l a n c e y
E . Z a m b ia ...... 8 116,5- 122,5 1 2 0 , 3 2 , 6 0 0 , 9 2 8 95 - 100 98,3 2,01 0 , 7 1 2 , 0 4
R h o d e s ia ...... 6 1 2 1 - 1 2 7 1 2 4 , 6 2,94 1,20 5 99,5 - 109 1 0 4 , 6 3 , 5 4 1 , 5 8 3 , 3 8
E.Transvaal ...... 9 119,5 - 126 1 2 2 , 2 2 , 0 3 0 , 6 8 9 99,5 - 106,5 1 0 3 , 2 2 , 8 0 0 , 9 3 2 , 7 1
Bubalornis niger intermedius ( C a b a n i s )
1 2 1 - 1 3 0 1 2 4 , 0 3 , 2 9 1,47 5 92,5 - 100,5 96,0 3 , 9 2 1 , 7 5 4 , 0 8
The wing- and tail-length variables in adult cjcj o f the three races of the Buffalo W eaver Bubalornis niger. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted the Publisher (dated .) by P . A . Clancey 2 3 3
tention to a marked difference in the wings of juve n i l e s o f B.n. scioanus a n d B.n.intermedius, which is supported by the limited
num ber of juveniles available to me from eastern Af rica. A single
juvenile from Isiolo, north of Mt. K enya, differs a bsolutely from a
short series of 4 from Garissa, Tana R., Kenya, in h a v i n g
the pale edges to the w ing-coverts and rem iges buff ish w hite, whereas
the Garissa sam ple has the same feathers edged deep clay colour.
The character, if confirm ed by the exam ination of a larger corpus of
m aterial, w ould alm ost certainly justify the recogn i t i o n o f scioanus
as discrete from intermedius.
(a) Bubalornis niger niger S m i t h
Bubalornis niger A . S m i t h , Rep.Exped.Expl.Centr .Afr., 1836, p. 52:
“ country about K urrichaine” = Kaditshwene (farm “ Bl oem fontein” ),
Zeerust, western Transvaal.
A dult m ale w holly blue-black, with broad snow y whit e bases to the
contour feathering. W ings broadly white over the in ner vanes of
the remiges, and with white edging to the outer van es of the pri
maries, the tips of which are black. Tail plain bla ck. Bill coral red
with dusky tip.
Adult female dull brownish black above and slaty be l o w , w i t h
greyish white bases to the feathers, the fore-throa t, breast and sides
variably m ottled and scaled w ith off-w hite. Bill du ller, m ore pinkish
t h a n m a l e .
Im m ature m uch as adult fem ale, but throat and breas t blackish
brown, heavily scaled with greyish white, the lower breast, belly,
crissum, etc., dull black. Rem iges and rectrices of juvenile dress
r e t a i n e d .
Juvenile dark olive-brown above and on wings and ta il, the pri
m ary- and greater-coverts edged buff, and the prim a ries edged buffy
white (inner vanes of rem iges largely as in adults) . Ventrally, longi
tudinally streaked dark olive-brown on a whitish gr o u n d .
Measurements: As given in Table I (m ales). Fem ale m easurem ents
i n t e x t .
Material examined: 6 0 (Angola: E v a l e ; South West Africa: U g a b
R., Ondangua, Okanjande, Omaruru, Caprivi Strip; Botswana:
Cungcna, Kai Kai, Kuke, M othlatlogo, Maun, Savuti, K w a a i R . ,
Tsotsoroga, Sukwane (Botletle R.), W . of Sehitwa, N ata, Lothle-
kane W ell; south-western Zambia: Shangom bo, Nasiongo, Sesheke,
Chunga Pools (Sesheke), M achili R .; south-western Rhodesia: S i b a -
ninni, Fort Tuli, Sentinel Ranch (Lim popo R .); western Transvaal:
Blouberg, Palala R. (W aterberg), Northam , Pienaar’s River, Pre
toria, G root M arico). Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by 2 3 4 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
Range: Angola in H uila and southern Cuando-Cubango, and wi t h
an isolated population on the coastal plain of Luan da, central and
northern South W est Africa, the Caprivi Strip, nort hern and eastern
Botsw ana (in west, south to Ghanzi, and east of the Kalahari, south
to Gaborone), south-western Zam bia (west of Livings tone to the
southern Barotse Province), south-western Rhodesia at Fort Tuli
and Sentinel Ranch, and western Transvaal.
Remarks: The Kwaai R., Botswana, sam ple shows that this race is in new ly m oulted dress as from D ecem ber. In the case of the mili-
taris sam ples, birds taken in June and July are in fresh d r e s s .
(b) Bubalornis niger militaris, s u b s p . n o v .
T ype: $, adult. Luangwa Valley at 11° 45' S., 32° 15' E., M p i k a
D istrict, N orthern Province, Zam bia, at 640m a.s.l. 4 August, 1951.
Collected for M ajor W . E. Poles. In the collection of the N ational
M useum of Rhodesia, N .M .Reg.N o.7 032.
Diagnosis: Differs from nom inate B.niger, as defined above, in
that the fem ale in adult dress is deep Fuscous (Rid gw ay, pi. xlvi),
versus greyish H air Brow n (sam e pi.) below , with an alm ost e n t i r e l y
fuscous throat and little or no visible m ottling or scaling of white
to the breast and lateral surfaces.
Measurements: As given in Table I (males). Two Luangwa Val
ley $$ have wings 109,5 and 110, four from Rhodesia 113 - 117, and
tw o from the eastern Transvaal low veld 112 and 113m m .
Material examined: 4 5 ( Zambia: Luangwa Valley in Mpika and
Lundazi D istricts betw een 11° 45' - 13° 03' S. and 31° 57' - 32° 30' E .;
Rhodesia: M atetsi, N gam o Pans (W ankie), Tjolotjo, Gwaai Reser v e ,
Syringa, Cham pion Ranch (Shashi R.), M anama Mission (Tuli R .);
eastern Transvaal: Newington; Swaziland: Eranchi, Stegi district; Mogambique: D i n d i z a ) .
Range: W estern, southern and south-eastern Rhodesia, the e a s t e r n
Transvaal low veld, the interior of Sul do Save, M og am bique, from the
Save R. south to the Incom ati R., eastern Swaziland , and north
eastern Natal on the Transvaal border, and with an isolated popu
lation in the upper Luangw a Valley of Zam bia. Range disrupted and
apparently largely relict.
Measurements o f the T ype: W ing (flattened) 110, culm en from base
24, tarsus 27,5, tail 88,5m m .
Remarks: Alm ost uniform brownish black venter to adult fem al e
characterizes this race in com parison w ith B.n.niger. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by by P . A . Clancey 2 3 5
FIG. I
Ventral views of adult fem ales of the tw o southern African subspecies of the Buffalo W eaver Bubalornis niger S m i t h .
Left three: B.n.niger. Kwaai R., northern Botswana, 9 and 11 Decem b e r , 1 9 0 8 .
Right three: B.n.militaris. Left: Cham pion Ranch, Shashi R., Rhodesia, 5 M ay, 1966; Middle: Ingwesi Ranch, Syringa, Rhodesia, 23 February, 1953; Right: M alam ala, near N ew ington, east ern Transvaal, 23 July, 1952. Photo: W . S. Yerbury
( c ) Bubalornis niger intermedius ( C a b a n i s )
Textor intermedius C a b a n i s , Journ.f.Ornith., vol. xvi, 1868, p. 413:
Kisuani, Usam bara, north-eastern Tanzania.
? Textor scioanus Salvadori, Ann.Mus.Civ.Genova, vol. xxi, 1884,
p. 195: Daim bi, Shoa, Ethiopia.
? Textor albirostris nyansae N e u m a n n , Journ.f.Ornith., vol. liii,
1905, p. 335: Kwa K itoto, K avirondo, south-western K e n y a . Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by 2 3 6 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
M AP II The two austral African population groups of the Buffalo Weaver Bubalornis niger Smith
% Bubalornis niger niger Smith O Bubalornis niger militaris Clancey
The Luanda, Angola, isolate population of nominate niger is not indicated.
Adult male differs from that of B.n.niger in having the white
panels to the inner vanes of the rem iges reduced to a variable vestige
over the basal surfaces of the said quills. A dult f em ale likewise shows
loss of w hite over the inner vanes of the rem iges. Ventrally, m uch as
in nom inate niger, with white showing over the throat, but none as
m ottling on the breast and sides, being relatively uniform ; not un
l i k e militaris but greyer ventrally and with a w hitish fore-throa t . I n
the wings, the prim aries have the outer vanes edged m ore narrowly
with greyer white. Size apparently smaller. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by by P. A . Clancey 2 3 7
F I G . I I
Ventral views of im m ature and juvenile Buffalo W eav ers from southern and eastern Africa. Left to Right — 1. Juvenile B.n.niger from near Northam , western Transvaal, 12 M ay, 1 9 6 9 . 2. Juvenile B.n.intermedius from Garissa, Tana R ., Kenya, 20 January, 1 9 6 1 . 3. Im m ature B.n.militaris from Eranchi, Swaziland, 29 M ay, 1937. 4. Im mature B.n.intermedius from Garissa, Tana R., Kenya, 16 Janu a r y , 1 9 6 1 . Photo: W . S. Yerbury
Im m ature birds are m ore whitish or cream y below tha n in either
niger o r militaris, the dark feather centres narrower, giving a more
spotted, less scaled effect, and the lower ventral half spotted as
breast, not alm ost uniform blackish brown as in the southern races.
Juvenile lighter brown above than in southern birds , and much
whiter below, with narrow light brown streaking, no t d e n s e l y Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by 2 3 8 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
streaked with blackish brown. In wings, pale edges to coverts and
flights broader and m ore ochraceous-rusty than in e i t h e r niger o r militaris.
Measurements: See Table I for males. Two adult females from
eastern Tanzania have wings 107 and 110,5, tails 81 a n d 8 4 m m .
Material examined: 1 5 {K enya: Yatta, east of Thika, Isiolo, Ga-
r i s s a ; Tanzania: L. Basuto (near M t. H anang), M kata R . (M orogoro
district)).
Range: Ethiopia south of about 10° N., eastern and souther n
Kenya, Som alia, and northern and eastern Tanzania.
Remarks: The great reduction of white over the inner vanes o f
the remiges im m ediately distinguishes this taxon fr om the two
southern African form s.
A single adult $ from L.Basuto, near Mt. Hanang, in north-
central Tanzania, is extrem ely large, with a wing o f 130mm. It
differs further from other adult m ales of intermedius exam ined in
having the white on the outer webs of the primaries reduced to a
vestige. W hether these points have any relevance in so far as the
validity of the disputed B.n.nyansae is concerned is uncertain. The
last nam ed subspecies was erected by N eum ann on a s ingle specim en.
The m arked variation exhibited in the wings of juve niles is dis
cussed in the above text. As already indicated by F riedm ann, this
character m ay ultim ately warrant the resurrection o f Salvadori’s
T.scioanus from synonym y.
For assistance w ith the loan of additional specim en s I am indebted
to Dr. A . C. K em p, O rnithologist of the Transvaal M useum , Pretoria,
and Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin of the National M useum o f Rhodesia,
Bulawayo. I am also grateful to Mr. W . S. Yerbury o f the Durban
M useum staff for taking the photographs. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) Publisher granted by the under licence Sabinet Gateway Reproduced by