BirdingASIA 26 (2016) 129

First records of three seabirds for the Maldives

R. CHARLES ANDERSON, NICK BRAY, STUART THOMAS & MICKY MAHER

The avifauna of the Maldives has been poorly studied, with relatively few publications to date (Phillips & Sims 1958, Phillips 1963, Strickland & Jenner 1978, Shafeeg 1993, Ash & Shafeeg 1994, Anderson & Baldock 2001, Anderson 2007, Anderson et al. 2011) and it appears that migratory seabirds may be particularly under-recorded. Here we report the first records of three seabird species encountered at sea in Maldivian waters, which bring the number of avian species recorded from the Maldives to 190.

Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus On 8 October 2013 NB obtained an image of a single Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus in the Vatteru Kandu, the channel between Vaavu and Meemu Atolls (about 3.233°N 73.533°E). It was part of a flock of seabirds—mainly Brown Noddies Anous stolidus, with some Lesser Noddies A. tenuirostris, Saunders’s Terns Sternula saundersi and about six Tropical Shearwaters P. bailloni—feeding over a tuna school. The Persian Shearwater was not noticed at the time, being overlooked by NB, RCA and CHARLES ANDERSON Plate 2. Tropical Shearwater Puffinus bailloni, Thaa Atoll, MM among the Tropical Shearwaters, and was only identified Maldives, 4 November 2015. later when NB’s images were reviewed (Plate 1). It showed dark axillaries and darker underwings, typical of Persian Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Ardenna grisea but not of Tropical Shearwater (Plate 2). There have been three sightings of the Near Threatened Sooty The Persian Shearwater was, until recently, considered a Shearwater Ardenna grisea (BirdLife International 2016a) in rarity off southern South Asia (Rasmussen & Anderton 2005, Maldivian waters, all single birds and all seen in April. Onley & Scofield 2007). However, a spate of recent sightings off On 16 April 2003, seen by RCA at about 4.933°N 73.600°E off south-west India (Praveen et al. 2011, Shivashankar et al. 2011, Kaashidhoo Island (Kaafu Atoll). It was seen clearly down to less Praveen 2013) and Sri Lanka (de Silva Wijeyeratne 2010, De Silva than 100 m, heading north-west in company with Flesh-footed 2011, RCA pers. obs.) suggests that it is a regular visitor to these Shearwaters A. carneipes. Extensive and obvious white showed areas. In contrast, during sea trips in Maldivian waters over the on the underwing, the bill was thin and dark, there was no foot last 20 years, RCA has looked carefully at perhaps hundreds of projection and it was slightly smaller than nearby Flesh-footed Tropical Shearwaters and has never knowingly seen a Persian Shearwaters. Shearwater. It therefore seems likely that this species rarely On 17 April 2016, seen by RCA and ST at 4.450°N 73.733°E off wanders far from the continental margins, and moves south- Dhiffushi Muli (North Malé Atoll). It was seen to within about 100 east from Arabia towards Sri Lanka along the west India shelf, m, a medium-large shearwater, only slightly smaller than a Flesh- as first suggested by Bourne (1960). footed Shearwater with which it crossed paths; all brown, except for extensive, startlingly silver-white underwings, upperwings with diffuse pale brown patch, perhaps faded inner primaries, Plate 1. Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus, Vatteru Kandu, dark bill and no foot projection. It was in company with Greater Maldives, 8 October 2013. Crested Terns Thalasseus bergii, Brown Noddies and Flesh-footed Shearwaters, feeding over a tuna school. Another on 17 April 2016, was seen by RCA, ST and MM at 4.483°N 73.708°E, north of Meerufenfushi Island (North Malé Atoll). It was seen to about 200 m, a medium-large shearwater, all brown except for large, obvious white patches on the underwings, bill dark, with no foot projection. It was heading south-east, in the direction of the earlier sighting on the same day, in company with about seven other birds which all appeared to be Flesh-footed Shearwaters. In addition, there was a possible sighting by RCA on 9 April 2003, at about 3.367°N 73.750°E, off Vaavu Atoll. This bird showed a clear white underwing flash, and was slightly smaller

NICK BRAY than nearby Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters A. 130 Country firsts pacifica, but no other distinguishing features were seen; it is winter visitor to the north Arabian Sea and Red Sea. The species therefore considered a probable Sooty Shearwater. has been reported from Israel (Shirihai 1987, 1996, Perlman & The first of these sightings (16 April 2003) was positively Meyrav 2009), Jordan (Andrews et al. 1999), Oman (Colston & identified as Sooty Shearwater at the time, but the record was Gallagher 1983, Eriksen & Victor 2013), United Arab Emirates not published because it was not supported by images or other (Aspinall 2003, Pedersen & Aspinall 2010) and Iran (Ghasemi observers. It is now backed up by two more records, seen by et al. 2008). At the head of the Red Sea at Eilat, Israel, Sooty more than one observer; however, as no images of any of these Shearwaters occur from mid-March to mid-August, but mainly birds were obtained, some additional comment is appropriate. in May–June (Shirihai 1996). Slightly further south, along the As some authors (Colston & Gallagher 1983, Hirschfeld 1992) northern margin of the Arabian Sea, sightings peak in April–May have cautioned, Sooty Shearwaters in the northern Indian Ocean (Figure 1). That some Sooty Shearwaters migrate northwards have to be distinguished from the much commoner Flesh-footed through Maldivian waters in April is therefore not unexpected, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, both of which may sometimes although a review of seabird sightings during pelagic trips off show some pale on their underwings. We agree, and note that Goa and Kerala, India, did not produce any records (J. De Souza some Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters do show in litt. 2016). noticeably pale grey-brown underwing feathering and may show a moderately bright sheen when they catch the light. Abbott’s Booby Papasula abbotti However, the extensive, bright silver-white wing-linings seen on On 6 October 2014, a single Abbott’s Booby Papasula abbotti the birds reported here were of an entirely different order. It is was clearly seen by RCA, Paul Bench and Susan Lammiman from also necessary to separate Sooty Shearwater from Short-tailed a boat in the Veimandhoo Channel between Thaa and Laamu Shearwater A. tenuirostris, a few individuals of which may show Atolls (2.167°N 73.317°E). It was a long-winged and long-necked atypically pale underwings (Onley & Scofield 2007). The Short- booby with dark upperwings and tail, and its identification was tailed Shearwater appears to be rare in our region, with only a not in doubt. The bird was first seen circling at some altitude; single record from the Maldives (Anderson 2007). The chances it was followed and observed to dive twice. The second dive of finding three atypical individuals with pale underwings must was barely 100 m in front of the boat and by the time the bird therefore be very small. Nevertheless, we separate our birds surfaced and was ready to take off it was alongside the boat, from Short-tailed Shearwater using the following features: in allowing excellent views (Plates 3 & 4). size they were only marginally smaller than nearby Flesh-footed Although this species previously bred on some islands in Shearwaters, with a relatively heavy-bodied appearance; the the western Indian Ocean, including Assumption, the Seychelles tails were not short and there was no sign of foot projection; the Plates 3 & 4. Abbott’s Booby Papasula abbotti, Veimandhoo bills were relatively long and slender, and heads were uniform in Channel, Maldives, 6 October 2014. colour, with no sign of a cap or hood. We also note that ST and MM have seen thousands of Sooty Shearwaters in the North Sea in Europe, whilst RCA has seen hundreds of Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in Maldivian waters. There appear to have been only two previous published records of Sooty Shearwater for South Asia, both sight records from Sri Lanka: off Trincomalee in November 1974 (Sinclair 1977, Robertson 1994) and off the south-west coast in October 2007 (Pepper & Hettige 2008). Without supporting specimens or images, this species was considered ‘hypothetical’ in South Asia by Rasmussen & Anderton (2012). However, it is now apparent that Sooty Shearwater is a regular, albeit not common, southern

Figure 1. Seasonal occurrence of Sooty Shearwater Ardenna CHARLES ANDERSON grisea in the northern Arabian Sea, based on records from Oman (Eriksen & Victor 2013), United Arab Emirates (Pedersen & Aspinall 2010) and Iran (Ghasemi et al. 2008). CHARLES ANDERSON BirdingASIA 26 (2016) 131 group and Rodrigues, Mauritius, it appears to have been Hirschfeld, E. (1992) Observations of sea birds off Dhofar (Oman) 1990–2. extirpated from the region over 100 years ago (Skerrett et al. Sandgrouse 14: 62–71. 2001). Breeding is now confined to Christmas Island in the east James, D. J. & McAllan, I. A. (2014) The birds of Christmas Island, Indian ocean: a Indian Ocean, although it does forage more widely, particularly review. Australian Field Orn. 31 (Supplement). in the Java Sea during non-breeding periods (James & McAllan Onley, D. & Scofield, P. (2007) Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of the world. 2014, BirdLife International 2016b). London: Christopher Helm. This appears to be the first confirmed record for South Asia Pedersen, T. & Aspinall, S. (2010) EBRC annotated checklist of the birds of the of this Endangered species, although there have been previous United Arab Emirates. Sandgrouse Supplement 3: 1–96. sightings from the Chagos Archipelago, about 500 km to the Pepper, T. & Hettige, U. (2008) A first record of Black-bellied Storm-petrel Fregetta south (Bourne 1971, Hirons et al. 1976, Symens 1999), that were all tropica in Sri Lankan waters. BirdingASIA 10: 92. published without supporting evidence and not widely accepted. Perlman, Y. & Meyrav, J. (2009) Checklist of the birds of Israel. Tel Aviv: Society for Carr (2011) considered that its presence at Chagos had not been the Protection of Nature in Israel. established ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, while Rasmussen & Phillips, W. W. A. (1963) The birds of the Maldive Islands, Indian Ocean. J. Bombay Anderton (2012) regarded the presence of this species in South Nat. Hist. 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