contain coloured birds. on a range of basic and often superficial morphological characters 1 as well as behavioural, vocalisation and habitat pointers to f Many thanks to Derek Goodwin for ideas and some lively relationships but these characters lacked certainty and were correspondence on the draft of this note. subjective.
Michael Jennings Email
• Booted and olivaceous warblers should be classified among the Acrocephaliis.
• These two species are more closely related to the large reed warblers and the small streaked species e.g. sedge and moustached warblers. than the small plain reed warblers. Other Hippolais warblers, such as Icterine H. Icterilla are, taxonomically, some distance away.
• Species status should he given to the fusclts eastern race of the reed warbler and the common name Caspian reed warbler is suggested.
• Fllseus is actually more closely related to the African reed warbler A. Baeticatlls than the European reed warhler.
• The African reed warbler should be split and the race inhabiting the mangroves of the Red Sea given specific status with the suggested common name of mangrove reed warbler.
• The Basra reed warbler is clearly of specific status and some distance from the great reed warbler.
~- ..-.- ~:~:-- .. ~-.-'. -.-.~-.~":::":,,.:,;.;~:-.~~~~,,,,: • The group can be dealt with in future as a single genus Acrocephallls or split into four genera. Notiocichla (small plain reed warblers), Calal110dus (small streaked reed warblers), Idlll10 (booted and olivaceous warblers) and Acrocephailis (large plain Fig 7. Crab plovers IJromas ardeola have sometimes been recorded many reed warbler). kilometres inland in eastern Arabia. Are these wandering birds or do they migrate overland. for example between the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian If the proposals by Leisler et al. are generally accepted the list of Sea"! Arabian Acrocephalus species would be as shown below. The list follows the order of relationship set out by Leisler et al.• the status Acrocephalus and Hippolais Warblers in Arabia is shown for completeness. Taxonomic Change? Paddyfield warbler AcroeephalllslNotiocichla agricola: rare We have always accepted Aerocep/zalus and Hippolais as separate migrant. genera - for want of better advice. after all the species within each Blyth's reed warbler AcrocephaluslNofiociehla dU/1/eforum; genus appear to exhihit superficial similarities of plumage. A rare migrant. recent study blows this familiar structure out of the water and Marsh warbler AcroccphaluslNotiocichla jlalustris; common proposes new species which are relevant to the Arabian avifauna migrant. and ABBA. Caspian reed warbler AcrocephalllslNotiocichla fllsells; common migrant and widespread but local breeder. In Dutch Birding 1997 (Vol 19 No 6; pp 294-300) George Mangrove reed warbler AcrocephalllslNotiocichla avicenniae; Sangster outlined the new ideas on the relationships of scarce breeding resident of Arabian Red Sea mangroves. Acroccplwlus and Hippolais warblers which were recently put European reed warbler AcrocephalllslNotiocichla scirpllcclI.I; forward by Leisler and others in 1. Ornithol. 138: 469 - 496. The migrant and possible breeder. review by Leisler ef al. was based on mitochondrial DNA Sedge Warbler AcrocephaiuslCalamodlts schoenobaenlls; (mtDNA) sequencing and looked at the relationships of common migrant. Acrocephalus and Hippolai.l· warblers. Sangster's excellent Moustached warbler AcrocephaluslCalamodlis meianopogon: summarising article draws out what practical changes we on the scarce winter visitor and local breeding resident. ground might expect. in species taxonomy and nomenclature, if the Olivaceous warbler Acrocephaiuslldllna pal/ida; common ideas are widely accepted. migrant and breeding summer visitor. Booted Warbler Acrocephalllslldlllla caligata: scarce migrant Warblers of these two genera arc recognised by many as difficult and local breeding summer visitor. to identify hecause of their llon-descript plumage and skulking Basra reed warbler Acrocephalus griseldis: scarce migrant and behaviour. "Their somewhat uniform appearance gives little clue to rare breeding summer visitor. their relationships. Prior to mtDNA sequencing, taxonomy relied Great reed warbler AcrocephalllS arundinaceolls; migrant and
13 - breeding summer visitor. me/anura. From Marib the itinerary talked of "crossing the Empty Clamorous reed warbler Acrocephalus stenforeus; migrant and Quarter". This is a bit of an exaggeration as the Ramlat as localised breeding resident. Sabatayn is a very tiny tongue of the Empty Quarter and is in fact a smooth easy drive across firm sand. The crossing did include a For the time being ABBA will continue to use the eXlstmg nights camp in the sands where an early morning half hour census nomenclature and taxonomy however this will inevitably change as found 16 Dunn's lark Eremalauda dunni. Near by were black the new suggested grouping makes sound sense. crowned finchlark Eremopterix nigriceps, hoopoe lark Alaemon alaudipes and three bar-tailed desert larks Ammomanes cincturl/s. Yemen, December 1997 and January 1998 I counted ten kestrel Falco tinnunculus in this area before lunch which suggests the region is quite an important wintering area. In the Wadi Hadramaut desert lark Ammomanes deserti were quite Over Christmas and the New Year 1997/8 I made an unusual visit numerous, they are much scarcer in the western highlands. Arabian to Arahia. I became a tourist on a cultural trip around Yemen. My waxbiII Estrilda rufiharha are at their easternmost range in Tarim partner Carol and I joined a group of 13 people on a trip that took (PA09), African silver bill Euodice cantans and black bush chat us from Sanaa to the Wadi Hadramaut, via the Ramlat as Sahatayn, Cercotrichas podohe were also quite numerous there. thence to the Red Sea via Mukalla and Yashbum, and back to Sanaa by Manakhah and Kawkaban. We travelled in four Toyota Moving south to Mukalla we had a couple of Arabian warbler land cruisers and camped for six nights. This was the first time J Sylvia leucomelaena on the jol (rocky plateaux) one of the few had been a pure tourist anywhere in Arabia. Not being in control birds to be found in that arid upland region. Mukalla has house of the itinerary or the vehicle was frustrating, and not surprisingly crows Corvus splendens which were much more common now the tour did not visit a single sewage lagoon, rubbish tip or wetland. than noted during my last visit in 1989 (ABBA Survey No 8). However. against all the odds, I did see some good hirds including They are not found regularly elsewhere on the Indian ocean coast most of the endemics and collected quite a lot of information for until near to Aden. There was a little green heron Butorides the ABBA database. Any trip to eastern Yemen yields new striatus on a wreck offshore and along the coast were numerous records for the datahase but it was still surprising to find new osprey Pandion haliaetus and sooty gull Lams hemprichii. Going squares on the tourist route for such common species as yellow west to Yashbum I saw the unmistakable nests of the Arabian vented bulbul Pycnonotlls xanthopygos, graceful warbler Prinia golden sparrow Passer ellchloms in a roadside acacia bush. This gracilis. fan-tailed raven Corvus rhipidllrus and RUppell's weaver record in NBOS turned out to equal the easternmost breeding Plocells gallmla. Obviously you will see a lot more birds on an record of the species in Arabia. Lichtenstein's's sandgrouse organised hird tour. especially as these tend to concentrate their Pterocles lichtensteinii were heard on the plateau above Yashbum activities in the highlands and the bird rich Red Sea coastlands. (MBOS) on 28 December. We had an excellent camp site near The following is a summary of some of the breeding or resident Bayda (LB04) at 2060 m, just behind the top of the escarpment at birds seen. Mukayras. I had dusky turtle dove Strepfopelia lugens here which is a considerable range extension for the species from the western The route we took is a standard one for cultural tourists. Marib highlands. It was not so unexpected however as were other high was my first experience of the frustration of not being in control, altitude birds such as red-breasted wheatear Oenanthe bottae (also and short stops at numerous sites before "everyone back on the at it easternmost), South Arabian wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides. coach"' typified the rest of the trip. There are plenty of wet sites at long-billed pipit Antl1lls sill1ilis and a flock of 60 'short-toed lark' Marib which would have been great to explore at leisure. As it was which were not seen quite well enough to put them down as the I had to be content with the stock birds which including hamerkop red-capped lark Calandrella cinerea that I suspected they were. Scopus IIl11hretta. little green bee-eater Merops orientalis. Nile Also present here were long-legged buzzard Buteo rufinus, little Valley sunhird Anthreptes metalliclls and blackstart Cercomela Fig 8. The hoopoe lark Alaemon alalldipes is perhaps the only species resident throughout the Empty Quarter.
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