Leptodon Cayanensis Latham, 1790) Author(S): Francisco Voeroes Dénes, Luís Fábio Silveira, Sergio Seipke, Russell Thorstrom, William S
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The White-collared Kite (Leptodon forbesi Swann, 1922) and a Review of the Taxonomy of the Grey-headed Kite (Leptodon cayanensis Latham, 1790) Author(s): Francisco Voeroes Dénes, Luís Fábio Silveira, Sergio Seipke, Russell Thorstrom, William S. Clark, and Jean-Marc Thiollay Source: The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 123(2):323-331. 2011. Published By: The Wilson Ornithological Society URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1676/10-081.1 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is an electronic aggregator of bioscience research content, and the online home to over 160 journals and books published by not-for-profit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123(2):323–331, 2011 THE WHITE-COLLARED KITE (LEPTODON FORBESI SWANN, 1922) AND A REVIEW OF THE TAXONOMY OF THE GREY-HEADED KITE (LEPTODON CAYANENSIS LATHAM, 1790) FRANCISCO VOEROES DE´ NES,1,6 LUI´SFA´ BIO SILVEIRA,1 SERGIO SEIPKE,2,3 RUSSELL THORSTROM,3 WILLIAM S. CLARK,4 AND JEAN-MARC THIOLLAY5 ABSTRACT.—The White-collared Kite (Leptodon forbesi Swann, 1922), previously known by the holotype and three specimens from northeastern Brazil from the late 1980s, is considered by many as a juvenile variant of the Grey-headed Kite (L. cayanensis Latham, 1790). We present new morphological evidence from museum specimens of both species, including a previously misidentified specimen of L. forbesi, and field study to support the validity of the White-collared Kite as a species, now seen as endemic and severely threatened in northeastern Brazil. This species occurs only in remnants of the Atlantic Forest in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. It is distinguished from its congener by its white hind-collar, underwing coverts, and leading edge of the wings. The under surface of the secondaries show reduced black barring. The number of white and black tail bands is variable, and not a good diagnostic character. We also review all taxa described for L. cayanensis and show the described subspecies are not valid. Received 13 May 2010. Accepted 5 November 2010. There is disagreement about the division of since the time of its description. Brown and species and subspecies within the genus Leptodon Amadon (1968) consider the holotype specimen Sundevall, 1836. Some consider this genus to be of L. forbesi, described by Swann (1922, 1945), as monotypic and represented only by the Grey- a juvenile plumage variant of the more common headed Kite (Leptodon cayanensis) (Grossman and widespread Grey-headed Kite (L. cayanensis). and Hamlet 1964, Brown and Amadon 1968, Sick (1997) mentions the high variability of the Blake 1977, Sick 1997); others consider the plumage in L. cayanensis, acknowledged by White-collared Kite (L. forbesi) a valid species Foster (1971), as an argument for a similar restricted to the Atlantic Forest of northeastern classification. Hellmayr and Conover (1949) Brazil (Swann 1922, 1945; Teixeira et al. 1987a, reported the type specimen is a bird in very fresh b; Thiollay 1994; Ferguson-Lees and Christie plumage just finishing its molt, and that presence 2001). This latter taxon was described by Swann of an old primary on both wings and some dusky (1922) as a species based on a single specimen (at brown feathers on the rump suggest its immatu- the Natural History Museum in Tring, United rity. They conclude (1949:26) ‘‘while the speci- Kingdom) collected by W. A. Forbes in 1882 in men looks rather different from the ordinary run the northeastern Brazilian State of Pernambuco. of L. cayanensis, further material is needed to The White-collared Kite is known from the establish the taxonomic status of L. forbesi holotype and three other specimens (at the Museu beyond doubt’’. Ferguson-Lees and Christie Nacional do Rio de Janeiro; Teixeira et al. 1987a) (2001) concur with Hellmayr and Conover with no previous reliable observations (Roda and (1949) regarding the morphological description Carlos 2003, Silveira et al. 2003, Pereira et al. of Leptodon forbesi. They indicate, however, that 2006). to consider the type specimen as a juvenile would The taxonomic status of the White-collared be a mistake because it has apparently molted Kite (Leptodon forbesi), often considered a recently and has adult plumage with the exception synonym of L. cayanensis, has been uncertain of two or three secondaries and some worn coverts. The traditional diagnosis of Leptodon 1 Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biocieˆncias, forbesi include the white underwing coverts; the Universidade de Sa˜o Paulo, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil. gray crown; a white collar; white tips on the 2 Calle 57 nu 1230 ‘‘A’’, La Plata 1900, Buenos Aires, scapulars, mantle, and wing quills; and a broad Argentina. white tail band, measuring 60–70 mm (Swann 3 The Peregrine Fund, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, 1945, Hellmayr and Conover 1949, Pinto and Boise, ID 83709, USA. Camargo 1961). 4 2301 South Whitehouse Circle, Harlingen, TX 78550, USA. The three specimens collected in the 1980s in 5 2 rue de la Rivie`re 10220 Rouilly–Sacey, France. the State of Alagoas share some similarities with 6 Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] the L. forbesi type specimen. Preliminary analysis 323 324 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY N Vol. 123, No. 2, June 2011 by Teixeira et al. (1987a, b) suggested this taxon We examined differences in morphology be- differs from L. cayanensis, influencing most of tween White-collared and Grey-headed kites, and the subsequent literature to treat L. forbesi as a strongly suggest the White-collared Kite is a valid valid species (Forrester 1993, Thiollay 1994, species. We also present arguments in favor of Stotz et al. 1996, Ferguson-Lees and Christie considering the Grey-headed Kite monotypic. 2001). More recently, Roda and Carlos (2003) found only the Grey-headed Kite in six locations METHODS in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, but the We examined 128 specimens within the genus authors did not present the diagnosis for this Leptodon (Appendix) from the ornithological taxon. Vocalizations typical of the Grey-headed collections of the Museu de Zoologia da Uni- Kite were also recorded in Alagoas (Silveira et al. versidade de Sa˜o Paulo (MZUSP), Museu Nacio- 2003), while White-collared Kites were found in nal do Rio de Janeiro (MN), Natural History southern Pernambuco (Pereira et al. 2006). Museum at Tring, United Kingdom (NHM), The three subspecies of L. cayanensis were Museum fu¨r Naturkunde of the Humbold-Univer- based on color differences. Swann (1922) sug- sity in Berlin (ZMB), Coleccio´n Ornitologica gests that L. c. cayanensis Latham, 1790 in Phelps (COP), Instituto de Ciencias Naturales northern South America (and the Amazon Basin) (ICN), and Museo de la Estacio´n Biologica de differs from L. c. monachus Vieillot, 1817 for Rancho Grande (MEBRG). We were unable to central and southeastern South America in the obtain permission to examine the Leptodon following characters: darker black dorsum; dark specimens reported in Teixeira et al. (1987a, b) gray head and nape; upper tail coverts without and they are not included. Additionally, LFS and visible bands, but with some small white spots; SS inspected the ornithological collections of the black underwing coverts (black and white in L. c. American Museum of Natural History, Natural monachus), but with white wing borders (Swann History Museum Vienna, and National Museum 1922). He further described a third subspecies L. of Natural History (Leiden) in search of speci- c. mexicanus for Mexico south to Panama, mens pertinent to the taxonomic analysis (L. diagnosed by the grayish nape and head; grayish forbesi-like specimens or from northeastern Bra- black dorsum; black underwing coverts; upper tail zil), which were not found; thus, the collections coverts with a whitish-gray band, and grayish are not listed in this paper. The a priori naming of black spotted legs. specimens within the genus Leptodon was based Hellmayr and Conover (1949) invalidated the on the suggested ranges of the taxa. subspecies L. c. monachus and L. c. mexicanus We surveyed raptors in forest fragments in the because they found no color differences. L. c. states of Alagoas (AL) and Pernambuco (PE) in mexicanus has since been disregarded in most of the October 2007 and February and November 2008. subsequent literature. They indicated that L. We gathered additional information on morphol- cayanensis from Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia ogy, behavior, and abundance of Leptodon tend to be larger than those in the rest of the range, (Seipke et al. 2011). Photographs taken in the but offer no analysis to support these conclusions. field were used to supplement the few museum They also affirm that if the southern form is specimens. Vocalizations were opportunistically considered a subspecies, it should be L. c. monachus recorded using a video camera, and used for Vieillot, 1817. This treatment is followed by simple comparison with known recordings of Thiollay (1994) who lists L. c. cayanensis in the Grey-headed Kites. The areas surveyed were north and L. c. monachus in the south. Murici, AL; Usina Serra Grande, Sa˜o Jose´da The status of the White-collared Kite is Laje, AL; Mata do Coimbra, Ibateguara, AL; classified as ‘Data Deficient’ in the 2003 list of Fazenda Varrela, Sa˜o Miguel dos Campos, AL; Brazilian animals threatened with extinction as Usina Trapiche, Sirinhae´m, PE; and Engenho the paucity of museum specimens of L.