Bird Conservation International (1998) 8:205-209. © BirdLife International 1998

News and Notes

'News and Notes' is intended to provide a forum for up to date information on threatened species, on-going conservation work and other issues related to conservation. It will include pieces abstracted from other publications. Please send any contributions to BCI News and Notes Editor, BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3 oNA, UK, or e-mail them to [email protected].

Austral antarcticus Collar, N.J., Gonzaga, L.P., Krabbe, N. rediscovered in Santa Cruz Madrono Nieto, A., Naranjo, L.G., Parker, Province, Argentina T.A. and Wege, D.C. (1992) Threatened of the Americas. Cambridge, UK, A small population of the enigmatic Aus- International Council for Bird Preservation. tral Rail Rallus antarcticus has recently Fjeldsa, ]. and Krabbe, N. (1990) Birds of been found in Santa Cruz Province, the High Andes. Copenhagen, Apollo southern Patagonia, Argentina. Consid- Books. ered to be critically endangered if not Contact: Juan Mazar Barnett extinct (Collar et al. 1992). It was hypo- [email protected] thesised that the species had declined due to overgrazing by sheep and habitat Cherry-throated Tanager Nemosia change (Fjeldsa and Krabbe 1990), and it rourei rediscovered was last reported when a dead bird was found near El Bolson, Rio Negro in 1959 Forty-seven years after the last report and (Collar et al. 1992). nearly 130 years after the only specimen On 12 and 13 January 1998, Juan Mazar was collected, the Cherry-throated Tan- Barnett, Santiago Imberti, German Pug- ager Nemosia rourei has been rediscovered nali and Marco della Seta recorded at in Espirito Santo State, Brazil. The bird least four birds calling from dense reed- was previously known from the type- beds bordering the Rio Chico at Estancia specimen collected at Muriae, Minas La Angostura, and one individual was Gerias State in 1870, a flock of eight seen seen. Extensive tape recordings were in 1941 in the Limoeiro-Jatiboca area, Espirito Santo (Sick, 1979) and a possible obtained. sight record at Nova Lombardia Bio- It is considered likely that the species logical Reserve, Espirito Santo in 1992 will be found to be regular in areas of (Scott, 1997). The bird was found on pri- suitable habitat along the Rio Chico and vate land, where up to four individuals other areas in Santa Cruz and southern were seen and photographed on 22 and Patagonia, including adjacent areas of 24 February 1998. The discovery was Chile. Future field work is planned in made by six Brazilian researchers: Clau- Santa Cruz Province, in areas of suitable dia Bauer, Jose Fernando Pacheco, Ana reedmarshes, and is being funded Cristina Venturini, Pedro Rogerio de Paz, through the Neotropical Bird Club Con- Mariana Pacheco Rehen and Luciano servation Awards Program. Fieldwork Petronetto do Carmo. A photograph of will include a survey of the species distri- the bird can be viewed on the web-site of bution, which will be conducted using the Neotropical Bird Club (http:// tape recordings of the species calls, and www.neotropicalbirdclub.org). Full an attempt to assess the species density details of the rediscovery will be pub- and ecological requirements. Full details lished in due course. of the survey and rediscovery will be Scott, D.A. (1997) A possible re-sighting published in Cotinga (the journal of the of Cherry-throated Tanager Nemosia rourei Neotropical Bird Club). in Espirito Santo Brazil. Cotinga 7, 61- 63. Notes and News 206

Sick, H. (1979) Notes on some Brazilian nearly undetectable following Hurricane Birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 99: 115- 120. Iniki in 1992. It is a highly sedentary spe- Jose Fernando Pacheco in litt. March cies that lives in the steep river valleys in 1998. montane rainforest. The goal of the cap- tive breeding program is to establish new, disjunct populations of Puaiohi within the Satanic Eared-nightjar Eurostopodus species' historical distribution where suit- diabolicus rediscovery able habitat persists and the Puaiohi is absent. Bishop and Diamond (1997) report the Currently, there are five pairs of adult rediscovery of the Satanic Eared-nightjar Puaiohi at The Peregrine Fund's Keauhou Eurostopodus diabolicus in Sulawesi. Previ- Bird Conservation Center that originated ously known from the type specimen col- from eggs collected from the wild popula- lected on the Minahassa peninsula in tion in 1996 and 1997. Thus far, three 1931, although there have been three pos- pairs are laying eggs and two chicks have sible records since 1980, none could be hatched from two of these pairs. Eggs are confirmed. Bishop and Diamond collected from the breeding pairs, artifi- observed birds on four occasions, with cially incubated, and the chicks are sub- two individuals thought to have been sequently hand-reared. The pairs lay involved. The birds were found in prim- replacement clutches. In the wild, the ary hill forest at 1000 m and primary breeding pairs have been known to lay as montane forest at 1735 m in Lore Lindu many as five clutches in one season. The National Park, Central Sulawesi. chicks produced this breeding season will be 'hacked back' to the Alakai Wilderness Bishop, K.D. and Diamond, J.M. (1997) Area in late 1998 or early 1999. Appropri- Rediscovery ofHeinrich's Nightjar ate release sites are now being evaluated. Eurostopodus diabolicus. Kukila 9, 71— The Puaiohi will be released using the 73- same successful techniques developed in 1996 for releasing the Hawaii Thrush First Captive Breeding of the (Omao), Myadestes obscurus, a non- Endangered Small Kauai Thrush endangered endemic congener. (Puaiohi) Myadestes palmeri Alan Lieberman and Cyndi Kuehler With a population currently estimated to The Peregrine Fund be about 200 individuals, the endangered Keauhou Bird Conservation Center Small Kauai Thrush (Puaiohi) Myadestes [email protected] palmeri will soon benefit from a captive breeding programme aimed at bolstering the wild population. In co-operation with Stripe-headed Tanager Genus the Biological Resources Division of the Spindalis splits - implications for U.S. Geological Survey, the State of Caribbean conservation priorities Hawaii's Division of Forestry and Wild- life, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- A paper by Garrido et al. (1997) examines vice, The Peregrine Fund has successfully the of the Stripe-headed Tan- bred, hatched and reared the Puaiohi. The ager Genus Spindalis in the West Indies. Puaiohi, one of only two extant Hawaiian The study recommends that the birds Thrushes, is only found in the Alakai Wil- which were previously considered one derness Area on the north-west quadrant species should be considered to involve of Kauai. Never known to be common four allospecies, resulting in the creation since it was first described to science in of additional endemics in Jamaica, Puerto the late 19th century, the Puaiohi popula- Rico and Hispaniola and Gonave Islands tion fell to less than 50 in 1981 and was and a fourth species with five sub-species Notes and News 207

inhabiting the Bahamas and Cozumel large areas including much of the forest Island. This is likely to be only one of a habitat needed by the oriole. The core of number of forthcoming revisions of con- the population, 100-200 birds, survives in ventional avian taxonomy in the Carib- the less affected Centre Hills. A rescue bean, which will result in the recognition plan has been put together by the Jersey of additional endemic and potentially Wildlife Preservation Trust, Royal Society endangered species. for the Protection of Birds (BirdLife Part- ner in the UK) and World Wide Fund for Garrido, O.H., Parkes, K.C., Reynard, Nature. The plan will involve establish- G.B., Kirkconnell, A. and Sutton, R. (1997) ment of a captive breeding population Taxonomy of the Stripe-headed Tanager, and assessment and monitoring of the Genus Spindali (Aves: Thraupinae) of the population in the Centre Hills. West Indies. Wilson Bull., 209(4) 561- 594. Oryx 32(2), 104.

New site for White-necked Rockfowl Picathartes Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga gymnocephalus discovered winter range revelation by Satellite A new site has been discovered in Ivory A male Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila Coast for the globally threatened White- clanga fitted with a satellite transmitter necked Rockfowl Picathartes gymnoce- has been recorded wintering for two suc- phalus. Restricted to only five countries in cessive winters in Zambia. The species West Africa, the little-known species is had previously been known to winter regarded as declining throughout its only north of the Equator with the most range. Nesting sites have now been loc- southerly records being single sightings ated on rocky inselbergs in Mont Peko from Kenya and Uganda. The bird which National Park in western Ivory Coast. was trapped during the breeding season This is the fourth locality where the spe- in Biebrza National Park in Poland cies has been found in the country, returned to exactly the same area in the although one was apparently destroyed north-east of South Luangwa National by land clearance some years ago. Park in two successive years. While Trie new record for Mont Peko emerged migrating trve eagle covered approxim- during preparation for a new project by ately 350 km a day. The bird also crossed BirdLife International in support of the Tanzania from which there had been no Direction pour la Protection de la Nature. previous records of the species. In Sierra Leone, local communities have strong cultural ties with the Picathartes Meyburg, B-U., Meyburg, C, Mizera, T., nesting sites, which augurs well for the Maciorowski, G. and Kowlaski, }. (1998) future of the population there. Greater Spotted Eagle wintering in Zambia. Africa - Birds and Birding 3(1), 62- 68. Dr Sean Doolan, BirdLife International sean [email protected] New White-winged Flufftail Monserrat Oriole Icterus oberi Sarothura ayresi site found rescue plan A site with over 200 pairs of the globally The Soufiere Volcano, which has been threatened White-winged Flufftail Saro- highly active in the last two years, thura ayresi has been found in Ethiopia. threatens the endemic Monserrat Oriole The African Bird Club has provided a Icterus oberi. Eruptions have damaged grant for a project at the site and further Notes and News 208 details will be published in the Bulletin of Endangered Species Bulletin. the African Bird Club in the future. November/December 1997, XXII (6), 23. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 5, 9. Kirtland's Warbler Dendroica kirtlandii increase Low Shoebill Balaeniceps rex numbers in Uganda survey The 1997 annual census of Kirtland's Warblers Dendroica kirtlandii recorded the A two week survey of wetland sites in second highest ever numbers since it Uganda found only 19 Shoebills Balaen- began in 1951, with 733 singing males iceps rex. Uganda had been thought to recorded. The survey found 19 birds sing- have up to 600. ing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where they were first found breeding in 1995 Naturalist (Quarterly Newsletter of the and five birds singing in Wisconsin, East African Natural History Society - though no evidence of breeding was Uganda) 2.1, 3. found. Endangered Species Bulletin. Calfornia Condor Gymnogyps November/December 1997, XXII (6), 27. californicus reintroduction news The reintroduction of California Condors BOOKS Gymnogyps californicus in Arizona is pro- ceeding with four more birds due to be Stattersfield, A.J., Crosby, M.J., Long, released soon. The first six were released A.J. and Wege, D.C. (1998) Endemic Bird at the site in December 1996 and followed Areas of the World: Priorities for by another nine in May 1997. Of the first Biodiversity Conservation. Cambridge, 15 birds released 13 survive, one having UK: BirdLife International (BirdLife been lost in a collision with a power line Conservation Series no. 7), pp 846. and one to a Golden Eagle Aquila chry- saetos. The birds have ranged widely and This latest book in BirdLife International's are successfully finding food. conservation series describes 218 Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs), which contain some Endangered Species Bulletin. 2,500 bird species of restricted range, 25% November/December 1997, XXII (6), 22. of all bird species. Introductory chapters describe the processes involved in identi- fying EBAs and provide a global analysis Attwater's Greater Prairie Chicken of the results. The majority of restricted- Tympanuchus cupido attwateri range species are associated with forests, while most EBAs are in the tropics. EBAs Release are virtually absent in regions such as The endangered subspecies of Greater North America and Western Europe, Prairie Chicken Tympanuchus cupido attwa- where funding for conservation is strong- teri is known from three sites with a total est. Clearly BirdLife International must population of less than 100 birds. Nearly act as a vehicle for the transfer of funding 70 birds were released in 1996 at two loc- and know how to ensure that a network alities in Texas, The Attwater Prairie of protected areas is developed in these Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and the EBAs. Nature Conservancy's Galveston Bay The bulk of the book is given over to a Prairie Reserve. At least 40% survived to description of EBAs, presented by region. the 1997 breeding season when released Each EBA is shown with a clear map, birds built ten nests and six successfully summary tables are provided of the EBA fledged chicks. and its restricted-range species, while the Notes and News 209 text describes the general characteristics a distribution map, with the county of each site, its birds, and threats and con- boundaries superimposed, while many servation. The book is well illustrated species also have abundance maps. The with photographs (and some paintings) of text describes the distribution of each spe- birds and habitats, mostly in black and cies, documenting any known changes in white. The habitat pictures are extremely range or population. Each account has a clear, giving an enticing flavour of these section on breeding biology, with attract- wonderful areas. ive vignettes showing birds at the nest. This is truly magnificent enterprise. It The author, his field surveyors and pub- will have begun to achieve its aims if the lisher are to be congratulated on produ- next edition contains much less on threats cing such a comprehensive, readable and to EBAs and much more on conservation. clearly laid out atlas of breeding birds. Chris Mason Chris Mason

Nicholson, C.P. (1997) Atlas of the Grup Balear d'Ornitologia i breeding birds of Tennessee. Defensa de la Naturalesa (1997) Knoxville: University of Tennessee Atles dels Aucells Nidificants de Mallorca i Cabrera Press, 426pp, $45 This book provides distribution data on This paperback provides the details of 170 confirmed breeding species in Ten- a recent distribution survey of breeding nessee, based on surveys conducted birds of Mallorca, with maps in the usual between 1986 and 1991. There are intro- 10km x 10km format. As well as the ductory sections on the methodology of detailed maps there are also figures show- the survey, a history of ornithology in ing the habitats, nest sites and nesting Tennessee, and Tennessee environments times of the breeding species of the and landscapes. An overview of the island - about 100 in all. There is a selec- results is provided, along with a brief dis- tion of photos showing typical habitats. cussion of historical changes in the avi- For more information contact fauna. The bulk of the book is given over [email protected]. to the species accounts. Each species has Chris Mason