Amytornis WESTER A USTRALIA J OURAL OF O RITHOLOGY VOLUME 4 (2012) 9-12 SHORT COMMUNICATION AUSTRALIA

Cinnamon ( cinnamomeus ) at Anna Plains Station, Western Australia, the first record for mainland Australia

Chris J. Hassell 1* and Nik Ward 2

1 PO Box 3089, Broome, Western Australia, Australia 6158 2 36 Shaftesbury Road, Exeter, United Kingdom EX2 9BR *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract. On 9 December 2011 a male Cinnamon Bittern ( Ixobrychus cinnamomeus ) was found dead, having just been dropped from the talons of a Brown Falcon ( Falco berigora ), on Anna Plains Pastoral Lease, Western Australia 19º13’53.07”S, 121º28’29.46”E. The specimen was photographed, kept frozen and lodged with the Western Australian Museum (WAM A37617). A description of the is given from study of the corpse and photographs. This constitutes the first record of this species for mainland Australia (accepted by the Birdlife Australia Rarities Committee, BARC case number 730) and the third record for Australian territory.

Observations sides of the neck. Other candidate species ruled out were Von Schrenck’s Bittern ( I. eurhythmus ), Yel- On 9 December 2011 we were driving the short low Bittern ( I. sinensis ) and Little Bittern ( I. minu- distance from Anna Plains Station Homestead to tus ). All three of these species have black primaries the shore of Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia, contrasting strongly with pale wing coverts, caus- to conduct a shorebird census. We saw a Brown ing a very striking pattern that was not shown by Falcon ( Falco berigora ) flying in front of us carry- this bird with its ginger primaries and only slightly ing what appeared to be a large prey item. We paler wing coverts (Robson 2000). Cinnamon Bit- stopped the car and put our binoculars on the falcon tern is monotypic (del Hoyo et al. 1992). and noticed the prey had long dangling legs. We knew from just this visual clue that it would be an Description ‘interesting’ prey item. The falcon landed 300 m behind us on the ground at the side of the road. As Bare parts we drove back slowly towards the falcon it flew off The lower mandible was pinkish/white and yellow to a nearby fence post and left the prey item behind. towards the distal third (Figure 1). The upper man- We drove up and found the prey item to be a dead dible was yellow with the culmen ridge brown/ bittern. The falcon had not begun to eat the bittern black (Figure 1). The legs and toes were greenish/ and therefore the body was in good condition and yellow with yellow soles (Figure 2). easy to identify. Only the chin and throat and up- per-neck were damaged and it appeared the main Plumage flight feathers of the right wing had been plucked The crown, nape and mantle were a rich, slightly out. The bird was not emaciated despite being in glossy cinnamon (Figure 3a). The bittern had the the alien habitat of open, dry grassland at Anna diagnostic black centred ginger-fringed ‘epaulettes’ Plains. identifying it as an adult male (Figure 4). The bird was quickly identified as a Cinnamon The uppertail coverts, uppertail, scapulars, and Bittern ( Ixobrychus cinnamomeus ) by the ginger upperwing were ginger with a paler ginger/yellow plumage and the diagnostic black-centred ‘epaulett- patch formed by the median secondary coverts es’. Epaulettes are a tuft of feathers on the lower (Figure 3b).

ISSN 1832-3482 www.birdlife.org.au/amytornis 10 Hassell and Ward. Cinnamon Bittern at Anna Plains Station, Western Australia

Figure 1. Head of Cinnamon Bittern, Anna Plains Station, Western Australia. (Photograph: Adrian Boyle).

Figure 2. Legs of Cinnamon Bittern, Anna Plains Station, Western Australia. (Photograph: Arian Boyle).

The chin and throat were damaged. The breast was ginger plumage, and the epaulettes distinguish it from a ginger and the belly white with ginger ‘streaking’. The female as plumage in this species is sexually dimor- underwing coverts were very pale ginger with the un- phic. Females have white-fringed wing coverts giving derside of the primaries and secondaries grey with the the inner wing a spotted appearance. Juveniles are very ginger of the upperwing showing through (Figure 3b). distinct with a lot of fringing on all feathers and imma- Figure 5 shows the powder down patches. These ture are also spotted in appearance. Females, im- feathers ‘disintegrate’ to a powder in a few families of matures and juveniles also have white underparts with birds. The bird uses this powder to preen through the heavy brown streaking in comparison to the ginger and feathers to keep them in good condition, a function white of the males. performed by wax from the uropygial gland in most birds (Wetmore 1920). Discussion This is the first record of a Cinnamon Bittern on the Age and sex Australian mainland. There are to our knowledge 4 The bird was an adult male. The glossy cinnamon and records from Christmas Island from February 2002

Amytornis 4 (2012) 9-12 Hassell and Ward. Cinnamon Bittern at Anna Plains Station, Western Australia 11

Figure 3. (a) Upperparts and (b) underparts of Cinnamon Bittern, Anna Plains Station, Western Australia. (Photographs: Adrian Boyle).

Figure 4. Lateral view of male Cinnamon Bittern found dead at Anna Plains Station, Western Australia, showing distinctive black ‘epaulette’. (Photograph: Adrian Boyle).

Amytornis 4 (2012) 9-12 12 Hassell and Ward. Cinnamon Bittern at Anna Plains Station, Western Australia

tially other areas of northern Australia. The bird was in healthy body condition. It was not emaciated, had nor- mal sized breast muscles and was in active wing moult so it did not seem the bird had been in the area long or been struggling to find food. So potentially the bird had recently arrived and was traversing the huge ex- panse of grassland when it was killed by the falcon. It is our opinion that the bird was killed by the falcon and not picked up as carrion, as the bird did not smell and had no activity on it to suggest it had been lying on the ground for any length of time.

Acknowledgements. Adrian Boyle for images and Steve Holliday and Adrian Boyle for comments on drafts of this submission. Thanks go to the Stoate Family, owners of Anna Plains Pastoral Lease for access to their land for our research programs

References Carter, M. (2003). Cinnamon Bittern Ixobrychus cinna- momeus on Christmas Island: A new bird for Austra- Figure 5. Powder down patches of Cinnamon Bittern, Anna lian Territory. Australian Field Ornithology 20 , 55- Plains Station, Western Australia. (Photograph: Adrian 58. Boyle). del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (Eds) (1992). ‘Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Ostrich (Carter 2003), March 2008 (BARC case number 555; to Ducks.’ (Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.) http://users.bigpond.net.au/palliser/barc/barc- King, B., Woodcock, M. and Dickinson, E. C. (1975). home.html), February 2010 (http://bioacou- ‘A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East stics.cse.unsw.edu.au/birding-aus/), February 2011 (A. Asia.’ (Collins: London.) Boyle, R. Clarke and G. Swann pers. comm.), and 1 MacKinnon, J. and Phillipps, K. (2000). ‘A Field from the Cocos Keeling Islands in December 2010 Guide to the Birds of China.’ (Oxford University (http://bioacoustics.cse. unsw.edu.au/birding-aus/). Press: New York.) Cinnamon Bittern is widely distributed throughout Robson, C. (2000). ‘A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian subcontinent, Central, east and southern South-East Asia.’ (New Holland Publishers: Lon- China, throughout southeast Asia to Sulawesi (Robson don.) 2000). There are also well documented and published Trainor, C. (2005). Waterbirds and coastal seabirds of records from Timor-Leste where it was considered lo- Timor-Leste (East Timor): status and distribution cally common (Trainor 2005) and is now considered to from surveys in August 2002-December 2004. Fork- be a breeding resident (Trainor 2011). Timor-Leste is tail 21 , 61-78. only 600 km from the Kimberley coast and 1100 km Trainor, C. (2011). The waterbirds and coastal seabirds from this record. Some populations of this species are of Timor-Leste: new site records clarifying residence migratory (del Hoyo et al. 1992) , increasing the chance status, distribution and . Forktail 27 , 63-72. of vagrancy. We think this bird is a genuine vagrant as Wetmore, A. (1920). The function of powder downs in the West Kimberley does not have enough fresh water . The Condor 22 , 168-170. swamps year round for to establish themselves in this region, unlike in Timor-Leste or even poten-

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