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Morocco SD 2017 Trip Report
Morocco 9th - 18th March 2017 Desert Sparrow is surely one of the best looking and most sought after of all the sparrows Tour Leader: Lisle Gwynn All photos in this report were taken by Lisle Gwynn on this tour Species depicted in photographs are named in BOLD RED www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Introduction Morocco is a fascinating destination, and one that many world birders have neglected for too long. It is increasingly becoming a go-to country for European birders in Spring, and offers some of the most exciting birding in the Western Palearctic biogeographic region. Not only does it offer a chance to see Afro-European migration at its peak, but it also offers a plethora of exciting and special endemic and near-endemic species at its core. Add to this the fact that throughout the tour we have excellent accommodation and some of the best food available anywhere in the world (in my opinion), it all goes toward making Morocco a must-visit location for any birder branching out into the world. It is also currently by far the safest North African country to visit, with little crime and none of the problems that plague the rest of the region, and therefore presents a comfortable and safe opportunity to experience North Africa. This year’s tour followed our tried and tested route, starting in the manic city of Marrakesh at a serene hotel amongst the craziness, a quick departure to the idyllic Ourika Valley and the high snow-capped peaks of Oukameiden and the high Atlas Mountains, before descending to the stony desert around Boumalne Dades and the ochre-cast dunes of the Sahara at Erg Chebbi. -
Cameroon 2003
Cameroon 2003 Ola Elleström Claes Engelbrecht Bengt Grandin Erling Jirle Nils Kjellén Jonas Nordin Bengt-Eric Sjölinder Sten Stemme Dan Zetterström Front cover: Mount Kupé Bushshrike, Telephorus kupeensis, by Dan Zetterström Cameroon map: Jonas Nordin INTRODUCTION AND PLANNING. By Erling Jirle FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTRY The population is about 11 millions. There are over 200 ethnic groups, in the southeast pygmies for example. In the north Moslems are in majority, and in the south Christians. Official languages are French and English. In most of the country French is the dominant language, English is spoken mainly in the southwest part of the country, in the former English colony. The flora consists of over 8000 known species. In the rainforest belt you can find 22 primate species (like Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Drill, Mandrill) and 22 antelopes. There are 7 National Parks and several large fauna reserves. In all 4,5 percent of the land area are reserves. CLIMATE The climate in Cameroon is complicated, since it comprises of several climate zones. All Cameroon is tropical. Annual mean temperature is 23-28 depending on altitude. In the North the rains are between June - September (400 mm), then Waza National Park usually becomes impassable. In the inner parts of Cameroon there are two ”rains”; May - June and Oct. - Nov. (1500 mm annually). The rainy season along the coast is around 8 months, roughly April - November (3800 mm). West of Mount Cameroon you find the third wettest spot on earth, with over 10 000 mm per year. Also the Western Highlands gets almost 10 meter rain between May - October. -
Comments on the Ornithology of Nigeria, Including Amendments to the National List
Robert J. Dowsett 154 Bull. B.O.C. 2015 135(2) Comments on the ornithology of Nigeria, including amendments to the national list by Robert J. Dowsett Received 16 December 2014 Summary.—This paper reviews the distribution of birds in Nigeria that were not treated in detail in the most recent national avifauna (Elgood et al. 1994). It clarifies certain range limits, and recommends the addition to the Nigerian list of four species (African Piculet Verreauxia africana, White-tailed Lark Mirafra albicauda, Western Black-headed Batis Batis erlangeri and Velvet-mantled Drongo Dicrurus modestus) and the deletion (in the absence of satisfactory documentation) of six others (Olive Ibis Bostrychia olivacea, Lesser Short-toed Lark Calandrella rufescens, Richard’s Pipit Anthus richardi, Little Grey Flycatcher Muscicapa epulata, Ussher’s Flycatcher M. ussheri and Rufous-winged Illadopsis Illadopsis rufescens). Recent research in West Africa has demonstrated the need to clarify the distributions of several bird species in Nigeria. I have re-examined much of the literature relating to the country, analysed the (largely unpublished) collection made by Boyd Alexander there in 1904–05 (in the Natural History Museum, Tring; NHMUK), and have reviewed the data available in the light of our own field work in Ghana (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2014), Togo (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2011a) and neighbouring Benin (Dowsett & Dowsett- Lemaire 2011, Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2009, 2010, 2011b). The northern or southern localities of species with limited ranges in Nigeria were not always detailed by Elgood et al. (1994), although such information is essential for understanding distribution patterns and future changes. For many Guineo-Congolian forest species their northern limit in West Africa lies on the escarpment of the Jos Plateau, especially Nindam Forest Reserve, Kagoro. -
Phylogenetic Reanalysis of Strauch's Osteological Data Set for The
TheCondor97:174-196 0 The Cooper Ornithological Society 1995 PHYLOGENETIC REANALYSIS OF STRAUCH’S OSTEOLOGICAL DATA SET FOR THE CHARADRIIFORMES PHILIP c. CHU Department of Biology and Museum of Zoology The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Abstract. Strauch’s (1978) compatibility analysisof relationshipsamong the shorebirds (Charadriifonnes) was the first study to examine the full range of charadriifonn taxa in a reproducibleway. SubsequentlyMickevich and Parenti (1980) leveled seriouscharges against Strauch’s characters,method of phylogenetic inference, and results. To account for these charges,Strauch ’s characterswere re-examined and recoded, and parsimony analyseswere performed on the revised matrix. A parsimony analysison 74 taxa from the revised matrix yielded 855 shortesttrees, each length = 286 and consistencyindex = 0.385. In each shortest tree there were two major lineages,a lineageof sandpiper-likebirds and a lineageof plover- like birds; the two formed a monophyletic group, with the auks (Alcidae) being that group’s sister taxon. The shortest trees were then compared with other estimates of shorebird re- lationships, comparison suggestingthat the chargesagainst Strauch’s results may have re- sulted from the Mickevich and Parenti decisions to exclude much of Strauch’s character evidence. Key words: Charadrilformes; phylogeny; compatibility analysis: parsimony analysis; tax- onomic congruence. INTRODUCTION Strauch scored 227 charadriiform taxa for 70 The investigation of evolutionary relationships characters. Sixty-three of the characters were among shorebirds (Aves: Charadriiformes) has a taken from either the skull or postcranial skel- long history (reviewed in Sibley and Ahlquist eton; the remaining seven involved the respec- 1990). Almost all studies used morphology to tive origins of three neck muscles, as published make inferences about shared ancestry; infer- in Burton (1971, 1972, 1974) and Zusi (1962). -
Birds in and Around Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh
CASE REPORT ZOOS' PRINT JOURNAL 15 (10): 339-343 BIRDS IN AND AROUND SRI VENKATESWARA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ANDHRA PRADESH B. Anand Mohan Curator, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India Abstract Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary, Tirupathi and its adjoins. The A study of the bird fauna of Sri Venkateshwara Wildlife Sanctuary lies between 13038'N and 13055'N latitude; 79011'20" E Sanctuary, Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh revealed a total of and 79029'10" longitude. The elevation of the area ranges from 178 species. The study was conducted over three years 150 to 1129 m. Terrain is undulating. Average rainfall 900 mm. in different forest types such as wooded forests, dry Bulk of rainfall is from the North-East monsoon in addition to deciduous forests, wet lands, open scrub jungle and the scanty South-West monsoon. The area has 1500 vascular adjoining agricultural fields. plant species belonging to 174 families, of which nine are endemic. Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Keywords southern Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. The Sanctuary was Birds, inventory, Sri Venkateshwara Wildlife established in 1985. Parts of the Sanctuary is in Chittoor and Sanctuary, occurrence, habitat Cuddapah districts. Materials and methods Introduction From August 1991 to August 1994, the following field stations Very little information is available on the avifaunal resources of were monitored for avifauna. 1. Tirumala (Well wooded forest); Andhra Pradesh through the work done by Whistler and Kinner 2. Talakona (Well wooded forest); 3. Chamala (Dry deciduous (1930-37) on the Vernay Scientific survey of the Eastern Ghats forest); 4. Mamandur (Dry deciduous forest. -
The Birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an Annotated Checklist
European Journal of Taxonomy 306: 1–69 ISSN 2118-9773 https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.306 www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu 2017 · Gedeon K. et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Monograph urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A32EAE51-9051-458A-81DD-8EA921901CDC The birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an annotated checklist Kai GEDEON 1,*, Chemere ZEWDIE 2 & Till TÖPFER 3 1 Saxon Ornithologists’ Society, P.O. Box 1129, 09331 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany. 2 Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise, P.O. Box 1075, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. 3 Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Centre for Taxonomy and Evolutionary Research, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany. * Corresponding author: [email protected] 2 Email: [email protected] 3 Email: [email protected] 1 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F46B3F50-41E2-4629-9951-778F69A5BBA2 2 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F59FEDB3-627A-4D52-A6CB-4F26846C0FC5 3 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:A87BE9B4-8FC6-4E11-8DB4-BDBB3CFBBEAA Abstract. Oromia is the largest National Regional State of Ethiopia. Here we present the first comprehensive checklist of its birds. A total of 804 bird species has been recorded, 601 of them confirmed (443) or assumed (158) to be breeding birds. At least 561 are all-year residents (and 31 more potentially so), at least 73 are Afrotropical migrants and visitors (and 44 more potentially so), and 184 are Palaearctic migrants and visitors (and eight more potentially so). Three species are endemic to Oromia, 18 to Ethiopia and 43 to the Horn of Africa. 170 Oromia bird species are biome restricted: 57 to the Afrotropical Highlands biome, 95 to the Somali-Masai biome, and 18 to the Sudan-Guinea Savanna biome. -
A Guide to the Birds of Barrow Island
A Guide to the Birds of Barrow Island Operated by Chevron Australia This document has been printed by a Sustainable Green Printer on stock that is certified carbon in joint venture with neutral and is Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) mix certified, ensuring fibres are sourced from certified and well managed forests. The stock 55% recycled (30% pre consumer, 25% post- Cert no. L2/0011.2010 consumer) and has an ISO 14001 Environmental Certification. ISBN 978-0-9871120-1-9 Gorgon Project Osaka Gas | Tokyo Gas | Chubu Electric Power Chevron’s Policy on Working in Sensitive Areas Protecting the safety and health of people and the environment is a Chevron core value. About the Authors Therefore, we: • Strive to design our facilities and conduct our operations to avoid adverse impacts to human health and to operate in an environmentally sound, reliable and Dr Dorian Moro efficient manner. • Conduct our operations responsibly in all areas, including environments with sensitive Dorian Moro works for Chevron Australia as the Terrestrial Ecologist biological characteristics. in the Australasia Strategic Business Unit. His Bachelor of Science Chevron strives to avoid or reduce significant risks and impacts our projects and (Hons) studies at La Trobe University (Victoria), focused on small operations may pose to sensitive species, habitats and ecosystems. This means that we: mammal communities in coastal areas of Victoria. His PhD (University • Integrate biodiversity into our business decision-making and management through our of Western Australia) -
J. Yamashina Inst. Ornithol., 41: 200-203, 2010
ΊῘ῞Ῑ (J. Yamashina Inst. Ornithol.), 41:200῍203, 2010 ῌYamashina Institute for Ornithology Report ῍ΐῒ῎ Migrating Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus Feeding on Passerines on a Stopover Island, Korea Gil-Pyo Hong῎, Gi-Chang Bing῎, Chang-Yong Choi῎,1), Hyun-Young Nam῎, Il-Jae Won῎, Sung-Jin Kim῎, Jong-Gil Park῎ and Hee-Young Chae῎ Abstract. A migrating Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus was observed con- secutively feeding on a Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maura and an Asian Stubtail Urosphena squameiceps on Hongdo Island, Jeonnam Province, Korea. Unlike previous reports of occasional, apparently exceptional, avian predation by the Black Drongo, this sequential observation suggests that the Black Drongo may selectively hunt avian prey. During Black Drongo migration, when other migrating passerines are abundant and insect availability is relatively low, such behavior would help meet its high energy demands. Key words: Asian Stubtail Urosphena squameiceps, Avian predation, Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus, Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maura. ῏ῌῑῌῐ῎ ῖ Urosphena squameiceps῍ ῞ ῝῍ ΐῒῗῒ Dicrurus macrocercus῍ Saxicola maura. The Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus is a small passerine bird widely distributed in Asia and commonly observed in open country with trees (Vaurie 1959). The Black Drongo is an omnivore, feeding predominantly on a variety of insects, and occasionally on reptiles, fish, bats, and birds (Ali and Ripley 1983, Senthilmurugan 2005). The previously reported avian prey species of the Black Drongo were Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher Muscicapa tickelliae, Prinia spp., Aegithina spp., Zosterops spp. including the Indian White-eye Zosterops palpebrosa, and some martins (Hirundinidae) (Osmaston 1922, Ali & Ripley 1983, Sridharan & Sivasubramanian 1987, D’Silva et al. 1990, Jayson & Ramachandran 1994). -
Waterbirds of Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh with Special Reference to White-Bellied Heron Ardea Insignis
Rec. zool. Surv. India: l08(Part-3) : 109-118, 2008 WATERBIRDS OF NAMDAPHA TIGER RESERVE, ARUNACHAL PRADESH WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WHITE-BELLIED HERON ARDEA INSIGNIS GOPINATHAN MAHESW ARAN* Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053, India INTRODUCTION Namdapha Tiger Reserve has a rich aquatic bird fauna, mostly because of many freshwater lakes/ponds located at higher altitudes as well as within the evergreen forest patches and the complex river system it has. While surveys were carried out by the research team of the Zoological Survey of India (Ghosh, 1987) from March 1981 to March 1987, the following prominent waterbirds were recorded from Namdapha : Goliath Heron Ardea goliath, Large Egret Casmerodius albus, Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Common Merganser Mergus Inerganser, Eastern Marsh Harrier Circus spilonotus, and at least seven species of kingfishers, beside the migrant Common Teal Anas crecca. However, the team did not record any White-bellied Heron. Interestingly, I did not record Goliath Heron during my surveys in two years, which the team did so. The White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis (Family : Ardeidae) is a little known species occurring in swamps, marshes and forests from Nepal through Sikkim, Bhutan and northeast Assam in India to Bangladesh, Arakan and north Bunna (Walters 1976). According to Ali and Ripley (1987), it is a highly endangered species and restricted to undisturbed reed ~eds and marshes in eastern Nepal and the Sikkim terai, Bihar (north of the Ganges river), Bhutan duars to northern Assam, Bangladesh, Arakan and north Burma (= Myanmar). In Assam, it has been reported from Kaziranga National Park (Barua and Sharma 1999), Jamjing and Bordoloni of Dhemaji district (Choudhury 1990, 1992, 1994), Dibru-Saikhowa Wildlife Sanctuary and Biosphere Reserve (Choudhury 1994), Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary (Choudhury 1996a, Baruah et al. -
Prey Items of the Great Thick-Knee Esacus Recurvirostris TAEJ MUNDKUR
1991 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 71 Prey items of the Great Thick-knee Esacus recurvirostris TAEJ MUNDKUR During the course of my study from 1985 to 1990 on the breeding biology of the River Tern Sterna aurantia at freshwater reservoirs around Rajkot city C22°18'N 70o47'E), in western India, I had the opportunity to make some observations on the prey items fed to developing chicks of the Great Thick- knee Esacus recurvirostris.This species nests on the dry banks of the reservoirs, on transient islands, and sometimes in a colony of the terns during the dry season from March to July. Seven chicks of the Great Thick-knee were caught and ringed over the six- year period, and for this I handled them 17 times. On three occasions, the chicks had a bulge at the base of the throat indicating the presence of food, which was retrieved by first massaging the throat and then gently easing the bolus out of the open gape. These were immediately preserved in 10% formalin for identification. In all, seven prey items were collected. The largest prey was a complete young Indian Monitor Lizard Varanus bengalensis,with a total length of 21.2 cm and weighing 10.8 g. The animal was intact except for the head that was battered in the region of the forehead and snout. This was collected from a downy chick weighing about 100 g. The second bolus was an intact Anderson's Shrew Suncus stoliczkanus, weighing 4.5 g and measuring 6.3 cm and 10.6 em from tip of the snout to base and tip of the tail respectively. -
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent: Species Not Recorded from India
PRAVEEN ET AL.: Birds of the Indian Subcontinent 93 Birds of the Indian Subcontinent: Species not recorded from India Praveen J., Rajah Jayapal, Tim Inskipp, Deepal Warakagoda, Paul M. Thompson, R. Charles Anderson & Aasheesh Pittie 137. Abbott’s Booby. Photo: Charles Anderson Praveen J., Jayapal, R., Inskipp, T., Warakagoda, D., Thompson, P.M., Anderson, R.C. & Pittie, A., 2017. Birds of the Indian subcontinent: Species not recorded from India. Indian BIRDS 13 (4): 93–101. Praveen J., B303, Shriram Spurthi, ITPL Main Road, Brookefields, Bengaluru 560037, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected]. [PJ] Corresponding author]. Rajah Jayapal, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty (Post), Coimbatore 641108, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [email protected] [RJ] Tim Inskipp, 1 Herneside, Welney, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 9SB, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected] [TI] Deepal Warakagoda, 2 Ceylon Bird Club, 127 Nawala Road, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka. , E-mail: [email protected] [DW] Paul M. Thompson, House 32 Road 10, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh. E-mail: [email protected] [PMT] R. Charles Anderson, P.O. Box 2074, Malé, Republic of Maldives. E-mail: [email protected] [RCA] Aasheesh Pittie, 2nd Floor, BBR Forum, Road No. 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034, Telangana, India. E-mail: [email protected]. [AP] Manuscript received on 25 June 2017. he Indian Subcontinent, comprising seven countries, provides one (or two) recent reference/s that review/s the namely, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri species status in the respective country. We also provide detailed TLanka, and the Maldives, is often recognised as a distinct annotations for some select rarities for the Indian Subcontinent. -
Report on Birds Seen in Goa, India November 5-9, 2013
Mikko Pyhälä mikko.pyhala(a)kolumbus.fi 17.01.2013 Report on birds seen in Goa, India November 5-9, 2013 Flame- throated Bulbul India is an excellent country to observe birds which mostly are not terribly afraid of human beings, because there is so li9le, if any hun:ng. By and large, Indians are tolerant of wildlife, even in densely habited areas. Good guidebooks are available, but English language names of birds have recently changed somewhat, and also some La:n names have been changed when species have been split and redefined. The Western Ghats, a coastal mountain range from Goa to Kerala, is a hotspot of endemism, in fact one of the most important centres of endemism in the world. A temporary ban on new mining projects has given relief to many good birding areas, including officially gaze9ed sanctuaries. Thanks to the generous invita:on by our long-:me friend, Danish diplomat Peter Mark, some 20 of his friends we gathered in the southern :p of North Goa at Sinquerim, with Marbella Guesthouse as our base. Some of us like Peter, his girlfriend Bodil Nydal Engell, and Birte Poulsen, and me, have been birding for ages. Several others joined walks and excursions, some for the first :me in their life, and enjoyed it. For two excursions, our excellent expert guide was Pankaj Lad (Canopy) who "1 Mikko Pyhälä mikko.pyhala(a)kolumbus.fi 17.01.2013 Ashy Drongo Little Green Bee-eater Crimson-backed Sunbird Black-hooded Oriole impressed us with his ability to imitate many bird songs and sounds.