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[ Additions to the Birds of the Mangroves in Papua New Guinea 90 HERON Hird [ W atcher Additions to the Birds of the Mangroves in Papua New Guinea By Brother MATTHEW (S.J.) HERON, P.O. Box 20, Bereina CP, Papua New Guinea SUMMARY A further nineteen species have been recorded in the Bereina and Hall Sound area of the Central Province. An annotated list is given together with three species which were mis'dentified in a previous paper. INTRODUCTION Heron (1975a) gave an account of the birds observed in man­ groves near Bereina and at the mouth of the Biaru River. Since mid 1974, nineteen other species have been recorded in the study area and nearby Hall Sound. Two species in the original paper were misidentified. For Egretta sacra Reef Heron read E. garzetta Little Egret; for Rhipidura threnothorax Sooty Fantail read R . maculipectus Black Thicket Fantail. It is becoming increasingly evident that Pachycephala rufiventris Varied Whistler refers to P. lanioides White-breasted Whistler, a species which has not been found previously in Papua New Guinea (see systematic list.) Nomenclature has also changed for several species due to Condon's ( 1975) Checklist and Schodde's (1975) Interim List of Passerines. The spinicauda race of Pachycephalis pectoralis be­ comes P. me/anura Mangrove Golden Whistler. Gerygone fusca becomes G. levigaster Mangrove Warbler. It was pointed out by Johnstone (1975) that Meise (1931) lumped G. fusca, G. canta­ tor and G. levigaster under one species G. fusca. This was not generally followed by Australian taxonomists but Rand and Gil­ liard (1967) did so in their work. Filewood (1976) recorded nesting information for Dicrurus hottentottus, Gerygone magnirostris, Chlamydera cerviniventris, Myiagra rubecula and Collaricincla harmonica in the Bereina area during October 15-16, 1975. SYSTEMATIC LIST Tachybaptus novaehollandiae, Little Grebe On April 10, 197 6 a nest containing five eggs was found on a large pool behind the beach at W aima. Ardea sumatrana, Great-billed Heron One, Hall Sound on September 21 , 1974. Butorides striatus, Mangrove Heron Common at Lese on May 8, 197 4. A viceda subcristata, Crested Hawk One feeding in creekside vegetation near Aviara on June 5, 1976. Pandion haliaetus, Osprey One over a large channel in Hall Sound on September 21, 1974. Ptilinopus ornatus, Ornate Fruit Dove. Male of race gestroi showing mustard coloured head, in study area on March 27, 1977. September ] Birds of Mangroves: Papua New Guinea 91 1977 Ptilinopus aurantiifrons, Orange-fronted Fruit Dove A nest containing one white egg was found at a height of six metres in the southern part of the study area on March 27, 1977. Ducula spilorrhoa, Torres Strait Pigeon Flock of eight, Hall Sound on September 21, 1974. Ducula zoeae, Zoe Fruit Pigeon One in the top of a tall tree on the edge of the study area on July 20, 1974. Charmosyna placentis, Red-flanked Lorikeet See Heron (1975b) for observations in the Gulf Province. Ceyx pusillus, Little Kingfisher Several at Lese on May 8, 197 4; one in the study area on March 27, 1976 and the same one or another on the same day, 1977. Syma torotoro, Le3ser Yellow-billed Kingfisher Cayley (1959) reported that the New Guinea form was a man­ grove-dwelling species but Bell ( 1970) gives the lower storey of rainforest as its habitat. The species does enter mangroves often from the monsoon forest margins and may be heard frequentl y. One seen in thick vegetation bordering the study area on October 20, 1974. Tanysiptera galatea, Common Paradise Kingfisher One on the edge of the study area in thick scrub on July 20, 1974. Eurystomus orienta/is, Dollarbird. The race waigiouensis seen once in the study area on October 26, 1975. Arses telescophthalmus, Frilled Monarch Male in the southern part of the study area in thick growth on September 5, 1976. Pitohui dichrous, Black-headed Pitohui Fairly common in monsoon forest margins of the study area where it occasionally wanders as on September 5, 1976. Oriolus szalayi, Striped Oriole Often heard in tall trees bordering the southern part of the area. Cracticus cassicus, Black-headed Butcherbird Occasionally heard calling from the southern area near the monsoon forest margin. Philemon novaeguineae, New Guinea Friarbird Enters mangroves from the monsoon forest on occasions as on March 27, 1977. Pachycephala lanioides, White~breasted Whistler Heron (1975a) attributed observations of this species to P. rufiventris but closer observation indicates P. lanioides. The large size (20 em), strongly hooked black bill, wide black breast bar:d and the slaty-grey upper parts of the male clearly show the bird to be lanioides. The brown on the collar seems to be absent though it may not be identifiable in the field. Mr. H. Bell and Mr. G. Swainson who have studied P. rufiventris leucogaster exten­ sively in the field, saw a female in the study area during October, 92 KLAPSTE Bird [ Watcher 1976. They claimed that it definitely was not leucogaster and the hooked bHl indicated laniodes which was the opinion I had formed since writing the original paper. A series of specimens could confirm these sightings. The species is rather uncommon though probably present in small numbers throughout the year. A male was also seen in mangroves near Mou Village, several kilometres south of Aviara on August 10, 1974. Tentatively, first sight record for Papua New Guinea. Rhipidura maculipectus, Black Thicket Fantail Stated in the previous paper as not yet seen in the Bereina area. One near Mou village on August 10, 1974. REFERENCES Bell, H . L., 1970. "Habitat of the Yellow-billed Kingfisher." Emu 70 : 31. Cayley, N. W., 1959. Wh at Bird is That? 3rd edn., Angus & Robertson. Condon, H. T., 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. 1. Non Passerines, RAOU, Melbourne. Filewood, W., 1976. New Guinea Bird Society Newsletter 116 : 4. Heron, M., 1975a. "The Birds of the Mangroves in Papua New Guinea," Australian Bird Watcher 6 : 69-75. Heron, S. J. , 1975b. "Red-flanked Lorikeet in the Gulf District, Papua New Guinea." Emu 75 : 44. Johnstone, R . E., 1975. "Distribution and taxonomic status of the Dusky Warbler, Gerygone tenebrosa." Emu 75 : 185. Meise, W. , 1931. "Zur Systematik der Gattung Gaygone. Novit. Zool. 36 : 317-379. Rand, A. L. & Gilliard, E. T., 1967. Handbook of New Guinea Birds, London. Short Notes - Voice of the Black Cormorant. Together with Peter Klapste on June 6, 1977, at 13.30 hours, whilst watching birds along the coast at Swan Bay near Queenscliff, Victoria, I saw one Black Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo perched on the cross bar at the top of a telegraph pole. Another Black Cormorant attempted to alight on the same spot. The sitting bird arched its body upwards and uttered a two-syllable call which was very loud and harsh. It is very difficult to render phonetically but the closest is "kwer­ kwer." We had never heard the cormorant calling before, so after we came home, I consulted "The Handbook of Australian Sea-birds" by Serventy, D. L. , V. Serventy and J . Warham (1971, Reed, Sydney), and found that the Black Cormorant's call has not been recorded in this country. Later I consulted many other publica­ ti ons and what I found may be summarized as follows : "It is very rare to hear it call outside its colony." Jaroslav Klapste, 6/ 15 Southey St., Elwood, Victoria, 3184. 213 CORRIGENDA Bird [ Watcher food, are both nomadic species. Caching food for another day may be a practical trait for a resident bird to practice but would be of little value for a species always on the move. Ian Rowley, CS/RO Division of Wildlife Research, Helena Valley, W.A.~ 6056. Corrigendum: Mr. Eric H. Sedgwick has pointed out some minor errors in his article "Historical Bird List: Open Forest at Larrimah, N.T., 1944" (Australian Bird Watcher 7 (5) : 142-144, 1978). 1. "Chestnut­ backed" (fourth-last item, p. 144) should read "Chestnut-backed Quail": 2. "Frequency of Encounter" for the last category of the list should be "8%- ", not "8%", i.e. each species was recorded in the area but not during a transect: 3. Asterisks to indicate "Migrant" status were omitted - Mr. Sedgwick notes that species affected are Rainbow Bee-eater, Indian Koel, Rufous-breasted Bronze Cuckoo and Pallid Cuckoo. He states "This is rather subjective: possibly other species should be included". I regret these errors. - Han. Editor. Corrigendum: In my article "Additions to the Birds of the Mangroves in Papua New Guinea" (Australian Bird Watcher 7 (3): 90-92, 1977) I attributed observations of a whistler to Pachycephala laniodes. However, this is an error and I withdraw the identifica­ tion. On August 27, 1977, Mr. Geoff Swainson, in my presence, collected a pair of whistlers in mangroves at Bereina, P.N.G. These have been determined as P. rufiventris leucogaster. The difficulty of field identification of these whistlers is well demonstrated, as a re-reading of my article will indicate. - Brother Mathew (S. J. Heron). Corrigendum: . The title of the paper by Mark Bonnin, published in Australian Bird Watcher Vol. 7 No. 5, pp 152-154, should read "A Day at Rawlinna Station, Western Australia", not South Australia. I regret this error.- Han. Editor. .
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