104 Indian Vol. 9 No. 4 (Publ. 20 May 2014)

Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana: First record for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India S. Rajeshkumar, C. Raghunathan & G. Maheswaran

Rajeshkumar, S., Raghunathan, C., & Maheswaran, G., 2014. Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana: First record for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Indian BIRDS 9 (4): 104–105. S. Rajeshkumar, Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair 744102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Email: [email protected] C. Raghunathan, Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair 744102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. G. Maheswaran, Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053, West Bengal, India. Manuscript received on 25 February 2014.

lue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana is a the descriptions of C. cyanomelana with black frontal portions, summer visitor to north-eastern , moving southward loral region, cheeks that contrasted well with white belly and blue Bduring winter to Taiwan, south-eastern , and South- upper parts (Clement & Taylor 2006). The white at the base of the east Asia through the Greater Sundas to the . Two sub- tail suggested cumatilis, which was then considered a race of C. species are widely recognised, the nominate, which breeds in cyanomelana. However, as per the revised set of morphological the southern Kuril Islands, Japan and South Korea, and cumatilis, differences published by Leader & Carey (2012), extensive black which breeds in north-eastern China, south-eastern Russia, and on face, lores and cheeks will conclusively eliminate the Chinese North Korea (Clement & Taylor 2006). However, in a recent endemic Cyanoptila cumatilis (Paul Leader pers. comm. March appraisal, C. c. cumatilis has been raised to full species status, 2014). White center to the upper tail, as in this , was earlier with the English name, Zappey’s Flycatcher C. cumatilis, while C. considered diagnostic for cumatilis (Clement & Taylor 2006). c. intermedia, a junior synonym of cumatilis, has been elevated However, Leader & Carey (2012) found no concurrence for this as a race, Cyanoptila cyanomelana intermedia (Leader & Carey feature with any of the museum specimens they examined. 2012). The presence of juvenile greater coverts and tertials in this bird indicate that it is a juvenile male C. cyanomelana. However, it is not possible to assign a racial identity to the bird based on Observation available photographs (Paul Leader pers. comm., March 2014). On 05 March 2012, around 0700 hrs, we came across a lone male blue flycatcher at Kalipur (13°13’N, 93°02’E) just three kilometers from Saddle Peak National Park in North Andaman Discussion Island. The bird had a blackish face and light greyish flanks In the past, this species has been reported three times from within besides its white center at base of the tail. As we could not Indian limits. Choudhury (2006) mentions a sight record of a identify the species in the field, we photographed it [136-138] male at 600 m asl., from Upper Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh, and later referred various field guides. Our photographs matched on 24 November 2002. The second was a bird photographed on

136-138. Juvenile Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana photographed in North Andaman Island, India. Photo: Bonpo & Kuriakose: Yunnan Nuthatch 105

10 March 2012 at Alibag, Maharasthra (Kawale 2012), but the Flycatcher mugimaki (Das 2014), and Blue-winged photographs were not published with the note. As this note was Pitta Pitta moluccensis (Manchi & Kumar 2014). Perhaps regular published prior to the split made by Leader & Carey (2012), the observations during autumn and spring migration might uncover status of cumatilis was also not discussed. The photographs of more such instances. this Alibag bird published elsewhere (Sant et al. 2012) showed dark lores, cheeks, and frontal portions indicating that it was also a Acknowledgements C. cyanomelana (and not C. cumatilis; Paul Leader, pers. comm., The authors and the editors of Indian BIRDS would like to thank Krys K., and Paul Leader March 2014). The second was a first winter male photographed for their help. They would also like to thank K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological by Andrew Foxall and others at Bandhavgarh in February 2013 Survey of India. (Jannes 2013); as per the trip report, the sighting was probably made on 09 February 2013. However, it is not possible to assign References the Bandhavgarh bird to either C. cyanomelana or C. cumatilis on current knowledge (Paul Leader, pers. comm., March 2014). Choudhury, A., 2006. A pocket guide to the birds of Arunachal Pradesh. 1st ed. Guwahati: Gibbon Books & The Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India. Pp. A third for the Indian Subcontinent was a well-photographed 1–109. male at Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka, just two days Clement, P., & Taylor, P. B., 2006. Family Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers): Species prior to our sighting (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/; http:// accounts of Muscicapidae. In: Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 11. orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=2657), which makes Old World flycatchers to Old World warblers. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Christie, D., it three sightings in a span of three years, all of them within a (eds.). Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. 11 of 16 vols.: Pp. 102–163. month’s window between 09 February and 10 March. Das, S., 2014. Mugimaki Flycatcher Ficedula mugimaki from Neil Island, Andaman & According to Clement & Taylor (2006) C. cyanomelana is Nicobar Islands, India. Indian BIRDS 9 (2): 56. a passage migrant through southern and south-eastern China Jannes, H., 2013. Tigers and birds of Bandhavgarh. Website: http://www.birdquest-tours. com/pdfs/report/INDIA%20-TIGERS-%20REP%2013-ebook.pdf. [Accessed on 17 between early- or mid-December to mid-February, returning to March 2014.] its breeding sites through Guangdong from mid- through late Kawale, P., 2012. First record of the Blue and White Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana March, the timing matches with all the Indian Subcontinent’s in India. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 110 (1): 8. records. Probably, while on their return journey, a few birds take a Leader, P. J., & Carey, G. J., 2012. Zappey’s Flycatcher Cyanoptila cumatilis, a forgotten sojourn in various islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands complex Chinese breeding endemic. Forktail 28: 121–128. or on the subcontinent’s mainland before reaching their breeding Manchi, S. S., & Kumar, J. S., 2014. Sighting of the Blue-winged Pitta Pitta moluccensis on grounds. This is the third instance, in recent years, that South- Narcondam Island, India. Indian BIRDS 9 (1): 23–24. Sant, N., Beed, A. N., Kavale, P., & Mhatre, R., 2012. Range extensions and reports. east Asian migrants have been recorded from the Andaman & eLAJournal 2: 5. Website: http://www.elafoundation.org/files/Ela-Journal-1-2.pdf. Nicobar Islands during migration—the others being Mugimaki [Downloaded on 19 March 2014.] Yunnan Nuthatch Sitta yunnanensis from Walong, Arunachal Pradesh: A new species for South Asia Chewang R. Bonpo & Jainy Kuriakose

Bonpo, C. R., & Kuriakose, J., 2014. Yunnan Nuthatch Sitta yunnanensis from Walong, Arunachal Pradesh: A new species for South Asia. Indian BIRDS 9 (4): 105–106. Chewang R Bonpo, Bonfarmhouse, Kewzing, South Sikkim, India. Email: [email protected] Jainy Kuriakose, Flat 9175 Tower 9, Prestige Shantiniketan, Whitefield, Bengaluru, India. Email: [email protected] Manuscript received on 31 March 2014.

he Yunnan Nuthatch Sitta yunnanensis is a small nuthatch Pradesh, around Walong, area have produced several new with a slender, slightly upturned bill, narrow supercilium, South Asian records, or confirmations of hypothetical records Tand a broad, long, black eye-stripe (del Hoyo 2008). It is from the past, of bird species that are otherwise locally common endemic to China with its documented range including south- across the border in China, including, Black-headed Greenfinch eastern Tibet, southern Sichuan, and northern Yunnan to the Carduelis ambigua (Dalvi 2013; Gode 2013; Singh 2013), western extreme of Guizhou (BirdLife International 2012)—with Lord Derby’s Parakeet Psittacula derbiana (Singh 2013), Elliot’s no records from South Asia (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). Laughingthrush Trochalopteron elliotii (Dalvi 2013), Godlewski’s The species is thought to have a very patchy distribution, and Bunting Emberiza godlewskii (Gode 2013; Sharma et al. 2014), consequently, a small global population size and moderately and Black-browed Tit Aegithalos bonvaloti (Sangha et al. 2012). narrow range distribution. Though locally common, numbers Hence, it came as no surprise that we added one more species are declining due to habitat destruction, and therefore the to South Asia from this tract by adding Yunnan Nuthatch. species has been categorised as ‘Near Threatened’ by the IUCN On 13 March 2014, during our birding trip to Walong village Red List of Threatened Species (Birdlife International 2012). (28º08’N, 97º01’E; Anjaw District, Arunachal Pradesh), we had The unexplored hill tracts of extreme north-eastern Arunachal a few good sightings of a nuthatch that looked entirely different