Sylvia 46 / 2010 On historical records of Turdus pallidus and Turdus obscurus (aves: turdidae) from the czech republic O historických nálezech drozdů turdus pallidus a turdus obscurus (Aves: Turdidae) v České republice Jiří Mlíkovský Department of Zoology, National Museum, Václavské náměstí 68, CZ­115 79 Praha 1; e­mail: [email protected] Mlíkovský J. 2010: On historical records of Turdus pallidus and Turdus obscurus (Aves: Turdidae) from the Czech Republic. Sylvia 46: 149–156. Five 19th­century records of Turdus pallidus and Turdus obscurus from the Czech Republic were reported in literature. My revision of the published data, archival documents and museum specimens showed that only two specimens reported by Palliardi (1852), i.e. those collected by Wenzel Koch at Ehmet in westernmost Bohemia, probably during 1845–1851, can be accepted as probable records of Turdus obscurus. All other records (Amerling 1852, Pražák 1893) are invalid for various reasons. V literatuře je citováno pět historických nálezů drozdů Turdus pallidus a Turdus obscurus z České republiky, všechny z 19. století. Revize publikovaných údajů, archivních dokumentů a muzejních exemplářů ukázala, že za pravděpodobný historický doklad druhu Turdus obscurus z České Republiky lze považovat pouze dva jedince zaznamenané Palliardim (1852), tedy jedince ulove- né Wenzelem Kochem u vsi Ehmet v západních Čechách, pravděpodobně v letech 1845–1851. Ani jeden se však nezachoval a jejich určení nelze ověřit. Oba drozdi zmínění Amerlingem (1852) jako Turdus pallidus jsou dodnes uloženi ve sbírkách Národního muzea v Praze. Jeden je Turdus obscurus neznámého geografického původu, zatímco druhý je hypochromatický Turdus philo­ melos. Pražák (1893) si svůj údajný nález T. obscurus zřejmě vymyslel. Keywords: Bohemia, Eyebrowed Thrush, faunistics, historical ornithology, 19th century, Pale Thrush Introduction Europe as vagrants (Hildebrandt 1939, Haffer 1988, Pfeifer et al. 2007). The Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus Gmelin, In Fauna ČSSR – Ptáci (Fauna of 1789 and the Eyebrowed Thrush Turdus Czechoslovakia – Birds), a standard obscurus Gmelin, 1789 breed in Eastern work on the birds of the Czech Republic, Asia and migrate to South­Eastern Asia Hudec (1983: 519–521) listed five 19th­ for winter (Clement 2000, Collar 2005). century records of these two species, Both have been recorded in Central all from Bohemia. They included two 149 Mlíkovský J. / Historical records of Siberian thrushes in Bohemia accepted and a rejected record of Turdus westernmost Bohemia (Hudec 1983: 520, obscurus, and two rejected records of Haffer 1988: 940), which is inaccurate. Turdus pallidus. Below I discuss the First, the name was misspelled by validity of these records. No thrushes Palliardi (1852) and all subsequent from the Turdus pallidus / obscurus authors, because the correct name of complex were reported from the Czech the village and the nearby shooting Republic during 1901–1970. Recent ground was Ehmet (e.g. Sommer observation records of Turdus obscurus 1847: 31, Rudolph 1868: 941, Boháč & (after 1970; FK ČSO 2010) were not Salamanczuk 2007). Second, the village, considered in this paper. which was abandoned after World War II, was located at 50.23°N, 12.47°E, i.e. south of the area between Luby and The RecOrDs Oloví, and its shooting ground included Palliardi 1852 forests lying eatwards of the village Anton A. Palliardi (1799–1873), a physician of Nový Kostel (former Neukirchen; and ornithologist at Františkovy Lázně 50.21°N, 12.45°E) to the Libocký brook (formerly Franzensbad) listed two birds (former Leibitsch­Bach). collected by Wenzel Koch (1812– 1888), The specimen retained by Koch was a head forester and naturalist at present in his collection at Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (formerly Karlsbad), on in late July or August 1886, but the an unknown date in the “Emeth­Revier” collection was already in a declining (“shooting ground Emeth”) (Palliardi state at that time (Talský 1887) and 1852: 39–40). One of these specimens Czynk (1898: 228–229) found it in a very was forwarded to “Fürst Radziwill” in bad state in March 1898. No specimens Berlin, Germany (Palliardi 1852: 40), are known to have survived until now. while Koch retained the other one in his The other Koch’s specimen ended own collection (Palliardi 1852: 40, Talský in the once famous bird collection of 1887: 4). Koch was in a close contact Count Boguslaw Radziwill (1809–1873) with Christoph Fellner von Feldegg in Berlin. After Boguslaw’s death, his (1779–1845), an Austrian soldier and son Ferdinand (1834–1926) moved significant collector of birds, then based the collection to his manor at Antonin at Cheb (formerly Eger). The fact that (Schalow 1919: 452–453), then in Prussia, Koch did not give or sell such a rarity to now in the Greater Poland Province, Feldegg (see below for his collection) Poland (51.52°N, 17.85°E). Hammling indicates that he collected the birds after (1917: 399) found the collection there in Feldegg’s death in 1845. Both Koch’s a bad state on 6 July 1914. I am not aware specimens were thus probably collected of any specimen from this collection that during 1845–1851. Note that Palliardi (in would have survived. Anonymous 1842: 259) did not list this species among the birds of the Karlovy amerling 1852 Vary region and that Radziwill obtained Karel Slavoj Amerling (1807–1884), his specimen from Koch prior to 13 June a physician and naturalist in Praha 1851 (see Baldamus 1852: 6). (Prag, Prague), listed T[urdus] pallidus The locality “Emeth” was mentioned among the birds of Bohemia, giving the to lie between Luby (former Schönbach, following information: „Veliká vzácnost 50.25°N, 12.40°N) and Oloví (former v Čechách i jinde; 2 exempláry ♂ a ♀ Bleistadt, 50.25°N, 12.55°E) in stojí v českém Museum.“ (“Great rarity in 150 Sylvia 46 / 2010 Bohemia and elsewhere; two specimens, believed to belong, to the European ♂ and ♀, are mounted in the Bohemian fauna, not that the specimen was Museum.”) (Amerling 1852: 88). What collected in Europe. Palliardi (1852), Amerling (1852) saw in the museum were who knew the Feldegg Collection, did probably two pale­colored thrushes, not list this specimen among Bohemian possessed by the Bohemian Museum records. There is thus no evidence that (now: National Museum; hereafter the specimen originated from Europe, ‘NMP’) in the early 1850s (Frič 1854: 21). and its Bohemian origin is improbable. Both are still present in the NMP. The specimen NMP P6V­001629 is The specimen NMP P6V­001152 is a leucistic Turdus philomelos Brehm, 1831 Turdus obscurus (Frič 1854: 21, 1866: (Frič 1854: 21, 1866: No. 686). This bird is No. 696; see below). Antonín Frič quite similar to proper Turdus obscurus (1832– 1913), then a curator of zoological or Turdus pallidus at first sight and it collections in the NMP, indicated that could have been easily misidentified the latter specimen originated from by Amerling, who probably saw the the collection of Christoph Fellner von specimens in a showcase. Feldegg (1779–1845). This agrees with an entry in the catalogue of the Feldegg Pražák 1893 Collection (Feldegg 1842). Note that Josef Prokop Pražák (1870–1904), Amerling (1851) did not know about a zoologist and journalist from the bird, while he mentioned it one year Hořiněves in Eastern Bohemia, allegedly later (Amerling 1852), which coincides collected “Turdus obscurus” in autumn with the acquisition by NMP of bird 1892 at “Přim unweit Königgrätz” [= specimens from the Feldegg Collection Přím, Eastern Bohemia; 50.17°N, (Frič 1853, Štěpánek 1975). Frič (1854: 21) 16.40°E] (Pražák 1893: 68). Pražák was reported that the bird originated from a notorious swindler, whose faunistic Bohemia (adding an exclamation mark records are useless (Lorenz­Liburnau in parentheses) and this information 1898, Kleinschmidt 1905, Schmuck was apparently added to the bird on 2010, J. Mlíkovský unpub. results). As exhibition, where Amerling (1852: 88) many other specimens, this T. obscurus saw it. However, Frič (1871, 1872) did probably existed only in Pražák’s mind. not mention this record in his later papers on the birds of Bohemia. Alfred taxonOmIc identItY Hořice (1865–1945), a foremost Czech ornithologist of his time, added on a label glued on the pedestal that the bird Taxonomy of Siberian thrushes of the was probably collected at Karlovy Vary, genus Turdus Linné, 1758 was far from perhaps referring to the region where being understood in the mid 19th century Feldegg lived. However, there is no (Naumann 1850, 1851, 1860, Finsch 1863, evidence that the specimen originated Seebohm 1879), which needs to be taken from Bohemia. Feldegg (1842) divided into account when trying to interpret his catalogue geographically into sub­ early bird records (Mlíkovský 2009). The catalogues (‘Catalogues’ in his wording) Asian species currently distinguished of European and non­European birds, as Turdus pallidus Gmelin and Turdus respectively. He listed this specimen obscurus Gmelin were considered in the “European” sub­catalogue. This identical with each other by most authors meant that the species belonged, or was in the mid 19th century and the species 151 Mlíkovský J. / Historical records of Siberian thrushes in Bohemia was called pallidus (e.g. Temminck examined the specimen in a Berlin 1835: 97, Keyserling & Blasius 1840: li, collection in 1821, later assured that the Schinz 1840: 166, Degland 1849: 461) or bird in fact was a pallens of Pallas, without pallens Pallas, 1811 (e.g. Schlegel 1844: xl, seeing it again (Naumann 1851: 3, 1860: Homeyer 1849: 151, Naumann 1860: 289). 287). Brehm (1824: 972) described such Bonaparte (1850a: 66, 148, 1850b: 273) specimen collected in September 1823 and Finsch (1863) established that there at Ahlsdorf, Saxony, as a new species, are two different species, pallidus living Turdus seyfferitzii. The true taxonomic in Eastern Asia east of obscurus (incl. identity of Naumann’s and Fuhlrott’s pallens), and attributed all European specimens remains unclear, because records of pallidus/obscurus to obscurus their whereabouts is unknown.