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Rare Birds and Birding News
Seabird is vanishing with the Glaciers -- Kittlitz's Murrelet: Birds endangered by global warming. By Doug O'Harra. Anchorage Daily News, 8 May 2004. The population has crashed 80 to 90 percent during the past 15 years. Study Finds Marbled Murrelet in Decline. 5 May 2004. Not surprising, since the ancient trees they require for breeding are being destroyed by loggers, to whom the noxious, lying politicians of both parties, virtually without exception, beg incessantly for contributions and give away ancient forests in return. Dave Currie, Joe Wunderle, Dave Ewert & Eric Carey. The most elusive bird in the Bahamas? World Birdwatch 25 (4): 13-15 (December 2003). 12 local concentrations of Kirtland's Warblers found in broadleaf scrub on Eleuthera. Pamela Beresford, Jon Fjeldså, & Jacob Kiure. A new species of Akalat (Sheppardia) narrowly endemic in the Eastern Arc of Tanzania. The Auk 121(2):23-24 (January 2004). The Rubeho Akalat, Sheppardia aurantiithorax. Erika S. Tavares, Carlos Yamashita & Cristina Y. Miyaki. Phylogenetic relationships among some Neotropical parrot genera (Psittacidae) based on mitochondrial sequences. The Auk 121(1):230-242 (January 2004). The authors studied relationships among the macaws -- Ara, Anodorhynchus, Cyanopsitta, the recently-split small macaw genera Primolius and Diopsittaca, Guarouba and three species of Aratinga. Their results support the split, and in addition demonstrate that Guarouba and Diopsittaca are sister genera. Aratinga leucophthalmus was found to be distant from the two other Aratinga species tested, A. cactorum and A. aurea, suggesting that the genus Aratinga is not monophyletic. Orthopsittaca, Rhynchopsitta and Nandayus were not included in this study. 24 November 2003: Baz Hughes reports on the the twsg-forum that Will Duckworth has just found at least 36 Scaly-sided Mergansers on the Chongchon River, about 40 miles north of Pyongyang, North Korea. The birds are very mobile over a 20-mile stretch of the river, only c. 10-30% was checkable from the road. (WWT website). Rare Petrel Fights for Survival. By Alex Kirby, BBC News, 2 September 2003. A new but small breeding colony of Zino's Petrel has been discovered on Madeira. "Extinction Near for Albatross, Experts Warn." By James Owen, National Geographic News, 17 April 2003. Killing rare seabirds to supply "Chilean Sea Bass" to rich Americans. "A Bird-Watcher's Heaven (if War Wasn't Hell) by Juan Forero, New York Times, 8 April 2003. About birding in Colombia, including interviews with Paul Salaman, Gary Stiles, and Peter Kaestner. Report of birds observed by Niels Krabbe on Fundación Jocotoco's new reserve on Cerro Tapichalaca, Ecuador in February 2003, above the type locality of Jocotoco Antpitta. Photos by Doug Wechsler taken on a trip to Fundación Jocotoco's Rio Canande Reserve, Ecuador, in November - December 2002, including Lita Woodpecker Piculus litae and Chocó Poorwil Nytiphrynus rosenberi. Not rare birds, but an interesting discovery: Superb Fairy-wrens distinguish and abandon some Chrysococcyx chicks -- apparently the only known host species that rejects parasitic cuckoo chicks. They appear to distinguish the cuckoos by voice, as they invariably abandon Shining Bronze-Cuckoos (lucidus), which sound like thornbird chicks, but raise about 50% of Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoos (basalis), which sound like Fairy-wren chicks. Planned Portuguese radar station on Madeira threatens Zino's Petrel, now down to 20-30 pairs. BBC. The distinctive, monotypic Himalayan Quail, Ophrysia superciliosa, not recorded since 1876, may still survive! "The villagers seemed to be familiar with HQ in at least three sites and said such birds were present in the surrounding area." A further field survey of historic sites is now underway. Hilaluddin et al., PQF News, Issue 17, Autumn 2002. (Kill JavaScript to prevent redirect.) A new Scytalopus tapaculo that is widespread in southeast Brazil is about to be described. Guy Kirwan reports that after hearing a tape, he realized that he had heard it at the Clibanornis site near Urubici, SC. Mystery Indian vulture virus heading for Europe. New Scientist, 8 October 2002. Migrant Palearctic vultures have appeared in India in numbers, due to lack of competition from recently decimated Indian vultures. Major range extension of the Madagascar Red Owl Tyto soumagnei. Found in primary rainforest in the southeast (Kalambatritra). Ibis 144: 680-683. Taxonomic recommendations for British birds. Ibis 144: 707-710. (pdf) Report of an Eskimo Curlew Numenius borealis from Chappaquiddick on August 27 by John and Andrew Nelson, including a description of the cinnamon wing lining (buffy in Little Curlew) and the call as similar to a Golden Plover. Article by E. Vernon Laux in the Vineyard Gazette. [ID comparison chart | Voice descriptions] There have been no confirmed records since the early 1960s, and the species may be extinct. ABC draft checklist of African birds -- comments requested. New Ninox owl described from Sumba, Indonesia. N. sumbaensis, Little Sumba Hawk-Owl. It formerly was believed to be an Otus, based on its small size and the low, hooting voice, which is unlike any other known Ninox. J. Olsen et al., Emu 102:223-231. Now online as a free sample -- save it to your hard disk! In July 2002, Jorge Velasquez and Alonso Quevedo located a flock of 14 Fuertes Parrots Hapalopsittaca fuertesi, perhaps the last flock in the last patch of suitable subtropical forest habitat in Quindío, Colombia, and obtained photos, videos and tape recordings. Report of Negros Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus arcanus, previously known from one female specimen collected in 1953, plus Negros Bleeding-heart and other rare birds in the Canaway Forest, plus 5 Celestial Monarchs and other good birds at Ambabok/Apaya, northern Luzon. The male Negros Fruit-Dove reportedly looks like a miniature Yellow-breasted Fruit-Dove. Sander Lagerveld post to OrientalBirding. Walden's Hornbill, Aceros waldeni, photo at nest by Tim Laman. Endemic to Panay and Negros. Fossils of the largest known birds -- giant geese up to 500 kg -- discovered in central Australia. A photo of a singing Mt. Kupé Bush-shrike (rare Cameroon endemic) is posted on birding-africa.com. Three breeding pairs and a seventh adult Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita have been discovered in central Syria. BBC, 9 July 2002. Incredible tool-making talent of the New Caledonian Crow. New Scientist. 8 August 2002. Kimberly Pipit, Anthus pseudosimilis, a new species, has been described from South Africa. Liversidge & Voelker, Bull. B.O.C. 122(2): 93-109. Cape Parrot census finds 634 birds. Recently introduced flies may threaten Darwin's finches. Philornis downsi and Sarcodexia lambens. B. Tessel & S. Tebbich, Ibis 144(3): 445-451 (July 2002). Kakapos up to 86 - 14 birds to be transferred to Fiordland. New Zealand Herald. Australia threatens Abbott's Booby with enormous new camp for illegal aliens on Christmas Island. Sumatran Ground-Cuckoo Carpococcyx viridis rediscovered! Photographed in 1997 in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, southwest Sumatra, and only now publicized. World Birdwatch 24(1). See Forktail 18 (2002): 63-65 for details. Golden-crowned Manakin Pipra vilasboasi rediscovered in Brazil. Olmos & Pacheco found it along BR-163 near the Mato Grosso border. EU and World Bank financing highway across the Biebzra marshes, Poland. Now is the time to go see Aquatic Warbler! South Africa plans road through the Strandfontein Important Bird Area [Zandvlei Trust] The Large-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus, known from one old specimen from India, appears to be a valid species. More information. Black-faced Spoonbills wintering in Taiwan and Hong Kong have been radio tracked to breeding grounds in the Korea Demilitarized Zone. More information. The Allpahuayo-Mishana Reserve, Peru, the white-sand forest near Iquitos site from which four new bird species have recently been described, is being destroyed by land invaders. Ian Hinze, Proact. [For bird finding information, see the recent message from Pepe Alvarez to BirdingPeru.] Introduced ant devastating Christmas Island. Planet Ark, 11 April 2002. |
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