Surfbirds News: September 2006 Archives

« August 2006 | Main | October 2006 »

September 30, 2006

Vagrant bird dies and birdwatchers blamed for bird's death

A juvenile Rose-coloured Starling that is normally found in Asia and eastern Europe but recently appeared in gardens in Winterton, Norfolk, UK has sparked widespread media coverage after a neighbour reported on a BBC news programme that birdwatchers were the cause of its death. Carol Barnes had told the BBC that birdwatchers had pursued the starling from garden to garden after it turned up in the coastal town last weekend. The RSPB has said that it does not plan to launch an inquiry but the birding community has reacted strongly calling the allegations misinformed and very damaging.

Lee Evans who runs a popular British birding club said that the bird at the centre of the story was suffering two heavily bloated ticks on its head, one just behind the eye and another below the eye. "As soon as I set eyes on it last Saturday, I realised it was in distress and made every attempt to capture it but failed."

Juvenile Rose-coloured Starling showing one of the bloated ticks that caused its death from the Surfbirds galleries © William Bowell 24th Sept 06

"This was affecting its health in a serious manner. The reason the bird died was because of the two ticks draining its life blood and nothing to do whatsoever with birders scrambling to see it. Such parasites have had similar affects to a wide range of bird species throughout the ages. It was however feeding well and was taking Cranefly after Cranefly from the protected lawn inside the Wireless Station compound in Winterton village. It was ridiculously lethargic and struggling to fly far but fed to within a few feet of observers. Birders surrounded it but certainly did not hound it in any way nor was it 'chased' from pillar to post as suggested in the newspaper articles. Due to a Pallid Harrier in the vicinity, it was obviously visited by perhaps over 500 different observers over the weekend but as far as I know, it was certainly not 'hounded to death'.

Juvenile Rose-coloured Starling, Norfolk from the Surfbirds galleries © Murray S. Smith 23rd Sept 06

Juvenile Rose-coloured Starling, Norfolk from the Surfbirds galleries © James Hanlon 24th Sept 06

Posted by Surfbirds at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2006

Evidence Suggesting that Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (Campephilus principalis) Exist in Florida

On 21 May 2005, researchers detected a bird that they identified as an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the mature swamp forest along the Choctawhatchee River in the panhandle of Florida. During a subsequent year of research, members of their small search team observed birds that were identified as Ivory-billed Woodpeckers on 14 occasions. They heard sounds that matched descriptions of Ivory-billed Woodpecker acoustic signals on 41 occasions and they recorded 99 putative double knocks and 210 putative kent calls. They also located cavities in the size range reported for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and larger than those of Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) that have been reported in the literature or that we measured in Alabama.

Read the full article here

Posted by Surfbirds at 04:28 AM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2006

Bugun Liocichla: a sensational discovery in north-east India

A professional astronomer has made the most sensational ornithological discovery in India for more than half a century.

Birdwatching at Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, in January 1995, Ramana Athreya glimpsed two liocichlas (a kind of Asian babbler) which did not fit any field guide descriptions.

Bugun Liocichla, India, Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, NE India, April 10th 2006 © Simon Allen from Surfbirds Galleries

"you can clearly see the deep olive green underparts, the deep crimson undertail coverts of the (presumed) male, the grey colouration on the neck and sides of the breast, and the dark cap which contrasts with the obvious yellow loral and post-ocular spots. Ramana Athreya first discovered this species in 1995 but only last year was its second sighting reported. Please see his posting on the OB discussion group of 10th April for full details and chronology."

Ten years passed before he saw the birds again. A colleague identified them—from Athreya’s field sketch—as Emei Shan Liocichla Liocichla omeiensis.

But Emei Shan Liocichla is endemic to mountains in south-west China. The nearest record was over 1,000 km from Eaglenest.

With Forest Department permits, Athreya mist-netted one bird in May 2006. After detailed notes and photographs—and feathers which had worked loose in the net—he released it. Similarities suggested it was closely related to Emei Shan Liocichla, but many differences in plumage and calls, especially song, indicated a new species. Bugun is about 10% larger in all measurements except the beak, which is smaller.

Since such a spectacularly colourful bird (with equally distinctive calls) had been overlooked during several years of surveys at Eaglenest, Athreya felt the population might be too small to withstand the loss of an adult bird. Instead, feathers from the mist-net have been designated the holotype.