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MALIMBUS

Journal o£ West African Ornithology

Revue d’Ornithologie de l’Ouest Africain

VOLUME 36 Number 1

ISSN 0331-3689

March 2014

West African Ornithological Society

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2014

1

JUN 2 3 2014

library

Nestling development and post-juvenile moult of the

African Swallow-tailed Kite Chelictinia riocourii

by W.C. Mullié1, S. Cavaillès2, J. Komdeur3 & R. Buij3,4

1 Project Biological Management of Locusts and Grasshoppers,

Agriculture Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture, Dakar, Senegal

Current address: BP 45590, Dakar-Fann, Senegal

2Les Fontaines, 72650 Aigné, France

3Behavioural Ecology and Self-organization, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary

Studies, University of Groningen, Centre for Life Sciences,

Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands

Corresponding author: Animal Ecology, A 1 terra Wageningen UR,

PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands <ralph.buij@gmail.com>

Received 30 January 2013; revised 21 August 2013

Summary

We provide the first description of the growth and development of African

Swallow-tailed Kite Chelictinia riocourii and information on its post-juvenile

moult, based on observations at nest and roost sites in Cameroon and Senegal.

The morphological development of 23 nestlings at 12 nests in Cameroon was

studied from the first day after hatching to fledging in 2010. Photographs of

live birds and of museum specimens were used to describe moult patterns. We

show a lack of difference between the sexes in nestling growth patterns.

Differences in pre-fledging body mass related to hatching order were not

significant for first and second hatchlings, but third hatchlings were noticeably

smaller than older siblings and none survived to fledging. Wing length was

independent of sex and hatching order, and was useful for assigning nestling

age. In the first 3-6 months after fledging, Swallow-tailed Kites appear to undergo

a partial post-juvenile moult, which is more extensive than in the majority of

raptors but comparable to that of Elanus kites for which moult patterns have

been described. We provide an aging formula and photographic records to

facilitate further studies of nestling development and breeding biology.

Résumé

Le développement au nid et la mue post-juvénile de TÉlanion naucler

Chelictinia riocourii. Nous présentons la première description de la croissance

et du développement de l’Elanion naucler Chelictinia riocourii et les premiers

2

W.C. My I lié et al

Malimbus 36

renseignements sur sa mue post-juvénile, basés sur des observations de nids et

de dortoirs au Cameroun et au Sénégal. Le développement morphologique de

23 oisillons dans 12 nids au Cameroun a été étudié du premier jour après

l’éclosion jusqu’à l’acquisition des plumes en 2010. Des photographies

d’oiseaux vivants et de spécimens de musée ont été utilisées pour décrire les

caractéristiques de la mue. Nous montrons l’absence de différence entre les

sexes dans leur croissance au nid. Il n’a pas été noté de différences

significatives de masse corporelle avant de l’envol en relation avec le rang

d’éclosion pour le premier et le second oisillon, mais les troisièmes sont

notablement plus petits que les plus âgés du même nid et aucun n’a survécu

jusqu’à l’envol. La longueur de l’aile était indépendante du sexe et du rang

d’éclosion, et a été utile pour fixer l’âge de l’oisillon. Dans les premiers 3-6

mois après l’envol, il apparaît que les Élanions naucler subissent une mue

partielle post-juvénile, qui est plus étendue que chez la majorité des rapaces

mais comparable à celle des espèces d 'Elanus dont les mues ont été décrites.

Nous proposons une formule pour évaluer leur âge et des photos pour faciliter

des études ultérieures sur le développement des oisillons et la biologie de la

reproduction.

Introduction

Little quantitative information exists on the growth and development of nestlings of

the majority of raptors in tropical Africa (Virani & Watson 1998), despite the

importance of such information for conservation management of threatened species.

Measures of nestling growth permit the assessment of the impact of environmental

factors on growth and development (Donazar & Ceballos 1989, Dawson & Bortolotti

2000), while morphometric guides and nestling aging formulae are important tools for

scheduling nest visits and ringing when only a limited number of nest visits are

possible or advisable (Steenhof & Newton 2007). Nestling growth measures can also

be used for examining the effect of life-history parameters on development, such as

hatching asynchrony (Mock 1984, Donazar & Ceballos 1989, Wiebe & Bortolotti

1995) or nestling sex (Ricklefs 1968, Richter 1983, Bortolotti 1986), while growth

rates of different body parts have been useful in investigations of adaptive

modifications of growth (O’Connor 1977, Ricklefs 1979, Bortolotti 1984).

The African Swallow-tailed Kite Cheiictinia riocourii (hereafter: Swallow-tailed

Kite) has an extensive breeding range throughout the Sahel zone from Senegal to

Sudan, with scattered breeding reported east to Somalia and Kenya. Although adult

plumages have been fairly well-described (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001), only

anecdotal descriptions exist for nestlings (Davey & Davey 1980, Sutton et al 1984)

and none that cover post- fledging plumage development. Various field guides and

handbooks (e.g. Hoyo et al 1994) do not mention the absence of a black carpal patch

2014

Swallow-tailed Kite development

3

as a diagnostic feature for juvenile birds. Kemp & Kemp (1998), Borrow & Demey

(2001) and Ferguson-Lees & Christie (2001) do illustrate a juvenile without black

carpal patch, but Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1970) specifically state that presence or

absence of this feature has no relation to age or sex. Therefore it was necessary to

consult images and specimens to elucidate age-related diagnostic features of this

species. Here, we describe for the first time the nestling growth, development,

juvenile plumage, and post-juvenile (or preformative: see Howell et al. 2003) moult

of the Swallow-tailed Kite, which will aid further studies on breeding biology,

population demographics, and reproductive performance. Another aim was to

examine sex-specific growth patterns and potential sexual differences related to the

reversed sexual dimorphism usually found in raptors.

Methods

Study area and nest surveys

The study area in Senegal (14° 12 -14° 13 74, 16°16'-16°18'W) is an uninhabited island

in the River Saloum called Kousmar, which covers 23 km2 and is located 1 0 km west

of Kaolack. The island harbours a massive winter roost of Swallow-tailed Kites

(20,000-36,000 individuals in January 2008-12: Pilard et al. 2011) and Lesser

Kestrels Falco naumanni (21,000-29,000 individuals), which has been present at least

since the 1970s (Buij et al. 2013). The study area in the Far North Region of

Cameroon (1 1°-1 1°4074, 14°20-15°E), c. 3400 km east of Kousmar, covers the

Waza National Park (WNP) and the cultivated areas south of WNP. For a detailed

description of both study areas, including maps, see Buij et al. (2013). in Cameroon,

the breeding habitat was sampled by five census areas totalling 20 km2 in WNP and

five areas totalling 20 km2 in cultivated habitat, from 3 to 16 May 2010. These areas

were intensively searched on foot by a team of 4-8 researchers. The coordinates of all

discovered nests were taken and the nest status ( e.g . nest lining, attending adults,

number of eggs) was recorded. In total, 12 nests were revisited at mean 5-day

intervals during the incubation and nestling periods in Cameroon.

Nestling measurements and growth patterns

The morphological development of 23 nestlings at 12 nests in Cameroon was studied

from the first day after hatching to fledging. Nestlings that were damp when first

measured were classified as hatching on the day of the visit, while eggs that were

opening on the day of the visit were noted as hatching the same day if the opening

was substantial, or the day after the visit if merely cracked. Dry nestlings were

classified as having hatched either the day before or two days previous to the visit

depending on features of nestlings of known age, such as opening of the eyes, posture

and coordination, as well as comparison with known hatch dates of siblings. Fourteen

nestlings were sexed by taking a small blood sample (0.01 ml) from the alar vein at c. 15

4

W.C. Mullié et al.

Malimbus 36

days and using the molecular primers described by Fridolfsson & Ellegren (1999),

PCR products were separated by electrophoresis on a 2 % agarose gel, and visualized

by ethidiumbromide staining. Females could be identified by two bands on the

agarose gel, while males showed only one. Nestlings were marked on the right or left

tarsus using a permanent black marker pen to distinguish between them during

subsequent visits. During each nest visit, we measured the following: (1) body mass

(g), with an electronic balance (EPB-10K) with a precision of 0.1 g and without

correction for crop content; (2) flattened wing length (mm), with a ruler; (3) length of

the 9th primary (the longest) from insertion (mm), with a ruler; and (4) tarsus length

(mm), with callipers. The terminology for body parts follows Boal (1994).

Photographic records were made of the development of juvenile plumage at each

measurement. Wing measurements used to generate the age formula were restricted to

those nestlings for which hatch dates were known to the nearest day (n = 23); hatch

dates of nestlings of unknown age were calculated from the formula.

Post-juvenile moult

Digital images were taken of various plumages of sitting and flying birds at the roost

in Senegal, between early November 2007 and late February 2012. Additional images

of museum specimens under their care were obtained from W.S. Clark from the

American Museum of Natural History, New York, and from a number of curators of

European natural history museums (see Acknowledgments). Images were examined

and commented upon by W.S. Clark, D. Forsman and P. Pyle.

Statistical analyses

Combined nestling growth curves were graphically fitted (Ricklefs 1967) to weight,

tarsus and wing measurements for 23 hatchlings. In addition, we fitted individual growth

curves to data for 12 nestlings which were measured until at least 22 days, enabling

reliable estimation of growth parameters. Gompertz or logistic growth models were

fitted to each individual bird’s body mass, wing growth and tarsus growth data, by

visual inspection and using the software CurveExpert Professional 1.2.3 to verify model

selection. The hatching dates of first and second hatched nestlings were determined by

linear regression analyses relating wing length to age for known-age nestlings. Mann •

Whitney D tests were used for investigating differences in growth parameters.

Relationships between age and growth parameters were investigated using standard

linear regression. Analyses were conducted in SPSS 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA).

Results

Nestling measurements and growth patterns

Nestlings were covered in pale grey down in the first 5-7 days after hatching (n = 8;

Fig. 1). Thereafter, an orange-buff second down gradually replaced the first down until

2014

Swallow-tailed Kite development

5

Figure 1. Swallow-tailed Kite nestlings at various ages in days (photos: R. Buij).

6

W.C. Mullié et al

Malimbus 36

14-18 days {n = 5), first on the upper-wing and subsequently on the back, head and

chest. The pink skin was clearly visible through the developing second down,

particularly on the back and breast. The remiges first emerged at age 4-9 days (n = 7)

and body feathers first emerged on the scapulars at age 8-10 days (n = 3). The egg

tooth was lost at 9-11 days (n = 4). At hatching, the legs were a yellowish pink

colour, the cere yellow and the talons white. The legs gradually lost their pinkish tinge

and turned a deeper yellow from 12-14 days (n = 4), whereas the talons remained

white. The bill was dark grey and the pupils dark brown (Fig. 1, lower left). No

differences were visible between nestlings of different sex. We did not find evidence

of sexual dimorphism for growth rate or for body mass at day 30, despite a significant

difference in body mass between first and second hatchlings at day 10 (Table 1).

Table 1. Body mass (mean ± SE) for nestling Swallow-tailed Kites according to

sex and hatching order. W10_ 90 is the interval for growth from 10 to 90 % of the

body mass asymptote. *P < 0.05.

Body mass day 10 (g)* Body mass day 30 (g) Ww 90 (days)

Fig. 2 illustrates the growth curves for wing, tarsus and body mass for 23 nestling

Swallow-tailed Kites of known age, including 12 first and 1 1 second hatchlings, with

eight females and four males (11 nestlings of unknown sex). We did not include

measurements of an additional seven third-hatched nestlings of known age, because

six died after one or two measurements (mean age at final measurement = 6.0 ± 2.8

SD days; range 0-20 days) and the seventh, which survived to at least day 20, then

weighed 50 g, i.e. well below the mean body mass for first and second hatchlings of

that age (of Fig. le). Gompertz growth models fitted wing growth data better and

logistic growth models fitted tarsus growth data better; in the case of body mass,

different models fitted different individual birds’ growth curves best (Table 2).

Average asymptotic body mass was 123 g for 12 nestlings measured from hatching to

at least age 22 days (Table 2) and nestlings fledged with wing length at c. 75-80 % of

adult wing length. For wing growth, the following equation was derived and can be

used to predict the age of first and second hatchlings of age 7-30 days (the period

when wing growth is linear, i.e. after emergence of the first primary feather):

age (days) = 0. 162 x wing length (mm) + 3.116

(Fi; 56 = 580.7, r2 = 0.91, P < 0.001).

2014 Swallow-tailed Kite development 7

Figure 2. Growth curves of 23 nestling Swallow-tailed Kites: logistic growth

model fitted to body mass and tarsus length, and Gompertz growth model to

wing length. Sample includes 12 first and 11 second hatchlings.

Post-juvenile moult and age estimation

Newly-fledged juveniles already have a forked tail (Fig. 3a), though this is not always

evident on specimens (B. Clark in lift.), and is not as deeply forked as that of first- years

W.C. Mullié et al.

Malimbus 36

Figure 3. (a) Recently fledged juvenile with Agama agama prey (photo: S.

Cavaillès); (b) fledgling - — note patagium bare of feathers and rufous wash on

chest and cheek; (c) transitional first-year after partial moult — some or all

rectrices and feathers on head, neck and breast have been replaced, but not

under-wing coverts and remiges; (d) adult with characteristic black carpal

patches (photos: W.C. Mullié, R. Buij).

after post-juvenile moult or adults (Fig. 3c, d). Fledglings have cinnamon-coloured

tips to the upper-wing coverts, scapulars and the feathers of the mantle, back, crown,

forehead, and nape, a brown iris (Fig. 1), and completely white under-wings, i.e.

they lack the black carpal patch of adults (cf Fig. 3b, d). In the first 3-6 months

after fledging but possibly sooner, juveniles undergo a partial post-juvenile moult,

2014

9

Swallow-tailed Kite development

Table 2. Growth model parameters (mean ± SE) of nestling Swallow-tailed Kites

in — 12, including three males, seven females, two of unknown sex, six first and

six second hatchlings). Gain is expressed as increase per day, Wflo-w is the interval

(days) for growth from 10 to 90 % of the asymptote, i is the inflection point

(days), a is the asymptote estimated by the growth curve. Data of individual

nestlings fitted the growth models indicated.

characterised by the replacement of most or all of the body feathers, starting at the

head and progressing down to the neck and upper body, as well as the upper-wing

coverts. The black line of coverts at the base of the upper-wing, bordering the scapulars,

becomes clearer after the partial moult (a few black coverts are present in fledglings:

Fig. lh). The rufous wash and shaft streaks to the body feathers fade during the first

weeks after fledging and disappear completely with post-juvenile moult. Most or all

remiges and under-wing coverts are not replaced during this partial moult, and thus

the birds retain the white under-wing (Fig. 3c), or grow a few black feathers in the

carpal area, until the first complete moult at the age of c. 12 months. The iris of one

immature collected on 3 May 1968 at Lake Marguerite (= Abaya) in Ethiopia was

orange according to the label information, as was the iris of several birds observed in

Senegal between November and February. However, iris colour was red (as in adults)

in most other birds in intermediate plumage observed in Senegal including one

specimen collected at Dakar by Planchât on 28 Jan 1894 (MNHB, label information).

Discussion

In general, the development of Swallow-tailed Kite nestlings appears to be

comparable to that described for closely related white-tailed kites (genera Elanus and

Gampsonyx : ffrench 1982, Steyn 1982). As reported for other raptors (e.g. Red Kite

Milvus milvus : Mougeot & Bretagnolle 2006), wing length was found to be

independent of sex and hatching order, and useful for estimating nestling age. In line

with the absent or weak reversed size dimorphism reported previously (Kemp &

Kemp 1998), we recorded no differences in growth rate and body mass between

nestlings of different sex. Similarly, differences in body mass related to hatching

10

W.C. Mu llié et al

Malimbus 36

order were absent just before hatching for first and second hatchlings. Third

hatchlings were noticeably smaller, however, than older siblings and none survived to

fledging, suggesting that brood reduction occurs (Newton 1979).

Already in the first 3-6 months after fledging, but possibly sooner, Swallow-tailed

Kites undergo an early partial post-juvenile moult, similar to White-tailed Kite Elanus

leucurus (Wheeler & Clark 1995) or Black-winged Kite E, caeruleus (Brown et al.

1982). During the same period, eye colour changes from brown to orange to red, the

last typically attained within the first year. However, only during the first complete

moult at about one year of age, individuals gain the frill black carpal patch on the

under-wing, which is typical for adult plumage (< contra Mackworth-Praed & Grant

1970). Our results suggest that the Swallow-tailed Kite has a more extensive early

post-juvenile moult than most raptors, which usually replace only a few body feathers

at most, and sometimes none at all, before the first complete annual moult. White¬

tailed Kites undergo a comparable post-juvenile moult to that of Swallow-tailed Kites

shortly after becoming independent, and become much more adult-like, retaining the

remiges and a variable number of rectrices, and some greater and all primary upper¬

wing coverts (Wheeler & Clark 1995). Similarly, the majority of Black-winged Kites

in South Africa have a pronounced early post-juvenile moult of body feathers and

usually only retain juvenile remiges, rectrices and wing coverts thereafter, while 8 %

of juveniles moult directly to adult plumage (Herremans 2000). The moult pattern of

the monotypic Swallow-tailed Kite described here is therefore in general agreement

with its proposed close relationship with the genus Elanus (cf. Hoyo et al 1994).

Acknowledgments

WCM received funding from KR2 funds through the Japanese Embassy in Senegal to

the Agriculture Directorate, Dakar to execute a study of avian predation of

grasshoppers. RB was financially and logistical i.y supported by the Institute of

Environmental Sciences of the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, through its

collaborative programme with the University of the Dschang, Cameroon, at the Centre

for Environment and Development Studies in Cameroon. Barbara Croes, Kim

Kortekaas, Ingrid Folkerstma, Ralph van Krimpen, Saskia van der Zanden, Rien van

Wijk and Hamidou Hamadou are acknowledged for their contribution to data

collection, and Marco van der Velde (University of Groningen) for molecular sexing

of the nestlings. For information on plumage and moult patterns we are greatly

indebted to (alphabetically): Gerhard Aubrecht (Biologiezentmm, Oberôsterreich-

isches Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria), Ludovic Besson (Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle

de Bourges, France), Giorgio Chiozzi (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano,

Italy), Bill Clark (Raptours), Bob Dowsett, Dick Forsman, Michel Fouette (Royal

Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium), Marie Portas and Anne Previato

(Muséum National d’Histoire Matuerelle, Paris, France), Peter Pyle (Institute for Bird

2014

Swallow-tailed Kite development

11

Populations, California), C.S. Roselaar (Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands), Douglas

Russell and Mark Adams (Natural History Museum, Tring, UK) and Konrad Schwartz

(Staatliches Museum fur Naturkunde, Stuttgart, Germany). Some of this information

was provided in response to a request placed on the electronic Bulletin for European

Avian Curators by Douglas Russell. We kindly acknowledge comments on an earlier

version of the manuscript by Peter Mundy, Bill Clark, and an anonymous referee.

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Management Techniques. Hancock House, Surrey BC.

Steyn, P. (1982) Birds of Prey of Southern Africa. Their identification and life

histories. David Philip, Cape Town.

Sutton, J., Sutton, A., Dewhurst, C.F. & Dewhurst, L.M. (1984) A confirmed

breeding record for the Swallow-tailed Kite in the Rift Valley of Kenya. Bull. E.

Afr. Nat Hist. Soc. 1984: 12.

Virant, M. & Watson, R.T. (1998) Raptors in the East African tropics and Western

Indian Ocean Islands: state of ecological knowledge and conservation status. J.

Raptor Res. 32: 28-39.

Wheeler, B.K. & Clark, W.S. (1995) A Photographic Guide to North American

Raptors. Academic Press, London.

Wiebe, K.L. & Bqrtolotti, G.R. (1995) Food-dependent benefits of hatching

asynchrony in American Kestrels Falco sparverius, Behav. Ecol Sociobiol. 36:

49-57.

2014

13

The Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana wintering in West

Africa, and its status as a passage migrant in Mauritania

by Marco Thoma1 & Myles H.M. Memz2,3,4

Natural History Museum Bern, Department of Invertebrates,

Bemastrasse 15, CH 3005 Bern, Switzerland. <thoemi@bluemail.ch>

2 Kings Park and Botanic Garden, The Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority,

Fraser Avenue, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia

3School of Plant Biology, Univ. of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia

4Current address: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern,

Baltzerstrasse 6, CH 3012 Bern, Switzerland

Received 1 1 June 2013; revised 7 January 2014.

Summary

Information on the Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana wintering in West

Africa, the primary wintering area of the declining western European breeding

populations, has not previously been consolidated. Here we present a

comprehensive review of published and unpublished records of the species in

West Africa. The majority of observations come from Mauritania, where the

Ortolan Bunting is a regular passage migrant during autumn, especially along

the coast, peaking In the first ten days of October, whereas spring migration is

less marked and winter records are rare. Outside Mauritania, about 40 records

from 11 countries exist, mostly from November to March. There are none

south of 16°N before mid-November. Based on these, we consider that the

core wintering area is most likely to be in highland grasslands, especially of

the Fouta Djallon Massif in Guinea, around Mount Nimba in Guinea-Liberia,

and in the Tingi and Loma Mountains in Sierra Leone. Observations from

Nigeria, concentrated in open habitats on the Jos Plateau, indicate that the

winter quarters extend that far east. However, a few winter records from

further north may be indicative of overwintering in lowland savanna habitats.

Résumé

Le Bruant Ortolan Emberiza hortulana hivernant en Afrique de l’Ouest,

et son statut en tant que migrateur de passage en Mauritanie. Les

informations sur le Bruant Ortolan Emberiza hortulana hivernant en Afrique

de l’Ouest, principale région d’hivernage des populations en déclin qui se

reproduisent en Europe de F Ouest, n’avaient pas auparavant été consolidées.

14

M. Thoma & M.H.M. Menz

Malimbus 36

Nous présentons ici une revue complète des observations publiées et non

publiées de l’espèce en Afrique de l’Ouest. La majorité des observations vient

de la Mauritanie, où le Bruant Ortolan est un migrateur qui passe

régulièrement en automne, surtout le long de la côte, avec un pic dans les dix

premiers jours d’octobre, alors que la migration de printemps est moins

marquée et que les observations en hiver sont rares. En dehors de la

Mauritanie, environ 40 observations ont été faites dans 1 1 pays, la plupart de

novembre à mars. Il n’y en a pas au sud de 16°N avant mi-novembre. Sur la

base de ces observations, nous considérons que le cœur de la région

d’hivernage doit se situer dans les prairies d’altitude, en particulier dans le

massif du Fouta Djallon en Guinée, autour du Mont Nimba à la frontière de la

Guinée et du Libéria, ainsi que dans les montagnes de Tingi et Loma en Sierra

Leone. Des observations au Nigeria, concentrées dans les habitats ouverts du

Plateau de Jos, indiquent que les quartiers d’hiver s’étendent aussi loin à l’est.

Cependant, quelques observations en hiver plus au nord pourraient indiquer

que l’espèce passe l’hiver dans des habitats de savane de plaine.

Introduction

Conservation of long-distance migrant birds presents a significant challenge, as these

species are affected by environmental changes in multiple regions (Sanderson et al.

2006, Both et al. 2010, Vickery et al. 2014). The Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana

is a long-distance migrant passerine that breeds in Europe and winters in sub-Saharan

Africa, north of 5°N (Cramp & Perrins 1994, Glutz von Blotzheim & Bauer 1997, Fry

& Keith 2004, Bairlein et al. 2009). The majority of western European breeding

populations of the Ortolan Bunting have undergone considerable declines in recent

decades (BirdLife International 2004, Klvanovâ et al. 2010, Vickery et al. 2014), with

the only population expansion reported being from Catalonia (Brotons et al. 2008).

Environmental changes in the African wintering grounds are widely suspected as a

cause of the decline ( e.g . Gatter 2000, Lang 2007, Menz & Arlettaz 2012), but

knowledge of these areas remains largely anecdotal. Currently, there is little in the

way of consolidated information on the main wintering grounds, foraging ecology,

habitat use, winter movements and winter mortality of this species, particularly in

West Africa.

Although the migration phenology of Ortolan Bunting is relatively well

documented within Europe and between Europe and northern Africa (Moreau 1972,

Stolt 1977, 1997, Stolt & Fransson 1995, Yosef & Tryjanowski 2002, Bairlein et al.

2009), its migratory movements and wintering areas in Africa are poorly known.

Birds from northwestern and central European breeding populations have been shown

to migrate in a southwesterly direction, indicative of wintering areas in West Africa

(Stolt 1977, Stolt 1997, Bairlein et al. 2009).

2014

Ortolan Bunting in West Africa

15

More reports come from East Africa (Cramp & Perrins 1994, Glutz von Blotzheim

& Bauer 1997, Bairlein et al. 2009), where the species winters primarily in open

upland habitats in the highlands of Ethiopia and Sudan above 900 m, usually between

1000 and 3000 m (Zedlitz 1911, Lynes 1924, Moreau 1972; see also Cramp & Perrins

1994, Glutz von Blotzheim & Bauer 1997, Fry & Keith 2004). In Central and West

Africa, Ortolan Buntings typically winter in the rainforest block, between 9 and 12°N

(Glutz von Blotzheim & Bauer 1997; 5-1 0°N quoted in Cramp & Perrins 1994).

Brosset (1984) recorded the species as being common in grasslands at 1250-1400 m

on the Guinea side of Mount Nimba, while the largest wintering densities were recorded

in the Fouta Djallon highlands at 800-1 100 m (Jarry 1993, T. Aversa pers. comm.).

Here we present a detailed account of all available published records of the

Ortolan Bunting wintering in West Africa (east to Chad and the Central African

Republic, and south to the Congo Republic), to identify potential key wintering areas

of declining western European populations. Knowledge of the species’ wintering

areas may elucidate potential causes of the observed decline and guide future efforts

to identify the habitat and foraging requirements of the species in its winter quarters.

In addition, we present previously unpublished records of the species in Guinea, and

results from extensive fieldwork in Mauritania, which give new insights into the

migration pattern and the status of the species as a passage migrant.

Methods

Records of Ortolan Buntings in West Africa were obtained by searching published

literature, and online resources including the African Bird Image Database (http://

birdquest.net/afbid/), the African migrants database (http://192.38.112.lll/afficamigrants/

default.asp), trip reports on the Birding Africa webpage (http://www.birdingafrica.

com/birding_trip_reports.htm), and the Surfbirds web site (http://www.surfbirds.com/).

All online sources were consulted in July 2011. Additional information was obtained

by personal communication with observers.

During the Swiss Ornithological Institute’s (SOI) project “Bird migration across the

Sahara”, extensive field work was carried out in Mauritania in the springs of 2003 and

2004, and in autumn 2003, consisting of transect counts, mist-netting and daily casual

observations including number of observed birds. Field surveys comprised a total of 556

field days on the coast and inland in spring and in autumn (Table 1), covering the majority

of the migration periods of the Ortolan Bunting (F. Liechti & D. Peter pers. comm.).

M. Herremans (pers. comm.) carried out a ringing campaign north of Nouakchott

(Mauritania) in autumn 2003 (27 days, 29 Sep to 26 Oct) including overnight sound-

luring using song and flight calls of Ortolan Buntings.

The species’ phenology in Mauritania is presented as the sum of Ortolan Buntings

observed per 5-day period (pentad, as per Berthold 1973) using all the available

Mauritanian observations. In order to compare Ortolan migration recorded by the SOI

16

M Thoma & M.H.M. Menz

Malimbus 36

project between seasons (autumn, spring) and sites (coast, inland), G-tests applying

William’s correction and Mann- Whitney G-tests were calculated using GenAlEx 6.5

(Peakall & Smouse 2012).

Table 1. Number of field days per season and location of the SOI project in

Mauritania in the springs of 2003 and 2004, and in autumn 2003.

Results

Records in West Africa other than Mauritania

We found more than 40 records of the Ortolan Bunting in West Africa outside

Mauritania (Appendix). The species has been recorded in 1 1 other West African

countries, with the majority of records from The Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria and

Senegal (Appendix, Figs 1 and 2). Figs 1 and 2 show the records of Ortolan Buntings

in different seasons. Records in Aug-Oct are presumed to represent birds on autumn

migration (triangles, Fig. 1). Records from March (filled circles, Fig. 1) may include

birds on return spring migration and late-wintering individuals, while records from

Apr-May (crosses, Fig. 1) presumably represent birds on spring migration. Records

from November are thought to include late autumn migrants and birds that have

already reached their wintering grounds (triangles, Fig. 2), whereas Dec-Feb is

considered to be the main wintering period (filled circles, Fig. 2).

Benin. One record of a single individual.

Cameroon. One record of a single individual. A further record of one bird from

Douing (1 1 °5rNT, 14°58'E), 30 Jan 2003 (Demey 2003) was not accepted by Languy et

al. (2005), on the basis of lack of proper documentation; further information on this

record seems never to have been published.

Chad. Two records, numbers of individuals unknown.

The Gambia. Five records of single individuals.

Ghana Two records of one and two birds, from the northern part of the country.

Guinea. Probably not uncommon in suitable habitats: nine records from Mt Nimba

and the Fouta Djallon highlands, where the highest wintering densities for West

Africa were recorded, including flocks of up to 200 birds at Labé.

Liberia. One record of two birds on Mount Nimba.

Mali. Rare passage migrant according to Lamarche (1981): few observations during

autumn (Sep) and spring (Apr) in the Sahel and Bamako. No winter records.

2014

Ortolan Bunting in West Africa

17

Figure 1. Records of Ortolan Buntings on autumn migration in August-October

(triangles) and on presumed spring migration in March (Fdled circles, this

category may include birds still wintering) and April-May (crosses).

Figure 2. Records of Ortolan Buntings wintering in West Africa in November

(triangles, this category may include birds still on migration) and December-

February (filled circles).

18

M. Thoma & M.H.M. Menz

Malimbus 36

Nigeria. At least six records, mostly from the Jos Plateau. Elgood et al (1994)

considered the species rare in Nigeria, with the Jos area being south of the normal

wintering range. However, a modelled prediction of the potential winter distribution

(Bairlein et al. 2009) includes part of central and northern Nigeria.

Senegal. At least seven records, four of them from the lower Senegal River valley.

Sierra Leone. Records from the Loma and Tingi Mountains.

The Ortolan Bunting as a passage migrant in Mauritania

To date only a minor fraction of Ortolan Bunting observations from Mauritania have

been published (Heim de Balsac & Heim de Balsac 1950, Heim de Balsac & Mayaud

1962, Duhautois et al. 1974, Dick 1975, Trotignon 1979, Gee 1984, Mahe 1985,

Lamarche 1988, Ens et al. 1989, Isenmann 2006, Isenmann et al. 2010). Other

significant contributions come from the unpublished data of P. Browne (pers. comm.),

J.P. Gee {per P. Browne pers. comm.), M. Herremans (pers. comm.) and the SOI

project (F. Liechti & D. Peter pers. comm.).

The above records reveal that the Ortolan Bunting is a regular passage migrant

during autumn (Sep-Nov) and spring (Mar-Apr; Figs 1-3). Extreme dates are 6 Sep

(P. Christy in Lamarche 1988) and 19 Nov (J.P. Gee per P. Browne pers. comm.) in

autumn, and 10 Mar and 1 May (F. Liechti & D. Peter pers. comm.) in spring. The peak

of autumn migration is reached in the period 3-7 Oct (median and mode) and during

spring in the period 1 1-15 Apr (median) or 6-10 Apr (mode) (Fig. 3). Sites used for

migration stopover include coastal habitats (Roth 2004), oases (Heim de Balsac &

Heim de Balsac 1950) and desert habitats (F. Liechti & D. Peter pers. comm.).

The observations from 27 Dec (O. Pineau in Lamarche 1988) and Jan (location

and exact date not published: Gee 1984) constitute the only winter records. One

record in Jun was published without further details (Gee 1984).

During the SOI project, Ortolan Buntings were observed during 27 field days

(Table 2), with 92 individuals recorded (Table 3). In terms of the proportion of field

days on which at least one Ortolan Bunting was observed, migration was significantly

stronger on the coast than inland (combining autumn and spring: G\ = 31.804, P <

0.001), and significantly stronger in autumn than in spring (combining coastal and

inland records: G\ = 5.583, P = 0.018). Also, autumn migration along the coast was

significantly stronger compared to autumn in the interior (G) = 39.181, P < 0.001).

Similarly, the number of Ortolan Buntings observed was significantly higher along

the coast than in the interior for both autumn and spring combined (Mann- Whitney La¬

test, Z = -2.709, P = 0.007). Additionally, the number of Ortolan Buntings was

significantly higher in autumn than in spring for both coastal and inland records

combined (Mann- Whitney D-test, Z = -2.618, P = 0.009).

The ringing programme by M. Herremans using overnight sound-luring resulted

in 36 Ortolan Buntings being captured and daily observations of “small flocks” over a

period of 17 days between 26 Sep and 19 Oct 2003 (Fig. 3). The maximum number of

birds seen was 12 on 8 October. No exact numbers were available for the size of the

2014

Ortolan Bunting in West Africa

19

flocks observed on the other dates, but assuming that at least two birds were observed

on each of the remaining dates results in at least 41 birds observed during that period

(Fig. 3).

Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov

Figure 3. Phenology of Ortolan Bunting in Mauritania, based on records of 288

individuals; n = the sums of birds recorded per five-day period (pentads, which

follow Berthold 1973).

Table 2. Number of days during the SOI project with Ortolan Bunting

observations and (in parentheses) their value relative to effort per site and season

(proportion of field days with bunting observations).

20

M. Thoma & M.H.M. Menz

Malimbus 36

Table 3. Total numbers of Ortolan Buntings recorded during the SOI project

and (in parentheses) relative to effort per site and season (total number of

Ortolan Buntings divided by field days).

Discussion

Records of Ortolan Buntings from the Sahel countries show that the species occurs

primarily as a passage migrant (end of March to April and September to October or

November). Observations made during recent extensive fieldwork suggest that

autumn migrants follow the Mauritanian coast prior to reaching the southern edge of

the desert. In Mali, Ortolan Buntings were rarely encountered in September

(Lamarche 1981), and there are no autumn records available from Niger or Chad,

which is also indicative of Ortolan Buntings migrating further west (Fig. 1).

Of the 12 records from Senegal and the Gambia, four were in Dec-Jan, which

might point towards a small number of birds wintering there, north of the presumed

core wintering area, as suggested by Morel & Morel (1990). However, these

observations could equally represent late migrants (Bairlein et al. 2009), as could the

two Mauritanian winter records. Ortolan Bunting migration in Central Europe lasts

until the end of October ( e.g . Maumary et al. 2007) and, in Morocco, Ortolan

Buntings are occasionally observed in November (Thévenot et al. 2003). It seems

plausible to assume that late migrants regularly occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

However, it remains unknown whether such late migrants continue southwards or

spend the winter further north, in the Sahel or even in northwest Africa. Two winter

records from Morocco (Thévenot et al. 2003) may indicate the latter, although regular

overwintering north of the Sahara is questionable (Bairlein et al. 2009).

The median dates of the autumn migration of Ortolan Buntings fall in the

beginning of September over a wide range in central and western Europe: 3 Sep,

Helgoland, Germany (Dierschke et al. 2011); 11 Sep, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

(Hôlzinger 1997); 10 Sep, Lake Constance area, Austria, Germany and Switzerland

(Heine et al. 1999); 4 Sep, Col de Bretolet, Switzerland (Maumary et al. 2007); 11

Sep, France as a whole (Claessens 1992); 4 Sep, the Landes, France (Girardot et al.

2009). This is indicative of a rather fast passage, perhaps in order to reach presumed

re-fuelling areas in southwestern Europe quickly, such as the Iberian peninsula

(Cramp & Perrins 1994). Approximately 70% of Ortolan Buntings caught during

autumn migration in the Landes, southwest France (including birds ringed in Belgium,

Germany, Norway, Sweden, Russia and Poland) had no visible fat deposits (Girardot

et al. 2009), supporting the idea that Ortolan Buntings migrate quickly through central

2014

Ortolan Bunting in West Africa

21

Europe, followed by stopovers further southwest. In Morocco, the main passage of

Ortolan Buntings takes place from September until the beginning of October

(Thévenot et al. 2003), whereas peak migration (both median and mode) in

Mauritania is reached in the period 3-7 Oct. Records of Ortolan Buntings are rare

south of 16°N before mid-November and rare south of 12°N before December.

Whether this is an indication of a prolonged stay after the desert crossing somewhere

in the more arid zones just south of the desert, or just an artefact due to the weak

spatial and temporal observer coverage further south remains unknown. However, as

in some other species (e.g. Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus : Salewski et al.

2002), Ortolan Buntings may stay close to the Sahara until food resources become

scarce before continuing to their final wintering areas.

The core wintering area of western European Ortolan Bunting populations is most

likely to be in the highland grasslands between 7° and 11°N, and 8° and 12°W,

especially around Mount Nimba in Guinea-Liberia, the Fouta Djallon Massif in

Guinea and the Loma and Tingi Mountains in Sierra Leone, where Ortolan Buntings

have been observed, often in relatively large numbers, at altitudes between 800 and

1800 m (Field 1973, Curry-Lindahl 1981, Brosset 1984, Gatter 1987, Jarry 1993,

Glutz von Blotzheim & Bauer 1997, Aversa 2007, Trolliet & Fouquet 2001, Demey &

Rainey 2004b, T. Aversa pers. comm., C. Evenhouse pers. comm.). Here, the species

occupies open, short, often (partly) burned off grassland, cultivated fields and rocky

habitats, including small patches surrounded by dry woodland (see Appendix for

habitat descriptions). It has been observed to associate with Tree Pipits Anthus

trivialis, Long-billed Pipits A. similis and Cinnamon-breasted Rock Buntings

Emberiza tahapisi (Morel & Roux 1966, Smith 1967, Field 1973, Brosset 1984).

Records from Nigeria (Elgood et al. 1966, 1994) indicate that the winter quarters

extend that far east, though it has been suggested that the species is rare there or

vagrant (Elgood et al. 1994, McGregor 2004). However, the patchy occurrence of the

species there may be due to habitat selection, which is likely to be similar to that

further west (high-altitude short grassland, whether natural or formed by human

activity). McGregor (2004) observed the species around rocky outcrops and feeding at

the edges of grassy patches amongst bare rock, as well as occasionally in savanna

scrub. In East Africa, the species appears in some cases to use human-modified

habitats, such as eroded plateaux stripped of all trees and various types of cultivated

and abandoned fields in Ethiopia (Curry-Lindahl 1981). It is known that the

overwintering of many Palaearctic migrants south of the Sahara desert depends on

habitat state or food availability (Berthold 2012), so numbers and occurrence of

Ortolan Buntings in the above areas may fluctuate from year to year, as indicated by

the observations from Labé, Guinea (Appendix: T. Aversa pers. comm.).

Although Ortolan Buntings have been primarily observed in open highland

grassland habitats, winter observations also exist from more densely vegetated areas

(Aversa 2007) and lowlands, such as the Senegal River valley. Ortolan Buntings

frequenting large open habitats may be more easily detected than those using smaller

22

M. Thoma & M.H.M. Menz

Malimbus 36

open patches in savanna mosaics. Therefore, the proportion of Ortolan Buntings

wintering in lowland West Africa or in the forest zone may be underestimated.

The lack of detailed knowledge on the ecological requirements of the species in

its West African winter quarters complicates the interpretation of the effects of threats

such as habitat changes, pesticide use (Vepsàlainen et al. 2005, Zwarts et al. 2009)

and hunting. New lightweight tracking technologies (Bâchler et al. 2010) and stable

isotope analysis ( e.g . Hobson 1999, Evans et al. 2003, Reichlin et al. 2013) might

assist with the identification of wintering areas of this species. A first step in

identifying threats and the status of the species in West Africa would be to conduct

further surveys in core areas, such as Mount Nimba, the Fouta Djallon and the Loma

and Tingi Mountains. Further locations that might support overwintering populations

of the Ortolan Bunting were predicted by Bairlein et al. (2009) based on an analysis

of climatic variables. These include a number of regions in West Africa which

warrant further investigation. We encourage people birdwatching or doing fieldwork

in West Africa to report any Ortolan observations, including, if possible, dates and

geographic coordinates, number of birds observed (estimates at least), description of

the birds (especially from countries where the species has not or only very rarely been

encountered) and the habitat used.

Acknowledgments

We thank Volker Salewski for his critical and helpful comments on an earlier version

of the manuscript, Felix Liechti for permission to use observations from the project

“Bird migration across the Sahara” of the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Mauritania

and Dieter Peter for preparing and providing the respective database. Marc Herremans

provided his ringing and casual observation data. Peter Browne and Bruno Walther

provided their database on Ortolan Bunting observations in Mauritania. Tom Aversa

provided his unpublished observations and Craig Evenhouse provided additional

information on his observations. Ursula Spiess, Jacqueline Crivelli, Marianne van der

Wal and Youna Zahn assisted by providing literature. Gabriele Hilke kindly generated

the first version of the maps. We are grateful to Peter Jones and another referee for

valuable comments.

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2014

Ortolan Bunting in West Africa

27

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Summary of all records obtained of the Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana in West Africa, excluding Mauritania (see

text) and Mali (only one source, see text). Coordinates given by the sources are marked *; other coordinates were inferred

_ by us for the locations reported, _

28

M. Thoma & M.H.M. Menz

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of 2-3 birds on and rocks between

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Nigeria

25 Dec 1963 1 3 Low shrubs and steep rock faces Kufena Rock, Zaria 1 1°4'N, 7°42'E Fry & Smith 1964,

Fry 1965

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14 Dec 1 captured - Djourbel, 125 14°38'N, 16°13'W* Morel & Morel 1990

km east of Dakar

1 1 Apr 1 993 1 $ captured - Djoudj NP 1 6° 1 074, 1 6° 18'W* Rodwell et al 1 996

Sierra Leone

1st week of ~50 Highland grassland (mostly burned) SE face of Mount 9°13fN3 1 1°06'W* Field 1973,

Ian 1973 with open rocky patches, large Bintimane, Loma Cramp & Perrins

boulders and scattered trees, on slope Mountains 1994

between c. 1650 and c. 1800 m a.s.l.

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Malimbus 36

Some observations of the birds of the Lu Id Forest,

Parc marin des mangroves and Borna,

Bas-Congo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

by H.D. Sandy Ayer1, Pierre Mavuemba2, David O. Matson3 & Martin Bowman4

MlS Strandell Cres. SW, Calgary, Alberta T3H 1K8, Canada <sayer@ambrose.edu>

2Institut Supérieur de Navigation et de Pêche,

B. P. 54 Muanda 1 , Bas-Congo, République Démocratique du Congo

3 Eastern Shore Health Department, Virginia Department of Health,

23191 Front Street, Accomac, VA 23301, U.S.A.

4 19974 Cedar Grove Road, RR#2, Williamstown, Ontario KOC 210, Canada

Received 26 March 2013; revised 4 February 2014.

Summary

We present the results of our observations from 2010 to 2013 at three

locations in Bas-Congo province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):

Borna, the Luki Forest Reserve, and Parc marin des mangroves near Muanda.

We provide new information on the range and breeding status of several

species. We include two first records for the DRC (Blackcap Illadopsis

Illadopsis cleaveri and Western Reef Egret Egretta gularis ), a first definite

breeding record for the country (Spotted Thick-knee Burhinus capensis). We

also provide a preliminary list of the birds of the Luki Forest Reserve.

Résumé

Quelques observations d’oiseaux de la Forêt de Luki, du Parc marin des

mangroves et de Borna, Province du Bas-Congo, République Démocratique

du Congo. Nous présentons les résultats de nos observations de 2010 à 2013

en trois endroits de la province du Bas-Congo, République Démocratique du

Congo (RDC): Borna, la Réserve de la Forêt de Luki et le Parc marin des

mangroves près de Muanda. Nous apportons de nouvelles informations sur

Faire de répartition et le statut de reproduction de plusieurs espèces. Elles

incluent les premières observations en RDC de PAkalat à tête noire Illadopsis

cleaveri et de F Aigrette des récifs occidentale Egretta gularis et la première

observation précise de reproduction pour le pays de FOedicnème tachard

Burhinus capensis. Nous fournissons aussi une liste préliminaire des oiseaux

de la Réserve de la Forêt de Luki.

2014

Birds of Bas-Congo

33

Introduction

The birds of Bas-Congo province, DRC, are poorly known (Ayer 2011). HDSA,

DOM and MB spent 22 June to 4 July 2011 observing and sound-recording birds at

three locations in Bas-Congo: Borna (5°50'S, 13°3'E, 22-23 and 27-28 June); the

Luki Forest Reserve (5°35'S, 13°10'E, 24-26 June); and several locations in the Parc

marin des mangroves (5°55'S, 12°24'E, hereafter Parc marin) near Muanda (29 June

to 4 July). PM hosted the group during their stay in Muanda and participated in the

fieldwork, along with T.M. Nsankete (TMN). PM also contributed four observations

and two breeding records from his own research in the Muanda area and, together

with HDSA, three observations made 3-8 Oct 2013 in Parc marin. M. Sthreshley

(MS; pers. comm) contributed a nesting record from Kinshasa. All but one of the

sound recordings have been verified by R. Demey (RD; pers. comm.).

We present a preliminary list of the birds of the Luki Forest, and our combined

observations from there and the other sites in Bas-Congo include two first records for

the country (Blackcap Illadopsis Illadopsis cleaveri and Western Reef Egret Egretta

gularis ) and one new breeding record (Spotted Thick-knee Burhinus capensis). They

also provide new information on the distribution and breeding status of several

species. Sequence and nomenclature follow Borrow & Demey (2001).

Preliminary list of the birds of Luki Forest Reserve

The Luki Forest Reserve lies c. 30 km north of Borna. It comprises mostly lowland

forest and forms part of the Mayombe forest block. Habitats include gallery forest,

secondary forest, wooded savanna, secondary bush and areas with vegetable farming.

Detailed information on the birds of Luki Forest Reserve is lacking, despite its having

been designated an Important Bird Area, but it may be expected to contain a

substantial element of the Mayombe avifauna (Demey & Louette 2001).

The list below results from three days’ (24-26 June 2011) research by HDSA,

MB, and DOM and must thus be regarded as preliminary. The 88 species identified

include 52 of the 136 mentioned in the list of species “thought likely to occur” at the

site by Demey & Louette (2001); our remaining 36 species include three Guinea-

Congo Forest biome-restricted species not included in their list. BR signifies species

restricted to this biome and listed by Demey & Louette (2001); BR* = Guinea-Congo

Forest species not listed by Demey & Louette (2001). HSR = heard only, sound-

recorded.

Accipitridae

Buteo auguralis Red-necked Buzzard.

Spizaetus africanus Cassin’s Hawk Eagle. BR.

34

H D. S. Ayer et al

Malimbus 36

Columbidae

Treron calvus African Green Pigeon,

Turtur afer Blue-spotted Wood Dove.

Columba iriditorques Western Bronze-naped Pigeon. BR, H S P. ., verified by RD,

further details given below.

Streptopelia semitorquata Red-eyed Dove.

Psittaeidae

Psittacus erithacus Grey Parrot. BR.

Poicephalus gulielmi Red- fronted Parrot.

Musophagidae

Corythaeola cristata Great Blue Turaco.

Tauraco macrorhynchus Yellow-billed Turaco. BR.

T. persa Green Turaco. BR.

Cuculidae

Centropus monachus Blue-headed Coucal.

Strigidae

Strix woodfordii African Wood Owl.

Caprîmulgidae

Caprimulgus fossii Square-tailed Nightjar.

Apodidae

Neafrapus cassini Gassin5 s Spinetail. BR. Further details given below.

Cypsiurus parvus African Palm Swift.

Apus affinis Little Swift.

Alcedîeîdae

Alcedo quadribrachys Shining-blue Kingfisher.

Bueerotidae

Tockus camurus Red-billed Dwarf Hombill. BR.

T. fasciatus African Pied Hombill. BR.

By canistes fistulator Piping Hombill. BR.

Capitonidae

Gymnobucco peîi Bristle-nosed Barbet. BR.

G. calvus Naked-faced Barbet. BR. Further details given below.

Pogoniulus scolopaceus Speckled Tinkerbird. BR.

P. atroflavus Red-mmped Tinkerbird. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

P. bilineatus Yellow-mmped Tinkerbird.

Trachyphonus purpuratus Yellow-billed Barbet. BR

Lybius bidentatus Double-toothed Barbet.

Indicatoridae

Melichneutes robustus Lyre-tailed Honeyguide. BP., HSR, verified by RD.

Picidae

Sasia africana African Piculet. BR*.

Dendropicos goertae Grey Woodpecker.

2014

Birds of Bas-Congo

35

Hirundinidae

Psalidoprocne nitens Square-tailed Saw-wing. BR.

Hirundo abyssinica Lesser Striped Swallow.

Pycnonotidae

Andropadus virens Little Greenbul. HSR, verified by RD.

A. gracilis Little Grey Greenbul. BR.

A. ansorgei Ansorge’s Greenbul. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

A. curvirostris Plain Greenbul. BR.

A. gracilirostris Slender-billed Greenbul. HSR, verified by RD.

A. latirostris Yellow-whiskered Greenbul.

Ixonotus guttatus Spotted Greenbul. BR.

Thescelocichla leucopleura Swamp Palm Bulbul. BR.

Phyllastrephus icterinus Icterine Greenbul. BR.

Bleda notatus Lesser Bristlebill. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

Pycnonotus barbatus Common Bulbul.

Nicator chloris Western Nicator. BR.

Turdidae

Zoothera camaronensis Black-eared Ground Thrush. BR*, further details given below.

Alethe diademata Fire-crested Alethe. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

A. poliocephala Brown-chested Alethe. HSR, identified using Chappuis (2000),

further details given below.

Stizorhina fraseri Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

Sylviidae

Eremomela badiceps Rufous-crowned Eremomela. BR.

Sylvietta virens Green Crombec. BR.

Macrosphenus concolor Grey Longbill. BR, HSR, verified by RD, further details below.

Hylia prasina Green Hylia. BR.

Cisticola anonymus Chattering Cisticola. BR.

Prinia subflava Tawny- flanked Prinia.

Apalis rufogularis Buff-throated Apalis. BR.

Muscicapidae

Fraseria ocreata Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher. BR.

Muscicapa epulata Little Grey Flycatcher. BR.

M. infuscata Sooty Flycatcher. BR.

Monarchidae

Erythrocercus mccallii Chestnut-capped Flycatcher. BR.

Trochocercus nitens Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

Terpsiphone viridis African Paradise Flycatcher.

Platysteiridae

Dyaphorophyia castanea Chestnut Wattle-eye. BR.

Timaliidae

Illadopsis fulvescens Brown Illadopsis. BR, HSR, verified by RD.

36

H.D.S.Ayer et al.

Malimbus 36

I. cleaveri Blackcap Illadopsis. BR*, seen and sound-recorded, verified by RD,

further details given below.

Remizidae

Pholidornis rushiae Tit-hylia. BR, further details given below.

Nectariniidae

Anthreptes seimundi Little Green Sunbird. BR.

Cyanomitra cyanolaema Blue-throated Brown Sunbird. BR.

C. obscur a Western Olive Sunbird.

Chalcomitra rubescens Green-throated Sunbird. BR.

Hedydipna collaris Collared Sunbird.

Cinnyris minullus Tiny Sunbird. BR.

C. venus tus Variable Sunbird.

C. superbus Superb Sunbird. BR.

Zosteropidae

Zosterops senegalensis Yellow White-eye. Further details given below.

Malaconotidae

Dryoscopus senegalensis Red-eyed Puffback. BR.

D. gambensis Northern Puffback.

Laniarius leucorhynchus Sooty Boubou. BR.

Oriolidae

Oriolus brachyrhynchus Western Black-headed Oriole. BR.

Dicruridae

Dicrurus modes tus Velvet-mantled Drongo.

Sturnidae

Lamprotornis splendidus Splendid Glossy Starling.

Passeridae

Passer gris eus Northern Grey-headed Sparrow.

Ploceidae

Malimbus malimbicus Crested Malimbe. BR.

Ploceus cucullatus Village Weaver.

P. tricolor Yellow-mantled Weaver. BR, further details given below.

Estrildidae

Nigrita luteifrons Pale-fronted Negrofmch. BR.

N. canicapillus Grey-headed Negrofmch.

Lonchura bicolor Black-and- White Mannikin.

New distributional or breeding records from Bas-Congo

Egretta gularis Western Reef Egret. For about 20 min. on the afternoon of 9 May

2012, PM and Z.L. Sambiandi observed two individuals (one dark morph, one white

morph) in the company of a single African Spoonbill Platalea alba at Ngoyo Lagoon,

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Birds of Bas-Congo

37

Parc marin. Both observers noted the white primary patches on the otherwise grey-

plurnaged dark morph individual. The dark morph can be confused with the very rare

dark morph Little Egret E. garzeiia (Borrow & Demey 2001), but there is some doubt

as to whether the latter actually exists and, in any event, white primary patches are

diagnostic for E. gularis (R. Demey pers. comm.). As for the white morph individual,

PM initially thought it to be E. garzetta but noticed that there was yellow on the bill

and that the yellow on the feet extended up the leg. E. gularis does not appear in

Lippens & Wille (1976), and this species was thought to occur only as far south as the

Ogooué delta in Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea islands (Christy 2001, Jones & Tye

2006), but it has been recorded recently on the west coast of South Africa (Hockey et

al. 2005), so its occurrence in the DRC is not unexpected.

Platalea alba African Spoonbill. PM observed an individual on 15 Feb 2010 at

Ngoyo Lagoon, c. 150 m west of the Atlantic Ocean in Parc marin. At the same

location on 15 Nov 2011, he saw a flock of c. 10 birds in breeding plumage. He also

observed individuals on 11 and 23 Mar 2012, and 9 May 2012 (photographed). The

last individual was in the company of two Egretta gularis. At c. lOhOO on 3 Oct 2013,

HDSA and PM also observed an individual at this location. P. alba is widespread but

has a patchy distribution (Brown et al. 1982). Lippens & Wille (1976) believed it to

be present only in eastern DRC, but Chapin (1932) mentioned a record from Stanley

Pool and thought it possible in Bas-Congo. A specimen now in the the Royal Museum

of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (RMCA) was collected at Banana (6°LS,

12°25'E), Bas-Congo, in 1953 (Schouteden 1948-60). P. alba is considered a resident

in Congo Brazzaville (Borrow & Demey 2001), and a resident breeder in Angola

(Dean 2000) and small flocks were observed at Soyo (6°7'S, 12°2LE), c. 40 km south

of Muanda, in May and October 2006 (Dean & Le Maitre 2008).

Dendrocygna bicolor Fulvous Whistling Duck. HDSA and MB observed an

individual at c. lOhOO on 4 Jul near Tshiende by the Kongo village road in Parc marin.

The bird was uniformly light brown, had a grey bill and a thin, erect neck, and was

swimming on a pond that had dense patches of reeds and a heavily vegetated shore.

The species is subject to irregular movements (Borrow & Demey 2001), and Brown et

al. (1982) considered it to be accidental on the coast of West Africa. Only two

previous records are known for Bas-Congo: a flock of c. 40 at Mateba Island, Parc

marin, 28 Apr 1954, from which I. Mesmaekers obtained two specimens (Herroelen

2005) that are now at the RMCA (M. Louette pers. comm.); and ten individuals

observed at various locations within Parc marin from 23 Jan to 30 Jan 2006 (T.

Dodman, pers. comm.). The species is otherwise known only from the northeastern,

eastern, and southeastern DRC, where it breeds (Herroelen 2005). However, Chapin

(1932) mentions a record from Cacongo (5°13'S, 12°3'E), Cabinda, and the species

was considered an uncommon resident in the main part of Angola (Dean 2000). It has

not yet been recorded in Congo Brazzaville (Borrow & Demey 2001).

Melierax metabates Dark Chanting Goshawk. At c. lOhOO on 2 Jul, all four of the

authors had telescope views at c. 400 m of an individual perched in a dead tree at the

38

H.D.S.Ayer et al.

Malimbus 36

edge of the cultivated fields of Luvula Savanna, Parc marin. It had uniformly grey

plumage and red legs and cere. M. metabates can only be confused with Pale

Chanting Goshawk M. canorus, which inhabits much drier habitat (W.R.J. Dean, pers.

comm.). Lippens & Wille (1976) considered southern Kwilu ( c . 500 km east of Parc

marin) to be the western limit of the range of M. metabates in the DRC, but Chapin

(1932) mentioned an unconfirmed report from Bas-Congo, and the RMCA has a

specimen from Banana (Schouteden 1948-60). The species is resident in Congo

Brazzaville (Borrow & Demey 2001) but has not been recorded in similar habitat in

the Kouilou Basin, c. 150 km north of the parts of Bas-Congo we visited (Dowsett-

Lemaire & Dowsett 1991). The closest Angolan records are from Uige town (7°35'S,

15°0'E), c. 300 km southwest of Muanda (Dean 2000).

Aquila wahlbergi Wahlberg’s Eagle. At c. lOhOO on 4 Jul, HDSA, MB, DOM, and

TMN observed a dark-morph individual soaring at c. 100 m near Tshiende by the

Kongo village road in Parc marin. See Ayer (201 1 ) for a 2009 record from Borna and

for the species’ previously-known distribution in the DRC.

Falco tinnanculus Common Kestrel. At c. 17h00 on 21 Dec 2012, PM observed

three individuals, one of which, a female, he photographed while it was perched in a

tree bordering grassland near the Muanda airport. All three were present for several

days thereafter, and at c. 17h00 on 7 Jan 2013, a juvenile (apparently one of the three)

was observed perched with the female. They were especially active between 15h00

and 18h00. All were likely F. t. rufescens , because one of the photographs of the

female shows heavy barring above and bold streaking below ( cf. the description in

Brown et al. 1982). Louette (1989) mentioned an RMCA specimen of F. t. rufescens

collected at Borna in 1939. Brown et al. (1982) reported F. t. rufescens as a common

resident from Upper Guinea to northern Angola, with F. t. rupicolus replacing it

farther south, Dean (2000) made no mention of F. t. rufescens in Angola and

considered F. t. rupicolus to be the common (breeding) subspecies there, it being rare

in Cabinda. F. t. tinnunculus occurs as a Palaearctic migrant in northern DRC as far

west as Kinshasa (4°18'S, 15°18'E), Oct-Mar (Lippens & Wille 1976).

Burhinus capensis Spotted Thick-knee. PM observed this species regularly from 24

May 2010 to 28 Feb 2013 in sandy brush c. 200 m north of Ngoyo Lagoon. B.

capensis is the only thick-knee with no wing bar at rest or in flight (Urban et al.

1986), and photographs of adults taken by PM on 2 Feb 201 1 show no wing bar. Fie

also saw Water Thick-knees B. vermiculatus at the site on 12 Jan 2012, but they were

closer to the edge of the lagoon. HDSA, MB, DOM and TMN observed an adult B.

capensis at the first site for about 5 min. on 30 Jun 201 1 . By 1 1 Dec 2011, the number

of individuals at the Ngoyo site had increased to five. Adults were also present on 18

Aug 2012. PM has also seen adults in Matamba, a sandy, dry, brushy plateau in Parc

marin about 25 km east of Muanda, and in nearby Makanzi and Malemba. More

recently, PM, HDSA and ZLS observed two individuals in dry grassland near Muada-

Village, Parc marin, at c. 14h00 on 3 Oct 2013; and on three occasions between 3 and

8 Oct 2013 they observed an individual at the edge of a cassava field c. 300 m east of

2014

Birds of Bas-Congo

39

Ngoyo Lagoon. PM observed eggs and young at the Ngoyo site in Mar, Jun, and Sept

2010. He also captured and photographed a fledgling there on 25 Oct 2010 and

observed young on 19 Apr 2012. Chapin (1939) mentioned a specimen from Bas-

Congo, and the RMCA has three, including one from Borna and one from Banana

(Schouteden 1948-60). B. capensis is otherwise confined to southeastern DRC

(Lippens & Wide 1976). In 2006, a pair of individuals was seen in dry grassland

southwest of Soyo, Angola, c. 40 km south of Muanda (Dean & Le Maitre 2008).

PM’s observations represent the fourth record for Bas-Congo and the first definite

breeding record for the DRC (Chapin 1939 mentions eggs, but without saying whether

they were from Congo or not).

Columba iriditorques Western Bronze-naped Pigeon. Heard in the canopy in the

Luki Forest < 5 km from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Centre, 24 and 26 Jun, by

SA, MB, DOM; sound-recorded by DOM on one of those dates. There is some

uncertainty as to the species’ range in the DRC: Urban et al. (1986) put it from

Bandundu east, but the range map in Lippens & Wille (1976) includes Bas-Congo,

and Chapin (1939) mentioned hearing the species at Nganda Sundi (4°52'S, 12°52'E)

near the border with Cabinda. The only Bas-Congo specimen was taken at Kisantu

(4°36'S, 15°6'E) (Schouteden 1948-60). The nearest record from Congo Brazzaville

is from the Koudou Basin (R.J. Dowsed, pers. comm.); the nearest Angola records are

from Uige province, which borders eastern Bas-Congo.

Turtur chalcospilos Emerald-spotted Wood Dove. At c. 16h30 on 3 Jul, at Kifiiku, Parc

marin, PM observed a wood dove from about 10 m. It had shiny green wing spots and

was foraging in a cassava field in gallery forest bordering savanna. The bird flew

away before HDSA, MB, DOM or TMN could see it, but we played Chappuis’ recor¬

ding of T. chalcospilos and received a matching response from the spot in the nearby

forest into which the bird had flown. Lippens & Wide (1976) indicated that the species

was only known from eastern DRC, but Chapin (1939) believed that it should be expec¬

ted in Bas-Congo, and the RMCA has seven specimens (1936-54) from there (Schouteden

1948-60). In Congo Brazzaville, T. chalcospilos is a rare resident of littoral savanna

(Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 1991). It is common at Soyo, Angola (Dean & Le

Maitre 2008) and probably more common in Bas-Congo than originally thought.

Caprimulgus fossii Square-tailed Nightjar. On 17 Oct 2011, PM photographed two

eggs on the ground in brush bordering sandy, semi-arid, grassy scrub on his property

near Ngoyo Lagoon, Parc marin. On 30 Jun, HDSA, MB, DOM, PM and TMN had

telescope views at c. 1 5 m of an individual at rest near the same location. C. fossii is

common in the DRC and breeds throughout the country (Lippens & Wide 1976).

Chapin (1939) gave Sep-Nov as the breeding season in Bas-Congo.

Neafrapus cassini Cassin’s Spinetail. At c. 13h00 on 26 Jun, within 5 km of the

WWF centre in the Luki Forest, HDSA, MB and DOM saw a flock of c.15 spinetails

at a distance of c. 200-300 m, foraging above the rainforest canopy. Some individuals

were approximately the size of Little Swift Apus affinis but had field marks

characteristic of N. cassini, namely, white bellies and undertail coverts and mostly

40

H.D.S.Ayer et al.

Malimbus 36

dark rumps. In the DRC, N. cassini is locally common in the north, from the

Mbandaka area to the Ituri Forest, and in the east (http://www.pesic-

pedersen.com/drc/checklists.html, consulted 18 Jan 2014). However, Chapin (1939)

once saw a flock of four at Nganda Sundi, Bas-Congo. In Congo-Brazzaville the

species is common in littoral and Mayombe forest (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett

1991). It is uncommon, but presumed resident, in primary and secondary Guinea

forest in Cabinda (Dean 2000).

Halcyon leucocephala Grey-headed Kingfisher. In the early afternoon of 2 Jul, in a

clearing at Yakululu Forest, Parc marin, HDSA, MB, DOM, PM and TMN had

telescope views at < 50 m for c. 2 min. of an individual perched on a dead branch. All

five observers saw the diagnostic chestnut belly. According to Lippens & Wille

(1976), this species is not found in Bas-Congo. However, the RMCA has a specimen

from Kisantu (Schouteden 1948-60) and Dean (2000) mentions one from Cabinda.

Gymnobucco calvus Naked-faced Barbet. At c. 17h00 on 24 Jun, HDSA, MB and

DOM observed a flock of nine from the Luki Forest entry road, c. 300 m north of the

WWF centre. The birds were dull grey-brown overall and had black faces with tufts

under the lower mandible. One adult in the group was feeding a nestling at one of the

many nest holes in a dead tree. G. calvus is common in Bas-Congo and two males in

breeding condition were collected near Mbanza-Ngungu (5°15'S, 14°52'E), Bas-

Congo, in 1914 (Chapin 1939). Fry et al. (1988) mentioned DRC breeding records

(mostly of parents feeding young) for ssp. congicus (found in western DRC, western

Congo Brazzaville and northwestern Angola) in Apr, Oct and Dec. Dean (2000)

mentioned Angolan breeding records from Mar. Our observation is apparently the

first dry season breeding record for the DRC.

Zoothera camaronensis Black-eared Ground Thrush. At c. 9h00 on 25 Jun, HDSA,

MB and DOM saw an individual of this species from above, on a steep hillside in

dense rainforest, just off a well-used trail < 1 km from the WWF centre in the Luki

Forest. HDSA saw it briefly in profile, facing left, perched on an exposed branch c. 60

cm above ground level, from < 10 m and noted the two vertical black bars on the face

and the thick-centred bill with lower mandible shorter than the upper: cf. the

illustration of Z. (then Geokichla ) princei in Chapin (1953), which captures the bill

shape better than recent field guides do. DOM, who saw the bird perched but could

not see the head because of an obstructing branch, noted the thrush-like shape, the

orange cast to the flanks and underparts, and the white on the wing. He and MB also

saw the bird in flight and observed the same three characteristics. The song of Z.

camaronensis is unknown, but Chappuis (2000) recorded the call. DOM had played

this recording repeatedly for c. 10 min. prior to the bird’s appearance on the perch.

During this time, on several occasions, he heard, but was unable to record, a response

that was identical to the call on Chappuis’ recording. Z. camaronensis is a rare bird of

lowland forests of central Africa that is shy and difficult to see. It is spottily

distributed in western Cameroon, northeastern Gabon, northeastern DRC, and western

Uganda (Keith et al. 1991). A Zoothera individual was seen at Koubotchi (4°19'S,

2014

Birds of Bas-Congo

41

11°45'E) in the Kouilou district of Congo Brazzaville (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett

1991), about 250 km northwest of Luki. Our sighting represents the most southerly

observation of this species.

Alethe poliocephala Brown-chested Alethe. At c. 9h00 on both 25 and 26 Jun, HDSA,

MB and DOM heard this species in the Luki Forest < 5 km from the WWF centre; our

identification is based on a comparison of our recorded vocalization with that of

Chappuis (2000). Our encounter of 25 Jun occurred at the location where we saw

Zoothera camaronensis and Illadopsis cleaver i\ that of 26 Jun occurred near an ant

swarm. We also sound-recorded Alethe diademata on the latter occasion. A. poliocephala

was thought to be restricted to eastern DRC (Chapin 1953, Lippens & Wille 1976) but

Chapin (1953) expected it to be found in Bas-Congo, because of records in north¬

western Angola. Although the closest Angola record is from Cuanza Norte province,

350 km south of the Congo River (Dean 2000), the species is locally common in the

Mayombe forest of Congo Brazzaville (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 1991).

Macrosphenus concolor Grey Longbill. On 24, 25 and 26 Jun HDSA, MB and DOM

heard this species in the Luki Forest within 5 km of the WWF centre. DOM also

sound-recorded it at least three times during this period. HDSA, MB, DOM and PM

also heard and saw this species on 2 Jul in Yukululu Forest, Parc marin, where DOM

again recorded it. The western limit of this species in the DRC was thought to be

Kinshasa (Chapin 1953, Lippens & Wille 1976). M. concolor is a common resident of

forest in the Mayombe of Congo Brazzaville (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 1991) and

so is not unexpected in Bas-Congo. The closest Angola records are from Lunda Norte,

c. 400 km southeast of the Luki Forest (Pinto 1973).

Cisticola chiniana Rattling Cisticola. Sometime between 9h00 and 12h00 on 28 Jun,

DOM recorded this species’ song (which HDSA and MB also heard) along a

communications tower maintenance road c. 1 km east of Kikuku village near

FACTEB Seminary, Borna. The bird was singing in open, hilly savanna that includes

ravines with patches of gallery forest and extensive brush. RD made the initial

identification, which we verified by comparing our recording with Chappuis ’s (2000)

of both C. chiniana and the similar-sounding Bubbling Cisticola C. bulliens, which

inhabits similar habitat. The song we recorded matched Chappuis ’s recording of C.

chiniana', it was drier sounding and more staccato in tone than Chappuis’ s recording

of C. bulliens. C. chiniana was known previously only from Kinshasa eastwards

(Chapin 1953, Lippens & Wille 1976). It is resident in Congo Brazzaville (Borrow &

Demey 2001). The nearest Angola record is from Lunda Norte, c. 400 km southeast of

Boma (Dean 2000).

Illadopsis cleaved Blackcap Illadopsis. At c. 9h00 on 25 Jun, HDSA, MB and DOM

had clear views from < 10m of an individual at the edge of dense forest on a steep

hillside < 1 km from the WWF centre in the Luki Forest. The bird flew from the

understorey and perched on a branch c. 60 cm above ground, and faced to the left. A

Zoothera camaronensis had used the same perch c. 30 min. prior to this sighting. All

three observers were above the bird. The black cap, dark cheek patch, and pale

42

H. D. S. Ayer et al.

Malimbus 36

underparts were clearly visible. DOM recorded the song. Chapin (1953) mentioned an

unverified Bas-Congo specimen but the species is not mentioned in Lippens & Wille

(1976), and Fry & Keith (2004) mention no records south of Congo Brazzaville. Our

sighting is therefore the first definite DRC record and the most southerly record to

date. In Congo Brazzaville, it is a common forest resident (Dowsett-Lemaire &

Dowsett 1991), so its presence in Bas-Congo is not unexpected.

Pholidornis rushiae Tit-Hylia. In the late afternoon of 25 Jun, HDSA, MB, and

DOM observed a warbler with yellow rump and belly, and fine dusky streaking on the

grey head and breast, in the canopy of the Luki Forest, c. 2 km. from the WWF centre.

These characteristics make this tiny warbler unmistakable (Urban et al. 1997, Sinclair

& Ryan 2010). Prior DRC records are from southern Bandundu and farther east

(Urban et al. 1997), although the species should occur sporadically throughout the

equatorial forest (Lippens & Wille 1976) and in the Mayombe, in particular, given

that a specimen was taken in Cuanza Norte province, Angola, c. 350 km to the south

(Chapin 1954), and that it is known from the Mayombe of Congo Brazzaville

(Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 1991).

Zosterops senegalensis Yellow White-eye. At c. lOhOO on 24 Jun, HDSA, MB and

DOM observed an individual in the Luki Forest, c. 2 km from the WWF centre, in

rainforest at the edge of a hillside cassava field. This species is the only white-eye in

West Africa (Urban et al. 1997) and was stated by Chapin (1954) to be found in the

DRC only from southern Bandundu eastwards, but the RMCA has two specimens

from Bas Congo, collected in 1922 (Schouteden 1948-60). The species is resident in

Congo Brazzaville (Borrow & Demey 2001) but was not recorded in the Mayombe

there by Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett (1991). The closest Angola record is from Uige

province, >300 km south of the Luki Forest.

Cinnyris johannae Johanna’s Sunbird. PM observed this species in Nsitu Mvenya

forest, 35-37 km north of Muanda on the road to Boma, on 1 Jan 2010, and near

Ngoyo Lagoon in Parc marin on 3 Mar 2012. On both occasions he observed the

brilliant green head and throat of the male and the yellow, heavily-streaked underparts

of the female. HDSA, MB, DOM and PM observed a male of what may have been

this species at c. 17h00 on 1 Jul. The bird was perched atop a 6 m tree in cassava

fields c. 1 km from gallery forest near Budubudu, Parc marin. It resembled Superb

Sunbird C. superbus, which we had seen on 25 and 30 Jun, but the head and throat

were entirely metallic green. We examined the head for > 30 s from c. 25 m. At c.

12h00 on 3 Oct, HDSA and PM observed a female perched on top of a dead tree near

a large pond by the Kongo Village road near Tshiende in Parc marin. The closest

DRC records are from Bandundu (map in Cheke & Mann 2001). C. johannae is to be

expected in the DRC Mayombe forest, given its presence in Cabinda, where it is

uncommon (Chapin 1954, Dean 2000), and records from the Mayombe of Congo

Brazzaville, where it is rare (Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 1991).

Diyoscopus cubla Black-backed Puffback. On 28 Jun, HDSA and DOM had clear

telescope views at < 100 m of a female of this species in dense brush in savanna

2014

Birds of Bas-Congo

43

< 1 km east of the village of Kikuku near FACTEB Seminary, Borna. The bird

perched in a tree in response to the playing of a recording on Chappuis (2000). HDSA

and DOM noted the pale supercilium (not present in Northern Puffback D.

gambensis ), white flanks, black cap and back, and black wings edged white (unlike in

Black-shouldered Puffback D. senegalensis). The western limit of the range of D.

cubla was thought to be the Kwango River (Lippens & Wille 1976), part of which

forms the boundary between Bandundu and Bas-Congo. It has not yet been recorded

in Congo Brazzaville (Urban et al. 1997) and the closest Angola records are from

Cuanza Norte (Dean 2000), c. 250 km south of Borna. It is thought not to overlap with

D. senegalensis (Urban et al. 1997), which HDSA, MB and DOM encountered on 26

Jun in the Luki Forest, c. 30 km northwest of Borna.

Lamprotornis nitens Cape Glossy Starling. At c. 9h00 on 4 Jul, HDSA, MB, DOM

and TMN had telescope views at c. 150 m, for c. 2 min., of a pair perched on a dead

tree in gallery forest in savanna near Budubudu, Parc marin. The birds were c. 25 cm

in length, had uniformly glossy blue-green plumage, yellow eye, rounded head, and

red shoulder patches. The two previous records for the DRC are from Bas-Congo (Ayer

2011). In Soyo, Angola, c. 40 km to the south, Dean saw this species on four of eight

days in May 2006, and every day from 1 7-24 Oct 2006 (Dean & Le Maitre 2008).

Passer domesticus House Sparrow. HDSA, MB and DOM saw this species on three

occasions: at a toll booth (5°49'S, 13°28'E) c. 30 km east of Matadi, 21 Jun; in down¬

town Boma near the post office, with Northern Grey-headed Sparrows P. griseus, 28

Jun; at the ABC Junior Motel, Muanda, 1 Jul. The species probably has established

populations in all three cities. For previous Bas-Congo sightings, see Ayer (2011).

Ploceus tricolor Yellow-mantled Weaver. In the Luki Forest c. 2 km from the WWF

centre, HDSA and DOM saw an individual of this species just below the forest

canopy, 25 Jun, and HDSA, MB and DOM saw another c. 1 m above eye-level in

dense forest, at c. 13h00 on 26 Jun. Both birds were in mixed flocks. On both

occasions the birds5 yellow mantle contrasted sharply with the black head and back.

Lippens & Wille (1976) mention records from the eastern DRC only, although Chapin

(1954) believed it should occur in Bas-Congo because of records from Cabinda (see

Dean 2000). The species has also been recorded in the Kouilou basin of Congo-

Brazzaville, just north of Cabinda (Fry & Keith 2004).

Pyrenestes ostrinus Black-bellied Seedcracker. Over 2-3 weeks in Feb 2011, MS

observed a pair of this species repeatedly visiting a Dracaena fragrans bush on the

campus of the American School of Kinshasa (4°18'S, 15°18'E). When they stopped

visiting the bush, he examined it and found a nest constructed entirely of bamboo

leaves, with a more tightly constructed inner pocket comprised of small twigs. It

contained the remnants of what appeared to be one light blue egg with brown

speckling. The complete egg would probably have been c. 1.5 cm. in length.

[ Uraeginthus bengalus Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu. At c. llhOO on 22 Jun, MB

observed a flock of about ten cordon-bleus on a communications tower maintenance

road 500 m north of Kikuku village near the FACTEB campus, Boma. At least two,

44

H. D. S. Ayer et al.

Malimbus 36

though not all, had identical conspicuous red cheek-patches. HDSA, MB and DOM

later saw flocks of Southern Cordon-bleu U. angolensis at the same location. PM has

seen birds matching U. bengalus in reeds on the Muanda-Boma road, where U.

angolensis also occurs; and DOM has seen U. bengalus on six occasions between Jul

2009 and Jul 2010 in Kinshasa, where U. angolensis is common. However, DOM’s

observations may have concerned escaped cage birds, because U. angolensis is kept

as a cage bird in nearby Brazzaville (R. Dowsett pers. comm.). Previous DRC records

of U. bengalus have been mostly from the east and southeast (Chapin 1954, Fry &

Keith 2004), although Lippens & Wille (1976) mentioned records from the Kinshasa

area. Both species have also been recorded in Cabinda (Sharpe & Bouvier 1878, Dean

2000). Sympatric populations of the two species occur in Kasai and Katanga

provinces, where no evidence of hybrids has been found (Fry & Keith 2004). U.

bengalus has not yet been recorded in Congo Brazzaville (Fry & Keith 2004).

However, in areas of allopatry in southwest Zambia and northern South Africa,

Kelsey & Barnard (1988) mist-netted three U. angolensis with scarlet feathering on

the cheeks, but with the red patches smaller than is typical for U. bengalus , and one

bird had significantly shorter notch to feather-tip distance of the inner web of the

outermost large primary than is typical for U. bengalus. Kelsey & Barnard (1988)

believed that individual variation, rather than hybridization, best accounts for the

existence of the scarlet facial plumage of their birds, and their observation must call

into question all sightings of “£/. bengalus ” west of Kasai in the DRC and in Cabinda.

However, we suggest that the sightings of MB and PM (and perhaps those of DOM),

as well as the Cabinda sightings, were likely of U. bengalus, although further research

is needed to establish this with certainty. If our contention is confirmed, other studies

will be needed to determine the extent of sympatry of U. bengalus and U. angolensis

in Bas-Congo and adjacent areas.]

Acknowledgments

HDSA, MB and DOM thank Dr Mabiala Justin-Robert Kenzo, president of the

Communauté Évangélique de l’Alliance au Congo for his hospitality and logistical

assistance, and for his intervention that led to an audience with local representatives

of the WWF. Laurent Nsenga of the WWF granted us permission to stay at the WWF

centre in the Luki Forest and to conduct research in the Forest. His helpful staff

arranged for our transportation to and from the site, and Tsimba Léon Sembal served

as our guide. René and Cecelia Holvast, missionaries with the Christian and

Missionary Alliance, housed and fed us during our stay in Borna and lent us their car

and driver. Michael Sthreshley took us on a birding tour of the forested grounds of

The American School of Kinshasa and contributed a record from there. Cindy Dunn

hosted us at the Methodist-Presbyterian Hostel (MPH) in Kinshasa and provided

valuable logistical assistance. Dr Léon Mubikayi lent us his car and driver and

2014

Birds of Bas-Congo

45

oversaw our departures from Kinshasa. Pastor Philippe Ngoma transported HDSA

from airports to MPH. PM’s then chauffeur Kabu drove us to most of the locations in

Parc marin, and his subsequent chauffeur Zacharie Lelo Sambiandi drove PM and

HDSA to various sites in the Parc in Oct 2013 and was the first to observe many of

the birds we saw. We thank Thomas Mfu Nsankete, former biologist at Parc marin,

who accompanied us on most of our outings in Muanda. Ornithologists John Bates,

David Willard and Josh Engel of the Field Museum, Chicago, gave HDSA advice and

access to bird specimens, and library staff Christine Giannoni and Michael Trombley

provided access to the collections and inter-library loans. Michel Louette and Reygel

Alain provided details of specimens at RMCA. Ron Demey analyzed DOM’s sound-

recordings and thereby greatly increased the number of species that we were able to

identify. He also gave us information on Egretta gularis , assisted with the compilation

of the Luki Forest bird list, and responded to other questions. R.J. Dowsett and W.R.J.

Dean commented on the manuscript and contributed additional bibliography. Aaron

Alford (Dept of Biology, Ambrose University College) made valuable comments on

the general significance of our findings. Tim Dodman sent us the results of a

Wetlands International waterbird survey in Parc marin.

References

Ayer, H.D.S. (2011) Some observations of birds and bird behaviour in Kinshasa and

Bas-Congo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Malimbus 33: 65-77.

Borrow, N. & Demey, R. (2001) A Guide to the Birds of Western Africa. Princeton

University Press, Princeton.

Brown, L.H., Urban, E.K. & Newman, K. (eds) (1982) The Birds of Africa, vol. 1.

Academic Press, London.

Chapin, J.P. (1932) The birds of the Belgian Congo. Part 1. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.

65: 1-756.

Chapin, J.P. (1939) The birds of the Belgian Congo. Part 2. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.

75: 1-632.

Chapin, J.P. (1953) The birds of the Belgian Congo. Part 3. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.

75 A: 1-821.

Chapin, J.P. (1954) The birds of the Belgian Congo. Part 4. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.

75B: 1-846.

CHAPPUIS, C. 2000. Oiseaux d’Afrique (African Bird Sounds), 2 West and Central

Africa. 1 1 CDs. Société d’ Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris.

Cheke, R.A. & Mann, C.F. (2001) Sunhirds: A Guide to the Sunbirds,

Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World. Yale University

Press, New Haven.

Christy, P. (2001) Gabon. Pp. 349-356 in Fishpool L.D.C. & Evans M.I. (eds) Impor¬

tant Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands. BirdLife International, Cambridge.

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Dean, W.R.J. (2000) The Birds of Angola: An Annotated Checklist. British

Ornithologists’ Union, Tring.

Dean, W.R.J. & Le Maître, D.C. (2008) The birds of the Soyo area, northwest

Angola. Malimbus 30:1-18.

Demey, R. & Louette, M. (2001) Democratic Republic of Congo. Pp. 199-218 in

FlSHPOOL L.D.C. & Evans M.l. (eds) Important Bird Areas in Africa and

Associated Islands. BirdLife International, Cambridge.

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. (1991). The avifauna of the Kouilou Basin

in Congo. Tauraco Res. Rep. 4: 189-239.

Fry, C.H., Keith, S., (eds.) (2004). The Birds of Africa, vol. 7. Academic Press,

London.

Fry, C.H., Keith, S., & Urban, E.K. (eds) (1988) The Birds of Africa, vol. 3.

Academic Press, London.

Herroelen, P. (2005) Further annotations and an addition to the avifauna of the

Democratic Republic of Congo. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 126:19-37.

Hockey, P.A.R., Dean, W.R.J. & Ryan, P.G. (eds) (2005) Roberts Birds of Southern

Africa. 7th ed., John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.

JONES, P. & Tye, A. (2006) The Birds of Sdo Tomé & Principe with Annobdn: islands

of the Gulf of Guinea. British Ornithologists’ Union, Oxford.

Keith, S., Urban, E.K. & Fry, C.H. (eds) (1991) The Birds of Africa, vol. 4.

Academic Press, London.

Kelsey, M. & Barnard, P. (1988) Scarlet facial feathering of Uraeginthus

angolensis'. a phenotypic throwback? Ibis 130: 444M-45.

Lippens, L. & Wille, H. (1976) Les Oiseaux du Zaïre. Lannoo, Tielt.

Louette, M. (1989) Additions and corrections to the avifauna of Zaire (4). Bull. Brit.

Orn. Club 109: 217-225.

Pinto, A. A. da R. (1973) Aves da colecciâo do Museu do Dundo. Publ. cult. Comp.

Diam. Angola 87: 129-178.

Schouteden, H. (1948-60) De Vogels van Belgisch Congo en van Ruanda-Urundi.

Ann. Koninkl. Mus. Belg. Congo. C Zoologie. 1: 1-200; 2: 201—41 6; 3: 417-564;

4: 1-176; 5: 177-340; 6: 1-228; 7: 229-524; 8: 1-236; 9: 237-524.

Sharpe R.B. & Bouvier A. (1878) Etude d’ornithologie africaine. Nouvelle liste

d’oiseaux recueillis dans la région du Congo par MM. le Dr. A. Lucan et L. Petit,

de septembre 1876 à septembre 1877. Bull. Soc. Zool. Fr. 3: 71-80.

Sinclair, I. & Ryan, P. (2010) Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. 2nd ed., Struik

Nature, Cape Town.

Urban, E.K., Fry, C.H. & KEITH, S. (1986) The Birds of Africa, vol. 2. Academie

Press, London.

Urban, E.K., Fry, C.H. & Keith, S. (eds) (1997) The Birds of Africa, vol. 5.

Academie Press, London.

2014

Association with riparian fragments by

Yellow-breasted Boubou Laniarius atroflavus

indicates need for wider-scale forest matrix conservation

47

S. Temidayo Osinubi1,2, Yakubu Vugeh2, James V. Briskie1, Ulf Ottosson3,

Jennifer A. Brown4 & Hazel M. Chapman1,2

1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury,

Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand. <sto39@uclive.ac.nz>

2Nigerian Montane Forest Project, Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, Taraba State, Nigeria

3A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canterbury,

Christchurch, New Zealand

Received 22 July 2013; revised 5 February 2014.

Summary

We investigated habitat association in the range-restricted Yellow-breasted

Boubou Laniarius atroflavus across three montane forest habitats in and

around the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve on the Mambilla Plateau, Nigeria. The

habitats were: officially protected forest interior (forest core), protected but

disturbed forest edge, and unprotected riparian forest fragments. Census data

were collected using point counts between November 2009 and September 2010,

and were analysed by multivariate correspondence analysis. Yellow-breasted

Boubou home ranges were identified and delineated, and numbers compared

across habitats. The Yellow-breasted Boubou demonstrated the strongest

habitat association with the riparian habitat. This finding adds to the case for a

mixed forest-matrix conservation scheme to incorporate the conservation and

protection of the riparian habitat, not just the forest core and edge habitats.

Résumé

La fréquentation de fragments de forêts-galerie par le Gonolek à ventre

jaune Laniarius atroflavus est indicatrice du besoin de conservation d’une

matrice forestière plus vaste et plus variée. Nous avons étudié la fréquent¬

ation par habitat du Gonolek à ventre jaune Laniarius atroflavus à travers trois

habitats de forêts de montagne à l’intérieur et autour de la Réserve de la Forêt

Ngel Nyaki sur le plateau Mambilla, au Nigeria. Il s’agissait des habitats

suivants: intérieur de la forêt officiellement protégé (cœur de la forêt), lisière

de la forêt protégée mais perturbée et fragments de la forêt-galerie sans

48

S.T. Osinubi et al.

Malimbus 36

protection. Des comptages ont été effectués à partir de points d’écoute entre

novembre 2009 et septembre 2010, et fait l’objet d’une analyse factorielle des

correspondances. Les domaines vitaux des Gonoleks à ventre jaune ont été

identifiés et définis, et les comptages comparés par habitats. L’espèce a montré

sa forte fréquentation de l’habitat de forêt-galerie. Ces résultats viennent

renforcer les arguments en faveur de la conservation d’une matrice forestière

constituée de milieux variés qui inclurait la conservation et la protection de

l’habitat de forêt-galerie, et pas seulement le cœur de la forêt et sa lisière.

Introduction

Conservation action tends to focus on the least degraded habitats at the highest level

of ecological succession (Hoekstra et al. 2005, Forboseh et al. 2007), and neglect

marginal habitats (Kupfer et al. 2006). Justification for this approach is that because

resources for conservation are limited, they should be spent on maintaining habitats

and species whose future looks promising, rather than gambling on habitats in which

the ecological resilience or potential for recovery has been jeopardised by land-use

changes and related activities (Pons & Quintana 2003). However, this reasoning can

be flawed because some species are adapted for optimum resource utilisation in

habitats at lower levels of ecological succession (Finch 1989), which illustrates the

need to investigate habitat association when making conservation decisions around

focal species. Some species are habitat generalists, such that individuals use a range of

habitats in the course of their life history or individuals are resident across different

habitat types. In such cases, it is not always obvious which habitat is the most

important for the persistence of the species, yet this is a critical question because

constrained resources mean that priorities have to be determined in terms of which

habitats are protected. The limited resources for conservation must be allocated

towards the habitat which is most preferred by individuals of the targeted species

(Bennun et al. 2005).

The need to identify habitat association correctly is of particular concern in the

conservation of endemic and range-restricted species, because such species are at

greater extinction risk from localised events. The Yellow-breasted Boubou Laniarius

atroflavus is one such range-restricted species. A sedentary, monogamous, territorial

and monomorphic bush-shrike (family Malaconotidae), it is restricted to the montane

forest landscape of south-eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon at elevations of 700-

2900 m. It has generally been reported to inhabit the dense undergrowth of clearings

along streams, thickets, secondary scrub, small remnant forest patches and bamboos

in ravines and on ridges (Fry et al. 2000, Hoyo et al. 2009). Though listed as a species

of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (<http://www.iucnredlist.Org/details/22707597/0>,

consulted Jan 2014), L. atroflavus is of conservation interest as a result of its range

restriction, and consequently the presence of breeding populations at any site fulfils a

2014

Habitat association of Yellow-breasted Boubou

49

criterion for the designation of the site as an Important Bird Area (IB A; Fishpool &

Evans 2001). The global population of this bird can be found within only 11 IBAs

(<http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=6178&m=l>, consulted Jan

2014).

Working at one of these IBA sites, we set out to investigate habitat association in

L. atroflavus across the range of potentially suitable montane forest habitats. We

examined the location, number and size of home ranges occupied by individuals of

this species across the different forest habitat types.

Materials and methods

Study area

Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve (7°5T0"N, 1 1°4'0"E) is located on the Mambilla Plateau

in Taraba State, eastern Nigeria, close to the border with Cameroon. The reserve has

an area of 46 km2, of which the escarpment forest covers 7.2 km2 (Chapman &

Chapman 2001, Fishpool & Evans 2001). The Ngel Nyaki forest is on the steep slopes

of an ancient volcano between 1400 and 1600 m (Chapman et al. 2004). Surrounding

the main escarpment forest block is overgrazed grassland which is criss-crossed by

streams historically fringed with riparian forest (Chapman & Chapman 2001). The

entire forest landscape, forest block and riparian fragment, is threatened by

fragmentation and degradation through burning, grazing, collection of wood for fuel

and fence posts, and poaching.

In addition to its IBA status, the reserve is an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) as part of

the Cameroon highlands, identified for the conservation of the Sudan-Guinea

Savanna, Guinea-Congo Forest and Afrotropical Highland biomes (Fishpool & Evans

2001). There are also the IUCN Red-listed tree species Entandrophragma angolense

and Pouteria altissima, the endangered Nigerian Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes

vellerosus, and the Putty-nosed Monkey Cercopithecus nictitans martini and Buffalo

Syncerus caffer at and around the site (Chapman et al 2004).

The 6.5 km2 study area covered the central and eastern portion of the 7.2 km2

main escarpment forest block, within which c. 2.25 km2 of escarpment forest interior

(hereafter referred to as forest core habitat), and 2.25 km2 of escarpment forest edge

were identified, along with a 2 km2 area of grassland containing riparian forest

fragments scattered within it (Fig. 1). Forest core habitat is defined as escarpment

forest at least 200 m from any surrounding grassland. The forest core (Fig. 2a) is

protected and characterised by emergent trees up to 35 m tall, such as E. angolense

and P. altissima. The canopy is approximately 20 m high and comprises species such

as Carapa procera, Santiria trimera and Newtonia buchananii. The forest edge (Fig.

2b) is also protected and covers the 200 m buffer around the forest core habitat, the

vegetation structure of which does not exhibit many emergent trees, but with an

abundance of mid-storey tree species including Albizia gummifera, Anthonotha noldeae,

50

S.T. Osinubi et al.

Malimbus 36

Figure 1. Google Earth image of Ngel Nyaki FR showing the forest core (grey

polygon), edge (black polygon) and riparian (white polygon) study areas.

Ficus sp. and Isolona deightonii. The unprotected riparian fragments comprise narrow

strips of forest bordering ephemeral grassland streams (Fig. 2c), with the vegetation

made up predominantly of dense undergrowth of lianes, shrubs and ferns; Psycho tria

penduncularis and Dracaena fragrans are common (Chapman & Chapman, 2001,

Chapman et al. 2004).

Bird census

Between November 2009 and September 2010 we conducted 1 1 monthly point count

exercises in each of the three forest habitats for all bird species following methods

described by Ralph et al. (1995) and Bibby et al. (2000). Each point count observation

spanned a five-minute period, and due to variation in the visibility in the three

habitats, only bird species seen or heard within a 25-m radius were recorded. Eight

survey points were established along pre-existing transect lines in each habitat. Using

a Garmin Oregon 550 GPS receiver and satellite imagery from Google Earth, each

point was set at least 250 m apart assuming that observations made at each point

would then be independent of those made at the next. All observations were made by

the same observer (Y. Vugeh), to eliminate inter-observer bias in the data collected.

2014

Habitat association of Yellow-breasted Boubou

51

Figure 2. Examples of the three habitats: A forest core; B edge; C riparian.

Data were collected from one transect per day, between 7h00 and lOhOO, with slight

variation in time depending on distance to the start of the transect line, transect length

and accessibility. The start of each transect was alternated between the two ends at

different visits to reduce bias from the time of day when any particular point was

reached.

We used the dataset to explore the association of L atroflavus with habitats,

defined as the relative abundance of the focal species in each of the three habitats; we

assumed that bird species repeatedly recorded from only one habitat exhibit strong

association with that habitat (Pearman 2002). Correspondence analysis was used to

quantify habitat association from the census data (Shrestha & Wegge 2008). The data

were scaled by species and weighted by habitat, and the cyclic Jacobi algorithm

(Brmac 2009) was employed to generate two axes, allowing a two-dimensional

assessment of association. Axis values of habitats (core, edge and riparian) and bird

species were both extracted and compared. Strong habitat association of any avian

species with a particular habitat was indicated by equal axis values for the bird and that

habitat. In the case of L. atroflavus , equal values were not recorded with any particular

habitat, so a proximity index was calculated using the sum of squares formula

a2 = b2 + c2, where b is the difference in value along axis 1 between L. atroflavus and

52

S.T. Osinubi et al

Malimbus 36

each habitat, and c is the value along axis 2. The lower the proximity index value a to

any habitat, the stronger the association between the bird and the habitat.

Home range mapping

The density and size of L. atroflavus home ranges in the study site were assessed

using a combination of telemetry and territory mapping. These were conducted

between November 2009 and March 2011, but effort was made not to undertake

telemetry and mapping within the same home range and at the same time period as the

bird census. Telemetry involved the use of single-stage glue-on radio transmitters

(Sirtrack Ltd, Havelock, New Zealand) with an estimated signal range of 1 km, and 30

pulses per minute (set to optimise the battery life of the transmitter, c. 60 days, while

ensuring a pulse reading that was sufficiently high). Over the study period, a total of

14 birds from 1 1 home ranges were trapped using mist nets. As the birds are sexually

monomorphic, it was not possible to sex them by external characters. However, using

genetic sexing methods, it we identified eight females and six males, with three

females and two males trapped in the edge habitat, and five females and four males

trapped in the riparian habitat. In the three home ranges where two individuals were

successfully trapped, they were found to be male and female, indicating that home

ranges are occupied by a heterosexual pair. A radio transmitter with a unique

transmission frequency between 148 and 152 MHz, specific to the frequency range of

the ATS R410 digital receiver (Advanced Telemetry Systems Inc., Isanti, U.S.A.) was

glued to the mantle feathers of each trapped and colour ringed bird. The unique

frequency of each transmitter enabled the tracking of several radio-tagged birds at the

same time, by adjusting the frequency of the receiver to each frequency. The radio-

tagged birds were then released from the point of capture. Thereafter, a set of four

points was established around and just outside of the area of forest where each

individual5 s home range was suspected to be (i.e. the area where the bird was

captured) and the coordinates of each of the four points were noted. To identify the

location of the radio-tagged birds, record taking was done hourly in the morning

(5h00-10h00), afternoon (12h00-14h00) and evening (16h00-18h00), During each

hour of record taking, the location of the bird from each of the four points (following

the signal from the transmitter on the bird) was determined using the receiver

equipped with a three-element folding Yagi antenna. When the location of the bird

(direction of the strongest radio signal) was determined, a prismatic compass was used

to record the bearing of that location from the point. It took approximately 35 min. to

traverse each set of four points around each assumed home range of a radio-tagged

bird, after which the observer waited for the next hour and repeated record-taking in

reverse. The bearing angles from each of the four points were used to generate

projection lines in Forward/Inverse (Mentor Software Inc., Littleton, U.S.A.). The

coordinates of each projection line were then entered into Map Source (Gamin Ltd.,

Olathe, U.S.A.). In Google Earth, the points where several projection lines crossed

were marked as locations of the bird. Radio tracking and record taking continued until

2014

Habitat association of Yellow-breasted Boubou

53

either the transmitter battery died or the transmitter fell off the bird, in which case the

transmitter was retrieved and used on the next trapped bird.

The supplementary method used to delineate L. atroflavus home ranges was a

modification of the more traditional territory mapping method (Bibby et al 2000).

The trapped L. atroflavus individuals were colour-ringed and, during subsequent

sightings, GPS records were made of the locations of the birds. Over time and

repeated observations the collection of GPS points was entered into Google Earth as

described above, and a polygon was defined around them, using the minimum convex

polygon approach (White & Garrott 1990) to join the points. Though the minimum

convex polygon method has been criticised for unpredictable bias (Barg et al 2005),

we did not carry out a variance component analysis (Nil sen et al 2008) but simply

present baseline home range information. The polygons were converted to Map

Source files, then the area of the polygon determined and used as home range size.

Repeated observations of non-ringed birds were also used to identify (but not

delineate) other home ranges, in sites where the birds were not successfully trapped.

The possibility exists of two neighbouring home ranges monitored in this way being

recorded as one (or vice versa ) but the distribution of such ranges suggests this was

not the case (see Fig. 3).

Statistical analyses

The correspondence analysis was performed using the multivariate statistical package

MVSP (Kovach Computing Services, Anglesey, U.K.). Differences in proximity

indices and home range sizes between habitats met the parametric criteria of normal

distribution (tested using the Shapiro- Wilk test) and equal variance (tested using

Levene’s test) and were analysed using ANOVA. These statistical analyses were

performed in R (R Development Core Team, Vienna, Austria) at a 95 % confidence

interval.

Results

In total, 16 L. atroflavus home ranges were identified in the 6.5 km2 study area by

telemetry and territory mapping of 14 radio-tagged and colour-ringed birds, and

repeated observations of non-trapped birds. Five home ranges were identified in the

edge habitat and 1 1 in the riparian. One L. atroflavus home range was found in the

forest core area, but at a location with a break in the forest canopy offering a

vegetation structure similar to the edge habitat: as such this one was recorded as one

of the five edge-habitat home ranges. Sufficient location points were gathered to

delineate the shape and size of nine home range: three in the edge habitat and six in

the riparian habitat (Fig. 3). The mean L. atroflavus home range size was 6094 ± 1259

(SD) m2, with no significant difference (F1j7 = 0.259, P = 0.627) between the edge

habitat (5777 ± 1340 m2) and the riparian habitat (6252 ± 1314 m2).

54

S.T. Osinubi et al.

Malimbus 36

Figure 3. Google Earth image with polygons (A-I) indicating the location and

shape of L. atroflavus home ranges in the edge (black lines) and riparian (white

lines) habitats, and spots (1-7) indicating the location of L. atroflavus home

ranges in which it was only possible to determine occupancy.

The monthly proximity index a of L. atroflavus was significantly different (F2j3o =

35.944, P < 0.001) for each of the three habitats (Fig. 4). The association was

strongest with the riparian habitat (0.77 ± 0.41 SD), then edge (2.21 ± 0.68 SD), and

weakest for the forest core habitat (2.59 ± 0.46 SD). This result was obtained despite

the fact that the far-reaching call of L. atroflavus was occasionally difficult to place as

within or beyond the 25-m point count radius, especially within the forest core,

resulting in more census records at points within the forest core when compared to the

location of home ranges determined by the other methods.

Discussion

Our results demonstrate that L. atroflavus exhibits strongest association with the

riparian habitat, with more home ranges identified in the riparian fragments. This

could be due to the vegetation structure of the riparian being denser and potentially

affording a lower risk of nest predation for this species (S.T. Osinubi, unpublished

data). Alternatively, there are indications that L. atroflavus prefers habitats offering

running water, as all of the L. atroflavus home ranges found in the riparian habitat

offered water sources and three of the five territories in the edge habitat were within

50 m of open water. Home range intrusion or overlap was not observed during this study,

2014

Habitat association of Yellow-breasted Boubou

55

Nov09 Dec09 JanIO FeblO Mario AprIQ May 10 JunIO JullO AuglQ Sep 10

Month

Figure 4. Low values of monthly proximity index a (see text) indicate that L.

atroflavus demonstrated strongest association for riparian habitat and weakest for

forest core habitat

even where home ranges were close together as observed in the riparian habitat,

suggesting that this species has well-defined boundaries. Individuals only approached to

investigate calls coming from within their own home range. It would appear that range

fidelity is also strong, as individuals were observed to occupy the same ranges all year

round. There was only one home range where the breeding pair appears to have been

replaced, by a Tropical Boubou L. aethiopicus between the 2009 and 2010 breeding

seasons. We do not know whether this was as a result of inter-specific displacement or

the home range becoming vacant for another reason. The lack of significant difference

between home range sizes in the edge and the riparian habitats did not permit the

examination of home range size as indicative of habitat association (Maher & Lott

2000). Moreover, the two-dimensional estimation of home range size did not

accommodate differences due to slope.

These findings identify L. atroflavus as a potential flagship species in the argument

for the official protection of currently degraded and relatively species-poor riparian

fragments in Nigeria, and more widely across the Nigeria -Cameroon mountain range.

Conservation needs to be approached from both landscape and species perspectives

(Didier et al 2009). Despite efforts by the Nigerian Montane Forest Project and the

Nigerian Conservation Foundation within the protected area of the Ngel Nyaki FR.

56

S.T. Osinubi et al.

Malimbus 36

the unprotected riparian habitat associated with the Forest Reserve has suffered

continuous illegal cattle grazing, bush burning, encroachment and poaching. These

anthropogenic pressures have also been reported in the edge habitat and parts of the

forest core. The narrowness of the riparian forest fragments makes them targets as

watering points for cattle herders and other encroachers, whose activities break the

vegetation into discontinuous strips. As the numbers of herders and their cattle

increase, these disturbances are also continually increasing (Chapman et al. 2004).

We support more focused conservation action before the habitat and the species that

depend on it are lost.

Acknowledgments

This study was part of a larger project made possible with funding and support from a

College of Science International Doctoral Research Scholarship and a College of

Engineering Publication Scholarship of the University of Canterbury, the African Bird

Club Conservation Fund, an International Foundation for Science Research grant, an

Education New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad award, a Journal of Experimental

Biology Travelling Fellowship, Idea Wild, the North of England Zoological Society,

the A.G. Leventis Foundation, Nexen Inc. and the Nigerian Montane Forest Project.

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rotations. SIAMJ. Matrix Anal. Appl. 31: 1329-1350.

Finch, D.M. (1989) Habitat use and habitat overlap of riparian birds in three

elevational zones. Ecology 70: 866-880.

FlSHPOOL, L.D.C. & EVANS, M.I. (2001) Important Bird Areas in Africa and

Associated Islands: priority sites for conservation. Pisces, Newbury.

Forboseh, P.F., Eno-Nku, M. & Sunderland, T.C.H. (2007) Priority setting for

conservation in south-west Cameroon based on large mammal surveys. Oryx 41:

255-262.

Fry, C.F., Keith, S. & Urban, E.K. (2000) The Birds of Africa, volume 6. Academic

Press, London.

Hoekstra, J.M., Boucher, T.M., Ricketts, T.H. & Roberts, C. (2005) Confronting

a biome crisis: global disparities of habitat loss and protection. Ecol. Lett. 8: 23-29.

Hoyo, J. del, Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. (2009) Handbook of the Birds of the

World, vol. 14. Lynx, Barcelona.

Kupfer, J.A., Malanson, G.P. & Franklin, S.B. (2006) Not seeing the ocean for the

islands: the mediating influence of matrix-based processes on forest fragmentation

effects. Global Ecol. Biogeog. 15: 8-20.

Maher, C.R. & Lott, D.F. (2000) A review of ecological determinants of

territoriality within vertebrate species. Am. Midi. Nat. 143: 1-29.

Nilsen, E.B., Pedersen, S. & Linnell, J.D.C. (2008) Can minimum convex polygon

home ranges be used to draw biologically meaningful conclusions? Ecol. Res. 23 :

635-639.

Pearman, P.B. (2002) The scale of community structure: habitat variation and avian

guilds in tropical forest understory. Ecol. Monogr. 72: 19-39.

Pons, P. & Quintana, X.D. (2003) Unsuitable réintroductions and conservation

priorities. Oryx 37: 285-285.

Ralph, C.J., Droege, S. & Sauer, J.R. (1995) Managing and monitoring birds using

point counts: standards and applications. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep.

PSW-GTR 149: 161-170.

Shrestha, R. & Wegge, P. (2008) Habitat relationships between wild and domestic

ungulates in Nepalese trans-Himalaya. J. arid Env. 72: 914-925.

White, G.C. & Garrott, R.A. (1990) Analysis of Radio-tracking Data. Academic

Press, New York.

58

Malimbus 36

Short Notes — Notes Courtes

Miscellaneous records of birds in Togo, including four species new to the

country’s list

Recent tracking studies and our own field work have revealed the occurrence of four

species new to Togo, i.e. not listed as confirmed by Cheke & Walsh (1996), nor by

any subsequent publications on the birds of Togo. These species, marked with

asterisks, are described below, together with breeding information and records of

other uncommon species.

*Aquila heliaca Eastern Imperial Eagle. A female, fitted with a satellite tracking

device as a nestling at Jâszsâg in Hungary on 3 Jul 2012, crossed the Mediterranean to

reach Africa in Libya. On 4 Dec 2012 the bird entered north-western Togo, travelling

there via Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. It left Togo for Ghana on the same

day, where it travelled a few km further south than Tamale, before going to Burkina

Faso on 9 Dec. On 1 1 Dec it returned to Ghana where its tag ceased to operate on 23

Jan 2013. However, the bird survived a return migration as it was observed at

Pantelleria island, in the Mediterranean 70 km northeast of Tunisia, between April

and October 2013 (see track and text describing the bird named Gabi at <http://www.

satellitetracking. eu/inds/showmap/?check_74=74>, consulted 20 Nov 2013). The

species is seldom recorded in West Africa, where it was considered as a vagrant by

Borrow & Demey (2001) who listed only one record, from north Cameroon.

Hieraaetus ayresii Ayres’s Hawk Eagle. One seen by RAC on 29 Jul 2009 at the site

referred to by Cheke & Walsh (1996) as Djodji (7°42rN, 0°35'E), i.e. the river

crossing where the River Gban-Houa (known as the River Wawa in Ghana) forms the

Ghana-Togo border. The bird appeared from the more forested Togolese side and

soared across into Ghana doing lazy circles over a hill, then did three display false

dives, plunging 30 m with half closed wings and twisting from side to side as it did so,

before pulling up. After the third such dive, approximately 1 min. after the first one,

the bird closed its wings completely and did a steep straight dive without twisting and

disappeared within Ghana. Only the third record for Togo.

*Falco eleonorae Eleonora’s Falcon. Gschweng et al. (2008) reported the results of

tagging 13 birds with satellite tracking devices at two sites in Sardinia, Italy, between

12 Aug 2003 and 2 Oct 2005. One of these, juvenile c 49885, tagged on 19 Sep 2004

at a colony on Isola di San Pietro, passed through northern Togo in late October or early

November 2004 (see Fig. 2 of Gschweng et al. 2008) and thence into Benin and further

east. A second record for Togo was also the result of satellite tracking: a juvenile

female tagged on the Columbretes islands, Spain, passed through Togo in the autumn

2014

Notes Courtes

59

of 2010 (see track of bird no. 92528 in Fig. 2 of Mellone et al. 2013). Treated as a

vagrant by Borrow & Demey (2001), who listed a record from Mauritania in November,

the status of the species in West Africa needs to be re-assessed in the light of Gschweng

et al. (2008) and Mellone et al. (2013) whose data suggest that juveniles take more

western routes to reach eastern and southern Africa and Madagascar, than adults do.

Treron calvus African Green Pigeon. At Djodji at 12h50 on 27 Jul 2009, RAC saw a

male (identified as such by the behaviour to be described) land to the left of a female

that was perched c. 10 m up in an exposed tree. The male bird then broke off a twig

which it dropped into the river below, before the pair copulated for c. 30 s, the first

evidence of breeding in Togo. The male then shifted to the right side of the female

and then moved again to the left side of its mate, where it remained and preened.

*Coracias garrulus European Roller. Two satellite-tracked birds, tagged in northern

Spain by members of an SEO/BirdLife project, passed through Togo on their return

migration routes in late March 2013 (see maps for birds Lérida 01, tagged as an adult

male in Ivars de Noguera Municipality on 2 Jul 2012, and Cuidad real 01, tagged as

an adult male in Alcazar de San Juan Municipality on 19 Jun 2012, at <http://www.

migraciondeaves.org/en/>, consulted 20 Nov 2013). Cheke & Walsh (1996) were

unable to trace any Togolese records of this species, although the map in Fry et al.

(1988) included the country within its geographical range.

Lybius dubius Bearded Barbet. A pair, one of which was photographed by IO with

food in its bill, performing distraction displays at the Centre du Formation Rurale at

Tami (10°51'43"N, 0°3'37"E; c. 35 km west of Dapaong), on 25 May 2013. Although

the nest was not found, this is more substantial evidence of breeding than the

allopreening behaviour reported by Cheke & Walsh (1996).

Oriolus oriolus Eurasian Golden Oriole. Noted six times by IO at Tami, between 24

Apr and 3 May 2013, after which only African Golden Orioles O. auratus were seen

there until the observer’s departure at the end of May. The fourth record for Togo.

*Bubalornis albirostris White-billed Buffalo Weaver. A group of four birds was

seen and photographed by IO at Tami on 10, 19, 22 and 25 May 2013 (Fig. 1). The

first record for Togo, realising the prediction by Cheke & Walsh (1996) that this

species would eventually be found there, given that it was known from only 5 km

north of the border in Burkina Faso.

Quelea quelea Red-billed Quelea. Five seen and photographed by IO on 3 May 2013

at Tami. Only the second record for Togo, the first being flocks drinking from the

River Kéran in northern Togo, 29-30 Jan 2010, reported by Dowsett-Lemaire &

Dowsett (2011).

We thank the satellite tracking teams for their work, Volker Salewski for drawing our

attention to Gschweng et al. (2008), Joost Brouwer for alerting us to the Eastern

Imperial Eagle and European Roller tracking studies and Frank Walsh for comments

on the text.

60

Short Notes

Malimbus 35

Figure 1. Two White-billed Buffalo Weavers Bubalornis a/birostris , Tami, Togo,

22 May 2013 (photo: I. Oliveras).

References

Borrow, N. & Demey, R. (2001) Birds of Western Africa. Christopher Helm, London.

Cheke, R. A. & Walsh, J.F. (1996) The Birds of Togo. Check-dist 14, British

Ornithologists’ Union, Tring.

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R.J. (2011). Recent reports. Bull. Afr. Bird Club

18:241.

Fry, C.H., Keith, S. & Urban, E.K. (eds) (1988) The Birds of Africa, vol. 3.

Academie Press, London.

Gschweng, M., Kalko, E.K.V., Querner, U., Fiedler, W. & Berthold, P. (2008)

All across Africa: highly individual migration routes of Eleonora’s Falcon. Proc.

Roy. Soc. B 275: 2887-2896.

Mellone, U., Lôpez-Lôpez, P., Liminana, R., Piasevoli, G. & Urios, V. (2013)

The trans-equatorial loop migration system of Eleonora’s Falcon: differences in

migration patterns between age classes, regions and seasons. J. avian Biol. 44:

417-426.

Received 22 October 2013

Revised 22 November 2013

Robert A. Cheke1 & Ignasi Oliveras2

Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich at Medway, Central Avenue,

Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, U.K. <r.a.cheke@greenwich.ac.uk>

2C/ Miquel Marti i Pol 8, 08474 Gualba, Spain

2014

61

Errata

Lesser Striped Swallow Hirundo abyssinien locality in Mauritania

In 2001 we observed c. 20 Lesser Striped Swallows at the Guelta Metraugha/

Meterawjha, the first published records of this species for the country (Salewski et al

2003). We gave 16037'42"N, 1 1°24/12/;W as the coordinates of the site and repeated

this information in Salewski et al. (2005).

P.W.P. Browne (pers. comm.) has kindly indicated that the given coordinates are

actually in Kiffa. We confirm that the coordinates are erroneous and do not match the

site of our observation. We refrain, however, from publishing the precise true

coordinates of our observation site because of concern for the site's conservation

values, but the observation was made between 16° and 17°N, and 10° and 1 1°W.

Salewski, V., Altwegg, R., Liechti, F. & Peter, D. (2003) New records of

Moussier's Redstart Phoenicurus moussieri and Lesser Striped Swallow Hirundo

abyssinica from Mauritania. Malimbus 25: 103-104.

Salewski, Y. Schmaljohann, H. & Herremans, M. (2005) New bird records from

Mauritania. Malimbus 27: 19-32.

Volker Salewski1 & Dieter Peter2

J Michael-Otto -Institute imNABU, Goosstroot 1, 24861 Bergenhusen, Germany

2Swiss Ornithological Institute, Seerose 1, 6204 Sempach, Switzerland

62

Malimbus 36

Society Notices — Informations de la Société

W.A.O.S. membership changes

Changements à la liste d’adhérents de la S.O.O.A.

Enclosed with this issue of Malimbus is the current W.A.O.S. membership list. This is

the first issue of a complete list since 2003. As usual the changes in membership

during the past six months are given below.

The unusually large number of deletions registered in this issue results from the

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or more years, unless otherwise agreed with the Treasurer and Council. W.A.O.S. has

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C’est la première liste complète publiée depuis 2003. Comme habituellement, les

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Le nombre inhabituellement élevé des radiations enregistrées dans cette liste

résulte de l’exclusion des membres qui n’ont pas payé leurs cotisations depuis avant

2012. La politique de la SOOA est désormais de radier de la liste les membres non à

jour depuis deux ans ou plus, à moins d’un arrangement avec le Trésorier et le

Conseil. La S.O.O.A. peut offrir la gratuité à des institutions, principalement en

Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, à travers l’échange de publications ou à titre de

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l’adhésion gratuite à des individus.

New members — Nouveaux membres

Branscombe, J., Greens, Toab, Orkney KW17 2QG, U.K.

Citegetse, G., BirdLife International, c/o Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, 4C

Old Railway Line, Tengbeh Town, PO Box 1292, Freetown, Sierra Leone

KOUGOUM, P.G., Dept of Environmental Sciences, Higher Institute of the Sahel,

University of Maroua-Cameroon, PO Box 46, Maroua, Cameroon.

Nelson, M., 1629 El Prado Dr., Knoxville, TN 37922, U.S.A. (since 201 1)

2014

Informations de la Société

63

Deaths — Décès

Bruce-Lockhart, Mrs F.

Coulter, Dr M.

Resignations and deletions

Ames, A.R.

Bishop, K.D.

Bright, E.

Bulens, P.

Cameron, H.

Carter, C.

Christy, P.

Claffey, P.M.

COQUILLAT, J.-M.

Daramam, D.

Douthwaite, R.J.

Duffy, M.

Ezealor, Dr A.

Fotso, R.C.

Gartshore, M.E.

Giraudoux, P.

Grosso, E.

Guédon, G.

Guillou, JJ.

Jensen, F.P.

Kirschel, Dr A.N.G.

Kizungu, B.

LeGal, P. Y.

Macaulay, Mrs L.

Marchesani, D.

Ndao, B.

N’diaye, I.

Ntiamoa-Baidu, Dr Y.

NEUENSCH WANDER, Dr P.

Nuoh, A.

Nyame, S.

Renonciations et enlèvements

Penhallurick, Dr J.

Plomp, W.

Riding, K.

Sâenz de Santa Maria Muniâtegui,

Sala, A.H.

SCHIFTER, H.

Shalders, M.B.

SlAKA, A.

Smalley, Dr M.E.

Smith, Rev. R.H.

Stevenson, T.

Stuart, Dr S. N.

Watson, P.

Nasionale Museum (Bloemfontein)

OFSOS (South Africa)

Dansk Ornitologisk Forening

Charante (France)

INSTITUTO NAZIONALE PER LA FAUNA

Selvatica (Italy)

Birds of the World

Museum d’ Histoire Naturelle

(Switzerland)

English Nature

Game & Wildlife Conservation

Trust (U.K.)

RSPB (U.K.)

International Crane Foundation

The Peregrine Fund

San Diego Zoo

X ISI (U.S.A.)

Address changes and corrections — Changements et corrections d’adresse

Buu, R., Wuitekampweg 5, 6741 CN Lunteren, The Netherlands

Guitard, J.-J., “Les ZoiZoZen”, Allée Saint-Esprit, 83830 Figanières, France

Gullick, T., India Alta, Villa Nueva de los Infantes, 13220 Ciudad Real, Spain

Tim Dodman, Treasurer and Membership Secretary

64

Society Notices

Malimbus 36

West African Ornithological Society

Société d’Ornithologie de l’Ouest Africain

Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2013

numbers of Volume 35 being relatively large and printed in colour. The cost of produ¬

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MALIMBUS 36(1) March 2014

Contents — Table des Matières

Nestling development and post-juvenile moult of the

African Swallow-tailed Kite Chelictinia riocourii.

W.C. Mullié, S. Cavaillès, J. Komdeur & R. Buij 1-12

The Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana wintering in West Africa,

and its status as a passage migrant in Mauritania.

M. Thoma & M.H.M. Menz 13-31

Some observations of the birds of the Luki Forest, Parc marin des mangroves

and Borna, Bas-Congo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

H.D.S. Ayer, P. Mavuemba, D.O. Matson & M. Bowman 32-46

Association with riparian fragments by Yellow-breasted Boubou Laniarius

atroflavus indicates need for wider-scale forest matrix conservation.

S.T. Osinubi, Y. Vugeh, J.V. Briskie, U. Ottosson, J.A. Brown &

H.M. Chapman 47-57

Short Notes — Notes Courtes

Miscellaneous records of birds in Togo, including four species

new to the country’s list.

R.A. Cheke & I. Oliveras 58-60

Errata

Lesser Striped Swallow Hirundo abyssinica locality in Mauritania.

V. Salewski & D. Peter 61

Society Notices — Informations de la Société 62-64