Table Of Contentupperparts, and pale brown median and greater 2. Brunei,J. 1958.Observationssurlesoiseauxdubas-
coverts and primaries. The chin, throat, bellyand Dahomey. L'Oiseau etRFO28: 1-38.
undertail-covertswerewhiteand thebreastbarred 3. Cheke, R.A. and Walsh, J.F. 1996. The Birds of
dark brown. There was a clear white supraloral Togo:anannotatedcheck-list. BOU Check-list No.
spot. Wing length was 75 mm and weight 19 g. 14. Tring: British Ornithologists’ Union.
WuhniklnsotwtnhefsrpoecmieTsogison.otuncommon Nigeria5, itis 4. DCoonwtsreitbtu,tiRo.nJ.toanthdeDDoiswtsreitbtu-tiLoenmaainrde,TFa.xo1n9o9m3.y oAf
These observations represent the first AfrotropicalandMalagasyBirds. Tauraco Research
documented records of these species in Benin, Report 5. Liege: Tauraco Press.
whileWhite-browedForestFlycatcherisanaddition 5. Elgood,J.H., Heigham,J.B.,Moore,A.M.,Nason,
to the Dahomey Gap list. ABi.rMd.s,ofSNhiagrelrainad:,anR.aEn.noatnadteSdkcihnencke-rl,istN..JB.O1U99C4h.ecTkh-e
Acknowledgements list No. 4. Second edition. Tring: British
1. Ornithologists’ Union.
I thank L.D.C. Fishpool and R.J. Dowsett for 6. van den Akker, M. 2003. Birds ofNiaouli Forest,
assistancewith the identification ofthe immature southern Benin. Bull. ABC10: 15-22.
White-browedForestFlycatchers,andP.M.Claffey 7. Waltert, M. and Muhlenberg, M. 1999. Notes on
foradditionalinformationandcommentsonafirst theavifaunaoftheNoyauCentral,ForetClasseede
draft ofthis note. la Lama, RepublicofBenin. Malimbus21: 82-92.
References 04 BP 1556 Cadjehoun Cotonou, Benin. E-mail:
,
Anciaux, M.R. 1996. Aper<;u de l’avifaune dans [email protected].
differents milieux de l’interieur des terres du Sud-
Benin.Plateaud’Alladaetsuddeladepressiondela
Lama. Cahiersd’Ethologie 16: 79-98.
The first Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius in Cameroon
Ian Sinclair, RodCassidy, Alvin Cope, Hannes vanAswegen, RobLeslieandBarrieRose
Un Engoulevent dore Caprimulgus eximius a ete observe et photographie dans le nord du
Cameroun, le 25 mars 2003. Ceci constitue la premiere mention pour le pays.
G
oldenNightjar Caprimulguseximiusisconfined gravellyplainbisectedbywadis, sparselyvegetated
to the Sahelian belt, where it is variously withshortstuntedAcaciaand Combretumspp,and
described as being uncommon to rare1 locally short, yellowgrass. Beforewe flushed the bird, we
,
uncommon to fairly common3 uncommon and had speculated that this constituted ideal habitat
,
perhapsevenrare4 commonandwidespread5 and for the nightjar, and that a visit at dusk could be
, ,
not uncommon6. It rarely reaches south of 12°N productive. When the bird was flushed from di-
and, like many remote-area nightjars, there is rectlyunderfoot,itflewupfromthegentleslopeof
generally very little known about the species, it a wadi and settled away from the wadi’s centre,
having rarely been seen and perhaps never tape- within the sparse shade ofa leaflessAcacia where
,
recorded2, and only a few nests discovered. thebirdmeltedintoitsbackgroundandwashardly
On25March2003,at06.30hrs,togetherwith visible to the naked eye from 5 m. Its yellow,
MichaelMills,RonFJoffandDollyannMeyersand patternedplumageblendedsowellwiththeground
while searching for Cricket Warbler Spiloptila and yellow grass as to render the bird almost
clamans 4 km north of Mora, in northern invisible. Thiswasthemostperfectlycamouflaged
Cameroon,amaleGoldenNightjarwasflushed. It ofany nightjar we have seen. It was flushed once
quicklyresettledclosebyandwasobservedforc20 more in an attempt to photograph the wing pat-
minutes (Figs 10-11, p 122). Theareawasabeige tern.Thistimeitsettledclosertothewadi’scentre,
124-BullABC Vol 10No2 Discoveries
partly within the shade of a sparsely leafed 2. Chappuis, C. 2000. African BirdSounds: Birds of
Combretum shrub. The broad white band on the North, West and CentralAfrica andNeighbouring
upperwingwasborderedboldlywithblack,making Atlantic Islands. 15 CDs. Paris: Societe d’Etudes
thewingpattern in flightverydistinctive. OrnithologiquesdeFrance&London,UK:British
The area was searched again on 11 April at Libary.
05.45 hrs, just before sunrise. No nightjar calls 3. Cleere,N.andNurney,D. 1998.Nightjars:AGuide
were heard and the birdwas not relocated. toNightjarsandRelatedNightbirds. Robertsbridge:
This is the first record ofGolden Nightjar in Pica Press.
Cameroon and we advise birders visiting the area 4. delHoyo,J.,Elliott,A. andSargatal,J. (eds) 1999.
north of Mora, well known for Quail-plover HandbookoftheBirdsoftheWorld.Vol5.Barcelona:
Lynx Edicions.
Ortyxelos meiffrenii and Cricket Warbler, to also
5. Fry,C.H.,Keith,S.andUrban,E.K.(eds) 1988. The
search for this species, especially in uncultivated
BirdsofAfrica.Vol3.London,UK:AcademicPress.
areas.
6. Mackworth-Praed,C.W.andGrant,C.H.B. 1957.
References The Birds ofEast and North East Africa, Vol 1.
London, UK: Longmans.
1. Borrow, N. and Demey, R. 2001. BirdsofWestern
Africa. London, UK: Christopher Helm. 20PleasantPlace, Pinelands7405, Cape Town, South
Africa.
Sharpe’s Starling Cinnyricinclus sharpii new to Zambia,
and its status in eastern Africa
R.J. Dowsetf, P.S.M. Berryb andD. Foof
Ladecouverte inattendue de quelques Etourneaux de Sharpe Cinnyricinclussharpiien novembre
2002 dans les Monts Mafingas en Zambie (lapremiere donneepourle pays) poselaquestion du
statutdecetteespecepeucommune, enparticulieren cequi concernelapopulationtresisoleeau
Mont Rungwe, a 100 km au nord-est, en Tanzanie du sud.
Sharpe’s Starling Cinnyricinclus sharpii is (includingwing-flicking). Thevoicewas verydis-
associated with Afromontane forest, ranging tinctive, with high-pitched tinkling notes and
from Ethiopia to Tanzania. In the latter it occurs squeaks (well representedon Chappuis’s CDs)2.A
northof07°S inthewest(KungweMahare) andof few days later the observers were able to consult
05°S in the east (the Usambaras), with the excep- Zimmerman et aP and all agreed that the birds
tion ofan isolated population on Mount Rungwe were definitely Sharpe’s Starlings.
(09°07’S 33°42’E), inthesouth-west. Itsdiscovery Although known from as close as Mount
even further south, in north-eastern Zambia, was Rungwe in Tanzania (some 100 km to the north-
unexpected. east) the species’ status there is unclear, with very
PSMB and DF, together with J & C A few records. Since Fulleborn collected it there in
Coppinger and B RJackson, were in the Mafinga October 189410 thespecieshasbeenreportedonly
,
Mountains, at the headwaters of the Luangwa sometime in the period late October to mid-
Riververyclosetoitssource (09°57’S33°21’E),on November1962(collectedbyGHeinrich,specimen
21 November2002. Inriparianevergreenforestat in Yale Peabody Museum), late October 1971
1,970 m they found a party of four Sharpe’s (quite common, in song, with four specimens
Starlings, and had very good, clear views for c30 collectedbyRJD, RStjernstedtandTOOsborne)
minutes ofonebirdinparticularthatwasperched and 19-27 August 1980 (seen by F P Jensen, in
in the canopy. The upperparts were uniformly song). Previous visits to the Zambian side ofthe
blue-black,withavioletsheeningoodlight. Chin, Mafingas(betweenJulyandDecember)havenever
throat and chest were white, with the abdomen locatedSharpe’sStarling1,4,7 Intensiveworkonthe
.
bufforpale rufous. Theiriswas strikinglypale. In Nyika Plateau in neighbouring Malawi and
other respects these birds resembled Amethyst extensive surveys ofall ofthe montane forests of
Starlings C. leucogaster in shape and behaviour northern Malawi and adjacent Zambia never
Discoveries BullABC Vol 10No2-125
