A new location for the Usambara eagle owl Bubo vosseleri

2 Pages·1998·1.2 MB·English

by  Nigel Hunter

52 Shortcommunications
same nest, was dropped nearby by the same or another sparrow. Shortly afterwards
two Grey-headed Sparrows were seen at the entrance ofthe martin's nest-hole. One
enteredthe tunnel whilethe othersat ontheedge andan apparently distressedmartin
flew about nearby. The sparrows stayed at the nest for several minutes before flying
offatwhich point we also left.
As the sparrows were not taking the nestlings forfood it would appear likely that
they were intendingtotakethenest-hole overforthemselves.
Grey-headedSparrownestsitesincludeholesinbuildings,andtheyhavealsobeen
knowntotakeoverdisusednests ofother species (Summers-Smith 1988, Clementet
ai 1993). However,wehavefoundnoreferencetothem,ortoGrey-headedSparrows
in other parts of Africa, nesting in sandbanks or taking over nests that are already
occupied(Keithetal. 1992,Turner&Rose 1989).
WeareverygratefultoDrJohnAshforcommentingonthisnote.
References
Clement,P.,Harris,A. &Davis,J. 1993.Finchesandsparrows:Anidentificationguide.Lon-
don: ChristopherHelm.
Keith,S.,Urban,E.K.&Fry,C.H. 1992.ThebirdsofAfrica,vol4.London:AcademicPress.
Summers-Smith,J. D. 1988. Thesparrows. Calton: Poyser.
Turner, A. K. & Rose, C. 1989. Swallows andmartins ofthe world. An identification guide.
London: ChristopherHelm.
A.J.Pierce,5StNicholasDrive,Cheltenham,GlosGL504RY, UKandM.D.Rayment,39
LoringRoad,Sharnbrook,BedsMK44UK, UK
Scopus20: 51-52,May 1998 Received22October 1996
A new location for the Usambara Eagle OwlBubo vosseleri
Stuart & Jensen (1981) documented range extensions and other notable records of
forest birds in Tanzania. Since then the University ofCopenhagen has been carrying
out biodiversity studies ofthe Udzungwa and Uluguru forest systems. These studies
have already produced two new species and further range extensions for the
Udzungwas (Dinesenetal. 1993, Jensen & Br0gger-Jensen 1992, Jensen 1983).
InNovember 1995, wevisitedtheUlugurumontaneforestanddiscoveredanother
notable range extension. Having perused the draft Uluguru biodiversity report
(Svendsen & Hansen 1995), we decided to camp at the junction ofthe Kihilili and
m
Nyachiro paths at an altitude of 1550 in the centre of the North Uluguru Forest
Reserve. OurmainpurposewastolocatetheUluguruBushShrikeMalaconotusalius
butthedraftreport also indicatedpossible sightings ofalarge owl in that area.
On22November, ataround 17:45,EMindicatedthathehadheardanowlreminis-
centofthecallthathehadheardpreviouslyintheUsambaraForest,whenaccompany-
ingDavidMoyer.Nofurthercallswerenotedthatnight.Duringthefollowingnightat
03:30,allthreeofusclearlyheardthecallofBubovosseleri(formerlytheNdukEagle
OwlBubopoensis), perhapsbestdescribed as adrawn out, quavering, haunting two-
Shortcommunications 53
notedslow enginebeat. Forthenexthalfhour, itwas heardclearly andregularly and
this enabled CC to record the Uluguru call on cassette tape. On loud playback ofB.
poensis calls recorded by Dr F. Dowsett-Lemaire in Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda, the
birdmovedclosertous. A secondbirdwas also stimulatedtocall briefly.
CC isfairlyfamiliarwithB.poensiscallsfromWestAfrica. Theirsimilaritytothe
Uluguru calls, the birds' response to the recordings made by Fran^oise Dowsett-
Lemaire, andsubsequentcomparisonbetweenCC'sUlugururecording andthe Cam-
bridge Tanzania Rainforest Project recording of B. vosseleri from the Usambaras
(Evans etal. 1994) confirmarangeextensionoftheNdukEagleOwl fortheUluguru
Forest.TheUlugururecordingisbeingplacedwiththeNationalSoundArchiveatthe
BritishLibraryofWildlife Sounds, London.
Acknowledgements
WewouldliketoacknowledgeandthankthehelpprovidedtousbyDavidMoyer,andRichardand
VictoriaPhilipsfromIringa;byLamechNoahandZulBhatiafromMorogoro;andbyM.Masatifrom
Kinole Tandai. In addition CC would like to thank the Curator ofthe British Library ofWildlife
Sounds,forkindlyprovidingtaperecordings.
References
DiNESEN, L., Lehmber, T., Svendsen,J. O. & Hansen, L. A. 1993. Range extensions andother
notes on somerestricted-rangeforest birds from West Kilombero in the UdzungwaMoun-
tains,Tanzania.Scopus 17: 48-59.
Evans,T.D.,Watson,L.G.,Hipkiss,A.J.,Kiure,J.,Timmins,R.J.&Perkins,A.W. 1994.New
records ofSokoke Scops Owl Otus ireneae, UsambaraEagle OwlBubo vosseleriandEast
CoastAkalatSheppardiagunningifromTanzania.Scopus 18: 40-47.
Jensen,F.P. 1983.AnewspeciesofsunbirdfromTanzania.Ibis 125:447^49.
Jensen,F.P. &Br0gger-Jensen,S. 1992.TheforestavifaunaoftheUzungwaMountains,Tan-
zania.Scopus 15: 65-83.
Stuart,S.N.&Jensen,F.P. 1981.Furtherrangeextensionsandothernotablerecordsofforest
birdsfromTanzania.Scopus5: 106-115.
Svendsen,J. O. & Hansen,L. A. (eds) 1995.Reporton the UluguruBiodiversitySurvey1993.
Sandy, UK: The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Danish Centre for Tropical
BiodiversityandTanzaniaForestryResearchInstitute.
NigelHunter,8EnnismoreAvenue,Chiswick,London W4ISF, GlideCarter,Box296,
Simonstown, 7995,SouthAfrica,andEliaMlungu,Box238,Iringa, Tanzania
Scopus20:52-53,May 1998 Received23October 1996,revised31 October 1997
Range extension ofthe Bar-breasted FirefinchLagonostictarufopicta
On 19 April 1997, 1erectedasingle 12-mmistnettocatch andringbirds atRaganga
m
(0°36'S, 34°43'E), KisiiDistrict,westernKenya. Thenetting sitewas about5 from
m
a riverbank covered mainly by dense bushes of Sesbania sesban (about 7 high),
interspersedwithCyperaceae sp. andHymenaea sp.
Atabout 11:00,twofirefinchesLagonosticta sp. werecaught, whichatfirstglance
I thought were immatures or adult female Red-billed Firefinches Lagonosticta