Table Of Content:
Grey-necked Picathartes Picathartes areas breeding
in riverine situations
Fran^oise Doivsett-Lemaire
Nidification du Picatharte du Cameroun Picathartes areas au bord de rivieres. L’auteur rapporte
deux cas de nidification du Picatharte du Cameroun Picathartes areas sur des tochers le long ou
dans le cours d tine grande riviere: un nid isole sur un rocher situe sur un ilot dans la riviere
Boumba (sud-est du Cameroun), et une colonie d’au moins 30 nids sur une bande rocheuse
longeant la riviere Nkebe au pied du Mont Nlonako.
H
ofak etal. (2007) observed an isolated nest of Cameroon, in primary forest (04°48’N 09°57’E:
&
Grey-necked Picathartes Picathartes areas on Dowsett-Lemaire Dowsett 2001). The nests
m
a vertical rock face beside a dry streambed at the were placed on a vertical rock face c.lOO long
foot ofMt Cameroon. Theirs is not the first obser- and 10 m high: one end of this structure was
vation of Grey-necked Picathartes breeding in a accessible from a small sand beach (which would,
riverine situation. On 30 November 1997 I dis- however, have been flooded in the rainy season),
covered a nest on a small vertical rock face in an the remainder were inaccessible, being right above
islet of flooded forest on the east bank of the a large and permanent river. It was impossible to
Boumba River (02°40’N 15°13’E), south-east view the whole ofthe rockywall from the opposite
Cameroon. This locality is at the edge ofBoumba- bank, but there were at least 30 nests, some more
Bek Faunal Reserve (now a national park), in pri- worn than others. They were often grouped in
mary forest. The rock face was 3 m high, a few twos (an old one and a fresher one), suggesting
metres long and the nest was 2 m above ground. that new nests were built close to old ones. Thus
At the end of the long rainy season 10-15 pairs were probably involved. February is in
(April/May-November), the nest was unoccupied the middle of the dry season (of
and had perhaps not been used for a year or so. My December-March), and the nests were unoccu-
guide (a local fisherman) had seen the birds on the pied. The height of the nests varied from
islet in previous years. This represented a major 1.5-7.0 m.
extension of known range to the east (Dowsett- The advantage ofusing rock faces on the edge
&
Lemaire Dowsett 2000). In late November the of rivers or surrounded by water is obvious, espe-
islet was accessible only by boat but would have cially as regards mammalian predators, and this
been connected to the east bank ofthe river in the situation may be more widespread than hitherto
dry season. Some populations of Grey-necked suspected. White-necked Picathartes P. gymno-
Picathartes breed in the rains (Ash 1991, Fotso cephalus has also been reported to do so: in addi-
1993), others in the dry season extending into the tion to Allport (1991), cited by Hofak et al.
& Wood
short rains of March-April (Brosset Erard (2007), (1995) has described briefly a small
1986, in Gabon, where the rainy season is colony (of2-3 active nests) sited on a overhanging
bimodal). A nest observed by R. Dowsett and rock flanking a steep-sided stream, in eastern
J.
myself in Monte Alen National Park, Equatorial Sierra Leone.
&
Guinea (Dowsett-Lemaire Dowsett 1999), con-
tained two eggs on 3 February, in the middle of References
the main dry season. If the pair on the Boumba Allport, G. 1991. The status and conservation ofthreat-
River bred in the rains, the nest site, being then in ened birds in the Upper Guinea forest. Bird
flooded forest, would be especially well protected Conserv. Intern. 1: 53-74.
from mammalian predation. Ash, J. S. 1991. The Grey-necked Picathartes
On 18 February 2001, my guide led me to a Picathartes areas and Ibadan Malimbe Malimbus
large colony of picathartes bordering the Nkebe ibadanensis in Nigeria. Bird Conserv. Intern. 1
93-106.
River, in the foothills of Mt Nlonako, western
Grey-neckedPicathartes breedingin riverinesituations: Dowsett-Lemaire BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007)- 185
&
Brosset, A. Erard, C. 1986. Les oiseaux des regions Fotso, R. C. 1993. Contribution a I’etude de la biologie
forestieres du nord-est du Gabon. Paris; Societe du Picatharte chauve Picathartes oreas. Proc. VIII
Nationale de Protection de la Nature. Pan-Afr. Ornithol. Congr.\ 431-437.
& & A
Dowsett-Lemaire, F. Dowsett, R. J. 1999. Birds of Hofak, D., Gvozdik, V., Reif, J. Klvana, P. 2007.
the Parque Nacional de Monte Alen, mainland nest of Grey-necked Picathartes Picathartes oreas,
Equatorial Guinea, with an updating of the coun- beside a temporal stream. Bull. ABC 14: 183-184.
try’s list. Alauda 67: 179-188. Wood, P. 1995. White-necked Picathartes: how to see
Dowsett-Lemaire, E & Dowsett, R. 2000. Birds of one. Bull ABC2: 29.
J.
the Lobeke Faunal Reserve, Cameroon, and its
Le Pouget, 30440 Sumene, France. E-mail:
regional importance for conservation. Bird Conserv.
[email protected]
Intern. 10: 67-87.
Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. 2001. First sur- Received 21 May 2007; revision accepted 24 May
vey of the birds and mammals of the Yabassi area, 2007.
WWF-
south-western Cameroon. Rep. for
Cameroon, deposited at BirdLife International.
Africa
I Gabon. Cameroon. Ghana. Kenya,
Ethiopia. Uganda. Rwanda. Malawi
[j
f Tanzania. Madagascar & Comoros.
Namibia. Zambia. South Africa.
[I
Bhutan. Thailand. Malaysia.
Cambodia. Borneo. Taiwan.
Papua New Guinea. Phillipines
Australia. New Zealand
South America
Ecuador & Galapagos. Brasil
Peru. Costa Rica. Venezuela
Guyana. Mexico. Argentina
186-BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007) Grey-neckedPicathartes breedingin riverinesituations: Dowsett-Lemaire
