'Second confirmed record of Forbes'' Plover Charadrius forbesi for The Gambia'

2 Pages·2002·1.5 MB·

by  Gordan Kirk

4 ’
itemsbutbothinsectandplantfoodappearedtobetaken. References
Thebirdwasfaithful to averysandyarea ofsloping 1. Borrow, N. and Demey, R. 2001. BirdsofWestern
ground,althoughapedestrianrouteacrossthegolfcourse Africa. London, UK: A. & C. Black.
wascloseby. 2. Cramp,S.(ed)1988.TheBirdsoftheWesternPalearctic.Vo!
5.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.
Status and distribution 3. Keith,S.,Urban,E.K.andFry,C.H.(eds)1990.TheBirds
Temminck’sHomedLarkisgenerallyconsideredaresident, ofAfrica.Vol4.London,UK:AcademicPress.
pronetooccasionaldispersal.Accidentalshavebeen 4. Taylor,M.J.1992.FirstrecordofTemminck'sHorned
reportedoutsideofthespecies’usualrange,between LarkEremophilatrilophainYemen.Sandgrousela:109
north-westMauritaniaacrossNorthAfricatonorthand
LimosaHolidays,SuffieldHouse,Northnpps.NorfolkNR279BA.
eastArabia,Syria,andeastandsouth-westIraq1-3,inMalta, UK.
Lebanon2andYemen4 Thisappearstoconstitutenotonly
.
thefirstrecordforTheGambia,butalsoforanywherein
AfricasouthoftheSahara.
Second confirmed record of Forbes’s Plover Charadrius forbesi
for The Gambia
GordonKirk1andCliveR.Barbu*
Enfevrier2002unPluvierdeForbesCharadriusforbesiaeteobservesurlacotegambienne.Cecineconstitueque
ladeuxiemementionconfirmeepourlepays.L’examendespecimensauRoyaumeUnisembleindiquerqu'il
s’agissaitd’unadulteenplumageintemuptial.
F'orbes’s Plover Charadrius forbesi occurs in palefringes,whicharejustvisibleinFig1,suggestingthat
savannasofwesternCentralAfrica2,breedinginrocky itmaynothavebeenafulladult.AfterclOminutesthebird
upland areas ofNigeria in March-August3 andJuly- flew off, uttering a double call as it departed. On 10
AugustinGhana5.Itisknowntomoveshortdistances February2002at08.00hrsCBandPaulMannersvisited
fromitsbreedinggroundsandtoundertakelongerjourneys, thesamesiteandfoundthebirdstillpresent.Itmoved
althoughtheroutesinvolvedarenotunderstood2 The betweentwoareas,themuddypoolandadrierpartsome
.
onlyconfirmedrecordfromThe Gambiaisofone at 250 maway.PMtookaseriesofphotographsandCB
Bansang(13°26’N14°39’W)inCentralRiverDivision,on obtainedashortsoundrecordingoftheflightcall.
23November19791 -Thereisalsoanunconfirmedjanuary On returning to the UK, GK visited the Natural
recordfromcoastalWesternDivision, andrecordsin HistoryMuseum(Tring)toexamineskinsofForbes’s
southandeastSenegalinFebruary16 Plover(35specimens).About50%hadbeencollectedin
.
On6February2002,GKandasmallgroupofBritish Nigeria,withmostotherrecordsfromotherWestAfrican
birdersspentadaywithCBinWesternDivisionofThe countries(SierraLeone, Liberia, ‘GoldCoast’, ‘British
Gambia.Duringmid-afternoonsomeofthegroupspent Cameroon’andCoted’Ivoire),andtwotakenin‘north
timewatchingPalearcticshorebirdsonamuddypool Rhodesia’and‘westTanganyika’(countrynameswithin
behindthebeachatTujering(13°19’N16°47’W)insouth quotesappearasontherelevantspecimenlabels).The
GambiaontheAtlanticcoast.Theseasonalpoolwas birdshadbeencollectedinmostmonths,withthemajority
borderedbyvegetationdominatedbyTamariskpentandra ofthebreederstakeninMay.Manyofthenon-breeding
andwhilesearchingthroughnumbersofBlack-winged adults,labelledashavingbeencaughtinDecember-
StiltHimantopushimantopus,CommonGreenshankTringa February hadsomepalefeatherfringes,especiallyonthe
,
nebularia,WoodSandpiperT.glareolaandYellowWagtail secondariesandinnerprimaries,likethoseontheGambian
Motacillaflava, GKsawasmallwaderalightandCB bird.TheGambianbirdalsohadthefollowingfeatures
immediatelyidentifieditasaForbes’sPlover. CBhas thatappeartoeliminatethepossibilityofitbeingajuvenile
recentexperienceofthespeciesfromGuinea-Bissauand (see Fig 1): no palefringestothe mantle orscapular
GuineaConakry,bothinOctober, instonier, lateritic feathers,ablack(notbrown)breast-bandandgrey(not
grasslandsathigheraltitudes.Weobtainedprolonged, buff)faceandthroat.GKconcludedthattheobserved
closeviewsofthebirdingoodlight.Themainquestion birdwasanadultinnon-breedingplumage.Thesexesare
wasthebird’sage.Afewwingfeathersappearedtohave similar7
.
138-BullABC Vol9No2 Discoveries
This constitutes the second confirmed record of 3. Elgood, J.H. 1994. TheBirds ofNigeria: an anno-
Forbes’sPloverintheGambia1. tatedcheck-list. BOU Cheek-list No.4. Second edi-
tion. Tring: British Ornithologists’ Union.
Acknowledgements 4. Gore,M.E.J.1990.BirdsofTheGambia:anannotatedcheck-
DrRobertPrys-JoneskindlypermittedGKtoinspect list.BOUCheck-listNo.3.Secondedition.London,UK:
skins at the Natural History Museum (Tring), Paul BritishOrnithologists’Union.
MMacnKneerrrsowsaulspoploibesdervtehdethpehobitrodgraanpdhm,adaendsupCpoolritn- 5. Glirsit.meBs,OL.UG.1C9h8e7c.kI-hliesBtirdNsoo.f9G-haLnoan.danoann,noUtaKt:edBcrhietciksh-
Ornithologists’Union.
ing notes. 6. Morel, G.J. and Morel, M.-Y. 1990. Les Oiseauxde
Senegambie.Paris:ORSTOM.
1R.efBearrleonw.ceC.s,Wacher.T.andDisley.T.1997.AFieldGuide 7. UorfbAafnr,icEa..K.V,oFlry,2.C.LHo.nadnodn,KeiUtKh,:S.A(ceaddse)m1i98c6.PrTehses.Birds
toBirdsofTheGambiaandSenegal.Robertsbridge:Pica
“Kiama, TheClose, Ruscombe, Stroud, GL66DE, UK.E-
Press.
2. dtehleHBoiyrodsJ..oEfllitohtte.AW.oarnldd.SarVgoaltal3,-J.1B9a9r6c.eHlaonnad:boLoyknoxf bmBaiirld:[email protected], c/o Corinthia Atlantic
Edicions. Hotel, P.O. Box 296 Banjul, The Gambia. E-mail:
[email protected].
Red-necked Nightjar Caprimulgus ruficollis,
new to Burkina Faso
BninoPortier
Lanuitdu15mars2001aetc<rbserveauRanchdegibierdeNazinga(cl1°10’N01°35’W)ausudduBurkina
Faso,unengouleventinhabituelpourlaregion.Unedescriptiondel’oiseauetdubiotopesontdonnees.Identifie
commeEngouleventacollierrouxCaprimulgusruficollis;ils’agitdelapremierementionconnuedecemigrateur
palearctiquepourleBurkinaFaso.
O
n the evening of 15 March 2001, I observed an Nightjarwasexcludedbyitssmallsizeandlong,graduated
unfamiliar nightjar c2 km east of the tourist tail.PlainNightjarCaprimulgusinomatushasverydifferent,
campgroundatNazingaGameRanch(cl1°10’N01°35TW), paleandplainoverallcoloration,whereasFreckledNightjar
inBurkinaFaso,200kmsouthofOuagadougouonthe C. tristigmaisoverallmuchdarker.Thewingandtail
Ghanaborder.Itwasrestinginthecentreofadirtroad, patchesexcludedapossiblevagrantPennant-winged
whereIobserveditinthebeamofmycarheadlights, NightjarMacrodipteryxvexillarius.Italsodifferedfrom
approachingittowithin10mtoexamineitsplumagein EuropeanNightjarC.europaeusinhavingalargerwhite
detailthroughbinoculars.Itflewoffafterc30secondsand throatpatch,morespottedwing-coverts,adiagnostic
wasnotseenagain. rufousnuchalcollar,palerandmorevariegatedplumage,
Alarge,grey-brownnightjar,itwasnoticeablylarger withnodarkgrey/blackcolorationontheshoulders.I
thanStandard-wingedMacrodipteryxlongipennis'&ndLong- thereforeidentifieditasamaleRed-neckedNightjarC.
tailedNightjarsCaprimulgusclimacurus,bothcommonat ruficollisprobablyofthenominateform.
,
Nazinga,withabroadrufoushindneckcollar,brighter VegetationatNazingaisdominatedbyshmbandtree
thanonStandard-wingedNightjar.Awhitemalarstripe savannas(NorthernGuineaSavanna),with Vitellaria
reachedtheear-covertsandtherewasaconspicuous,large paradoxamdCombretumglutinosum,patchesofwooded
whitethroatpatch.Bufftipstothescapularsandupperwing- savanna (Isoberlinia doka, Afzelia africana
,
covertsformed4-5contrastingpalebars.Thetailwas Anogeissusleiocarpus)andsomeriparianforestalong
fairlylong,squareendedandbarred,extendingwellbeyond majordrainagechannels. Climateischaracterisedby
mm
the wingtips. In flight, it hadwhite patches nearthe annual rainfall of cl,000 and a six-month dry
wingtips,ontheouterprimaries,andbroadwhitetipsto season.
theoutertailfeathers. Red-neckedNightjarisararetouncommonPalearctic
It readily differed from the four nightjar species wintervisitorinWestAfrica,knownfromMauritania,
previouslyknownfromtheranch.Apartfromitssmaller northSenegal,Gambia,Guinea-Bissau,Mali,Liberia,north
size,Standard-wingedNightjardiffersinitslesscontrast- Cote d’Ivoire and north Ghana1 and, most recently,
,
ingplumagemarkingsandmuchshortertail.Long-tailed north-eastNigeria5.ThoughBurkinaFasoisincludedin
Discoveries BullABC Vol9No2-139