The nest and nestlings of Cape Verde Cane Warbler Acrocephalus brevipennis

1 Pages·1999·0.8 MB·

by  Peter Castell

The nest and nestlings of Cape Verde Cane Warbler
Acrocephalus brevipennis
PeterCastell
CinqnidsdelaRousserolleduCap-VertAcrocephalusbrevipennisontetetrouvesaSantiago,auxlies
duCapVert, du 25au27octobre 1998. Ilsetaientconstruitsdansdesroseaux,suspendusadeuxtiges
aunehauteurde 1,3a 2,3 m. Certains nidscontenaientdesoeufset un nidcontenait trois jeunestout
juste eclos. Les jeunes, jusqu’alors non decrits dans la litterature, etaient nus et noiratres, avec des
commissuresjaunepaleetunebouchejaune-orange.Ilsavaientunetacheovalenoiredechaquecote
de la langue. Apparemment, les oeufs eclosent simultanement.
D
2
uring 25-27 October 1998, 1 foundfive nests ofCape
WMer
VerdeCane AcrocephalusbrevipennisintheSao
Jorgevalley,ontheislandofSantiago,CapeVerdeIslands.
Eachnestwasconstaictedinreedsandsuspended
between two main reedstems, whereas most
Acrocephaluswarblerswithsimilarnests,suchasReed
A.scirpaceusandGreatReedWarblersA.arundinaceus
usuallysuspendtheirnestsbetweenatleastthreestems.
m
The lowest nestwas 1.3 above the ground and the
highestwas 2.3m. Thenestswereintermediate insize
between those ofReed and Great Reed Warblers.
On 27 October, the five nests contained: (1) a
complete clutch of two eggs, (2) ready for eggs 1
(almostreadyon25October),(3)twoeggs(onlyone
on25October),(4)afullclutchofthreeeggs,and(5)
three newly hatched young.
NeitherCramp1 norHazevoet includeadescriptionof
thenestlingsofthisspecies.Theyarenakedwithdark,almost
black, skin, pale yellow gape flanges and orange-yellow
mouths,andtwoovalblackmarkingsindiemouth,oneon
eithersideofthetongue.Theycloselyresemblethenestlings
of other species ofAcrocephalus. All three young were
identicalinsizeandhatchingwas,therefore,synchronous,(f
References
1. Cramp, S. (ed) 1992. The Birds of the Western
Palearctic. Vol 6. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.
2. Hazevoet, C.J. 1995. TheBirds ofthe Cape Verde
Islands: an annotatedcheck-list. B.O.U. Check-list
No. 13- Tring: British Ornithologists’ Union.
Fairlawn, 679ChesterRoad, GreatSutton,South Wirral
L662LN, UK.
1. HabitatofCapeVerde CaneWarblerAcrocephalus
brevipennis, SaoJorgevalley, Santiago, CapeVerde
Islands, October 1998 (PeterCastell)
2. Nestand eggs ofCapeVerde CaneWarbler
Acrocephalusbrevipennis(PeterCastell)
3. Newlyhatchednestlings ofCapeVerde CaneWarbler
Acrocephalusbrevipennis(PeterCastell)
100-BullABC Vol6No2 NestandnestlingsofCape VerdeCane Warbler. Castell