Two nests of Nahan's Francolin in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda

2 Pages·1996·1.2 MB·

by  Andrew J Plumptre

Short Notes
Two nests of Nahan’s Francolin in the
Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda
Andrew Plumptre
J.
N
ahan’s Francolin Francolinus nahanihas only up ofpairs ofnotes that gradually rise in frequency
been recorded from north-east Zaire and west andgraduallyincreaseinvolume.Asinglecallcanlast
and south-central Uganda. Collar et al1 classify this about7-10 seconds. Sightings are usually ofpairs of
speciesasbeingof‘indeterminatestatus’becauseitis birdsbutgroupsofuptosevenindividualshavebeen
sopoorlyknown. Oneofthethreeforests in Uganda seen (possibly parents and mature offspring).
whereithasbeenrecordedinthepastistheBudongo
ForestReserveinthewestofthecountry(Keithetal2).
This forest has been managed for timber on a
sustainable yield basis since the mid 1920s and the
effectthishashadontheforestanditswildlifeforms
the subject of a long-term research programme, the
Budongo Forest Project. Part ofthe research has in-
volvedintensive mist-netting in different parts ofthe
forest which has turned up a new record for East
Africa,Puvel’sIlladopsisIlladopsispuveli(AJPlumptre
andIOwijunjiinprep). Noteshavebeenkeptonany
certainsightingsofNahan’sFrancolinforthepastsix
monthsusingthecolourofthelegs(red)todistinguish
this species from the other francolin in Budongo,
Latham’s Forest Francolin F. lathami(yellow legs). NestofNahan’sFrancolinFrancolinusnahani,Budongo
Nahan’sFrancolinappearstobefairlycommoninthis ForestReserve,Uganda,1995.(AndrewJ.Plumptre)
forest and can often be heard calling between 07.30 NidduFrancolindeNahaniFrancolinusnahani,Reserve
and08.30hras itappearstobehighlyterritorial. The forestieredeBudongo, Ouganda, 1995(AndrewJ.Plumptre)
callisdifficulttodescribebutconsistsofafluidbuild
We havecaught one bird inmist-netsbychasing
itintothenet(otherbirdshavebeenobservedtowalk
up to the net and go around it upon seeing it). This
individual was completing its moult from juvenile
plumageandwas inagroupofaboutsevenbirds. In
additiontwo nests have beenfound. The nestofthis
birdhasonlybeenrecordedoncebefore(Keithetal2)
andwasobservedinthehollowofatreetrunkabout
m
1 abovetheground. Bothofthenestswere onthe
groundbetweenthebuttresses oftreesbehinda few
vine stems or roots from epiphytic plants. The eggs
werepinkishwithfaintbrown/purplespeckling.One
nest contained four eggs and the other contained
three.Thefirstnestwasdiscoveredon13August1995
Nahan'sFrancolinFrancolinusnahani BudongoForest andthefourhatchedaboutfivedayslater.Thesecond
,
Reserve,Uganda,1995.(AndrewJ.Plumptre) birdwasfoundlayingitseggson 14October1995but
FrancolindeAtaten/Francolinusnahani,Reserveforestierede unfortunatelythenestwasdestroyedbyapredatoron
Budongo,Ouganda, 1995(AndrewJ.Plumptre)
Short Notes BullABC Vol3 No 1 -37
27October.Theadultbirdinbothcaseswouldfreeze a Ugandan researchertotrytocensus this species in
onthenestandcouldeasilybemissedbecauseofthe Budongo Forest and to collect data on its habitat
speckledpatterningoftheplumagemergingwiththe requirements, possibly by employing radiotracking
leaf-litter. techniques.
It is possible that this species could be censused 1 thank the Uganda ForestDepartmentforallow-
using playbacks of its call as it always seems to re- ing me to work in the Budongo Forest andthe ODA
spondtocalls fromotherindividuals. Itiscommonly ForestryResearchProgrammeandWildlifeConserva-
heard in areas where the understorey is fairly dense tion Societyforfundingthis work. @
between1-4mabovethegroundmakingitdifficultto References
sTeheerteheablisrodsuenelemsstoanboethheirghoenrencaulmlbinegrsattirnacstswiatmoupty. 1. Collar, N.J., Crosby, M.J. and Stattersfield, A.J.
1994. Birdsto watch 2: the worldlistofthreatened
areas butthis is onlya subjective impression. As this birds. Cambridge: BirdLife International.
dense understorey vegetation tends to occur where 2. Keith, S., Urban, E.K. and Fry, C.H. (eds) 1986. The
logging has taken place it is not thought that the Birds of Africa: Volume 2. London: Academic
current logging would be very detrimental to this Press.
species.Itishopedthatfundscanberaisedtoemploy BudongoForestProject.POBox362,Masindi, Uganda.
Note on the field identification of Uluguru
Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes neglectus
Tom D. Evans
Following some apparently anomalous observa- neglectusoccurredcommonlyatthesite.However,as
tionsintheEastUsambaras,Tanzania,Iexamined discussed below, it can be virtually impossible to
skins of Anthreptes sunbirds in the Natural History identifysuch individuals with confidence.
MuseumBirdSectionatTring,Hertfordshire,UK.This Thethreespeciesarelargelyallopatric,withtheir
showed that the immature plumage of Uluguru rangesandhabitatrequirementswelldefined,atleast
Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes neglectus is mis- in EastAfrica1. Nonetheless itwouldbepreferableto
leadingly described by Moreau and Moreau4 and relyon plumage features, since identifications based
Mackworth-Praed and Grant3 The latter represents solely on range or habitat may lead to the loss of
.
theonlywidelyavailableandotherwisereliableguide interesting extra-limital records andconceal cases of
to identifying this species, which is restricted to the sympatry or unusual habitat choice. They are also
forests ofEastAfrica. considered unacceptable by committees vetting
Immature neglectuscanshowaboldwhitesuper- records ofrarities.
mm
ciliumrunningfromthelorestoatleast5 behind Several features remain for separating those im-
theeye.Thisispresentonboththeimmaturefemales mature neglectusshowingasuperciliumfromfemales
and oneofthe two immature males in thecollection. andimmaturesofthetwoconfusionspecies.Asfaras
Also, the iridescent feathers (which cover the I candetermine, none isreliableforall individuals of
upperparts ofadults ofboth sexes) can be limitedto all species. All are difficult to assess on these small,
the upper tail coverts, tail and bend of the wing of active arboreal birds. Many individualswiththistype
immature birds. These two features would tradition- of plumage will be impossible to identify with cer-
allybeconsideredtoindicateafemaleorimmatureof tainty in the field, and perhaps even in the hand,
either Eastern Violet-backed SunbirdA. orientalisor without considering range. Eliminating the form A.
Violet-backed Sunbird A. longuemarei. longuemareiangolensisis the most difficult aspect.
I twicesaw individualsshowingthese features in The features are given below:
the East Usambaras in 1994. Since they were not
begging for food from the accompanying adult 1. Immature neglectus and immature or female
neglectusanddidnothaveprominentpalegapelines, longuemarei are bright lemon-yellow on the belly
I did not initially suspect that they were immatures. and vent. Female and young orientalisshowat most
The habitat, range and other plumage features sug- a faintyellow orbuffwash. Thisshould make iteasy
gest that they were neglectus as does the fact that to eliminate orientalisgiven goodviews.
,
38 - BullABC Vol3 No 1 Short Notes