Black-headed Bulbul (Brachypodius melanocephalos)

The Black-headed Bulbul is a typical representative of the bulbuls; it comes from Southeast Asia, where it occurs with four subspecies from northeast India, Malaysia and Thailand to Borneo, Java, and Sumatra in Indonesia. 

The species reaches a size of about 17 cm. 

The picture shows the nominate form, which is widespread on the Southeast Asian mainland, there are three color morphs, in addition to the most common one shown here, there is one in which the yellow and green are completely replaced by gray and one with a gray basic coloration in which at least the wings are colored yellow. 

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Incidentally, the original photo I used as a template was taken by Mike Rose (https://eye4birds.photography), who kindly gave me permission to use it.

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edited: 20.07.2023

“Debunking” DP’s Asteriornis post from March 19, 2020

Asteriornis maastrichtensis Field, Benito, Chen, Jagt & Ksepka, described in 2020, is the oldest known member of the clade Pangalloanserae, that is a clade that contains the Anseriformes (ducks, geese etc.) as well as the Galliformes (chickens and allies) as well as some now completely extinct forms. [1]

In the disturbing world of DP however, this species is a part of a funny radiation that contains the Horned Screamer, one sandgrouse genus, two rail genera, an extinct passeriform genus, one genus of Palaeognathae, and last but not least, Helornis, a synonym of the extinct flamingo genus Elornis (however, this is just a spelling error and actually meant to be the Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica). 

I can break DP’s whole ‘article’ down to one single sentence: 

Oddly, the tip of the premaxilla is slightly hooked on one side, not hooked on the other (Fig.1).

This citation says so much more about DP than anything anyone could write about him. Fossils can be slightly deformed or even be completely squished; DP, however, apparently sees this as their original state, so of course this bird must have had a beak with a tip slightly hooked only on one side … makes totally sense.

***

In the comment section there is also a comment clearly coming from a spam bot – of course DP is commenting also on this comment, just as he always does ….

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References:

[1] Daniel J. Field; Juan Benito; Albert Chen; John W. M. Jagt; Daniel T. Ksepka: Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds. Nature 579: 397–401. 2020

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edited: 04.01.2021 

ZPALWr. A/4003

Ich habe hier ja schon mehrfach über oligozäne Vögel mit offenbar brüchigen Gliedmaßen gesprochen ….

Dieser hier ist ein winziges Fossil, bestehend aus einer Platte und deren Gegenplatte (Positivplatte und Negativplatte?), und besteht aus einem einzelnen Fuß, einem ca. 3,6 cm langen, rechten Fuß, an dem obendrein auch nur der erste und der zweite Zeh erhalten geblieben sind.

Dieser Teilfuß wurde mit diversen anderen Vogelformen verglichen und weist die größten Übereinstimmungen mit den Taubenvögeln (Columbiformes) auf, so dass es sich hierbei eventuell tatsächlich um den Fuß einer fossilen Taube handeln könnte – es wäre dies dann die älteste bislang bekannte Taubenform. Die ältesten bis dahin bekannten Taubenfossilien stammen aus dem Miozän bzw. der Grenze zwischen dem Oberoligozän und dem Untermiozän, sie erinnern durchweg an moderne Formen und lassen sich oft auch heutigen Linien innerhalb der Columbiformes zuordnen.

Wie dem auch sei, ZPALWr. A/4003 ist nur in Teilen erhalten, so dass eine genauere Bestimmung erst wirklich möglich ist wenn weitere Funde auftauchen sollten. [1] 

Zeichnung nach: ‘Zbigniew M. Bocheński; Teresa Tomek; Ewa Świdnicka: A columbid-like avian foot from the Oligocene of Poland. Acta Ornithologica 45(2): 233-236. 2010’

Sollte es sich hierbei tatsächlich um eine echte Taubenform handeln, so lässt sich deren Größe auf etwa 25 cm schätzen.

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Quelle:

[1] Zbigniew M. Bocheński; Teresa Tomek; Ewa Świdnicka: A columbid-like avian foot from the Oligocene of Poland. Acta Ornithologica 45(2): 233-236. 2010

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bearbeitet: 26.12.2020

NT-LBR-014

Die Art wird von den Autoren der Gruppe der Tyrannida zugeordnet, einer Gruppe von suboscinen Passeriformes, die heute ausschließlich in Süd- und mit einigen wenigen Arten auch in Nordamerika verbreitet ist und weist hier die größten Gemeinsamkeiten mit den Schnurrvögeln (Pipridae) auf. [2]

Die Tyrannida haben sich jedoch, so wird vermutet, auf den amerikanischen Kontinenten entwickelt, und zwar so ziemlich ungestört seit wohl bereits ca. 64 Millionen Jahren, also zu Beginn des Paläozän. Demnach wäre die Zuordnung dieses oligozänen Vogels aus Europa zu den Tyrannida doch etwas fraglich. [1]

Vielleicht handelt es sich hierbei um eine komplett ausgestorbene Linie von Pipra-ähnlichen suboscinen Vögeln, die später in Europa durch oscine Arten verdrängt wurden.

Skizze; den Flügel muss ich noch etwas ausbessern, und was das Federhäubchen angeht, das man im Originalfossil sehen kann, hierbei mag es sich einfach um Federn handeln, die zufällig an dieser Stelle abgelagert wurden

Es ist sehr ungewöhnlich, dass NT-LBR-014, trotz seiner äußerst guten Erhaltung, von den Autoren keinen Namen erhalten hat.

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Quellen: 

[1] John Reilly: The Ascent of Birds: how modern science is revealing their story. PELAGIC PUB LTD 2018
[2] Ségolène Riamon; Nicolas Tourment; Antoine Louchart: The earliest Tyrannida (Aves, Passeriformes), from the Oligocene of France. Scientific Reports 10(9776): 1-14. 2020

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bearbeitet: 25.12.2020

Fossil record of the Yanornithiformes

Hongshanornithidae (?)

Archaeornithura meemannae Wang et al.

Hongshanornis longicresta Zhou & Zhang

Longicrusavis houi O’Connor et al.

Parahongshanornis chaoyangensis Li et al.

Tianyuornis cheni Zheng et al.

Songlingornithidae

Piscivoravis lii Zhou et al.

Songlingornis linghensis Hou

Yixianornis grabaui Zhou & Zhang

Yanornithidae

Abitusavis lii Wang, Li, Liu & Zhou [1]

Similiyanornis brevipectus Wang, Li, Liu & Zhou [1]

Yanornis martini Zhou & Zhang

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References:

[1] Min Wang; Zhiheng Li; Quingguo Liu; Zhonghe Zhou: Two early Early Cretaceous ornithuromorph birds provide insights into the taxonomy and divergence of Yanornithidae (Aves: Ornithothoraces). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 18: 1805-1827. 2020

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edited: 20.12.2020

Fossil records of the Bucerotiformes

Bucerotidae

Bucorvus brailloni (Brunet)

Euroceros bulgaricus
 Bojev & Kovačev

cf. Tockus sp. ‘Napak, Uganda’ [1]

Laurillardiidae (?)

Laurillardia longirostris Milne-Edwards
Laurillardia munieri Flot
Laurillardia smoleni Bochenski, Mayr, Tomek, Wertz, Bienkowska-Wasiluk & Manegold

Messelirrisoridae

Messelirrisor grandis Mayr
Messelirrisor halcyrostris Mayr
Messelirrisor grandis Mayr

Phoeniculidae

Phirriculus pinicola Mlíkovský & Göhlich

Upupidae

Upupa phoeniculides Jánossy

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References:

[1] Ségolène Riamon; Martin Pickford; Brigitte Senut; Antoine Louchart: Bucerootidae from the early Miocene of Napak, Uganda (East Africa): The earliest hornbill with modern-type beak. Ibis 04 December 2020

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edited: 11.12.2020

The Birds of Paradise

Clifford B. Frith; Bruce M. Beehler: The Birds of Paradise. Oxford University Press 1998

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Dem Buch fehlt leider der Einband, da ich es gebraucht gekauft habe, es stammt aus der Bibliothek der University of Nottingham.

Das Buch gehört zu der ‘Bird Families of the World’-Serie, die etliche Monografien umfasst, in diesem Fall eine die sich mit der Familie der Paradiesvögel befasst; es ist das bis dahin umfassendste Werk über diese interessante Vogelfamilie und fasst hier auch die Furchenvögel (Cnemophilidae) und den Lappenhonigfresser aus der Familie der Honigfresser (Meliphagidae) mit ein, die damals noch als Paradiesvögel galten. 

Besonders interessant finde ich persönlich die Abbildungen aller bekannten Hybridformen, die hier erstmalig in einer derartig hohen Qualität dargestellt werden, einige tatsächlich überhaupt zum allerersten mal.

Die Abbildungen, und zwar die Farbtafeln wie auch die Schwarzweißzeichnungen, stammen von William T. Cooper und sind durchweg wunderschön und sehr genau.

Das Buch kann nur empfohlen werden, ist allerdings offenbar ‘out of print’.

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bearbeitet: 28.11.2020

Skizze – Sichelschnabel-Gegenvogel (Falcatakely forsterae)

… bislang ist ausschließlich der Schädel dieses eigenartigen Vogels bekannt, der aber ziemlich wahrscheinlich überhaupt kein Vogel sondern etwas vollkommen anderes war [1][2][3]

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Quelle:

[1] Andrea Cau: Falcatakely: eterodossia e pluralismo nell’Anno di Oculudentavis. Theropoda. 27 Novembre 2020 
[2] Mickey Mortimer: Is Falcatakely a bird? The Theropod Database Blog. November 28, 2020
[3] Patrick O’Connor; Alan H. Turner; Joseph R. Groenke; Ryan N. Felice; Raymond R. Rogers; David W. Krause; Lydia J. Rahantarisoa: Late Cretacous bird from Madagascar reveals unique development of beaks. Nature. 2020 Nov 25. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2945-x.

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bearbeitet: 28.11.2020

Atlantisia – eine Gattung, die es nie gab

Die Gattung Atlantisia wurde ursprünglich für drei Arten von flugunfähigen Arten verwendet, die auf einigen Inseln im Atlantischen Ozean endemisch verbreitet sind bzw. waren; eine davon ist der kleinste noch lebende flugunfähige Vogel, während die beiden anderen Arten leider ausgerottet wurden.

1. Atlantisia podarces (Wetmore), das ausgestorbene Saint Helena-Sumpfhuhn, ist offenbar tatsächlich am nächsten mit der Gattung Porphyrio verwandt und sollte daher besser seinen originalen Namen tragen – Aphanocrex podarces Wetmore.

2. Atlantisia rogersi Lowe, die Atlantisralle (siehe Foto), die auf dem winzigen Inaccessible Island in der Inselgruppe Tristan da Cunha lebt, ist, wie man anhand von DNA-Untersuchungen weiß, ein Mitglied der Gattung Laterallus und heißt nun Laterallus rogersi (Lowe).  

3. Atlantisia elpenor Olson, die ausgestorbene Ascencion-Ralle vom entlegenen Ascencion Island, stammt wohl vom selben Vorfahren ab wie die Atlantisralle und sollte daher nun Laterallus elpenor (Olson) heißen. [1]

***

Auch wenn der Gattungsname Atlantisia nun obsolet ist, ändert das nichts an der Tatsache, dass die ehemaligen Vertreter dieser Gattung zu den interessantesten und mysteriösesten Vogelarten der Welt gehören, über die bis heute fast nichts bekannt ist. 

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Atlantisralle (Laterallus rogersi (Lowe))

Foto: Brian Gratwicke
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

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Quelle:

[1] Marn Stervander; Peter G. Ryan; Marm Melo; Bengt Hansson: The origin of the world’s smallest flightless bird, the Inaccessible Island Rail Atlantisia rogersi (Aves: Rallidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 92-98. 2019

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bearbeitet: 22.11.2020

The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand

T. H. Worthy: The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press 2002

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It’s time again for a book presentation, otherwise I won’t be able to keep up.

The Lost World of the Moa – the lost world of the Moa(s) is a really comprehensive (718 pages) work that deals with the wildlife of New Zealand, more precisely with that of prehistoric New Zealand, from a time before the first humans touched their feet put on New Zealand ground.

Not only are all species of Moa(s) presented and virtually everything summarized that has anything to do with them, but also all other bird species, but also reptile and amphibian species of this large group of islands; the entire New Zealand fauna region is covered – i.e. the New Zealand main islands and the sub-Antarctic islands but also Macquarie Island and the Norfolk Islands, which politically belong to Australia, but faunistically clearly to New Zealand.

It is frightening how many species have completely disappeared within such a short period of human colonization; but it is also very interesting how much we can still learn about them today.

***

One must not forget that this book is almost 20 years old today and thus a number of new findings have been added and the same book, if one wrote it today, would probably be twice as thick.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in New Zealand Fauna or Paleontology.

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edited: 21.11.2020

Moa feather

This little feather comes from an Elephant-foot Moa (Pachyornis elephantopus (Owen)), which was found on the South Island of New Zealand and was exterminated about 600 to 500 years ago through hunting and habitat destruction.

reconstruction of a ca. 500 years old, subfossil feather

The feather is approx. 3.5 cm long and incomplete, but the original colors have been preserved to this day. [1]

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References:

[1] Nicolas J. Rawlence; Jamie R. Wood; Kyle N. Armstrong; Alan Cooper: DNA content and distribution in ancient feathers and potential to reconstruct the plumage of extinct avian taxa. Proceedings of the Royal Society 276: 3395-3402. 2009

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edited: 21.11.2020

Fossile Gastornithiformes

Gastornithidae

Gastornis geiselensis Fischer
Gastornis gigantaeus (Cope)
Gastornis laurenti Mourer-Chauviré & Bourdon [1]
Gastornis parisiensis Hébert
Gastornis russelli Martin
Gastornis sarasini (Schaub)
Gastornis xichuanensis (Hou)

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Quelle:

[1] Cécile Mourer-Chauviré; Estelle Bourdon: Description of a new species of gastornis (Aves, Gastornithiformes) from the early Eocene of La Borie, southwestern France. Geobios (2020), doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.geobios.2020.10.002 

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bearbeitet: 19.11.2020

Urvogel-Feder

Diese (nicht mehr ganz so) älteste bekannte Feder stammt mit ziemlich großer Wahrscheinlichkeit von dem weltberühmten Urvogel (Archaeopteryx lithographica von Meyer), der tatsächlich aber gar kein wirklicher Vogel im eigentlichen Sinn des Wortes war – aber dies genauer zu erklären überlasse ich Berufs-Paläoornithologen.

Rekonstruktion einer ca. 150 Millionen Jahre alten Feder

Die Feder, bislang erstaunlicherweise einzigartig geblieben, ist etwa 6 cm lang, sie war ziemlich wahrscheinlich sehr dunkel grau bis schwarz gefärbt und stammte wohl aus der Region der Flügeldecken. [1]

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Quelle:

[1] Ryan M. Carney; Helmut Tischlinger; Matthew D. Shawkey: Evidence corrobates identity of isolated fossil feather as a wing covert of Archaeopteryx. Scientific Reports 10: 15593. 2020

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bearbeitet: 15.11.2020

Neu beschrieben – Jos-Rotscheitellerche

Jos-Rotscheitellerche (Calandrella cinerea ssp. rufipecta)

Die Familie der Lerchen ist vor allem in Afrika und Asien verbreitet, einige Arten leben auch in Europa; derzeit werden etwa 90 Arten unterschieden – es dürften tatsächlich aber viele mehr sein ….

***

Die Jos-Rotscheitellerche kommt ausschließlich auf dem Jos-Plateu in Zentral-Nigeria vor; sie wird derzeit als Unterart der Rotscheitellerche (Calandrella cinerea (Gmelin)) betrachtet, einer Art, die vor allem im südlichen Afrika verbreitet ist.

Die neu beschriebene Form ist schon sehr lange bekannt, offenbar schon seit 1958; sie wurde letztmalig im Jahr 1994 beobachtet und galt als ausgestorben bis sie schließlich im Jahr 2004 wiederentdeckt wurde – beschrieben wurde sie erst jetzt.

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Quelle:

[1] Martin Stervander; Bengt Hansson; Urban Olsson; Mark F. Hulme; Ulf Ottosson; Per Alström: Molecular species deliminations of larks (Aves: Alaudidae), and integrative taxonomy of the genus Calandrella, with the description of a range-restricted African relic taxon. Diversity 12(428): 1-28. 2020 

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Fotos aus: ‘Martin Stervander; Bengt Hansson; Urban Olsson; Mark F. Hulme; Ulf Ottosson; Per Alström: Molecular species deliminations of larks (Aves: Alaudidae), and integrative taxonomy of the genus Calandrella, with the description of a range-restricted African relic taxon. Diversity 12(428): 1-28. 2020’

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Ich würde mich nicht im Geringsten wundern, wenn die Jos-Rotscheitellerche irgendwann in Zukunft Artstatus erhalten würde. 

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bearbeitet: 15.11.2020

Say Hello! to the Henderson Island Sandpiper

Henderson Island Sandpiper  (Prosobonia sauli De Pietri et al.)

The so far rather modest year 2020 only got a little more colorful again shortly before its end … the orange-colored horror is about to pack his things and disappear … and now there is also good news for me personally because it concerns one of mine favorite species of bird: the Henderson Island Sandpiper has now officially been given a scientific name, even if not the most beautiful … [2]  

The species, previously only known under the name Prosobonia sp. ‘Henderson Island’, was first mentioned in 1994, and its remains must have been found some time before. [1]  

Now, ‘only’ 26 years later, the species was finally described and named.   🙂

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References:

[1] Graham M. Wragg; Marshall I. Weisler: Extinctions and new records of birds from Henderson Island. Notornis 41: 61-70. 1994
[2] Vanesa L. De Pietri; Trevor H. Worthy; R. Paul Scofield; Theresa L. Cole; Jamie R. Wood; Kieren J. Mitchell; Alice Cibois; Justin J. F. J. Jansen; Alan J. Cooper; Shaohong Feng; Wanjun Chen; Alan J. D. Tennyson; Graham M. Wragg: A new extinct species of Polynesian sandpiper (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae: Prosobonia) from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Island Group, and the phylogenetic relationships of Prosobonia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 20: 1-26. 2020

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edited: 08.11.2020

Neu beschrieben – Südgeorgien-Eselspinguin

Südgeorgien-Eselspinguin (Pygoscelis poncetii Tayler, Bonfitto, Clucas, Reddy & Younger)

Der Eselspinguin ist einer der wenigen Pinguine, die wirklich in der Antarktis leben, zumindest an den Küsten der Antarktischen Halbinsel; darüber hinaus gibt es noch einige weitere Populationen auf diversen subantarktischen Inselgruppen z.B. auf den Crozetinseln, auf den Falkland-Inseln, auf Heard und den McDonaldinseln, den Kerguelen oder auf Macquarie Island, auf den Südlichen Orkneyinseln, den Prinz-Edward-Inseln, Südgeorgien und den Südlichen Sandwichinseln.

Durch neue Studien konnte nun nachgewiesen werden, dass sich diese Populationen äußerlich zwar so gut wie gar nicht, genetisch jedoch teils sehr stark unterscheiden; einige dieser Populationen wurden aufgrund von Größenunterschieden schon zuvor als Unterarten beschrieben, sie haben nun Artstatus erhalten; eine wurde jedoch komplett neu beschrieben – die Population von Südgeorgien.

Photo: Liam Quinn

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

Das Foto zeigt einen Vogel der neu beschriebenen Art am Strand von Südgeorgien.

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Referenzen:

[1] Joshua Tyler; Matthew T. Bonfitto; Gemma V. Clucas; Sushma Reddy; Jane L. Younger: Morphometric and genetic evidence for four species of gentoo penguin. Ecology and Evolution 1-11. 2020

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bearbeitet: 06.11.2020

Zeitgenössische Berichte über Vögel von den Bermudainseln

Im Moment beschäftige ich mich mit den Bermudas, einer der entlegensten Insel(gruppe)n und auch eine der Regionen über die nicht nur ich nicht viel weiß ….

Die Bermudas waren einst eine einzige, große Insel; durch den immer wieder ansteigenden und abfallenden Meeresspiegel während des Pleistozän ist die Landmasse aber immer wieder mehr oder weniger vollständig überflutet worden, was einerseits zur Entstehung –  andererseits aber auch immer wieder zum Aussterben vieler endemischer Arten geführt hat. Vermutlich haben aber viele der einheimischen Vogelarten viel länger überlebt als allgemein gedacht und sind erst zu Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts nach der Ankunft der ersten menschlichen Siedler ausgerottet worden.

Das kann man den wenigen zeitgenössischen Berichten entnehmen, wenn man diese denn zu entziffern vermag.   🙂

… ja ja, zeitgenössische Beschreibungen … diese hier stammt von Captain John Smith (derselbe, der in der unfassbar verfälschten Geschichte um die Powhatan-‘Häuptlings’tochter Amonute, besser bekannt als Pocahontas, eine zentrale Rolle spielt) und wurde im Jahr 1623 niedergeschrieben.:

Birds.
Neither hath the aire for her part been wanting with due supplies of many sorts of Fowles, as the gray and white Hearne, the gray and greene Plover, some wilde Ducks and Malards, Coots and Red-shankes, Sea-wigions, Gray-bitterns, Cormorants, numbers of small Birds like Sparrowes and Robins, which have lately beene destroyed by the wilde Cats, Wood-pickars, very many Crowes, which since this Plantation are kild, the rest fled or seldome seene except in the most uninhabited places, from whence they are observed to take their flight about sun set, directing their course towards the North-west, which makes many coniecture there are some more Ilands not far off that way. Sometimes are also seene Falcons & Jar-falcons, Ospraies, a Bird like a Hobby, but because they come seldome, they are held but as passengers; but above all these, most deserving observation and respect are those two sorts of Birds, the one for the tune of his voice, the other for the effect, called the Cahow, and Egge bird, which on the first of May, a day constantly observed, fall a laying infinite store of Eggs neere as big as Hens, upon certaine small sandie baies especially in Coupers Ile; and although men sit downe amongst them when hundreds have bin gathered in a morning, yet there is hath stayed amongst them till they have gathered as many more: they continue this course till Midsummer, and so tame & feareles, you must thrust them off from their Eggs with your hand; then they grow so faint with laying, they suffer them to breed & take infinite numbers of their young to eat, which are very excellent meat.
” [1]

Ich habe versucht, dieses etwas kauderwelschige Englisch ins Deutsche zu übertragen, direkt übersetzen lässt sich das leider nicht immer alles.:

Vögel.
Weder hat die Luft ihrerseits die richtige Versorgung mit vielen Arten von Geflügel verfehlt, wie dem grau-weißen Reiher
 [?], dem grau-grünen Regenpfeifer, einigen wilden Enten und Stockenten, Blässhühnern und Rotschenkeln, Meerenten [?], Graudommeln, Kormorane, eine Anzahl kleiner Vögel wie Spatzen und Fliegenschnäpper, die in letzter Zeit von den wilden Katzen vernichtet wurden, Spechten und sehr vielen Krähen, die seit der [Anlage der] Plantage getötet wurden, der Rest floh oder wird selten gesehen, außer an den unbewohntesten Plätzen, von wo aus beobachtet wird, dass sie ihren Flug gegen Sonnenuntergang antreten und ihren Kurs in Richtung Nordwesten richten, was viele Vermutungen zulässt, dass es einige weitere Inseln gibt, die nicht weit von diesem Weg entfernt sind. Manchmal werden auch Falken gesehen & Jar-Falken [?],Fischadler, ein Vogel wie ein großer Falke, aber weil sie selten kommen, werden sie nur für Besucher gehalten; vor allem aber verdienen diese beiden Arten von Vögeln Beachtung und Respekt, die eine für die Melodie seiner Stimme, die andere für sein Wirken, genannt [werden sie] Cahow, und Eier-Vogel, die am Ersten des Mai, einem stets beobachteten Tag, einen unendlichen Vorrat an Eiern, fast groß wie Hühner[eier], an bestimmte kleinen Sandküsten legen, besonders auf Coopers Island [seit den 1940ern künstlich mit St David’s Island verbunden]; und obwohl Männer unter ihnen sitzen, wenn sich an einem Morgen Hunderte versammelt haben, so bleiben sie doch unter ihnen, bis sie sich noch viele mehr versammelt haben: Sie setzen dies bis Mittsommer fort, und so zahm und angstlos, Du musst sie mit der Hand von ihren Eiern schieben, dann sind sie so schwach vom Legen, dass sie es nicht schaffen sie auszubrüten & [die Menschen] nehmen unendlich viele ihrer Jungen zum Essen, die sehr gutes Fleisch sind.” 

***

Viele der hier aufgezählten Vögel lassen sich identifizieren: der ‘grau-weiße Reiher’ ist vermutlich der Kanada-Reiher (Ardea herodias L.), bei den Enten, Stockenten und Meerenten handelt es sich ziemlich wahrscheinlich um verschiedene Wintergäste, wie sie auch heute noch auftreten, die Blässhühner dürften Amerikanische Blässhühner (Fulica americana Gmelin) sein, die Kormorane sind sicher Ohrenscharben (Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson)); bei den ‘Fliegenschnäppern’ handelt es sich mit einiger Sicherheit um Bermuda-Weißaugenvireos (Vireo griseus ssp. bermudianus Bangs & Bradlee), die einzige noch existierende endemische Vogelform der Inseln.

Einige, wie der ‘grau-grüne Regenpfeifer’ oder der ‘Rotschenkel’ lassen sich nicht wirklich identifizieren (zumindest aber handelt es sich bei letzterem mit ziemlicher Sicherheit nicht um den eigentlichen Rotschenkel (Tringa totanus (L.))); auch die Falken lassen sich nicht eindeutig identifizieren, da einige Arten immer mal wieder als Zugvögel auf den Bermudas auftauchen.

Mindestens drei der hier augezählten Vögel existieren heute nicht mehr, die ‘Graudommeln’, welche ziemlich sicher Bermuda-Krabbenreiher (Nyctanassa carcinocatactes Olson & Wingate) waren, die ‘Spatzen’, die wohl Bermuda-Grundrötel (Pipilo naufragum Olson & Wingate) waren und die Spechte, die wiederum Bermuda-Goldspechte (Colaptes oceanicus Olson) gewesen sein dürften.

All diese Arten wurden ausschließlich anhand von Knochenfunden beschrieben und zwar 2006, 2006 und 2013. [2][3][4] 

***

Das größte Rätsel sind die hier erwähnten sehr vielen Krähen, denn davon gibt es auf den Inseln auch heute noch sehr viele, und zwar  Amerikanerkrähen (Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm), diese gehen jedoch nachgewiesenermaßen auf zwei Vögel zurück, die 1838 als Stubenvögel auf die Inseln gebracht worden waren.

Das bedeutet, dass es auf den Bermudas einst auch eine einheimische Krähenart gegeben haben muss, und dass diese obendrein auch noch sehr zahlreich gewesen sein muss.

Diese Form wurde offenbar von den ersten Siedlern ausgerottet, die die Krähen als Landwirtschaftsschädlinge betrachteten – scheinbar wiederholt sich die Geschichte nun, denn auch die heutzutage auf den Inseln lebenden Amerikanerkrähen werden als Schädlinge angesehen und verfolgt.

*********************  

Referenzen:

[1] John Smith: The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their first beginning, An: 1584. to this present 1624. With the Procedings of Those Severall Colonies and the Accidents that befell them in all their Journyes and Discoveries. Also the Maps and Descriptions of all those Countryes, their Commodities, people, Government, Customes, and Religion yet knowne. Divided into Sixe Bookes. By Captaine Iohn Smith, sometymes Governour in those Countryes & Admirall of New England. London: printed by I. D. and I. H. for Michael Sparkes 1624
[2] Storrs L. Olson; D. B. Wingate: A New Species of Night-heron (Ardeidae: Nyctanassa) from Quaternary Deposits on Bermuda. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 119(2): 326-337. 2006
[3] Storrs L. Olson; David B. Wingate: A new species of towhee (Aves: Emberizidae: Pipilo) from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 125(1): 85–96. 2012
[4] Storrs L. Olson: Fossil woodpeckers from Bermuda with the description of a new species of Colaptes (Aves: Picidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 126(1): 17–24. 2013

*********************

bearbeitet: 05.11.2020

Nahmavis grandei Musser & Clarke

Endlich, endlich beschrieben!

Das dazugehörige Fossil ist schon seit etlichen Jahren bekannt und wurde ursprünglich als Angehöriger der ausgestorbenen Familie Salmilidae aus der Ordnung der Seriemaartigen (Cariamaformes) betrachtet.

Des Weiteren konnte man oft lesen, dass es sich um einen flugunfähigen Vogel mit winzigen Stummelflügeln gehandelt haben muss, schließlich kann man diese Flügelchen ja im Foto ganz gut erkennen … nun, nein, kann man eben nicht, was man hier sieht sind einfach nur etwas ‘unglücklich’ gewachsene Federn; schaut man genau hin findet sich aber nicht die Spur irgendeines Flügelknochens!

Tatsächlich sind die Vordergliedmaßen des Tieres nach dem Tod bzw. während der Verwesung vollständig abhanden gekommen; sämtliche noch vorhandenen restlichen Teile weisen auf einen normal flugfähigen Vogel hin, er wird also zu Lebzeiten ganz normal ausgebildete Flügel besessen haben..

***

Nahmavis grandei, so heißt der Vogel nun, ist ein sehr ursprünglicher Vertreter der Regenpfeiferfamilie (Charadriiformes).

*********************

Referenzen:

[1] Lance Grande: The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time. University of Chicago Press 2013  
[2] Grace Musser; Julia A. Clarke: An exceptionally preserved specimen from the Green River Formation elucidates complex phenotypic evolution in Gruiformes and Charadriiformes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 8:559929. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2020.559929. 2020

*********************

Foto aus: ‘Grace Musser; Julia A. Clarke: An exceptionally preserved specimen from the Green River Formation elucidates complex phenotypic evolution in Gruiformes and Charadriiformes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 8:559929. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2020.559929. 2020’

(under creative commmons license (4.0))
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

*********************

bearbeitet: 26.10.2020

Todiramphus ‘divinus’ – The ‘Divine’ Kingfisher

Two species of Kingfishers were common on Bora-Bora (Halcyon veneratus and Todiramphus tutus), ….

and

HALCYON VENERATUS. (Ruru.)
This species is fairly common, especially on the island of Bora-Bora.

TODIRAMPHUS TUTUS.
Common throughout the Tahiti group.
” [2]

***

These two rather cursory marginal notes from 1907 are an indication of the former existence of a bird species that no longer exists today and of which (almost) no trace can be found today. 

*** 

The Society Islands are one of the very few places where two kingfisher species coexist, at least on the islands of Mo’orea and Tahiti in the eastern part of the archipelago; here you will find the widespread Chattering Kingfisher (Todiramphus tutus (Gmelin)), which occurs throughout the archipelago, as well as the Tahiti Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus (Gmelin)) and Moorea Kingfisher (Todiramphus youngi Sharpe), both restricted to a single island each. 

However, the two references to the island of Bora Bora indicate that this was apparently also the case on other of the islands. 

In fact, the mysterious kingfisher is not only known from small marginal notes but from at least two specimens that were collected at the beginning of the 19th century, one of which apparently still exists. This sole surviving specimen was examined in 2008 and compared to the Tahiti- and Moorea Kingfisher. 

The authors concluded that this is an incompletely colored juvenile of the Tahitian species, but also note some differences, including a much shorter beak and some differences in plumage pattern, and conclude that it may also be an extinct subspecies. [3] 

The species has also been depicted at least once (see below). [1] 

*** 

Between Bora Bora in the northwestern part of the archipelago and Mo’orea and Tahiti in the eastern part are four other islands, namely Huahine, Mai’ao, Ra’iatea and Taha’a, each of which, at least today, is inhabited only by the Chattering Kingfisher. 

If the island of Bora Bora was indeed once home to two species of kingfishers, then this bird must not have been a subspecies of the Tahitian Kingfisher, but a separate species; and, the other islands between Bora Bora and Mo’orea and Tahiti must most likely also have harbored now extinct and unknown distinct species. 

*** 

In my humble opinion, however, the location of Bora Bora is simply an error, and the two birds collected there are more likely to be from the island of Tahiti. … but who knows ….

*********************

‘Divine’ Kingfisher (Todiramphus ‘divinus’)

Depiction from: ‘M. Lesson: Description du genre Todiramphe et de deux espèces d’oiseaux; qui le compossent. Mémoires de la Société d’Histoire naturelle de Paris 2(3): 419-422. 1827’

(public domain)

*********************

References:

[1] M. L. I. Duperrey: Voyage autour du monde: Exécuté par Ordre du Roi, Sur la Corvette de Sa Majesté, La Coquille, pendant les années 1822, 1823, 1824, et 1825, par M. L. I. Duperrey; Zoologie, par Mm. Lesson et Garnot. Paris: Arthus Bertrand 1828
[2] S. B. Wilson: Notes on birds of Tahiti and the Society group. Ibis Ser. 9(1): 373-379. 1907
[3] Claire Voisin; Jean-François Voisin: List of type specimens of birds in the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, France). 18. Coraciiformes. Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 177(1): 1-25. 2008 
[4] Justin J. F. J. Jansen & Roland E. van der Vliet: The chequered history of the Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus on Tahiti: I: type specimens. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 135(2): 108-120. 2015
[5] Justin J. F. J. Jansen & Roland E. van der Vliet: The chequered history of the Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus on Tahiti: II: review of status. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 135(2): 121-130. 2015
[6] Michael Lee & David T. Holyoak: The chequered history of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus on Tahiti: a response. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 137(3): 211-217. 2017 
[7] Roland E. van der Vliet & Justin J. F. J. Jansen: Reply to Lee & Holyoak: how definite are 20th-cetury reports of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus from Tahiti? Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 137(3): 218-225. 2017

*********************

edited: 06.07.2023

Fossil record of the Apodiformes

Aegialornithidae

Aegialornis broweri Collins
Aegialornis gallicus Lydekker
Aegialornis leehnardti Gaillard
Aegialornis wetmorei Collins

Primapus lacki Harrison & Walker

Procuculus minutus Harrison & Walker (?)

Apodidae

Apus baranensis Jánossy
Apus gaillardi Ennouchi
Apus submelba Jánossy
Apus wetmorei Ballmann

Chaetura baconica Jánossy

Collocalia buday Boles

Procypseloides ignotus (Milne-Edwards)

Scaniacypselus szarskii (Peters)
Scaniacypselus wardi Harrison

Tachornis uranoceles Olson

Cypselavidae

Argornis caucasicus Karhu

Cypselavus gaillardi Ennouchi
Cypselavus gallicus Gaillard
Cypselavus intermedius Gaillard

Parargornis messelensis Mayr

Eocypselidae

Eocypselus geminus Mayr & Kitchener
Eocypselus grandissimus Mayr & Kitchener
Eocypselus paulomajor Mayr & Kitchener
Eocypselus rowei Ksepka et al.
Eocypselus vincenti Harrison

Jungornithidae

Jungornis geraldmayri Mourer-Chauviré & Sigé
Jungornis tesselatus Karhu

Palescyvus escampensis Karhu

Trochilidae

Eurotrochilus inexpectatus Mayr
Eurotrochilus noniewiczi Bochenski
Eurotrochilus sp. ‘ Lubéron, France’

*********************

editedt: 23.03.2024

Fossil record of the Nyctibiiformes [1]

Nyctibiidae

Euronyctibius kurochkini Mourer-Chauviré

Paraprefica kelleri Mayr
Paraprefica major Mayr 

*********************

References:

[1] Albert Chen; Daniel J. Field: Phylogenetic definitions for Caprimulgimorphae (Aves) and major constituent clades under the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature. Vertebrate Zoology, 70(4): 571-585. 2020

*********************

edited: 23.10.2020

Fossil record of the Podargiformes [1]

Podargidae

Masillapodargus longipes Mayr

Quercypodargus olsoni Mourer-Chauviré

*********************

References:

[1] Albert Chen; Daniel J. Field: Phylogenetic definitions for Caprimulgimorphae (Aves) and major constituent clades under the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature. Vertebrate Zoology, 70(4): 571-585. 2020

*********************

edited: 23.10.2020

Fossil record of the Steatornithiformes [1]

Steatornithidae

Prefica nivea Olson 

*********************

References:

[1] Albert Chen; Daniel J. Field: Phylogenetic definitions for Caprimulgimorphae (Aves) and major constituent clades under the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature. Vertebrate Zoology, 70(4): 571-585. 2020

*********************

edited: 23.10.2020

Die Vögel Europas von John Gould

Francis Roux: Die Vögel Europas von John Gould. Delphin 2019

*********************

… eines dieser Bücher, bei denen ich nicht genau weiß wie ich sie einordnen soll: es ist offenbar auch unter dem Titel “Die Vögel Europas: Tiermalerei in Vollendung” in Umlauf, jedenfalls laut amazon.de, und es handelt sich um eines der wenigen Bücher, die ich in einem echten Buchladen gefunden habe, sogar hier in der Stadt in der ich lebe!

***

Das Buch ist in deutscher Sprache, scheint aber eine französische Produktion zu sein, die sich wiederum mit einem englischen Ornithologen, nämlich John Gould, beschäftigt, bzw. mit dessen Werk oder vielmehr mit den dazugehörigen Abbildungen, die allerdings wiederum gar nicht von John Gould stammen sondern von Joseph Wolf, einem deutschen Maler.

Die Texte stammen vom Autor, Francis Roux und nicht etwa von John Gould, der jedoch immer wieder zitiert wird … ein wenig verwirrend das Ganze, nicht wahr? 

***

Das Buch ist offenbar als eine Art Hommage an John Gould gedacht, fällt aber eher als eine an den oben erwähnten Maler aus, nun ja, die Bilder sind sehr schön und ich kann das Buch durchaus empfehlen, es ist kein Muss, aber eine nette Bereicherung für jede Vogelbuchsammlung.

*********************

bearbeitet: 19.10.2020

Rails: A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World

Barry Taylor; Ber Van Perlo: Rails: A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World. Yale University Press 1998

*********************  

Dieses Buch habe ich schon eine ganze Weile – ein Muss für jeden Rallen-Fan, wenngleich es allerdings eigentlich nur die noch lebenden Arten beinhaltet und ein paar der in historischen Zeiten ausgerotteten, darüber hinaus aber nicht auf all die zahllosen Arten eingeht, die nur anhand von subfossilen Knochenfunden bekannt sind.

***

Die Darstellungen sind recht großformatig und erinnern an Aquarelle, bzw. sind eigentlich Aquarelle oder eher gröber ausgefertigte  Wasserfarbenbilder, denen die oft feinen Details im Gefieder der echten Vögel fehlen.

Das Buch kann ich trotzdem nur empfehlen!

*********************

bearbeitet: 11.10.2020 

Qinornis paleocenica Xue

Mit dem Ende der Kreidezeit starben sämtliche so genannten Nichtvogeldinosaurier (was für ein Wortungetüm) aus, also alles was man landläufig als Dinosaurier bezeichnet aber eben auch sämtliche Vögel, die nicht der einzigen heute noch existierenden Gruppe der Vögel, den Neornithes, zugeordnet werden können.

… oder doch nicht?

***

Qinornis paleocenica ist anhand einiger Reste aus dem unteren oder mittleren Paläozän (vor etwa 61 Millionen Jahren) bekannt, die von einem einzelnen Individuum stammen: ein nahezu vollständiger linker Tibiotarsus, Teile des rechten Tibiotarsus sowie ein nahezu vollständiger rechter Tarsometatarsus mit fast allen Zehenknochen. [1]

Diese fossilen Knochen weisen einige Merkmale auf, die man bei heutigen Vögeln so nicht mehr findet, wohl aber bei einigen aus der Kreidezeit; vor allem ist der Tarsometatarsus nicht vollständig verschmolzen, er weist noch einige Riefen auf, wie man sie heutzutage nur noch bei juvenilen, nicht ausgewachsenen Vögeln findet, nicht aber mehr bei erwachsenen.

Laut einiger Experten für fossile Vögel handelt es sich bei dem Fossil aber durchaus um einen ausgewachsenen Vogel, und Qinornis paleocenica mag einer der allerletzten Vertreter einer der vielen kreidezeitlichen Vogelformen sein, die man zwar der Klade Ornithurae zuordnen kann, zu der auch die Neornithes gehören, die aber trotzdem außerhalb der Neornithes stehen. [2]

*********************

Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob die Art wirklich nur drei Zehen hatte, das Fossil bzw. dessen Beschreibung umfasst jedenfalls nur drei.

*********************

Referenzen:

[1] X. Xue: Qinornis paleocenica – a Paleocene bird discovered in China. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 181: 89-93. 1995
[2] Gerald Mayr: The birds from the Paleocene fissure filling of Walbeck (Germany). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 27(2): 394-408. 2007

*********************

bearbeitet: 01.09.2020

Saca, Sasa and Yasaca

P. H. Bahr in the year 1912 quotes a Dr. B. Glanvill Corney, at that time Chief Medical Officer in the Fiji Islands.:  

There is, or was until eight or ten years ago, a bird in the interior and northern coast of Vitilevu called the ‘Sasa’; described as having speckled plumage and running along the ground among reeds, cane-brakes, and undergrowth. … The Sasa did not fly, and seems to have been a mound-builder. I once met with some dogs in a remote mountain village that the natives had specially trained to hunt the Sasa, which they described as Koli dankata sasa, i. e. Sasa-catching dogs; but I never succeeded in seeing a Sasa, nor did my friend Mr. Frank R. S. Baxendale, who, as Assistant Resident Commissioner in the hill districts, lived for more than a year in the Sasa country. His successor, Mr. Georgius Wright, however, had several living specimens in his possession for some time, and told me that he considered they were Megapodes of the same or of an allied species to those met with in the island of Ninafou [Niuafo’ou] (Boscawen Island) and in Samoa. Some natives linkened them to Guinea-fowl, but said they were not so large as the latter, and that they laid a single egg. Between the years 1876 and 1905 they were still comparatively common and well known in the locality mentioned (where there are only a very few Europeans).” [1]

***

What follows is an account by Rollo H. Beck, an American ornithologist, who quotes some notes that he received by a Mr. G. T. Barker on June 5, 1925, during a stay on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji.: 

Saca Megapode

On the Tova Estate (Viti Levu Bay) one day, as I was riding toward the Wainibaka River, I heard a zooming noise on the rocks at my right. I dismounted to ascertain, if possible, what it was, as the place which had no trees, ws such an unusual one for a pigeon. The note, too, was different, having a more vibrant tone.
Grawling twenty feet along a runway but keeping myself hidden I came upon an abandoned clearing covered with short grass. The bird was about tne yards away. It ws slightly smaller than an English game rooster, had an aggressive head with yellow beak, and a stumpy tail. The coloring which was the same on the head as on the body was a mixed yellow, approaching red, and dingy black.
The bird continued its calling for a few minutes, and was answered from the far end of the clearing. Suddenly it took alarm, and as it flew out of the clearing I saw that under the rudimentary wings there were no yellow feathers. The wings had no long feathers made a whirring sound when the birds flew. I also noticed that its legs were stout, of yellow color, and that the foot had three toes. On questioning the natives, I was told that about sixty years ago there was a great area of grass country in that part, owing probably to a denser population, and also to the fact that the people were more industrious. At that time they used to hunt the bird with dogs and would secure up to fifty in a day. Even up to the coming of the mongoose, hese birds were still hunted, but owing to the spreading of the reeds over the country the catch became small.
The birds nested, generally, under the shelter of the dead leaves of the tree fern, never out in the open, and the birds used to take turns sitting on the nest. The natives described the eggs as being white, quite round, generally one, but on rare occasions, two in a nest. They used to hunt for the eggs, and when all hands were out, as many as a hundred a day would be secured. The eggs were hatched under hens in the village, but the saca always went back to the grass and would not remain in the town.
About two years after I had seen the bird, a dependable native who had hunted the birds in his youth, told me that he had seen a pair about two miles away from The place where I had observed them. Twenty was the largest number that had been observed in one flock.
The natives said that the flesh of the saca was dark, and always lean. Its wings seem to have been of some use for the bird is called in that part “the bird that lands on eight hillocks before being cought.”
The annual rainfall in that region averages ninety inches.
” [2]

In my humble opinion this whole description, except for the nesting behaviour, sounds a lot like the description of a species of megapode (Megapodius sp.). 

Yasaca

This bird I have never seen, but from all accounts it differs from the saca. First it was called “Nasataudrau”, literally, “in hundreds”, meaning that a flock would be of about one hundred. It was said of them hat they buried their eggs for the sun to hatch out.

Personally, I am doubtful if this bird ever existed in Fiji. I remember of asking a Sabeto Chief in the year 1890 if he had ever seen one – Sabeto, to the Segatoka River, being the region where the ordinary “saca” was most plentiful. This chief was then a man over sixty years old; now add on the thirty-five years since that time – ninety five years ago, and he had never seen yasaca. He had only heard the trdition in his youth.
I am inclined to believe that the natives of this region brought the tale whith them from the Solomon Islands, where megapodes still are found. See, “A Naturalist Amongst the Head Hunters” by Woodward. Mr. A. Barker has a copy of this book. There is a remarkable similarity of language between that part of the Solomons and Fiji, hence the tradition.
” [2][4]

***

It is now well known that the Fiji Islands indeed were inhabited by at least two species of megapode, the Consumed Scrubfowl (Megapodius alimentum Steadman) and the Viti Levu Megapodius (Megapodius amissus Worthy). [3]

It is not really known when exactly these species disappeared; the abovementioned accounts, however, show that at least one of the species survived well into quite modern times.

********************* 

References:

[1] P. H. Bahr: On a Journey to the Fiji Islands, with Notes on the present Status of their Avifauna, made during a Year’s Stay in the Group, 1910-1911. The Ibis 9(6): 282-313. 1912
[2] Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the journal of Rollo H. Beck. Vol. 2, Dec. 1923 – Aug. 1925
[3] T. H. Worthy: The fossil megapodes (Aves: Megapodiidae) of Fiji with descriptions of a new genus and two new species. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 30(4): 337-364. 2000
[4] Danke Hr. Antonius, für den Hinweis, damit liegen Sie natürlich vollkommen richtig! 🙂

*********************

edited: 31.01.2022

Ground Doves in the Gilbert Islands?

The Polynesian Ground-Dove (Pampusana erythroptera (Gmelin)) and the Friendly Ground-Dove (Pampusana stairi (Gray)) are mentioned in several enumerations of birds that are thought to inhabit the Gilbert Islands in the Micronesian part of Kiribati.

So, I did a little search to find out something more ….:

The first thing I found was that D. H. R. Spennemann and H. Benjamin name these two species as inhabitants of the Marshall Islands, which apparently is an error since they use A. B. Amerson’s account as their source, in which they are clearly named as inhabiting the Gilbert – but not the Marshall Islands. [2][4].

This is the abovementioned account by A. B. Amerson Jr..:

Gallicolumba erythroptera* Ground Dove

Status — Introduced breeder in the Gilbert Islands.

Marshall-Gilbert Distribution Records — Breeding: Gilberts – Abemama, Nonouti.

Pacific Distribution — Native to the Society and Tuamotu Islands (Baker, 1951).

*Remarks — I am using the species designation given by Child (1960), who says this species was reported to have been introduced into the Gilberts from Nauru about 1940. Pearson (1962) did not find any doves at Nauru in 1961.
” [2]

The Gilbertese name of this bird is given here as bitin, more about that later.

Gallicolumba stairi* Friendly Ground Dove

Status — Introduced, possible breeder in the Gilbert Islands.

Marshall-Gilbert Distribution Records — Gilberts – Abemama.

Pacific Distribution — Present only at Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa Islands (Peters, 1934)

*Remarks — I am using the species designation given by Child (1960) who says this species was probably introduced from Fiji.
” [2]

Here the author states “Child (1960)” as his source, so let’s see where that leads me to.

I could trace all accounts back to the following one, which appears to be the first that mentiones these two dove species, it is from a Peter Child who worked for about one year as an radio operator in the Coastwatching Organisation during WWII and who visited nearly all the islands in the ‘colony’ within a time of three years from 1953 to 1956.

He was an amateur bird-watcher, as he called himself, but his accounts are in fact reliable, in my opinion.

Here they are.:

24. Gallicolumba erythroptera: Ground Dove.

Lupe palangi. Bitin (Taobe)

While Ducula is a native in the Ellice, being referred to in many old songs and legends, the ground doves are undoubtedly recent introductions of the present century, probably mainly from Fiji. At Abemama they are reported to have been introduced from Nauru about 20 years ago [ca. 1936 because this account was originally puplished in 1956], and have multiplied considerably so that there is now a fair number in a wild state. A few pairs have also been taken from Abemama to some other Gilbert Islands as pets, but in most of the Colony they are unknown. A pair taken to Nanouti had four offspring, and in June two females had nests about ten feet of the ground in an old deserted house; the nests were of grass and stra and built inside old boxes; each contained two eggs, oval in shape and creamy-white in colour. At Abemama they are said to nest in coconut crowns, often high above the ground. They feed mainly on the ground; when disturbed they fly up into the palms and their call, a soft “coo”, may then be heard.

The colouring is typically darkish greys and white; the head, neck, back and upper breats are grey with a purplish and greenish sheen or irridescence; the secondary wing feathers are mainly dark grey and the primaries and tail feathers mainly white; the abdomen is white, often speckled with grey, and he under tail-coverts white. The short bill is dark grey with a small whitish operculum at the base; the legs and feet are coral red, or purplish red. Some birds have less white than others, and hardly any two are exactly alike.
” [1]

The name Bitin apparently is the local variation of the English word pigeon, while the name Taobeundoubtedly is the local variation of the German word Taube which means nothing but dove/pigeon; both these names suggest that the birds were imported from somewhere else.

The name Lupe palangi is the Tuvaluan name given to this bird, it can be translated as foreign pigeon (!).

It also appears to me that he did see this species with his own eyes.

He goes on with the second dove species.:

25. Gallicolumba stairii. Friendly Ground Dove.

There are few individuals in a semi-wild state at Abemama, probably of this species, and probably introduced from Fiji where it is common. The habits are similar to those of G. erythroptera, and there is no distinction in vernacular names of the two species.

The colouring is mainly brown with a little white on the wings and lower breast; the upperparts have a greenish sheen in some lights. The bill is dark and the feet deep red or purplish red.

*********************

Abemama atoll

STS-61A mission crew
https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov 

(public domain)

All in all it appears to me that both, the Polynesian- as well as the Friendly Ground Doves, indeed had been introduced sometimes during the middle 1930s, during WWII to at least the Abemama atoll, it appears not to be known by whom, and it also appears not to be known if they still exist there.  

Interesting is the statement that at least one of them had been brought from Nauru, where no groud dove species is known to have existed – and if one has existed it might rather have been a distinct, endemic one, but not the Polynesian Ground Dove.

Maybe someone with an interest in birds will be able to make a visit to the Abemama atoll some day and clarify these questions.

*********************

References:

[1] P. Child: Birds of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. Atoll Research Bulletin 74:1-38. 1960
[2] A. B. Amerson Jr.: Ornithology of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 127: 1-348. 1969
[3] Robert P. Owen: A checklist of the birds of Micronesia. Micronesica 13(1): 65-81. 1977
[4] Dirk H. R. Spennemann; Hemley Benjamin: Notes on the Avifauna of Ebon Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Historic Preservation Office 1992

*********************

edited: 30.07.2020

Lanius gambieranus – what is that?

When you’re dealing with extirpated/extinct birds, you will sooner or later come across species that raise more questions than others.

Such a species is the Mangareva-yes-what-actually?:

Lanius gambieranus Lesson, 1844, Écho du Monde Savant, p. 232 (cf. Ménegaux, p. 180). IlesGambier. Type perdu depuis longtemps.

Connue seulement par la description du spécimen qui était autrefois dans la collection du Docteur Abeillé de Bordeaux. Lesson précise qu’une peinture fut préparée par M. Charles Thélot de Rochefort, mais nous n’avons pas retrouvé cette peinture, ni d’ailleurs le spécimen. 
[RÉPARTITION ET STATUT]. – Selon Lesson, le spécimen décrit provenait des îles Gambier. Ces îles furent visitées par plusieurs expéditions maritimes françaises avant 1840, et le spécimen fut probablement rapporté par le frère de Lesson, le Docteur Adolphe Lesson, qui voyagea durant quatre années dans les mers du Sud comme «Chirurgien» à bord d’un bateau. Le spécimen était autrefois dans la collection Lesson à Rochefort. 
Les seules autres mentions de passereaux aux îles Gambier sont données par Garrett qui trouva des fauvettes durant la seconde moitié du xix* siècle (Wiglesworth, 1891b) et par Buck (1938) qui note KOMAKO – «Reed Warbler». Signalons aussi qu’une fauvette fut observée sur l’îlot Tepapuri en 1971 (Thibault, 1973b). Ce dernier oiseau, blanchâtre dessus et brun dessous, devait être un erratique de la forme habitant les atolls au nord des Gambier, A. caffer ravus. Deux spécimens M.N.H.N ont été considerés comme des oiseaux pouvant provenir des îles Gambier (Lacan et Mougin, 1974b), mais il s’agit vraisemblabIement d’une forme éteinte d’ A. luscinia provenant de Micronésie (Holyoak et Thibault, 1978b). L’expédition Whitney ne trouva pas de fauvette en visitant les îles Gambier, en dépit de nombreuses recherches en 1922 (Beck et Quayle, ms). 
[DISCUSSION], – L’oiseau décrit par Lesson ne correspond à aucune forme de spécimens connus. Il est douteux qu’il s’agisse d’une pie-grièche (Laniidae), comme l’avait pensé Lesson. Il est également peu probable que se soit un siffleur (Pachycephala), comme certains auteurs l’ont suggéré (Lacan et Mougin, 1974b; Thibault, 1973b).
La taille, la forme et la coloration font plutôt penser à une fauvette, voisine des formes habitant les îles Cook. Cette hypothèse serait d’autant plus vraisemblable qu’il serait étonnant que des îles volcaniques de la taille des Gambier n’aient pas eu de fauvettes. Sans doute, Lesson avait déjà décrit en 1820 la Fauvette de Tahiti comme appartenant au genre Tatare, mais il n’est pas étonnant qu’il n’ait pas établi de relation entre cette fauvette et l’oiseau des Gambier, en raison de leurs différences morphologiques importantes.
De nombreuses interrogations subsistent au sujet de cet oiseau et il n’est pas évident qu’il ait été véritablement collecté aux Gambier, bien que les autres descriptions de Lesson ne présentent pas d erreurs de localité.
 “

translation:

Lanius gambieranus Lesson, 1844, Écho du Monde Savant, p. 232 (cf. Ménegaux, p. 180). Gambier Islands. Type long lost.

Known only by the description of the specimen that was once in the collection of Doctor Abeillé de Bordeaux. Lesson specifies that a painting was prepared by Mr. Charles Thélot de Rochefort, but we have not found this painting, nor indeed the specimen.
[DIVISION AND STATUS]. – According to Lesson, the described specimen came from the Gambier Islands. These islands were visited by several French maritime expeditions before 1840, and the specimen was probably brought back by Lesson’s brother, Doctor Adolphe Lesson, who traveled for four years in the South Seas as a “surgeon” aboard a boat. The specimen was formerly in the Lesson collection in Rochefort.
The only other records of passerines in the Gambier Islands are given by Garrett who found warblers in the second half of the nineteenth century (Wiglesworth, 1891b) and by Buck (1938) who noted KOMAKO – “Reed Warbler”. It should also be noted that a warbler was observed on Tepapuri islet in 1971 (Thibault, 1973b). This last bird, whitish above and brown below
 [shouldn’t it be vice versa?], must have been an erratic of the form inhabiting the atolls north of the Gambiers, A. caffer ravus. Two M.N.H.N specimens have been considered as birds that may have originated from the Gambier Islands (Lacan and Mougin, 1974b), but they are probably an extinct form of A. luscinia from Micronesia (Holyoak and Thibault, 1978b). [they are now known to indeed be specimens of a species formerly inhabiting the island of Mangareva] The Whitney expedition did not find a warbler when visiting the Gambier Islands, despite extensive research in 1922 (Beck and Quayle, ms).
[DISCUSSION], – The bird described by Lesson does not correspond to any form of known specimens. It is doubtful that it is a shrike (Laniidae), as Lesson had thought. It is also unlikely to be a whistler (Pachycephala), as some authors have suggested (Lacan and Mougin, 1974b; Thibault, 1973b). 
The size, shape and coloring are more like a warbler, similar to the forms found in the Cook Islands. This assumption would be all the more likely since it would be astonishing if volcanic islands the size of Gambier did not have warblers. No doubt Lesson had already described the Tahitian Warbler in 1820 as belonging to the genus Tatare, but it is not surprising that he did not establish a relationship between this warbler and the Gambier bird, because of their significant morphological differences. 
Many questions remain about this bird and it is not obvious that it was really collected in Gambier, although the other descriptions of Lesson do not present errors of locality.
”  [3]

Today, most ornithologists think that the description fits best with the extinct Mangarevan Reed-Warbler, a bird that is known to have indeed existed. Yet, there are in fact two surviving specimens of this species, Acrocephalus astrolabii Holyoak & Thibault, which, however, are still often referred to as having been collected somewhere in Micronesia, an assumption that is now obsoleted. [4]

However, the reed-warbler was much larger than 14 cm, and it lacks the yellow underside that our enigmatic bird is said to have had; but let’s just take a look on the original description, it is in French and reads as follows:

Cette pie-grièche est fort voisine du Lanius tabuensis de Latham. Comme elle, on la trouve dans le mer du Sud, et c’est aux îles Gambier qu’elle vit.
Cette espèce a les formes courtes et trapues. Elle mesure 14 centimètres. Ses ailes sont presque aussi longues que laqueue; son bec est peu crochu, bien que denté; il est noiràtre ainsi que les tarses; tout le plumage en dessus, les ailes et la queue sont d’un brun olivàtre uniforme; le devant du cou, à partir du menton jusqu’au haut de la poitrine, est olivàtre foncé; tout le dessous du corps, depuis le haut du thorax jusqu’aux couvertures inférieures, est du jaune le plus vif et le plus égal; les plumes tibiales sont brunes, mais cerclées d’une sorte de jarretiere jaune à d’articulation le dedans des ailes est varié de jaune et de blanc, ce qui forme un rebord étroit, blanc dessous du fouet de l’aile; la queue est légèrement échancrée, et le sommet des rectrices présente un point jaune.” [1]

Here is my translation:

This shrike is very close to Lanius tabuensis [Aplonis tabuensis (Gmelin)] of Latham. Like this, it is found in the South Sea, and it lives in the Gambier Islands.
This species has a short, squat form. It measures 14 centimeters. Its wings are almost as long as the tail; the beak is slightly hooked, but dentate; it is black as well as the tarsi; all the plumage above, the wings and the tail are uniformly olive brown; the front of the neck, from the chin to the top of the breast, is dark olive; the whole lower part of the body, from the top of the thorax to the lower coverts, is the liveliest and most even yellow; the tibial feathers are brown, but circled in a sort of yellow, hinged garter, the underside of the wings is varied with yellow and white, forming a narrow, white rim beneath the whip of the wing; the tail is slightly forked, and the top of the rectrices are dotted yellow.

You see, the species was described as a shrike (Laniidae) and as being very closely related to Lanius tabuensis.

Well, shrikes, of course, do not exist in Oceania at all, and Lanius tabuensis is called Aplonis tabuensis today and is a starling (Sturnidae), the South Sea Starling. You must know that in the 19th century still no one really had any idea of ​​biogeography, and the same applies to the relationships between the different bird species.

Not a shrike, but what about a starling – Aplonis gambieranus?

Hm, according to the description rather not, the size (14 cm) seems a bit too small (my gut feeling), and the colors do not fit to any other Polynesian starling.

Not a starling, but what about a robin – Eopsaltria gambierana?

EOPSALTRIA GAMBIERANA.
Lanius gambieranus, Less. Echo de M. S. 1844, p. 232.
Eopsaltria gambierana, Hartl. Wiegm. Arch. für Naturg. 1852, p. 133.
Low or Paumotu Islands (Gambier’s Islands or Mangarewa).
” [2]

This genus does not occur in Polynesia, but the closely related genus Petroica does indeed (both genera belong to the family Petroicidae), however, both genera, in my eyes, can be excluded for biogeographic reasons.

Not a robin, but what about a whistler – Pachycephala gambierana?

The bird was for some time also thought to may have been a whistler and the genus Pachycephala indeed is occuring in Polynesia, yet only in the western part, namely in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga but not further east, so, no.

Not a whistler, but what about a monarch – Monarcha gambierana?

Personally, I think that the mysterious bird from the island of Mangareva most likely was a monarch species (Monarchidae), namely one of the genus Monarcha (formerly Pomarea). The size indication fits very well, as well as the specified colors, these fit quite well with the young birds of the surviving species of this genus. Apart from that, this genus also fits very well for biogeographical reasons, the distance between the Society Islands and the Gambier Archipelago is only slightly larger than that between the Society Islands and the Marquesas (where the genus still occurs today).

***

Lastly, I would like to mention that this species is officially no longer regarded as having existed at all, not just as dead/extinct, but as ‘having never existed’!

But why?

Because the type does not exist anymore? – this applies also to other species!
Because there was a picture that is now lost as well? – who actually is screwing up something like that, and … this too applies also to other species!
Because no one can say what kind of bird it actually could have been? 

In my humble opinion this enigmatic bird, which might very well have existed, most likely was either an somewhat aberrant starling or a member of the monarch family.

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References:

[1] R.-P. Lesson: Catalogue descriptif des oiseaux nouveaux, rares ou peu connus, de la collection Abeillé. L’Écho du monde savant et l’Hermès: journal analytique des nouvelles et des cours scientifiques. 1844 pt. 2: 232
[2] George Robert Gray: Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum. London: printed by order of the Trustees 1859
[3] D. T. Holyoak; J.-C. Thibault: Contribution à l’étude des oiseaux de Polynésie orientale. Mémoires du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle 127(1): 1-209. 1984
[4] Alice Cibois; Jon S. Beadell; Gary R. Graves; Eric Pasquet; Beth Slikas; Sarah A. Sonsthagen; Jean-Claude Thibault; Robert C. Fleischer: Charting the course of reed-warblers across the Pacific islands. Journal of Biogeography 38(10): 1963-1975. 2011

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edited: 29.07.2020

A Fijian quail?

Was there formerly a quail species living on the Fijian Islands?

Well, here is an account by Rollo H. Beck, an American ornithologist, who quotes some notes that he received by a Mr. G. T. Barker on June 5, 1925, during a stay on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji.: 

Moa (Quail)

It is commonly said, by whites, that quail are the offspring of imported birds, but this cannot be so for I have tales that run back for hundreds of years mentioning this bird. A Mr. Coster who was one of the first white settlers on the Island of Koro said that quail were present in great numbers when he arrived there and this was many years back.
” [1]

Indeed, there was a quail species living on the Fijian Islands, and it still does, because this account clearly refers to the Brown Quail (Synoicus ypsilophorus ssp. australis (Latham)) (see photo), an Australian species that was introduced to the Fijian Islands sometimes in the early 1900s.

The species is commonly called moa on the islands, it was introduced at least to the islands of Makogai, Vanua Levu, and Viti Levu; it is, however, now apparently restricted to the (artificial) grasslands of Vanua- and Viti Levu. [2]

*********************

Photo: Christopher Watson

(under creative commons license (3.0))
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

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References:

[1] Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the journal of Rollo H. Beck. Vol. 2, Dec. 1923 – Aug. 1925
[2] Edward Narayan: Troublesome birds of Fiji Islands. Lulu, Inc. 2014

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edited: 29.07.2020

The ‘Blue Parrotfinch’ of Micronesia

The ‘Blue Parrotfinch’ of Micronesia is actually not really a mysterious bird, it is just the Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa (Kittlitz)).

This species inhabits northern Australia, New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, parts of Melanesia and, not least, the Micronesian islands, where it is found today on Chuuk, Kosrae, Palau, and Pohnpei; it very likely was once more widespread and did also inhabit the atolls surrounding these islands, especially those between Chuuk and Pohnpei, which share the same subspecies (ssp. clara Taka-Tsukasa & Yamashina). 

The following sentence was taken from an account by J. D. E. Schmeltz and R. Krause from 1881 and apparently refers to the Satawan atoll (unfortunately I couldn’t get my hands on the original).:

Ein verschlagenes Exemplar der Erythrura trichroa schoss K. [Kubary] einmal hier.” [1][2]

translation:

“K. shoot a stray specimen of the Erythrura trichroa here once.”

***

This species is now mainly found in the higher parts of the abovementioned islands, but very likely was more widespread once, and it is absloutely possible, I guess, that it also inhabited at least some of the atolls between the islands, like so many other Micronesian land birds do.

***

The name ‘Blue Parrotfinch’ refers to a specimen that was collected on Pohnpei and was kept in spirit for some years, thus it lost its green color and its plumage turned into a plain blue; this specimen was later described in 1876 as a distinct species, Erythrura glauca Finsch (see photo).

*********************

References: 

[1] J. D. E. Schmeltz; R. Krause: Ein Beitrag zur Kunde der Südsee-Völker. Die Ethnographisch- Anthropologische Abtheilung des Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg. L. Friederichsen & Co., Hamburg 1881
[2] Donald W. Buden: The birds of Satawan Atoll and the Mortlock Islands, Chuuk, including the first record of Tree Martin Hirundo nigricans in Micronesia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 126(2): 137-152. 2006

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Pohnpei Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa ssp. clara) from Pohnpei 

Photo: Naturalis Biodiversity Center

(no copyright)

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edited: 29.07.2020

Miller’s Rail

Miller’s Rail is one of the more commonly known so-called mysterious birds.

This species is actually known exclusively from a single drawing made by Georg Forster sometimes between 1772 and 75 during the second voyage of James Cook [and a copy of it made by John Frederick Miller, who described the bird as a new species in 1784]. The annotation just states that it is a Rallus minutus, [a small rail], [called] Maho, [and coming from] Taheitee, [Tahiti]. 

The drawing is rather a crude one, not „fieldguide-suitable“ and shows a small bird, clearly identifiable as a crake, with rather dark, almost black feathers, sitting on its red legs.

The bird could very well just be a Spotless Crake (Zapornia tabuensis (Gmelin)), which today is still [patchily these days] distributed all over Polynesia, and of course was even more so 250 years ago!

***

There is yet another quite detailed description supposed to be of this species, made by John Latham in 1785 from the actual type, that is now lost.:

Otaheite R[ail].

LENGTH six inches. Bill three quarters of an inch, black: the head, neck, and all the under parts of the body, dark ash-colour: palest on the chin: the upper parts, and wing coverts, deep red brown: quills dusky, edged with white: edge of the wing, and the first quill feather, white: tail an inch and a half long, rounded in shape, and black: legs dusky yellow. Claws black.
Inhabits Otaheite, and the Friendly Isles. Sir Joseph Banks.
“ [2]

***

The same book contains the description of a variety of the Tabuan rail [now Spottless Crake (Zapornia tabuensis)] from the island of Tanna in the Solomon Islands chain which is often regarded to as being the description of the actual type specimen of Miller’s Rail, however, the description differs quite significantly from G. Forster’s depiction.:

This varies in having the plumage more inclined to brown: the vent white, transversely barred with black lines: legs red.
Inhabits the island of Tanna. Sir Joseph Banks.
” [1]

The island of Tanna, mentioned here as place of origin of this bird, was just one of several islands that were visited by Cook and his entourage in the middle of the 18th century, and the place names given by J. Latham are very often completely wrong, however, the descriptions on the other hand are rather complete and trustworthy.

It has to be taken into account that such old books most often lack any kind of register and that they mostly just use common names but lack scientific ones, searching inside them is a long-term venture.

***

It is now quite well known that in former times probably all of the islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean were inhabited by endemic rails, with several islands being known to have been inhabited by more than one species, and in many cases these were congeneric species, meaning species from one and the same genus – something that today is extremely rare, which, however, is a relict situation, left behind by human-induced extinctions. [5]

***

In ancient Tahiti, the meho too was thought to represent a deity, namely Tu (in his manifestation of moonlit sky), the meho‘s cry is given as having been a “ho”, which is also thought to be the characteristic sound made by Tu himself. [3][4]

This little sentence is yet another prove for the former existence of another rail species on Tahiti beside the Red-billed Rail (Gallirallus pacificus (Gmelin)), which is also mentioned in this short enumeration of birds representincg gods in ancient Tahiti.

*********************

References:

[1] John Latham: A General Synopsis of Birds 3(1): 235. Leigh & Sotheby, London 1785
[2] John Latham: A General Synopsis of Birds 3(1): 236. Leigh & Sotheby, London 1785
[3] Teuira Henry: Ancient Tahiti. Bishop Museum Bulletins 48: 1-651. 1928
[4] Douglas L. Oliver: Ancient Tahitian Society. The University Press of Hawai’i, Honolulu 1974
[5] David W. Steadman: Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press 2006

*********************

Depiction by Georg Forster, 1772-75

(public domain)

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edited: 28.07.2020

Henderson Island Sandpiper

Fantastic things to come soon …:

V. L. De Pietri; T. H. Worthy; R. P. Scofield; T. L. Cole; J. R. Wood; A. Cibois, J. J. F. J. Jansen; G. Zhang; K. J. Mitchell; S. Feng; W. Chen; A. J. D. Tennyson; G. M. Wragg: A new species of Polynesian sandpiper (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae: Prosobonia) from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Group, and the scolopacid affinities of Prosobonia. 

submited to the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. [1]

*********************

References: 

[1] Justin J. F. J. Jansen; Alice Cibois: Clrifying the morphology of the enigmatic Kiritimati Sandpiper Prosobonia cancellata (J. F. Gmelin, 1785), based on a review of the contemporary data. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 140(2): 142-146. 2020

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edited: 28.07.2020

Aus Eins mach Sechzehn: Einfarb-Ameisenpitta

Der Einfarb-Ameisenpitta, ein hübsches, aber recht unspektakulär gefärbtes, langbeiniges Vögelchen aus der Andenregion Südamerikas, bei dem es sich eigentlich um keine eigentliche Art sondern um einen Artenkomplex handelt, wie ich hier schon einmal geschrieben hatte, ist nun endlich entsprechend untersucht worden. [1]

Das Ergebnis ist noch spektakulärer als ich persönlich erwartet hatte, tatsächlich ist den ehemaligen sechs Unterarten Artstatus zugestanden worden, es sind aber auch noch neue Arten hinzu gekommen, insgesamt sind dies nun 16 Taxa (15 Arten und eine Unterart).:

Chamí-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria alvarezi Cuervo, Cadena, Isler & Chesser)
Ayacucho-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria ayacuchensis Hosner,; Robbins, Isler & Chesser)
Kastanienbrauner Ameisenpitta (Grallaria blakei Graves)
Cajamarca-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria cajamarcae (Chapman)) 
Oxapampa-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria centralis Hosner, Robbins, Isler & Chesser)
Bolivischer Ameisenpitta (Grallaria cochabambae J. Bond & Meyer de Schauensee) 
Graves’ Ameisenpitta (Grallaria gravesi Isler, Chesser, Robbins & Hosner)
Junín-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria obscura Berlepsch & Stolzmann) 
Urobamba-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria occabambae ssp. occabambae (Chapman))
Marcapata-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria occabambae ssp. marcapatensis Isler, Chesser)
O’Neill-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria oneilli Chesser & Isler)
Zweifarb-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria rufocinerea Sclater & Salvin)
Muisca-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria rufula Lafresnaye) 
Perijá-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria saltuensis Wetmore)
Äquator-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria saturata Domaniewski & Stolzmann)
Puno-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria sinaensis Robbins, Isler, Chesser & Tobias)
Sierra Nevada-Ameisenpitta (Grallaria spatiator Bangs) 

*********************

Quelle: Morton L. Isler; R. Terry Chesser; Mark B. Robbins; Andrés M. Cuervo; Carlos Daniel Cadena; Peter A. Hosner: Taxonomic evaluation of the Grallaria rufula (Rufous Antpitta) somplex (Aves: Passeriformes: Grallariidae) distinguishes sixteen species

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bearbeitet: 25.07.2020

Der Harlequinkolibri – eine Art die nie existiert hat … oder doch?

Diese heute wohl kaum mehr bekannte ‘Art’ wurde im Jahr 1788 anhand eines einzelnen Exemplars sowie einer Beschreibung von John Latham [1] als Trochilus multicolor Gmelin beschrieben.

Der Harlequinkolibri erreichte laut Beschreibung eine Größe von insgesamt 12,7 cm, hatte einen relativ langen Schnabel und war recht auffällig gefärbt.

Es sind einige Abbildungen dieser ‘Art’ überliefert, im Ganzen existieren allerdings eigentlich nur zwei verschiedene Darstellungen, die wieder und wieder von verschiedenen Künstlern kopiert wurden. [2]

Wunderschön, aber ursprünglich wohl trotzdem eine aus verschiedenen Vögeln zusammengebaute Fälschung

Das einzige bekannte Harlequinkolibri-Exemplar wurde 1819 (?) als Fälschung erkannt und letzlich weggeworfen, so dass es nicht mehr für weitere Untersuchungen zur Verfügung steht. [2]

*********************

Referenzen:

[1] John Latham: Supplement to the General synopsis of birds. London: printed for Leigh & Sotheby 1787
[2] Robert Prŷs-Jones; Rick Wright: Rise and fall of the Harlequin Hummingird ‘Trochilus multicolor’: a species that never was. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 139(3): 215-227. 2019

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bearbeitet: 17.05.2020

Birds of Stone: Chinese Avian Fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs

Luis Chiappe; Meng Qingjin: Birds of Stone: Chinese Avian Fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs. Johns Hopkins University Press 2016

*********************

Dieses Buch zeigt die wohlbekannten fossilen Vögel aus den Ablagerungen der unteren Kreide der Liaoning-Formation in China mit großformatigen, hochauflösenden Fotografien.

Außerdem informiert es über den aktuellen Wissensstand, z.B. zu den Eigenarten des Skelettaufbaus und des Aufbaus des Weichgewebes oder der Federn, zum Wuchsverhalten der verschiedenen ausgestorbenen Vogel-Infraklassen und zu deren vermutlicher Lebensweise inklusive Ernährung und Vermehrung.

So weit so gut ….

Ich habe zwei kleine Kritikpunkte.:

-Das Buch beinhaltet bei weitem nicht alle der fossilen Vogelformen, die in der Liaoning-Provinz gefunden wurden sondern beschränkt sich auf einige der besser bekannten Gattungen wie Confuciusornis, Gansus usw..

-Das Buch ist voller großformatiger und großartiger Fotos von vielen der zahllosen Vogelfossilien, einige davon wurden nie zuvor publiziert, doch es ist nicht ein einziges Mal irgendeine Größenskala angegeben, was ich persönlich schade finde.

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bearbeitet: 17.05.2020

SMNS 59466/19

Hinter diesem Arbeitsnamen verbirgt sich ein winziges Knochenfragment, das distale Ende eines linken Humerus, gerade einmal 0,27 cm hoch und 0,26 cm breit, es stammt aus einer etwa 26 Millionen Jahre alten Fundstätte bei Herrlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland.

Auch wenn es sich hierbei um das wohl kleinste Fragment handelt, das in Herrlingen gefunden wurde, lässt sich dieses, im Gegensatz zu nahezu allen anderen, zumindest grob einer Gruppe zuordnen, nämlich zu den Euoscines oder Eupasseres, zu denen heute nur noch die Dickichtvögel (Atrichornithidae) und Leierschwänze (Menuridae) Australiens gehören.

Der Vogel wird zu Lebzeiten eine Größe von etwa ca. 9 bis 12,5 cm erreicht haben, je nachdem an welchem Referenzmaterial man sich orientiert.

*********************

References:

[1] Albrecht Manegold: Passerine diversity in the late Oligocene of Germany: earliest evidence for the sympatric coexistence of Suboscines and Oscines.

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edited: 07.05.2020

Unbekannte Linien innerhalb der Ordnung der Sperlingsvögel

Die Ordnung der Sperlingsvögel, die heute weltweit verbreitet ist (abgesehen vom antarktischen Kontinent), lässt sich ganz grob in drei Unterordnungen aufspalten: die Passeri (oder Oscines), die Tyranni (oder Suboscines) und schließlich die Acanthisitti, die nur noch zwei Gattungen und Arten umfassen, die auf Neuseeland beschränkt sind.

***

Anhand von oberoligozänen (vor 28 bis 23 Millionen Jahren) Fossilfunden aus Herrlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland ist noch mindestens eine vermutliche weitere “primitive” Unterordnung mit mindestens einer Art belegt. [1]

Vermutlich gab es zu jener Zeit noch weitere solcher Unterordnungen von deren ehemaliger Existenz aber heute keine Fossilbelege mehr zeugen.

Ich habe mal ein bisschen herumgemessen und -gerechnet und bin auf eine geschätzte Gesamtgröße dieses Vogels von ungefähr 9 bis 15 cm gekommen, das ist so ziemlich genau total ungenau, als Referenzvögel habe ich Fotos von Starenskeletten sowie die Zeichnung eines Hopfstar-Skelettes (Fregilupus varius (Boddaert)) verwendet, wahrscheinlich kommt aber der kleinere Wert der Wahrheit am nächsten.

Vielleicht werde ich diesen namenlosen Vogel dann auch irgendwann einmal zeichnen.

*********************

Referenzen:

[1] Albrecht Manegold: The early fossil record of perching birds (Passeriformes). Palaeontologica Africana 44: 103-107. 2009

*********************

bearbeitet: 06.05.2020

Sie sind zurück!

Pünktlich zum 6. Mai sind sie wieder da, meine Lieblingsvögel – die Mauersegler.

Der unterste Vogel mag eine Schwalbe sein, die beiden anderen sind aber Mauersegler, und der obere der beiden scheint tatsächlich auf dem Rücken zu fliegen, vielleicht macht er gerade einen Looping.

*********************

bearbeitet: 06.05.2020

Winnicavis gorskii Bocheński, Tomek, Wertz, Happ, Bujoczek & Świdnicka

Dies ist der „neueste“ der europäischen Oligozänvögel mit „brüchigen Gliedmaßen“, diesmal sind nur die Flügelknochen erhalten. Diese unterscheiden sich von den Flügelknochen sämtlicher anderen bisher bekannten, lebenden oder ausgestorbenen Sperlingsvogelarten.  

Der Vogel war klein, ungefähr so ​​groß wie eine Kohlmeise (Parus major L.). Ich werde sehen, ob ich überhaupt in der Lage bin, eine Art Rekonstruktion anzufertigen. [1] 

*********************

Quelle:

[1] Zbigniew M. Bocheński, Teresa Tomek, Krzysztof Wertz, Johannes Happ, Małgorzata Bujoczek & Ewa Świdnicka: Articulated avian remains from the early Oligocene of Poland adds to our understanding of Passerine evolution. Palaeontologia Electronica 21(2). 2018

*********************

… kleines Update.

Ich habe eine kleine Skizze gemacht, die auf einer Kohlmeise basiert. Da ich jedoch wusste, dass dieser Vogel mit keinem der modernen Passeriformes verwandt war, habe ich beim Zeichnen an eine kleine singvogelähnliche Kreatur, die einigen der australisch / papuanischen „primitiven“ Singvögel ähnelt gedacht. 

*********************

meine Rekonstruktion, der Vogel erreicht eine Größe von etwa 15 cm oder war mit anderen Worten tatsächlich etwa so groß wie eine Kohlmeise; man denke daran, dass nur die Flügelknochen und einige Eindrücke mehrerer Flügelfedern bekannt sind

*********************

bearbeitet: 06.04.2020

Levaillant’s Pie-Grièche Rouge A Plastron Blanc

Levaillant’s Pie-Grièche Rouge A Plastron Blanc, the White Shrike with the Red Breastplate, is one of several enigmatic species of birds that were described in the early 1800s based on stuffed specimens that were actually just fakes composed by some business-minded taxidermist from the parts of several other birds, a practise that was quite common in former times.

The more unusual such a specimen the higher probably was its price ….

Depiction from: ‘François Le Vaillant: Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d’Afrique. Paris, chez J. J. Fuchs, libraire, Rue des Mathurins, Hôtel de Cluny: de l’imprimerie de Perroneau, Rue des Grands Augustins 1799’

(not in copyright)

Here is a part of the description, which mentions the supposed origin of this ‘species’ as having been the islands of the South Seas, which actually could be anywhere …:

Cette belle espèce appartient, à ce qu’on m’a assuré, aux îles de la mer du Sud. De quatre individus que j’ai vus, deux avoient la barre de l’aîle blanche au lieu d’être rouge; celles-ci seroient- elles des femelles? C’est ce que j’ignore, n’ ayant euà leur égard aucun renseignement quelconque, et n’ayant vu que les peaux rembourrées de ces oiseaux.

translation:

This beautiful species belongs, as I have been assured, to the islands of the South Sea. Of the four individuals I saw, two had the bar of the wing white instead of being red; would these be females? This is what I do not know, having had no information whatsoever about them, and having only seen the padded skins of these birds.

***

However, the fake was uncovered 60 years later.:

Note. – The Lanius mystaceus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xix; Levaill. Ois. d’Afr. t. 65 (Laniarius mystaceus, G. R. Gray, Gen. of B. i. p. 299), has been stated by Levaillant to be from an isle in the South Seas. It is, however, a made-up bird, being composed of a portion of the Lanius ferrugineus, Gm., with the feathers on the belly and tail from a species of red Psittacus, while the breast and vent are those from a species of Malaconotus.” [2]

The Lanius ferrugineus, Gm., mentioned here, is the Southern Boubou (Laniarius ferrugineus (J. F. Gmelin)) a bird without red feathers, so I personally think that the original body was ‘borrowed’ from another species, possibly from the Crimson-breasted Gonolek (Laniarius atrococcineus (Burchell)), which then got decorated with the red tail feathers of another bird, which might well have been some species of parrot. 

*********************

References:

[1] François Le Vaillant: Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d’Afrique. Paris, chez J. J. Fuchs, libraire, Rue des Mathurins, Hôtel de Cluny: de l’imprimerie de Perroneau, Rue des Grands Augustins 1799
[2] George Robert Gray: Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum. London: printed by order of the Trustees 1859

*********************

edited: 21.03.2020

The less popular case of Columba R. forsteri

A pigeon collected during one of J. Cook’s journeys in the middle of the 18th century on the island of Tahiti, Society Islands, was described and named Columba R. forsteri in 1829 by J. G. Wagler, this is the original description.:

C. R. Forsteri. Habitus et magnitudo C. globicerae; capite et cervice prorsus nigris; dorso, uropygio, remigibus et rectricibus coeruleo et viridi nitentibus; gula, jugulo, pectore, abdomine femoribusque fuliginosis; crisso ferrugineo; capistro albo; cera prorsus non globosa.

Columba globicera var.? Reinh. Forster in Manuscr.

Rostrum nigrum; pedes rubri. Habitat in insula Otaheite, ab incolis Aroobu appeliate.
” [1]

(my humble) translation:

C. R. Forsteri. Shape and size of C. globicera; head and neck completely black; on the back, from the rump, and the rectrices shining blue and green; throat, neck, breast, belly (hips?) sooty; undertail coverts ferruginous; lores white; cere absolutely not globose.  

Columba globicera var.? Reinh. Forster in Manuscr.  

Beak black; feet red. Inhabits the island of Otaheite, named by the islanders Aroobu.

***

According to S. L. Olson and D. W. Steadman this description fits very well with the Nuku Hiva Imperial Pigeon (Ducula galeata (Bonaparte)), which is now restricted to the island of Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, but which indeed is known to have been much more widespread in former times. [2]

However, this species is much larger than the Polynesian Imperial Pigeon (Ducula aurora Peale) from Tahiti, named Columba globicera in the description, and not of the same size, and its head and neck are slate-colored and not black as the description says; anyway, neither the adult nor the juvenile Polynesian Imperial Pigeon have ferruginous undertail coverts while the Nuku Hiva Imperial Pigeon again has.

Nuku Hiva Imperial Pigeon (Ducula galeata); unfortunately the ferruginous undertail coverts are not visible in this photo

Photo: Samuel Etienne

(under creative commons license (3.0))
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

So, after all, this little description may indeed be the only historical record of the Nuku Hiva Imperial Pigeon outside the island of Nuku Hiva, it disappeared sometimes during the 18th century. Subfossils assigned to this large bird are now known from Mangaia, Cook Islands; Hiva Oa, Tahuata and Ua Huka, Marquesas; as well as from Huahine, Society Islands. [3] 

However, I personally still have some doubts about the identity of these large imperial pigeon forms outside of the Marquesas, in my humble opinion they should rather be considered distinct forms.

*********************

References:  

[1] J. G. Wagler: Beiträge und Bemerkungen zu dem ersten Bande seines Sytsema Avium. (Fortsetzung III.) Isis von Oken 7: 735-762. 1829 
[2] S. L. Olson; D. W. Steadman: Comments on the proposed suppression of Rallus nigra Miller, 1784 and Columba R. Forsteri Wagler, 1829 (Aves) .Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 44, 126-127. 1987 
[3] David W. Steadman; Dominique S. Pahlavan: Extinction and biogeography of birds on Huahine, Society Islands, French Polynesia. Geoarchaeology 7(5): 449-483. 1992

*********************  

edited: 18.03.2020

A ground dove from Karoraina?

The genus Pampusana, formerly Gallicolumba and then Alopecoenas, apparently did once occur also as far northeast as to the Line Islands of Kiribati, as can be taken from an account from 1840 by Frederick Debell Bennett about a stay on Caroline Island, now named Karoraina.:

At night, on the 22nd of April, many shoal-birds came about the ship, greeting us with their hoarse cries, so prophetic of the vicinity of land; and at daybreak on the following morning, Caroline Island was seen from the mast-head, bearing N.W., distant 10 miles.

 The inland thickets contained a great number of small pigeons, with white head and neck, and the rest of their plumage of a rich brown colour.
” [1]

This account might refer to a population of the Polynesian Ground Dove (Pampusana erythroptera (Gmelin)) as suggested by David W. Steadman & Dominique S. Pahlavan or, given the extreme distance between the northernmost Tuamotuan atolls and the island of Karoraina, may perhaps rather refer to a distinct, now extinct species. [2]

*********************

References:  

[1] F. D. Bennett: Narrative of a Whaling Voyage round the Globe, from the year 1833 to 1836. London: Richard Bentley 1840
[2] David W. Steadman; Dominique S. Pahlavan: Extinction and biogeography of birds on Huahine, Society Islands, French Polynesia. Geoarchaeology 7(5): 449-483. 1992

*********************  

edited: 17.03.2020

A reed-warbler from Rurutu?

I found another interesting account that I had overlooked previously in ‘Te Manu: Bulletin de la Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie. Nr 25. December 1998’.:

De notre correspondant Yves GENTILLOMME à Rurutu 
Lors du passage de Jean-Yves Meyer sur l’île de Rurutu, Yves Gentillomme lui a signalé avoir entendu le chant facilement reconnaissable d’une fauvette (Acrocephalus sp.). Il n’y a pas de description de fauvettes à Rurutu dans la littérature mais on en trouve une sur l’île voisine de Rimatara: Acrocephalus rimitarae (autrefois considérée comme une sous espèce de Acrocephalus vaughani de Pitcairn) – cf TE MANU n°23. Il s’agit peut être d’un oiseaux en provenance de cette île. Il existe une autre observation de fauvette aux Australes sur l’île de Raivavae. Cette observation ancienne n’a jamais été renouvelée.
” [1]

translation:

From our correspondent Yves GENTILLOMME in Rurutu 
During Jean-Yves Meyer’s visit to Rurutu Island, Yves Gentillomme told him that he heard the easily recognizable song of a warbler (Acrocephalus sp.). There is no description of warblers in Rurutu in the literature but there is one on the neighboring island of Rimatara: Acrocephalus rimitarae (formerly considered as a subspecies of Acrocephalus vaughani from Pitcairn) – see TE MANU n°23. It may be a bird from this island. There is another sighting of a warbler in the Austral Islands on Raivavae Island. This ancient observation has never been repeated.

***

Today the island of Rurutu does not harbor an endemic reed-warbler species but it may well have done so in former times; the neighboring island of Rimatara, however, still is home to an endemic form of reed-warbler, the Rimatara Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus rimitarae (Murphy and Mathews)), and the bird heard singing on Rurutu in the late 1990s might indeed have been such a bird.

The Rimatara Reed-Warbler may be in the state of expanding its distributional area, or there may just be some stray birds appearing on neigboring islands from time to time. 

There is, however, a very little possibility that there is an endemic Rurutu Reed-Warbler that has survived into the late 1990s.

*********************

References:

[1] Te Manu: Bulletin de la Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie. Nr 25. December 1998

*********************

edited: 17.03.2020

Bird safari

We are more or less ‘housebound’ thanks to the Corona virus … so, we took a walk through the city.

It is now definitely spring because there are starlings singing from almost every tree.:

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris ssp. vulgaris); this one is not singing it is pruning its feathers

I usually don’t look at the Mallards because they are typical feral ducks, many of which don’t resemble wild ducks at all.:

Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos ssp. ptatyrhynchos); a nice-looking couple

Another sign for/of spring are singing Chaffinches, like with the starlings, almost every tree has its own singing Chaffinch right now, however, they are very difficult to photograph because they usually fly away as soon as they spot the camera.:

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs ssp. coelebs); a male waiting for a female to arrive

This is a Goldfinch, it has one of the most beautiful songs of all European birds.:

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis ssp. carduelis); a photo with very bad light

This little cutie was hopping about as close as only one meter away from us, so I could make at least two quite good pictures.:

Robin (Erithacus rubecula ssp. rubecula)

A sandpiper from the Manua’e Atoll, Society Islands?

The quail spoken of by an early writer as occurring on Christmas [Kiritimati] and possibly other islands was probably the native sandpiper, as it resembles a quail when running on the ground and a merchant here told me the other day of quail on Scilly Islands [Manua’e] which he is putting into coconuts.” [1]

***

This rather incidental and somewhat strange side note is the only reference to the past existence of a species of sandpiper (Prosobonia sp.) on the ‘Leeward Islands’ in the Society Islands group, a species of the same genus known to have inhabited the islands in the past islands of Mo’orea and Tahiti in the southeast of the same archipelago. 

The only island in this group on which a fossil site has been discovered so far is Huahine, from where there are, at least so far, no finds of this genus. 

The form from the Manua’e Atoll, if it really existed – and I think it might well have existed – might have been identical to that known from subfossil remains found on the island of Mangaia in the Cook Archipelago [2], or it may have been a distinct form; but it was certainly not identical with the birds of the islands of Mo’orea and Tahiti, and it was certainly not identical with the Tuamotu Sandpiper (Prosobonia parvirostris (Peale)), since the Manua’e Atoll is much closer to the Cook Archipelago than to the Tuamotu Archipelago. 

Interestingly, the report cited above appears to date from the early 20th century, indicating that various Polynesian bird forms might have survived much longer than is often assumed. 

*********************

Manua’e Atoll, leeward Society Islands

Photo: NASA
https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
(public domain)

*********************

References:

[1] Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the journal of Rollo H. Beck. Vol. 1, Sept 1920 – June 1923
[2] D. W. Steadman: Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press 2006

*********************

edited: 05.07.2023

A Fijian hummingbird?

Rollo H. Beck, an American ornithologist, quotes some notes that he recieved by a Mr. G. T. Barker on June 5, 1925, during a stay on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji: ‘Notes by Mr. G. T. Barker, Suva, Fiji. June 5, 1925’.

One of these notes is about an alleged Fijian hummingbird.:

Humming bird

One evening as I was sitting on the steps, I saw what I took to be a night moth settle on a hibiscus flower. …
The supposed moth kept its wings in rapid motion, while poised before the flower sucking the honey with its long slender bill.
I struck the “moth” with a fly switch which I had in my hand, and on picking it up, found that I had killed a small bird. I had seen only the pictures of humming birds but I concluded that this was one. Its slightly curved bill was black, as was the slender, pointed tail; the fine feathers on the breast were a bright red; the shoulders and patch under the tail were of darker tone.
Herewith is a sketch drawn to scale, which I made the next morning, after I found that the rats had eaten the bird from the wall where I pinned it. 
1921

Depiction by G. T. Barker; from: ‘ Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the journal of Rollo H. Beck. Vol. 2, Dec. 1923 – Aug. 1925’

(public domain)

Feathers, fine as the fur of flying fox
Wings, very small
Body, red
Head and back, darker than breast
Bill and legs, black
” [1]

Of course, hummingbirds are not found outside of the Americas, and this anecdote is 
supposed to have taken place on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji. 

But what kind of bird is involved in this story then? 

I have to confess that I have no real idea, the most likely candidate is the orange-breasted Myzomela (Myzomela jugularis Peale), however, this species hasn’t a red body.

***

I personally think that this account is a very bad eyewithness records, made by someone not really interested in the natural world.

*********************

References:

[1] Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the journal of Rollo H. Beck. Vol. 2, Dec. 1923 – Aug. 1925

*********************

edited: 14.03.2020

Was there once a Giant Kingfisher living on the Fiji Islands?

The Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris (Boddaert)) has a extremely wide distribution and occurs from parts of Arabia well into western Polynesia; it is the only kingfisher living on the Fiji Islands (with three endemic subspecies) – yet, may there once have been another kingfisher species?

Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris ssp. vitiensis)

Photo: Tom Tarrant
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

Rollo H. Beck, an American ornithologist, quotes some notes that he received by a Mr. G. T. Barker on June 5, 1925, during a stay on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji: ‘Notes by Mr. G. T. Barker, Suva, Fiji. June 5, 1925’.:

Giant Kingfisher

I saw this bird, or a single bird at least, on two occasions and it rose, both times, from nearly the same place. On the last occasion, I was on the lookout for it and it passed within twenty feet in front of me so that I had a good opportunity to see it clearly. I was riding down from the village of Navuniwi, Viti Levu Bay, toward the beach and it was from a patch of swampy ground on my left that the bird arose.
The kingfisher was fully eleven inches long, with the same colored plumage as the small kind only more dingy. The blue was not so bright, and the white feathers on the wings were discolored. The back was nearly black. Its flight was heavy-much slower than that of the small species, and as it flew in a straight line toward the mangrove swamp on my right, I noticed that it held its head in a line with the shoulders.
Natives told me that these giant kingfishers were plentiful in the early days, but as the bird nested in the low mangrove, it has practically disappeared since the advent of the mongoose which is a vertitable beach comber, haunting the swamps and beaches. About twenty-five years previously I had seen one of them back of Ovalau, but was told that it was only stray in that part.
On the second occasion of my seeing the giant flycatcher
 [indeed, he writes flycatcher here instead of kingfisher], I dismounted from my horse and went into the swampy patch, finding that the bird had been eating the native sila (Job’s tears) [Coix lacryma-jobi (L.) Lam.].

Ordinary Flycatcher
 [?]

It is generally supposed that this bird is an insect eater, and does not eat fish, but this is not invariably so. As I was coming out of the Wainidoi River, ten miles below Suva, I saw a belo
 [Pacific Reef Heron (Egretta sacra (Gmelin))] fishing in shallow water, and getting close up, noticed that it had a kingfisher in company. Three times I saw the kingfisher dive into the shallow water after shrimps, then fly onto a rock to eat them.” [1]

So, what’s this somewhat strange account about?

There is indeed a possibility that the large Fijian Islands once harbored more than one kingfisher species, however, this particular account here pretty sure refers to the Collared Kingfisher, with the small species mentioned being the European Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis (L.)).

The whole account is expressed a bit unhappily, and this Mr. G. T. Barker very likely wasn’t a naturalist at all, that becomes very clear when he later also descibes a hummingbird that he had killed on the Fijian Island, and which in fact has been a honeyeater (Myzomela jugularis Peale) (his description, however, does not fully match that species, but that is another story ….).   

*********************

References:

[1] Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the journal of Rollo H. Beck. Vol. 2, Dec. 1923 – Aug. 1925

*********************

edited: 13.03.2020

Astrapia-Paradieshopf

Astrapia-Paradieshopf (Epimachus astrapioides Rothschild)

Der überaus schöne Astrapia-Paradieshopf ist anhand genau eines einzigen männlichen Exemplars bekannt.  

Die Form, auch als Grünbrüstiger Reifelvogel bekannt, wurde 1897 als eigenständige Art beschrieben. Es handelt sich jedoch um einen Hybriden zwischen der Fächerparadieselster (Astrapia nigra (Gmelin)) und dem Breitschwanz-Paradieshopf (Epimachus fastuosus (Hermann)).  

Es ist etwas seltsam, dass dieselben Arten die Eltern einer vollkommen anders aussehenden Form, nämlich Elliots Paradiesvogel (Epimachus elliotti Ward) sein sollen.

********************

Darstellung aus: ‘Ernst Hartert: Notes on the Paradiseidae figured on plates VII. and VIII. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 604. 1911’

(public domain)

********************

Quelle:

[1] Clifford B. Frith; Bruce M. Beehler: The Birds of Paradise: Paradisaeidae. Oxford University Press 1998

********************

bearbeitet: 14.03.2021

Ari-manou – an extinct parrot from Bora Bora?

While checking old papers regarding the enigmatic Divine Kingfisher from the island of Bora Bora, I found that the same paper mentions the existence of a lorikeet on the same island, well actually even two species of lorikeets, one being the Blue Lorikeet (Vini peruviana (Statius Müller)) and the other one being Kuhl’s Lorikeet (Vini kuhlii (Vigors)).  

Or was it something else? 

***

Well here are the original text passages.:  

On nous donna á Borabora une espèce vivante de perruche très-voisine du phigy de Levaillant …, peut-être encore plus voisine de la perruche fringillaire …, et que M. Vigors a décrite récemment … sous le nom de psittacula Kuhlii. 
Cet oiseau, sur lequel nous fournirons de nouveaux détails dans la partie descriptive des espèces, a la langue terminée par un petit cercle de papilles nerveuses; ses habitudes sont vives et colériques, et son naturel sauvage.
”  

translated:  

We were given on Borabora a living species of parrot very close to the phigy of Levaillant …, perhaps even closer to the parakeet that Mr. Vigors has recently described … under the name of psittacula Kuhlii. 
This bird, on which we will furnish new details in the descriptive part of the species, has the tongue terminated by a small circle of nerve papillae; his habits are lively and angry, and his temper is wild.
”  

and the second part:  

Cet oiseau a les narines en scissure et la langue terminée par un cercle de papilles longues, qu’on retrouve chez l’ Ari-manou. Il se nourrit de bananes, et son caractère est extrêmement colérique. Nous nous le sommes procuré dans l’île de Borabora. 
Cette petite perruche à queue pointue a de longueur totale six pouces. Son bec et ses tarses sont orangés; le front est vert; les plumes de la tête et de l’occiput sont longues, étroites, d’un bleu céleste au sentre et frangées de noir sur les bords; les joues, le devant de la gorge et du cou, jusqu’au haut du ventre, sont d’un rouge vermillon mat: le milieu du ventre est aussi de ce même rouge, mais la région anale et les plumes des cuisses sont dún bleu pourpré. Le plumage est en entier d’un vert lustré clair, plus foncé et teint roussatre sur le manteau; la queue est jaune en-dessous et verte et jaune en-dessus. Les rémiges sont noires et vertes.
”  

translated:  

This bird has cracked nostrils and the tongue ends with a circle of long taste buds, found in the Ari-manou [?]. It feeds on bananas, and its character is extremely choleric. We obtained it on the island of Borabora. 
This small parrot with a pointed tail has a total length of six inches
[ca. 15,3 cm]. Its beak and tarsi are orange; the forehead is green; the feathers of the head and of the occiput are long, narrow, of a heavenly blue in the center, and fringed with black on the edges; the cheeks, the front of the throat and the neck, up to the upper part of the belly, are of a matt vermilion red: the middle of the belly is also of this same red, but the anal region and the feathers of the thighs are of a blue purple. The plumage is entirely lighter green, darker and reddish on the mantle; the tail is yellow below and green and yellow above. The flight feathers are black and green.”  

***

Well, the description mostly fits with Kuhl’s Lorikeet, except for the color of the mantle (said to be darker and reddish; but is yellowish green in V. kuhlii), and the tail (said to be yellow below and green and yellow above; but is yellowish green and red in V. kuhlii).  

So what do we have here?  

Kuhl’s Lorikeet was once more widely distributed, this is a fact that is known, the bird inhabited mostly all of the Austral- and the Cook Islands, but what about the Society Islands?  

Kuhl’s Lorikeet (Vini kuhlii); photographed at the Museum Heineanum, Halberstadt

There are also some old oral traditions from the Society Island published in 1928, mentioning at least seven different kinds of parrots, some can be identified as well-known species, others can’t.  

***

My guess is, the likeliest possibility is that this parrot from Bora Bora may represent a now extinct subspecies of Kuhl’s Lorikeet from the Society Islands.  

***

There’s a little update here as well:

The following small account is found in G. R. Gray’s ‘ Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum’.:

CORIPHILUS KUHLII

‘Ari-manou’ of the natives of the Society Islands.
Society Islands (Borabora); Sandwich Islands.
” [2]

I thus changed the name of the supposed bird in the headline.

*********************  

References:

[1] Teuira Henry: Ancient Tahiti. Bishop Museum Bulletins 48: 1-651. 1928 [2] M. L. I. Duperrey: Voyage autour du monde: Exécuté par Ordre du Roi, Sur la Corvette de Sa Majesté, La Coquille, pendant les années 1822, 1823, 1824, et 1825, par M. L. I. Duperrey; Zoologie, par Mm. Lesson et Garnot. Paris: Arthus Bertrand 1828
[2] George Robert Gray: Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum. London: printed by order of the Trustees 1859

*********************  

edited: 05.01.2023

A swamphen from Ra’iatea?

Swamphens (genus Porphyrio) are distributed worldwide (except of course Antarctica), five species are currently officially recognized. In my opinion there are actually more species, 11 to be exact, namely if the Purple Swamphen (species complex) is split into the distinct species which it actually consists of.

And then there are the extinct members including five described species and seven not-yet-described ones.

***

And … then there are the hypothetical ones … two so far, one of which I have already written about here:

The Tahitian Mountain Goose

The other one is way less mysterious and on the other hand much more mysterious, it is a swamphen from Ra’iatea, Society Islands.

The island of Ra’iatea lies 50 km east of Huahine, the home island of McNab’s Swamphen (Porphyrio mcnabiKirchman & Steadman), one of 12 the extinct swamphen forms known on the basis of subfossil bones only.

***

What do we actually known about the mysterious bird of today’s post?

Not much. There is a little note among a big listing of Polynesian (including Melanesian and Micronesian) birds, which says the following.:

319.* Porphyrio sp.
Porphyrio sp. (Schmeltz), Cat. Mus. Godef. 1874 V, p. XVI; Garrett, 1. C. note.
Island of Raiatea, Society Is. (Garrett).
This species is known from two young specimens only.
“ [1]

***

And that’s it.

I could not find out anything else.

But … the Australian Swamphen is known to be a trampy species and has colonized new Zealand only quite recently, maybe only after the colonization of the islands by the first Polynesians. The same species has also colonized parts of Oceania, where the ssp. pelewensis Hartlaub & Finsch has evolved in Palau and the ssp. samoensis Peale (including. ssp. vitiensis Peale) in western Polynesia.

So, the two Ra’iatean birds may in fact not have been collected on Ra’iatea at all but on another island, or they may have been taken there but may have originated from another place, maybe from Samoa, the closest place where swamphens still exist today.
… or the Ra’iatean birds were indeed a distinct subspecies or perhaps rather species that survived into the 19th century.

***

Here is a little update for this enigmatic bird.:

Porphyrio porphyrio (L.), Talève poule-sultane. 

La seule citation de l’espèce en Polynésie orientale est due à Wiglesworth (1891b) qui mentionne «Porphyrio species» à Raiatea d’apres deux spécimens immatures collectés par Andrew Garrett. Il semble que les spécimens aient disparu. Il est douteux qu’il s’agisse d’une erreur d’étiquetage car Garrett ne visita certainement pas les Samoa, ni d’autres îles de ‘ouest du Pacifique. Ces oiseaux étaient donc, soit des visiteurs de Samoa, soit les représentants d’une population vivant autrefois à Raiatea et éteinte depuis longtemps.
” [2]

translation:

Porphyrio porphyrio (L.), Purple Swamphen.  

The only quotation of the species in Eastern Polynesia is due to Wiglesworth (1891b) which mentions «Porphyrio species» in Raiatea according to two immature specimens collected by Andrew Garrett. The specimens appear to have disappeared. It is doubtful that this was a labeling error because Garrett certainly did not visit Samoa or other islands in the western Pacific. These birds were therefore either visitors from Samoa or representatives of a population formerly living in Raiatea and extinct for a long time.

*********************

[1] Lionel K. Wiglesworth: Aves polynesiae: a catalogue of the birds of the Polynesian subregion (not including the Sandwich Islands). Berlin: R. Friedlaender & Sohn 1891 In: Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königl. Zoologischen und Anthropologisch-Etnographischen Museums zu Dresden Bd. 3: 1-84. 1890/91. herausgegeben von Hofrath Dr. A. B. Meyer, Director des Museums
[2] D. T. Holyoak; J.-C. Thibault: Contribution à l’étude des oiseaux de Polynésie orientale. Mémoires du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle 127(1): 1-209. 1984

*********************

edited: 10.03.2020

What is the Colombe Oricou?

Just recently, that means today, I did hear about this pigeon for the first time.

What is known about this bird?

Colombe Oricou (Columba auricularia Temminck & Knip)

Depiction from: Pauline Knip: Les pigeons, par Madame Knip, née Pauline de Courcelles, le texte par C. J. Themminck. Paris: chez Mme. Knip 1838-1843

(public domain)

Well, let us read (a part of) the description.:

Nous avons vu une variété entièrement blanche qui n’avoit du noir que sur la queue; d autres avoient le plumage plus ou moins marqué de taches grises et noires : ces derniers nous ont paru être de jeunes oiseaux. Les pieds sont constamment d’un beau rouge, et le bec est noir.
Nous présumons que l’Oricou habite les îles de la mer Pacifique, c’est du moins par des vaisseaux venant de ces parages que quelques individus ont été rapportés en Angleterre. Le Pigeon qui a servi de modèle à notre planche coloriée est déposé dans le cabinet de M. Raye de Breukelerwaert à Amsterdam. Cet amateur possède aussi la variété de cette espèce, dont les ailes sont entièrement blanches.” [1]

translation:

We saw an entirely white variety that only had black on the tail; others had more or less marked plumage of gray and black spots: these appeared to us to be young birds. The feet are constantly beautiful red, and the bill is black.
We assume that the Oricou lives in the islands of the Pacific Sea, it is less by vessels from these areas than a few individuals have been reported in England. The Pigeon which served as a model for our colored board is deposited in the cabinet of Mr. Raye de Breukelerwaert in Amsterdam. This amateur also has the variety of this species, whose wings are entirely white.

The description clearly based on a stuffed specimen, and the first and last sentences are especially interesting … for reasons …. 

***

The bird is also mentioned in another work.:

Note. – The Columba auricularis, Temm. Pig. t. 20,

is said to inhabit some of the islands of the Pacific Ocean; and others have more particularly given the Friendly Islands 
[Tonga] as the abode of this bird; but it is only an artificial production of some ingenious bird-preserver.” [2]

Ah, there it is: the Colombe Oricou apparently was one of the many made-up stuffed animals stored in museum- and private collections all over the world, made by extremely talented taxidermists and sold as exceedingly rare specimens for the highest prices – a practice that was quite common in former times.

***

The only question that remains is, which birds are involved here?

The body might have been that of a common feral pigeon, and the naked parts may indeed just have been plucked and painted subsequently.

That’s just all.

*********************

References:

[1] Pauline Knip: Les pigeons, par Madame Knip, née Pauline de Courcelles, le texte par C. J. Themminck. Paris: chez Mme. Knip 1838-1843
[2] George Robert Gray: Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum. London: printed by order of the Trustees 1859

*********************

edited: 10.03.2020

A reed-warbler from Raivavae?

Hi there!

While reading some stuff in my ‘reed warbler book’ [3] last night, I suddenly remembered that there was a sighting or rather a ‘hearing’ of a reed-warbler on an island where no such reed-warbler was known to exist, and I was quite sure that this was one of the Cook Islands but could not find any mention of it.

But then i found it and it was one of the Austral Islands, namely Raivavae, where a reed warbler was recorded in 1968, and it was apparently indeed not seen but heard only, but it was at least identified as being a reed-warbler.

The island of Raivavae has no surviving endemic land bird species today, but of course did have some of them in the past, among them very, very, veeery likely also a reed-warbler species, and in my humble opinion this appears to have survived until the mid 20th century at least.

***

So, I’ve checked my ‘usual suspects’ and found some furter informations, but not really that much, unfortunately.

Te Manu: Bulletin de la Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie. Nr 24. September 1998:

Une espèce non identifiée d’Acrocephalus a été notée à Raivavae en 1968 mais n’a pas été retrouvé en 1990 (Seitre et Seitre 1991) et pouvait donc être un oiseau erratique.

translation:

An unidentified species of Acrocephalus was recorded at Raivavae in 1968 but was not found in 1990 (Seitre and Seitre 1991) and could therefore be an erratic bird.

This record obviously is mentioned by D. T. Holyoak and J.-C. Thibault in 1984 [1] but I was not able to read it myself, however, I’m rather convinced that the ‘erratic bird’ more likely is meant to be what in German is called a “Irrgast”, a migratory bird that appeared on the island inadvertently while flying from one point to another.

But are there migratory reed warblers flying over the Austral Islands? No, because if they fly from north to south or back, they just do not cross the middle of the Pacific Ocean since the migratory reed-warbler species only inhabit the continents of the ‘Old World’ and those inhabiting the Polynesian islands do not migrate, as far as I know.

***

In chapter 7 of David W. Steadman’s ‘Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific birds’ from 2006 [2] it is mentioned as Acrocephalus vaughani and as a ‘M, modern record’ from Raivavae. How could I actually miss that until today?

****

I personally are rather sure that this single record from the island of Raivavae is indeed the last record of a former existing population of native, probably endemic, Raivavae Reed-Warblers which now join the ever-growing list of extinct taxa. 

***

Here is a little update, in the meantime I was able to finde the original work by D. T. Holyoak and J.-C. Thibault from 1984.:

A. v. sous-espèce ? 

Raevavae: des fauvettes furent entendues par Lacan (J.-L. Mougin, comm. pers.) en mai 1968.
” [1]

translation:

A. v. subspecies? 

Raevavae: warblers were heard by Lacan (J.-L. Mougin, pers. comm.) in May 1968.

*********************

References:

[1] D. T. Holyoak; J.-C. Thibault: Contribution à l’étude des oiseaux de Polynésie orientale. Mémoires du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle 127(1): 1-209. 1984
[2] David W. Steadman: Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press 2006
[3] David Pearson; Peter Kennerly: Reed and Bush Warblers. Christopher Helm 2009

*********************

edited: 10.03.2020

Ospreys on the Tongan Islands – when did they disappear?

The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus (L.)) is a highly specialized bird of prey that is distributed almost around the whole world except for Antarctica, and it was once even more widespread and occurred as far east as western Polynesia.:

The Osprey still ocurs on New Caledonia, but not further east, however, it formerly did and it is known to have occurred on the Tongan Islands on the basis of subfossil bones of adult and juvenile birds that were found in several archaeological sites on the islands of Ha’ano and ‘Uiha in the Ha’apai Islands group in the middle of the Tongan Islands chain. [2]

***

PANDION HALIAETUS (?).
Falco haliaetus, Forst. Descr.* &c. p. 257.
Isle of Pines (Island of Spruce Trees); Tonga Islands (Tongatabu or Tonga Island).
” [1]

Is it possible that this Tongan form has survived into the early 19th century?

*********************

References:

[1] George Robert Gray: Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum. London: printed by order of the Trustees 1859
[2] David W. Steadman: Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press 2006

*********************

edited: 10.03.2020

Photo safari

We used the little sunshine today ….

A Carrion Crow along the way was playing with- or trying to eat a walnut.

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone ssp. corone)

Along the river we saw at least three herons, two of them were wearing their breading plumage which differs by the redder beak and the blue instead of yellow skin around the eye.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea ssp. cinerea) in non-breeding plumage, note the rather orange colored beak and the yellow skin around the eye
Grey Heron in nearly full breeding plumage
Grey Heron in full breeding plumage

A tiny Blue Tit was willing to be photographed, however, I could get only one photo … well, better than nothing. 🙂

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caerulea ssp. caerulea)

Pinterest …

I have to confess: I do not fully understand what this Pinterest is supposed to be, apparently you can ‘make’ a page there where you can post stuff like photos and other pictures that is yours and some that is not …

So, sooner or later you might find ‘things’ there that you know are actually yours but that you did not have posted there, like in this case.:

the article and the bird were made by me, the rest not

I have to confess another thing: I hate Pinterest, whenever I try to find depictions of something some Pinterest page pops up, but as long as you aren’t a member you cannot open anything to look further, so it is quite useless for non-members.

… and now this – NERD ….

Paradiesvögel – eine (Unter)Arten Liste

Eine Auflistung aller 78 Formen, die derzeit anerkannt werden, einfach in alphabetischer Reihenfolge.:

Astrapia mayeri 
Astrapia nigra 
Astrapia rothschildi 
Astrapia splendidissima ssp. helios 
Astrapia splendidissima ssp. splendidissima 
Astrapia stephaniae ssp. feminina 
Astrapia stephaniae ssp. stephaniae
 

Cicinnurus magnificus ssp. chrysopterus 
Cicinnurus magnificus ssp. hunsteini 
Cicinnurus magnificus ssp. magnificus 
Cicinnurus regius ssp. coccineifrons 
Cicinnurus regius ssp. regius 
Cicinnurus respublica
 

Drepanornis albertisi ssp. albertisi 
Drepanornis albertisi ssp. cervinicauda 
Drepanornis bruijnii 


Epimachus fastuosus ssp. atratus 
Epimachus fastuosus ssp. fastuosus 
Epimachus fastuosus ssp. ultimus 
Epimachus meyeri ssp. albicans 
Epimachus meyeri ssp. bloodi 
Epimachus meyeri ssp. meyeri 


Lophorina intercedens 
Lophorina magnifica ssp. alberti 
Lophorina magnifica ssp. magnifica 
Lophorina minor 
Lophorina niedda ssp. inopinata 
Lophorina niedda ssp. niedda 
Lophorina paradisea 
Lophorina superba ssp. addenda 
Lophorina superba ssp. latipennis 
Lophorina superba ssp. superba 
Lophorina victoriae 


Lycocorax obiensis 
Lycocorax pyrrhopterus ssp. morotensis 
Lycocorax pyrrhopterus ssp. pyrrhopterus
 

Manucodia ater ssp. alter 
Manucodia ater ssp. ater 
Manucodia ater ssp. subalter 
Manucodia chalybatus 
Manucodia comrii 
Manucodia jobiensis 


Paradigalla brevicauda 
Paradigalla carunculata 


Paradisaea apoda 
Paradisaea decora 
Paradisaea guilielmi 
Paradisaea minor ssp. finschi 
Paradisaea minor ssp. jobiensis 
Paradisaea minor ssp. minor 
Paradisaea raggiana ssp. augustaevictoriae 
Paradisaea raggiana ssp. intermedia 
Paradisaea raggiana ssp. raggiana 
Paradisaea raggiana ssp. salvadorii 
Paradisaea rubra 


Paradisornis rudolphi ssp. margaritae 
Paradisornis rudolphi ssp. rudolphi 


Parotia berlepschi 
Parotia carolae ssp. carolae 
Parotia carolae ssp. chalcothorax 
Parotia carolae ssp. chrysenia 
Parotia carolae ssp. clelandiorum 
Parotia carolae ssp. meeki 
Parotia lawesii ssp. helenae 
Parotia lawesii ssp. lawesii 
Parotia sefilata 
Parotia wahnesi 


Phonygammus keraudrenii ssp. gouldii 
Phonygammus keraudrenii ssp. hunsteini 
Phonygammus keraudrenii ssp. jamesii 
Phonygammus keraudrenii ssp. keraudrenii 
Phonygammus keraudrenii ssp. neumanni 
Phonygammus keraudrenii ssp. purpureoviolaceus 


Pteridophora alberti 

Seleucidis melanoleucos ssp. auripennis 
Seleucidis melanoleucos ssp. melanoleucos 

Semioptera wallacii ssp. halmaherae
Semioptera wallacii ssp. wallacii

*********************

Referenzen:

[1] Andy Elliot; Nigel J. Collar; Murray D. Bruce; Guy M. Kirwan: The nomenclature of Lophorina (Aves: Paradisaeidae), with remarks on the type and type locality of L. superba. Zootaxa 4732: 57-78. 2020

*********************

bearbeitet: 28.02.2020

The enigmatic Washington Island Gadwall

The most mysterious of all the Pacific waterfowl is Coues’ Gadwall, Anas strepera couesi, only two specimens of which have ever been found, on Washington Island, more than six hundred miles south of Hawaii. The two specimens, the male type and a female, collected in 1874, are now in the U.S. National Museum in Washington. In appearance these birds are simply Gadwalls reduced to about two-thirds normal size. The plumage too is rather dull and somewhat unfinished-looking. Washington Island is a marshy place only a few miles long, with a small brackich lake near the centre and a fringe of palms. Since he original pair of birds were discovered, several expeditions have stopped at the island, but no one has ever seen Coues’ Gadwall again. Speculation is perhaps unprofitable, but sometimes it is irresistible. I often like to wonder how these birds ever came to Washington Island. It is my guess, for what it is worth, that these two specimens represent the last of a very small inbred breeding population of true Gadwalls which by an accident of migration had become established on the island. I suspect that their size and coloration are due to environment and inbreeding rather than to any genetic change.“ [4]

This account summarizes quite well what’s known about this bird.

Gadwall and Washington Island Gadwall (the smaller bird on the right side)

Depiction from: ‘John C. Phillips: A Natural History of the Ducks. Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company; 1922-1926’

(public domain)

***

Then there are some strange accounts, or rather misinterpretations of accounts, let’s start with one that is rather less known, and speaks of the occurence of a form of gadwall on the Society Islands.:

Forster met with a species of Gadwall on the Society Islands and identified it with A. strepera Linn. It is much more likely that is was C. couesi, for the range of that species doubtless extends beyond Washington Island, the only locality as yet known for it.” [2]

I read this original account by J. R. Forster, which is completely in Latin, and which merely is a enumeration of species, the duck is mentioned here just as “Anatem streperam“, that’s all, and this account almost for sure refers to the Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa Gmelin), which occurs on the Society Islands, and which is not separately mentioned here … and in fact, Forster mentiones “Anas strepera” again in an enumeration of birds he describes from New Zealand, this also clearly refers to the Pacific Black Duck! [1]

***

Then there’s another account in a German book, which again is refering to an account in James C. Greenway’S “Extinct and vanishing birds of the world” from the 1960s.:

Interessant ist eine weitere Bemerkung desselben Autors, wonach nach Angaben von Ripley ein auf den Tuamotu-Inseln gefundenes Entenkücken sich bei Erreichen der Geschlechtsreife als Schnatterente herausstellte.” 

translation:

Interesting is another comment of the same author [J. C. Greenway], based on which according to Ripley a duckling found on the Tuamotu islands, when reaching maturity, turned out to be a gadwall.” [6]

***

Okay … after purchasing J. C. Greenway’s book, which took me ages again, I can now proudly present you this abovementioned account by the ominous Ripley.:

But, on the other hand, Dr. S. Dillon Ripley tells me that a duckling taken on the Tuamotu Islands was raised by Charles Nordhoff at Tahiti. When it reached maturity it turned out to be a gadwall.” [5]

That’s all, we actually deal with hearsay, an account of an account of someone who claimes to have caught a duckling on one of the Tuamotu Islands (these are actually the largest island group in the world consisting of no less than 76 atolls, just by the way ….) without naming the island in question.

However, given the geographic position of Washington Island/Teraina, a former occurence of this bird on the Tuamotu Archipelago makes much more sense than on the Society Islands.

***

But now let’s take a look on what these two persons, Dr. S. Dillon Ripley and Charles Nordhoff, have to tell; we start with Mr. Ripley …:

It sometimes happens that migrating Ducks plummet down on to isolated islands in the Pacific. Mr. Charles Nordhoff told me once that a schooner captain inbound to Tahiti from Flint island, an isolated rock pinnacle three hundred miles or more north towards Hawaii from the Society Islands, brought him a duckling which he had picked up on the island. Mr. Nordhoff was able to raise the bird, and found that it was a Pintail, presumably from wild parents. If Pintails can fly so far south of Hawaii where they are in the habit of wintering, there seems no reason why Gadwalls should not be able to do the same thing.” [4]

… and go on with Mr. Nordhoff.:

In his article in the Waterfowl number of the AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE, Dillon Ripley mentions a duckling I received some years ago from Flint Island, which when reared proved to be a fine male Pintail. I believe that a good many stray Ducks from the Northern Hemisphere land on the Pacific Islands, and occasionally, as Ripley suggests in the case of Coues’ Gadwall, give rise to a sedentary and eventually inbred race. I have reliable information that Shovelers in winter plumage have vistited both the Marquesas and the Tuamotu on several occasions, and that Pintail have been seen on Atiu in the Cook Group, south-west of Tahiti.” [3]

Well, well, so the Tuamotu Islands suddenly has changed into Flint Island, which in fact is not a part of the Tuamotu Archipelago but of Kiribati – and – the duckling that was supposed to turn out being a Gadwall was in fact a Pintail (Anas acuta L.), a completely different species of duck! 

After all, we are left with probably more questions than answers.

*********************

References:

[1] Johann Reinhold Forster; Hinrich Lichtenstein: Descriptiones animalium quae in itinere ad Maris Australis terras per annos 1772, 1773 et 1774 suscepto. Berolini: Ex Officina Academica 1844
[2] Lionel K. Wiglesworth: Aves polynesiae: a catalogue of the birds of the Polynesian subregion (not including the Sandwich Islands). Berlin: R. Friedlaender & Sohn 1891 In: Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königl. Zoologischen und Anthropologisch-Etnographischen Museums zu Dresden Bd. 3: 1-84. 1890/91. herausgegeben von Hofrath Dr. A. B. Meyer, Director des Museums
[3] Charles Nordhoff: Notes on the birds of Tahiti. The Avicultural Magazine ser. 5. 8(5): 119-120. 1943
[4] Dillon Ripley: Pacific Waterfowl. The Avicultural Magazine ser. 5. 8(3): 67-70. 1943
[5] James C. Greenway, Jr: Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. Dover Publications, 2nd Edition 1967
[6] Dieter Luther: Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt. Westarp Wissenschaften 1986

*********************

edited: 28.02.2020

A Tahitian Swamphen?

While researching some accounts reffering to the Washington Island Gadwall (Mareca strepera ssp. couesi Streets), I stumbled accros a footnote that made me wonder … a bit at least.:

The native birds of Tahiti are in a sad state; the Porphyrio is extinct, as is the small grey, Thrush-like Omaomao [Tahiti Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus caffer (Sparrman))], famous for its beautiful song, and the magnificent large Fruit Pigeon [Polynesian Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula aurorae (Peale))], of which a few existed as late as 1920.” [1]

Well, aside the fact that the name “Omaomao” is rather applied to the Garrett’s Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus musae ssp. garretti (Holyoak & Thibault)), the Tahiti Reed-Warbler is still alive.

What amazes me is that the author mentiones the term “Porphyrio” in a absolutely casual way, and this certain author, Charles Nordhoff, knew what a Porphyrio is, he kept six New Zealand Swamphens (Porphyrio melanotus (Temminck)) in the garden of his house while living on the island of Tahiti.

***

There is furthermore a painting by Paul Gaugin, made in 1897 during a stay on Tahiti, it is called “Vairumati” (see below) and shows a female islander sitting on a chair and to her left a strange-looking white bird that very much reminds on a swamphen. 

I personally do not think that Gaugin painted a real bird here because the same bird appears in several of his paintings, always in the same pose, differing only in the coloration.

Paul Gaugin “Vairumati” 1897

(public domain)

***

It nevertheless is almost certain that a swamphen species once inhabited the island of Tahiti, and that additional species inhabited all of the other Society islands, however, the only true evidence for that assumption are the subfossil remains of McNab’s Swamphen (Porphyrio mcnabi Kirchman & Steadman) found on the island of Huahine.

I only somehow doubt that this Tahiti Swamphen disappeared only around the 1940s … but, who knows.

*********************

References:

[1] Charles Nordhoff: Notes on the birds of Tahiti. The Avicultural Magazine ser. 5. 8(5): 119-120. 1943

*********************

edited: 27.02.2020

Duivenbodes Sechstrahliger Strahlenparadiesvogel

Duivenbodes Sechstrahliger Strahlenparadiesvogel (Parotia duivenbodei Rothschild)

Auf den ersten Blick sieht dieser Vogel wie ein typischer Strahlenparadiesvogel aus, der einen glänzenden Brustschild und längliche, fadenförmige Hinterhaupt’fähnchen’ trägt. Er hatte jedoch nur zwei von ihnen anstelle der üblichen sechs, so dass sein Trivialname eigentlich eher Duivenbodes zweistrahliger Strahlenparadiesvogel sein sollte.  

Die Form ist anhand von zwei männlichen Exemplaren bekannt und wurde als Hybrid des Kragenparadiesvogel (Lophorina superba (J. R. Forst.)) und des Arfak-Strahlenparadiesvogel (Parotia sefilata (Pennant)) identifiziert.

********************* 

Darstellung aus: ‘Walter Rothschild: On recently described Paradiseidae, with notes on some other new species. Ibis 9(5): 350-367. 1911’

(not in copyright)

*********************

Quelle:

[1] Clifford B. Frith; Bruce M. Beehler: The Birds of Paradise: Paradisaeidae. Oxford University Press 1998

*********************

bearbeitet: 14.03.2021

How many tapaculos of the genus Scytalopus are there?

Well, many – according to a new study (which apparently took about 40 years in the making!!!).

The tapaculos of the genus Scytalopus are troughout small, mostly greyish colored, inconspicuous birds with poor flight abilities that inhabit the dense undergrowth of the Andean forests of southwestern South America (some species occur more northerly).

The Magellanic Tapaculo (Scytalopus magellanicus (J. F. Gmelin)) (see depiction below) is one of them, and is a part of a complex that shares its name, the Scytalopus [magellanicus] complex, which again includes several species, some of which have been discovered and described only recently.

Magellanic Tapaculo (Scytalopus magellanicus)

Depiction from: ‘Richard Crawshay: The birds of Tierra del Fuego. London: B. Quaritch 1907’

(public domain)

Yet, this complex has gotten even richer in species, with the description of three completely new ones, split from others: the Jalca Tapaculo (Scytalopus frankeae), the White-winged Tapaculo (Scytalopus krabbei), and the Ampay Tapaculo (Scytalopus whitneyi), as well as one subspecies (itself only described in 2010) being elevated to species rank, the Eastern Paramo Tapaculo (Scytalopus androstictus). [1]

*********************

References:

[1] Niels K. Krabbe; Thomas S. Schulenberg; Peter A. Hosner; Kenneth V. Rosenberg; Tristan J. Davis; Gary H. Rosenberg; Daniel F. Lane; Michael J. Andersen; Mark B. Robbins; Carlos Daniel Cadena; Thomas Valqui; Jessie F. Salter; Andrew J. Spencer; Fernando Angulo; Jon Fjeldså: Untangling cryptic diversity in the High Andes: Revision of the Scytalopus [magellanicus] complex (Rhinocryptidae) in Peru reveals three new species. The Auk 137: 1-26. 2020

*********************

edited: 26.02.2020

Eine pleistozäne Lerche

Ein gut erhaltener, mumifizierter Vogelleichnam, der im sibirischen Permafrostboden gefunden wurde, wurde als Ohrenlerche (Eremophila alpestris (L.)) identifiziert, der Körper wurde nun weiter untersucht, und die Ergebnisse sind erstaunlich. 

Foto aus: ‘Nicolas Dussex; David W. G. Stanton; Hanna Sigeman; Per G. P. Ericson; Jacquelyn Gill; Daniel C. Fisher; Albert V. Protopopov; Victoria L. Herridge; Valery Plotnikov; Bengt Hansson; Love Dalén: Article Open Access Published: 21 February 2020 Biomolecular analyses reveal the age, sex and species identity of a near-intact Pleistocene bird carcass. Communications Biology 3: 1-6. 2020’

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Die Radiokarbondatierung des gefrorenen Körpers ergab ein Alter von 43600 bis 41600 Jahren, das bedeutet, er stammt aus der letzten Eiszeit innerhalb des Oberpleistozäns (als Wollhaarmammuts überall auf der Nordhalbkugel häufig und weitverbreitet waren).

Die DNA des Vogels wurde ebenfalls überprüft und es wurde festgestellt, dass es sich um eine Ohrenlerche handelt, allerdings konnte das gefrorene Exemplar keiner der bekannten Unterarten zugeordnet werden. Es scheint hingegen der direkte Vorfahr zweier noch existierenden Formen zu sein, nämlich der Steppenlerche (Eremophila alpestris ssp. brandti (Dresser)) und der Uferlerche (Eremophila alpestris ssp. flava (J. F. Gmelin)) (siehe Foto), die sich aufgrund der Veränderungen der Umweltbedingungen während des Übergangs vom Pleistozän zum Holozän zu eigenständigen Unterarten aufspalteten. [1]

Uferlerche (Eremophila alpestris ssp. flava (J. F. Gmelin)); Männchen

Foto: MPF
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

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Quelle:

[1] Nicolas Dussex; David W. G. Stanton; Hanna Sigeman; Per G. P. Ericson; Jacquelyn Gill; Daniel C. Fisher; Albert V. Protopopov; Victoria L. Herridge; Valery Plotnikov; Bengt Hansson; Love Dalén: Article Open Access Published: 21 February 2020 Biomolecular analyses reveal the age, sex and species identity of a near-intact Pleistocene bird carcass. Communications Biology 3: 1-6. 2020

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bearbeitet: 21.02.2020

Le Nébuleux

Le Nébuleux (Nebulöser Fadenhopf)

Dies könnte der erste Teil einer kleinen Serie sein ….  

Le Nébuleux oder der Nebulöse ist nur anhand zweier Gemälde von Jacques Barraband in François Le Vaillants “Histoire naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis et des Rolliers” aus dem Jahr 1806 bekannt, die sehr wahrscheinlich ein einzelnes Exemplar in zwei verschiedenen Positionen zeigen. Es ist bekannt, dass Jacques Barraband absolut genau war, daher muss der von ihm dargestellte Vogel existiert haben und tatsächlich exakt wie in seinen Darstellungen ausgesehen haben.  

Das Exemplar ist ganz klar ein Fadenhopf (Seleucidis melanoleuca (Daudin)), jedoch mit nur neun (oder zehn?) Anstelle von zwölf ‘Fäden’ und mit einer schwarz- statt gelb gefärbten Unterseite; seine weibchenähnlich braun gefärbten Flügel weisen darauf hin, dass es sich um einen subadulten Vogel handelte. [2]  

Der Nebulöse könnte derselbe gewesen sein wie Bruijns Reifelvogel (Craspedophora bruyni Büttikofer) alias Mantous Reifelvogel (Craspedophora mantoui Oustalet), welche beide Hybriden des Prachtparadiesvogels (Ptiloris magnificus Vieillot) und des Fadenhopfes sind. [2]

Diese Form wurde nie wissenschaftlich beschrieben und trägt daher auch keinen wissenschaftlichen Namen.

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Le Nébuleux, dans l’état du repos / Der Nebulöse, im ruhenden Zustand [1]
Le Nébuleux, étalant ses parures / Der Nebulöse, seine Zierde ausbreitend [1]

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Quellen:

[1] François Le Vaillant: Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers: suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris: Chez Denné le jeune, Libraire, rue Vivienne, n°. 10. & Perlet, Libraire, rue de Tournon 1806
[2] Clifford B. Frith; Bruce M. Beehler: The Birds of Paradise: Paradisaeidae. Oxford University Press 1998

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bearbeitet: 14.03.2021

A finchy sketch

This is actually a undetermined cardinal, a member of the family Cardinalidae and thus not a real finch in the general sense … I need a picture of such a ‘thing’ for something I plan to write about, but I don’t want to say anything further now.

well, the feet are shit not so good, we’ll see where this leads us to …

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edited: 20.02.2020

Another little photo safari

Today we have been in the Botanical Garden of Jena, some kilometers from home, I wanted to try to ‘catch’ some birds with my camera.

I was able to get a little Robin.:

Robin (Erithacus rubecula ssp. rubecula)

I also got two Blackbirds, a female and a male.

Blackbird (Turdus merula ssp. merula); female
Blackbird (Turdus merula ssp. merula); male

It is astonishingly warm these days – thanks to global warming.

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edited: 01.02.2020

Blog moving – and, to celebrate the day … a Common Kingfisher

The blog has moved, again, I hope this time it will be for good ….

I wanted to take a break from the strenuous work of logging on, uploading, and, and, and with two small trips outside to freak out relax and freshen up when suddenly this little colorful thing flew in front of my cell phone lens.

The cell phone photo of course was completely useless, so I decided to go back home, catch my camera and to try my luck … maybe the little bird might come back?

It did indeed. 😛

The bird, apparently a female, as can be seen by its red colored lower mandible, was sitting amongst the willow shrubs along the local flood ditch.

The place where I photographed the kingfisher is quite busy, and of course various passers-by had to check what I was probably doing there … hm, of course none of them could see what I saw.

Yah!

The bird is surprisingly well camouflaged due to its small size alone, in addition, most people are completely nature-blind anyway, thus miss al the little treasures surrounding us.

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edited: 29.01.2020

Fossil record of the Struthioniformes

Palaeotididae (?)

Galligeranoides boriensis Bourdon, Mourer-Chauvire & Laurent [1]

Palaeotis weigelti Lambrecht

Struthionidae

Pachystruthio dmanisensis (Вurchak-Abramovich & Vekua)

Struthio anderssoni Lowe
Struthio asiaticus Milne-Edwards
Struthio bradydactylus Burchak-Abramovich
Struthio chersonensis Brant
Struthio coppensi Mourer-Chauviré et al.
Struthio karatheodoris Forsyth Major
Struthio mongolicus Lowe
Struthio novorossicus Alexejev
Struthio orlovi Kurochkin & Lungu
Struthio wimani Lowe

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References:

[1] Gerald Mayr: Hindlimb morphology of Palaeotis suggests palaeognathous affinities of the Geranoididae and other „crane-like“ birds from the Eocene of the Northern Hemisphere. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 64(4): 669-678. 2019

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edited: 05.01.2020

Visit at the ‘Vogelmuseum’ Halberstadt (Museum Heineanum)

There are over 10000 bird species worldwide, unfortunately this museum only shows a microscopic section of this overwhelming diversity in two rooms, which again are distributed on two levels.

Here a view inside the ‘birds of the world’ showcase.:

birds from all over the world, most of them well over hundred years old and accordingly faded

I was particularly impressed by the really beautiful reconstruction of a life-sized ‘Urvogel’.:

Urvogel (Archaeopteryx lithographica), the feathers appear to come from a night heron, I did not ask, however

Besides the old and – sorry! – ugly preparations, the museum still houses an incredible number of bellows, which are of course kept from the public, as well as some newer preparations that are often used to show the interesting behavior of some bird species.

These newer specimens are beautiful throughout.:

Great Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) feeds a young Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) … with small pieces of wire, which apparently are supposed to represent caterpillars
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) at a so-called ‘Drosselschmiede’, apparently called ‘thrush anvill’ in English (?)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) inside his/her brood cavern
Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) searching for food inside an anthill

On the lower floor, native birds are exhibited, which are housed in small dioramas that are modeled on their respective habitat.:

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) in front of a house wall  
Eurasian Linnet (Linaria cannabina) among heath shrubs  
Twites (Linaria flavirostris) in a barren mountain landscape 

Inside of a tiny, strangely yellowish illuminated showcase are some ancient and really ugly hummingbird specimens as well as three kingfishers, of which one, the one in the middle, aroused my interest. 

The label says „Halcyon tuta (Gesellschaftsinseln)“, a second label again says „Tonga“, so, which species is this then?   

Tongan Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris ssp. sacer) or Chattering Kingfisher (Todiramphus tutus)?

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edited: 04.01.2020

The Inner Bird: Anatomy and Evolution

Gary W. Kaiser: The Inner Bird: Anatomy and Evolution. UBC Press 2007

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Ich muss gestehen, dass dieses Buch so überhaupt nicht das ist was ich eigentlich erwartet hatte, ich hatte mir nämlich so eine Art „Welcher-Knochen-am-Skelett-heißt-wie-Buch“ vorgestellt.

In diesem Buch geht es aber viel mehr darum wie Vögel funktionieren, und zwar im wahrsten Sinne des Titels – im Inneren, und hierbei sind vor allem die Knochen von Interesse.

Sehr viel mehr kann ich momentan noch nicht sagen/schreiben, weil ich mich noch nicht komplett durch gelesen habe.

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bearbeitet: 27.12.2019

Fossil record of the Odontopterygiformes

Pelagornithidae

Caspiodontornis kobystanicus Aslanova & Burchak-Abramovich

Cyphornis magnus Cope

Dasornis emuinus (Bowerbank)

Gigantornis eaglesomei Andrews

Macrodontopteryx oweni Harrison & C. A. Walker

Odontopteryx toliapica Owen

Osteodontornis orri Howard

Palaeochenoides mioceanus Shufeldt

Pelagornis miocaenus Lartet
Pelagornis mauretanicus Mourer-Chauviré & Geraads
Pelagornis chilensis Mayr & Rubilar
Pelagornis sandersi Ksepka

Protodontopteryx ruthae Mayr et. al.

Pseudodontornis longidentata Harrison & C. A. Walker
Pseudodontornis longirostris (Spulski)
Pseudodontornis stirtoni Howard & Warter
Pseudodontornis tenuirostris Harrison
Pseudodontornis tshulensis (Averianov, Panteleev, Potapova & Nesov)

Tympanonesiotes wetmorei Hopson

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edited: 25.12.2019

Remiornis

Remiornis heberti Lemoine, ein rätselhafter Ratit aus dem oberen Paläozän, der wahrscheinlich nicht näher mit den heutigen Straußen verwandt war.  

Rekonstruktion; oder eher eine Skizze einer Rekonstruktion 

Der Vogel ähnelte wohl am ehesten einem plumpen Tinamu und war wohl flugunfähig.  

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bearbeitet: 25.12.2019

Vogelfüße

Vögel besitzen eine erstaunliche Vielfalt an verschiedensten Fußformen, von denen ich hier die sechs häufigsten vorstellen möchte.

Der Hallux (1. Zeh) besitzt zwei Phalangen, von denen die hintere jedoch meist reduziert und oft mit dem eigentlichen Fußknochen verschmolzen ist. Die restlichen Zehen besitzen jeweils eine ihrer Anordnung am Fuß entsprechende Anzahl an Phalangen, d.h. der 2. Zeh besitzt zwei, der 3. Zeh drei und der 4. Zeh vier Phalangen. 

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Die folgenden Skizzen zeigen jeweils einen rechten Fuß von oben betrachtet.

Anisodactylie – die weitaus häufigste Zehenstellung, mit einem rückwärts gerichteten Hallux und vorwärts gerichtetem ersten, zweiten und dritten Zeh
Tridactylie – Hallux zurückgebildet; z.B. bei den Casuariiformes (Emus/Kasuare) und einigen Arten der Ordnung Charadriiformes (Regenpfeiferartige)
Didactylie – Hallux und zweiter Zeh zurückgebildet; findet sich heutzutage ausschließlich bei den Struthioniformes (Strauße)
Zygodactylie – Hallux und vierter Zeh rückwärts gerichtet; z.B. bei den Piciformes (Spechtvögel) Psittaciformes (Papageien)
Heterodactylie – Hallux und zweiter Zeh rückwärts gerichtet; findet sich (soweit bisher bekannt) nur bei den Trogoniformes (Trogone)
Pamprodactylie – alle Zehen mehr oder weniger vorwärts gerichtet; findet sich bei heutigen Vögeln nur bei den Apodidae/Apodiformes (Segler) und Coliiformes (Mausvögel) und bei diesen beiden Gruppen auch nur fakultativ

Es gibt noch weitere Fußformen, bei diesen handelt es sich aber Varianten der oben abgebildeten Formen (Tridactylie bei gleichzeitiger Zygodactylie bei einigen Spechtarten), so dass ich dieses Thema hier (zumindest momentan) erst einmal nicht weiter vertiefen werde.

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bearbeitet: 22.12.2019

FMNH PA789

This is a small bird from the Eocene of Wyoming, USA, it was only about 10 cm long and is so far known from a complete skeleton with most of the feathers preserved as well.

The bird is not yet described but is apparently currently under study, it may turn out to be related to Morsoravis sedilis Bertelli, Lindow, Dyke & Chiappe, and to belong into a new family, probably named the Morsorornithidae or alike, which then again are perhaps somehow related to the mousebird/parrot/songbird ‘orbit’.

The reconstruction shows it while somewhat stretching its left wing, it was ‘fun’ to draw all this wing feathers, and I probably will do that NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!   😉

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A little update here: 

This bird is now apparently included into the genus Morsoravis. [2]

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References:

[1] Lance Grande: The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time. University of Chicago Press 2013
[2] Daniel T. Ksepka; Lance Grande; Gerald Mayr: Oldest finch-beaked birds reveal parallel ecological radiations in the earliest evolution of passerines. Current Evolution 29(4): 657-663. 2019

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edited: 07.12.2019

Elal’s Mountain Swan – Kookne yeutensis

This new bird has recently been reported from Argentinia, and its name apparently is taken from the Aonikenk language, which is or was spoken by the Mapuche of southern Argentinia and its translation is given in the title.

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The new genus and species is known so far from a single bone, an incomplete right coracoid, whose „combination of characters strongly suggests anseriform affinities“. [1]

That means that this species obvioulsy was an anseriform, some duck- or goose-like bird, more or less similar to other Late Cretaceous or Early Paleocene species.

Let’s see if there will be more remains to be discovered in the future.

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References:

[1] Fernando. E. Novas; Federico. L. Agnolin; Sebastián Rozadilla; Alexis M. Aranciaga-Rolando; Federico Brisson-Egli; Matias J. Motta; Mauricio Cerroni; Martín D. Ezcurra; Agustín G. Martinelli; Julia S. d ́Angelo; Gerardo Alvarez-Herrera; Adriel R. Gentil; Sergio Bogan; Nicolás R. Chimento; Jordi A. García-Marasà; Gastón Lo Coco; Sergio E. Miquel; Fátima F. Brito; Ezequiel I. Vera; Valeria S. Perez Loinaze; Mariela S. Fernández & Leonardo Salgado: Paleontological discoveries in the Chorrillo Formation (upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous), Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, n. s. 21(2): 217-293. 2019

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edited: 07.12.2019

Fossil record of the Avisauriformes (?)

Avisauridae

Avisaurus archibaldi Brett-Surman & Paul

Bauxitornis mindszentyae Dyke & Ősi

Concornis lacustris Sanz & Buscalioni

Enantiophoenix electrophyla Cau & Arduini

Gettya gloriae (Varrichio and Chiappe)

Halimornis thompsoni Chiappe, Lamb & Ericson

Intiornis inexpectatus Novas et al.

Mirarce eatoni Atterholt et al.

Neuquenornis volans Chiappe & Calvo

Soroavisaurus australis Chiappe

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edited: 06.12.2019

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Note that this order may not be valid.