Db 20(1)1998 by DutchBirding

Dutch Birding

Dutch Birding HOOFDREDACTEUR Arnoud van den Berg (tel 023-5378024, fax 023-5376749, e-mail Arnoud.vandenBerg@inter.nl.net) ADJUNCT HOOFDREDACTEUR Enno Ebels (tel/fax 030-2961 335, e-mail ebels@wxs.nl) UITVOEREND REDACTEUR André van Loon (tel/fax 020-6997585, e-mail laan@bio.vu.nl) FOTOGRAFISCH REDACTEUR René Pop (tel 0223-690141, fax 0223-690142) REDACTIERAAD Ferdy Hieselaar, Peter Meininger, George Sangster en Roland van der Vliet

Internationaal tijdschrift over

Palearctische vogels

REDACTIE-ADVIESRAAD Peter Barthel (Duitsland), Klaas Eigenhuis (Nederland), Dick Forsman (Finland), Ted Hoogendoorn (Nederland), Lars Jonsson (Zweden), Paul Lehman (VS), Anthony McGeehan (Noord-Ierland), Killian Mullarney (Ierland), Gerald Oreel (Nederland), Kees Roselaar (Nederland), Frank Rozendaal (Nederland), Hadoram Shirihai (Israël), Gunter De Smet (België), Lars Svensson (Zweden) en Peter Symens (België) REDACTIEMEDEWERKERS Ruud van Dongen, Gerald Driessens, Nils van Duivendijk, Remco Hofland, Graham Holloway, Diederik Kok, Hans van der Meulen en Peter de Rouw

REDACTIE Dutch Birding Postbus 116 2080 AC Santpoort-Zuid Nederland fax 023-5376749 FOTOREDACTIE Dutch Birding p/a René Pop Postbus 1007 1780 EA Julianadorp Nederland AOONNEMENTENADMINISTRATIE p/a Jeannette Admiraal Iepenlaan 11 1901 ST Castricum Nederland BESTUUR Dutch Birding Association Postbus 75611 1070 AP Amsterdam Nederland COMMISSIE DWAALGASTEN NEDERLANDSE AVIFAUNA CD NA Postbus 45 2080 AA Santpoort-Zuid Nederland

PRODUCTIE EN LAY-OUT André van Loon en René van Rossum ADVERTENTIES Peter Meijer (tel 0348-431905, fax 0348-430216, e-mail meijerpc@worldonline.nl) ABONNEMENTEN De abonnementsprijs voor 1998 bedraagt: NLG 65.00 (Nederland), BEF 1320.00 (België), NLG 72.50 (overige landen binnen Europa) en NLG 77.50 (landen buiten Europa). U kunt zich abonneren door het overmaken van de abonnementsprijs op girorekening 01 50 697 (Nederland), girorekening 000 1592468 19 (België) of bankrekening 54 93 30 348 van ABN+AMRO (Castricum), ovv 'abonnement Dutch Birding'. Alle rekeningen zijn ten name van de Dutch Birding Association. Het abonnement gaat in na ontvangst van de betaling. Dutch Birding is een tweemaandelijks tijdschrift met nummers in februari, april, juni , augustus, oktober en december. Het publiceert originele artikelen en mededelingen over morfologie, systematiek, voorkomen en verspreiding van vogels in de Benelux, Europa en elders in het Palearctische gebied. Het publiceert tevens bijdragen over vogels in het Aziatisch-Pacifische gebied en andere gebieden. De volgorde van vogels in Dutch Birding volgt in eerste instantie een klassieke 'Wetmoreindeling'. Binnen dit raamwerk worden voor taxonomie en naamgeving de volgende overzichten aangehouden: Lijst 98 Nederlandse vogelsoorten door A B van den Berg & C A WBosman (1998, Santpoort-Zuid) (taxonomie en wetenschappelijke en Nederlandse namen van Nederlandse vogels); List of birds of the Western Palearctic door British Birds (1997, Blunham) (Engelse namen van West-Palearctische vogels); de door C S Roselaar samengestelde lijst in Geïllustreerde encyclopedie van de vogels door C M Perrins (1991, Weert), met aanpassingen en aanvullingen door A J van Loon in Vogels van de wereld complete checklist door M Walters (1997, Baarn) (Nederlandse namen van overige vogels van de wereld); en 8irds of the world door C G Sibley (1996, Vers ion 2.0, Cincinnati) (taxonomie en wetenschappelijke en Engelse namen van overige vogels van de wereld). Afwijkingen van en aanvullingen op bovenstaande overzichten zijn gebaseerd op beslissingen van de CSNA (cf Dutch Birding 19: 21-28,1997; 20: 22-32,1998). Een lijst met tarieven voor de vergoeding van auteurs, fotografen en tekenaars is verkrijgbaar bij de redactie.

Dutch Birding Association BESTUUR Theo Admiraal (penningmeester), Gijsbert van der 8ent (voorzitter, tel 0714024547), Peter Meijer, Marc Plomp en Chris Quispel (secretaris, tel 071-5124825); tevens is de redactie van Dutch Birding met een zetel vertegenwoordigd BESTUURSMEDEWERKERS Jea nnette Admiraal, Gerald Driessens, Ron van den Enden, Hans Gebuis, Leo Heemskerk, Remco Hofland, Paul KnolIe, Sander Lagerveld, Ger Meesters, Arnold Meijer, André van der Plas en Kees Tiemstra DUTCH BIRDING TRAVEL REPORT SERVICE (DBTRS) Ib Huysman, Postbus 737, 9700 AS Groningen, Nederland, tel 050-5274993, fax 050-5272668, internet http://www. mebweb.nl/DBTRS

Commissie Dwaalgasten Nederlandse Avifauna (CDNA) TelEFOONLIJNEN N ederland: 0900-20321 28 (vogellijn, 75 cpm) 078-6180935 (inspreeklijn) Belgi ë: 03-4880194 (vogel- en inspreeklijn)

INTERNET httpJ/www.xs4all .nl/-eland/dutchbirding

LEDEN Max Berlijn, Ruud van Beusekom, Bert de Bruin, Karel Mauer, Jan van der Laan (voorzitter, tel 072-5203091), Kees Roselaar, Jell e Scharringa (secretaris, tel 030-2523801) en Wim Wiegant (archivaris) De CDNA is een commissie van de Dutch Birding Association en de Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie. De Commissie Systematiek Nederlandse Avifauna (CSNA) is de subcommissie van de CDNA betreffende taxonomie, nomenclatuur en status van Nederlandse (onder)soorten en bestaat uit Arnoud van den 8erg, Cornelis Hazevoet, Kees Roselaar en George Sangster (secretaris, tel / fax 071-5143790).

© 1998 Stichting Dutch Birding Association. Het copyright van de foto' s en tekeningen blijft bij de fotografen en tekenaars. ISSN 0167-2878. Drukkerij Steens Schiedam BV, Postbus 59, 3100 AB Schiedam, Nederland

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Elegant Tern in llobregat delta, Spain, in April 1993 Ricard Gutiérrez

n 24 April 1993, Ricard Gutiérrez and Oriol Muntané discovered an orange-billed tern Sterna on a small flooded field in the Llobregat delta, Barcelona, north-eastern Spain (41 :1641 :25N, 1 :58-2:1 OE) (Gutiérrez & Muntané 1997). It was amongst a large group of gu lls and other terns (some Mediterranean Gulls Larus melanocephalus, 100+ Little Gul ls L minutus, some Black-headed Gulls L ridibundus, 190+ Sandwich Terns S sandvicensis, th ree Little Terns S albifrons, two Whiskered Terns Ch lidonias hybridus and 120+ Black Terns C niger). The tern was seen under optimal light cond itions. It remained settled at a distance of c 20 mand was tentatively identified as Elegant Tern S elegans, after excluding the possibility of similar species the observers had experience with. It was not ringed. It remained in the area until midday on 30 April, and at least 10 observers were able to see it. At the time of discovery, the bird was flying. For the rest of the observation period on the first dav it remained on the ground. The observation was accepted as the first record for Spain and the Mediterranean basin (de Juana et al 1997). Description The following description is based on notes taken in the field and some colour transparencies made on 24 April 1993 . SIZE & POSTURE Typical structured tern, with short legs, long bill and, in general, looking sim il ar to Sandwich Tern. Size from certa in distance appearing not very different from Sandwich Tern, although observation through telescopes revealed it as sl ightly bigger, and notably bigger than Lesser Crested Tern 5 bengalensis or Common Tern 5 hirundo and sma ller than Royal Tern 5 maxima and Caspian Tern 5 caspia. Obviou s crest, longer than that of nearby adu lt summer Sandwich Terns; during occasiona l antagonistic poses (see below), crown feathers erected and crest th en appearing shorter. Bill notably longer and more curved than that of nearby Sandwich Terns, and appearin g lon ger than that of Lesser Crested Tern observed in Ll obregat and Ebro deltas. Whole bill (both mandibles) down-curved, forming c learly visib le arch and appearing as bird's most prominent feature. Folded wings

IOuteh Birding 20: 1-5, 19981

extend in g slightly bevond tail. Tail more deeply forked than that of Sandwich Tern. Seemingly more graceful ('elegant') than nearby Sandwich Terns, perhaps due to proportions of tail and w in gs (Miquel Rafa pers comm). Legs looking sli ghtly lon ger than those of Sandwich Tern. HEAD Complete glossy jet black cap, covering eye. Black of cap reaching bill, with exception of sma ll white centra l patch over bill. Neck and face white. W ING & UPPERPARTS Lesser, median and greater coverts and mantie of exactly same colour as Sandwich Tern (certainly not as dark as in Lesser Crested Tern or Common Tern). Coverts sil very-grey, with narrow whitish outer edge. Primaries and secondaries slightly darker. Outer shaft of at least second outermost primary c learly dark, as in Common Tern. Basal pa rts of outer primaries much darker in tone, with pattern rem ini scent of Common Tern, but totally different from dark patch on wing of Caspian Tern. UNDERPARTS White. TAIL In fli ght, tail and rump appearin g white from above and below, but after carefu l observation tai l and rump shown to be not as w hite as underparts, with very li ght and faint grey tone, paler than and clearly contrastin g with mantie and w in gs. BARE PARTS Bill orange, tip more ye ll owish . Leg black. Eye appearing black. BEHAVIOUR Apart from moment of discovery, wh en seen in flight, resting in middle of group of Sandwich Terns, most of time with bill hidden in upperparts. Relatively motionless, unlike other terns, ex cept when Sandwich Tern trying to land too close; then certa in aggression shown, even adopting antagonistic poses (Aggressive-upright display), resembling illustration in Harrison (1983; fig 281 a). Besides that, not indulging in any other noteworthy behaviour.

Identification The combination of the long, clearly downcurved, orange bill with yellowish tip, size (comparabie with Sandwich Tern) and co lour of upperparts pointed towards Elegant Tern. As Gantlett (1987, 1988) stated for orange-billed terns, three groups of species can be separated according to size. Lesser Crested, Elegant, Cayenne S 5 eurygnatha and Sandwich Tern would be in the same group. Caspian, Royal and Crested Tern S bergii are members of a different group and could be excluded by their bigger size. Besides, the latter birds have a different, heavier

Elegant Tem in Llobregat delta, Spain, in April 1993 bill structure. Cayenne differs only slightly from Sandwich, mainly in bill and leg co lour (del Hoyo et al 1996). The on ly tern, therefore, that may cause problems is Lesser Crested. This species, however, usually has a darker mantie and back than Sandwich and Elegant, and a shorter bill, less curved than in Elegant. Moreover, accord ing to Cramp (1985), Lesser Crested overlaps in size with Sandwich but is normally sma ller and slimmer (Iength 35-37 cm for Lesser Crested, 36-41 cm for Sandw ich), unlike the Ll obregat bird, which appeared slightly bigger, never ' ... with a structure and appearance between sandvicensis and hirundo', as Cramp (1985) stated for Lesser Crested . As for the bil l, measurements and structure are useful: 5.2-5.8 cm fo r Sandwich and 5.0-5.7 cm for Lesser Crested (Cramp 1985). The Llobregat bird had a longer bill than all nearby Sandwich Terns. Furthermore, the bill was clearly curved, unlike Sandwich and Lesser Crested. The amount of vermillion red at the bill base is variab ie in the breeding season (Dubois et al 1994) and the absence of red cou ld fit a bird not fully in breeding plumage (Dubo is 1991, contra Verroken 1990). The bill's size and orange tone with yel low tip matched the description for an adult female Elegant by Mailing Olsen & Larsson (1995). The co loration of mantie,

back, rump and tail is also im portant. Lesser Crested has a sim il ar colour on the lower part of the mantIe, back, scapu lars, tertials and all the coverts as Common Tern, and darker than in Sandwich Tern. This was not the case in the Llobregat tern. Besides, in Lesser Crested, rump and tail have the same colour as the back and mantie or are sometimes slightly paler, but there is no contrast with the back and they are never whitish. Although the Llobregat tern had a pale grey rump and tail (typical for Elegant, Mailing O lsen & Larsson 1995), not pure white, it did show an evident contrast with the darker grey back and mantie. The head showed a sma ll white spot over the bil l which may have been a remnant of winter plumage. The bird seen in Ireland in summer 1982 also showed this character (Anthony McGeehan in litt). In the Llobregat tern, the crest was long and shaggy, clearly fitting Elegant. A short crest has been reason to reject other records of Elegant (Arnoud van den Berg in litt, Anthony McGeehan in litt). However, it should be remembered that crest length does not reach its maximum until maturity (Gantlett 1987) and th at there are differences in length between male and female (Mailing O lsen & Larsson 1995).

1 Elegant Tern / Sierlijke Stern Sterna elegans w ith Sandwich Terns / Grote Sterns S sandvicensis, Llobregat delta, Barcelona, Spain, 24 April 1993 (Ricard CutiĂŠrrez)

Elegant Tem in Llobregat delta, Spa in, in April 7993 Sandwich x lesser Crested Tern hybrids Hybridization of Sandwich x lesser Crested Tern or Sandwich x Elegant Tern producing an Elegant-like bird, and thus adding confusion to orange-billed tern identification, was suggested during the examination of this record by the Spanish rarities committee. Some authors have discussed hybrids between these species, or birds which showed tra ces of hybridization (eg, Steele & McGuigan 1989, Dubois 1991, Dubois & Comité d'Homologation National 1994, Baxter 1996, Collins 1997). Hybridization in Europe of Sandwich x Lesser Crested is very rare (Mailing Olsen & Larsson 1995) and chicks have only been known to fledge in: 7 Farne Islands, Northumberland, England : a female Lesser Crested ('Elsie') attempting to breed with a male Sandwich each year since 1984 and successfully raising single hybrids in 1989, 1992, 1996 and 1997 - the latter two being ringed; the 1997 hybrid was seen later in the season at La Paracou, les Sables d'Olonne, Vendée, France, on 23 September 1997 - (Steele & McGuigan 1989, Baxter 1996, Ogilvie et al 1996, Jiguet 1997, Gantlett 1997) and a hybrid adult paired to a Sandwich raising one second generation hybrid in 1994 (Ogilvie et al 1996); and 2 Albufera de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, in 1994, 1995 (probably one fledging), 1996 (one fledging) (Dies & Dies in press) and 1997 (two hybrid pairs, one with a chick on 16 June; J Ignacio Dies pers comm). Other hybrid pairs Sandwich x Lesser Crested of which it is not known whether they actually produced fledglings have occurred in: 7 Ebro delta, Tarragona, Spain: at least in 1996 a mixed pair attending eggs at the nest (pure pairs or solitary birds in previous years) (PN Delta de l'Ebre pers comm, pers obs); 2 Camargue, Bouches-du-Rh6ne, France: a displaying Lesser Crested in a colony of Sandwich on 9 August 1971 (lsenmann 1972); 3 Evros delta, Greece: a possible mixed pair with a nest on 11-13 June 1987 (Goutner 1988); and 4 Valli di Comacchio, Italy: a mixed pair in 1990, plus a pure pair from 1985 to at least 1993 (Brichetti & Foschi 1990; Br Birds 87: 168, 1994). Dubois at al (1994) reported the regular fledging of Sandwich x Elegant Tern chicks in Arcachon, France. For years, the Elegant parent was misidentified as Lesser Crested (but see Dubois et al 1989, 1994, Dubois & Duquet 1991; cf Br Birds 80: 277, 1987, Dutch Birding 14: 168, plate 148, 1992). Proven hybrids showed bills similar to that of Sandwich but with some yellow (an adult bird, most probably one of

the offspring of 'Elsie'; Baxter 1996); pale yellow with a hint of orange in its base (1995 and 1996 Spanish birds, Dies & Dies in press; same features in 1997 chick, J Ignacio Dies pers comm); or pale yellow (fledgling) developing into pattern with mostly greyish-black upper mandible and mostly greyish-yellow lower mandible when in first-winter plumage (1997 Farne Islands hybrid; Jiguet 1997, Gantlett 1997). Only Dubois et al (1994) mentioned an orange bill in Sandwich x Elegant chicks. However, not any of those hybrids obtained the total set of characters of an adult Elegant, as the Llobregat bird, including the larger size than that of Lesser Crested or Sandwich.

Origin Dubois & et al (1994) suggested that the Irish Elegant Tern (O'Suiiivan & Smiddy 1988, see below) could have been one of the two French birds from Arcachon. It may be worth evaluating whether our bird could also have been one of the French individuals. The study of the movements and migration patterns of Sandwich Tern, with which the Elegant associated, could be helpful in putting some possibilities in perspective. Sandwich from the European Atlantic coast are rare in north-eastern Spain, but remain a possibility; ring recoveries suggest that Sandwich breeding in the Ebro delta, Catalonia (1181 pairs in 1992, 1220 pairs in 1993; Martinez-Vilalta 1992, 1993) winter mainly in West Africa (Muntaner et al 1984). A part of this population remains in the western Mediterranean (eg, a bird ringed on 20 June 1981 in the Ebro delta was recovered on 20 February 1982 in Italy; Aymi & Julién 1989) . Wintering birds and passage migrants in north-eastern Spain arrive from the eastern Mediterranean, mainly originating from Ukrainian colonies in the Black Sea (Franco & Palacios 1982, Muntaner et al 1984, de Juana & Paterson 1986), but also from the western Mediterranean, notably from the Camargue (M011er 1981 , Muntaner et al 1984). Atlantic Sandwich do not seem to enter the Mediterranean in great numbers (M011er 1981). However, there seem to be two recoveries of British Sandwich in the Camargue (M011er 1981) and some birds from western Europe could penetrate into the Mediterranean as far east as Algeria, Tunisia and Mediterranean Spain (de Juana & Paterson 1986), despite the fact that French birds from the Gironde disperse principally northwards (Cramp 1985). Therefore, although other options can not be excluded, the party of Sandwich that

Elegant Tem in Llobregat delta, Spain, in April 7993 was associated with the Elegant was presumably moving to the east towards their breeding grounds, possibly in Ukraine. The occurrence of American terns and gulls in Europe has been proven, eg, through ring recoveries (cf Dennis 1986, 1994). Despite its position along the Mediterranean coast, several American gull and tern species have been recorded in the Llobregat delta area or at nearby localities. For example, a Royal Tern ringed on 1 August 1989 in Virginia, USA, was recovered in Puerto de Rosas, Gerona, Spain, on 26 December 1989 (de Juana et al 1991, Dennis 1994). The same individual was possibly seen on 10 January 1990 in the Llobregat delta (Gutiérrez et al 1995); however, this record was never submitted to the Spanish rarities committee. Laughing Gull L atricilla, Franklin's Gull L pipixcan and Bonaparte's Gull L philadelphia have also been recorded in the Llobregat delta (Gutiérrez et al 1995). Other European records Elegant Tern is a breeding bird of the Pacific Coast of North America (southern California, Baja California and north-western Mexico), dispersing north after breeding to northern California and wintering along the Pacific coast south to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Vagrants have been recorded only in Texas (Harrison 1983) and Virginia (Armistead 1985), and the species is not known to occur regularlyon the Atlantic side of North America. It is, therefore, quite remarkable that it reached Europe as a vagrant. However, other Pacific American species have occurred in Europe as weil (eg, Glaucous-winged Gull L glaucescens in the Canary Islands and Morocco, and Aleutian Tern 5 aleutica in England). On the other hand, del Hoyo et al (1996) suggest that European records of Elegant may refer to escapes from trade ships; there is, however, no evidence to support that theory. The Llobregat delta record was the first for Spain and the Mediterranean basin. In Europe, previous records were at GreencastIe Point, Carlingford, Lough, Down, Northern Ireland, from 22 June to 3 July 1982 (O'Suiiivan & Smiddy 1988) and, probably the same individual, at Ballymacoda, Cork, Ireland, on 1 August 1982 (Mitchell & Young 1997, Anthony McGeehan pers comm); and at least two different birds at Arcachon, Gironde, France, the first in 1974, paired with Sandwich Terns and returning for several years, and the second in 1984. Another Elegant was found in a Sandwich colony both in at least 1995 and 1996 at Île aux Moutons, archi-

pel de Molène, Finistère, Bretagne; it was photographed and accepted by the French rarities committee (Philippe Dubois in litt). It was perhaps one of the two adults previously seen in Arcachon. Hybrid origin could not be discarded in another Elegant-like individual trapped at Arcachon in 1987 which stayed at least until 1996 and very probably also was an Elegant (Dubois et al 1994; Philippe Dubois in litt). Besides, an Elegant at Zeebrugge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, on 12 June and 15 July 1988 (Boesman 1992) was not accepted by the Belgian rarities committee because of its alleged hybrid origin (Verroken 1990). The Llobregat delta record therefore becomes the fifth for Europe. Acknowledgements I would like to give special thanks to Anthony McGeehan, who enthusiastically helped reviewing a previous draft and commented upon the Irish record(s). Also many thanks to J Ignacio Dies for his kind help with tern hybrids and Philippe Dubois for his comments upon the French records. The comments by Arnoud van den Berg, Philippe Dubois, Steve Gantlett, Anthony McGeehan and Dominic Mitchell contributed to this record's acceptance by the rarities committee of the Spanish Ornithological Society/Birdlife. PA Buckley is acknowledged for his comments on the paper. Samenvatting 1993 Van 24 to 30 april 1993 verbleef een Sierlijke Stern Sterna elegans in de L1obregatdelta, Barcelona, Spanje. De vogel werd gedetermineerd door de combinatie van het formaat (slechts weinig groter dan Grote Stern S sandvÎcensÎs), de lange, duidelijk omlaaggebogen oranje snavel met geelachtige punt en de kleur van de bovendelen (zelfde als van Grote Stern). Bengaalse Stern S bengalensis kon worden uitgesloten door de lichtgrijze mantel en rug (donkerder grijs bij Bengaalse) maar niettemin met duidelijk contrast tussen mantel en rug enerzijds en de nog I ichter grijze stuit en staart anderzijds (geen contrast bij Bengaalse), en de grootte en vorm van de snavel (slanker, langer en duidelijker omlaaggebogen dan bij Bengaalse). Dit was het eerste geval van Sierlijke Stern voor Spanje en het Middellandse-Zeegebied. In Europa waren eerder gevallen in: Greencastie Point, Carlingford, Lough, Down, Noord-Ierland, van 22 juni to 3 juli 1982 en, waarschijnlijk hetzelfde individu, bij Ballymacoda, Cork, Ierland, op 1 augustus 1982; ten minste twee verschillende vogels bij Arcachon, Gironde, Frankrijk, in 1974 (gepaard met Grote Sterns en enkele jaren terugkerend) en in 1984; en op Île aux Moutons, archipel de Molène, Finistère, Bretagne, Frankrijk, in 1995 en 1996 in een kolonie Grote Sterns (dit betrof SIERLIJKE STERN IN LLOBREGATDELTA, SPANJE, IN APRIL

Elegant Tem in Llobregat delta, Spa in, in April 1993 moge lijk één va n de voge ls va n A rcac hon). Van een in 1987 bij Arcac hon geva ngen exempl aar kon een hybri de oorspron g niet met zekerh eid wo rd en uitgesloten maar het betrof moge lijk ook een Si erlijke Stern ; deze vogel bl eef tot ten min ste 1996 aan wez ig. De wa arn eming va n een moge lijke Si erlijke Stern in Zeebru gge, W est-Vlaanderen, België, op 12 juni and 15 juli 1988 is niet aan vaa rd doo r het Belgisc h Av ifaunisti sc h Homologati ecomité wege ns de verm eende hybrid e oo rsprong. De Sierlijke Stern va n de L1 0bregatd elta is derh alve het v ijfde geva l voor Europa.

References Armi stead, H T 1985 . Th e changin g season s: middl e Atl antic coa st region. Am Bird s 39 : 895 -898 . Aymf, R & Julién, A 1989 . Acti v itats del Grup Catal a d' Anel/ament durant el period e 1982 -1 98 5. Butl/ GCA6 : 1-11 6. Baxter, A 1996. Elsie's hybrid yo ung. Birdin g World 9 : 448. Boes man, P 1992. Sierlijke Stern te Zee bru gge in junijuli 1988. Dutch Birdin g 14: 161 -169 . Bri chetti , P & Fosc hi , U G 1990. Va l/i di Com acchio: situaz ione Larid ae e Sternidae 1989- 199 0. Ri v Ital O rnitol 60: 199-2 00. Col/in s, C T 1997 . Hybridi zation of a Sandw ich and El egant Tern in Californi a. Western Birds 28 : 169 -17 3. Cramp, S (editor) 1985 . The bird s of the Western Palearctic 5. O xford. Denni s, J V 1986 . Europea n encoun ters of birds rin ged in North Ameri ca . Dutch Birdin g 8: 41 -44 . Denni s, J V 1994. Transatl antic mi gration by rin ged bird s from North Ameri ca. Dutch Birdin g 16: 235 237 . Dies, J I & Dies, B in press . Th e occ urrence of th e Lesser Crested Tern Ste rna benga lensis in Albufera de Valenc ia, hybridi zati on and plum ages of hybrid offspring. Br Bird s 9 1. Dubois, P J 199 1. Identi fica tion forum: Royal , Lesser Crested and El ega nt Tern s. Birding World 4: 120123 . Dubo is, P J & Comité d' Homol oga tion Nation al 1989. Les obse rvation s d'espèces soumi ses à homol ogati on nati onale en France en 1988. Al aud a 57 : 263 -294. Dubo is, P J & Comité d' Homol ogati on Nation al 1994. La Sterne élégante Sterna elega ns en France . O rnithos 1: 74-7 9. Duboi s, P J & Duqu et, M 1991. El ega nt Tern in France . Birdin g World 4: 125 -12 6. Franco, A & Palac ios, B 1982. Informe sobre la campaRa de anil/ ami ento de aves en EspaRa: aRo 1982. Publ MAPA. M adrid. Gantl ett, SJ M 1987, 1988. Identificati on of large tern s,

part 1; part 2. Br Bird s 80: 25 7-2 76; 81: 211 -222 . Ga ntlett, S 1997 . Lesser Crested and El egant Tern s. Birding W orld 10: 289-301. Goutner, V 1988 . Th e Lesser Crested Tern (Ste rna benga lensis) in the Evros Delta (G reece) : a case of pairin g w ith th e Sa ndw ich Tern (Ste rna sandvicensis)? Karti erung M editerr Brutvögel 1: 7-11. G utiérrez, R, Esteban, P & Santaeufemi a, F X 1995. El soce l/ s del Delta del L1 obregat. Barce lona. Guti érrez, R & Muntané, 0 1997 . Aves N uevas : Charrán El ega nte Sterna e lega ns. La Ga rcill a 99: 26-2 7. H arri son, P 1983 . Seabird s: an identifi cation guide. Beckenh am. del Hoyo, J, EI/iolt, A & Sarga tal, J (editors) 1996 . Handbook of th e bird s of th e wo rld 3. Barce lona. Ise nmann , P 1972. Bemerkungen zur Beobachtung einer Sterna be nga lensis in der Ca margue (Südfrankreich). A rd ea 60: 226-227. Ji guet, F 1997. Appearance of a first-autumn hyb ri d Lesser Crested x Sa ndw ich Tern. Birding World 10: 427-428. de Ju ana, E & Comité Ibéri co de Rarezas de la SEO 1991. Obse rvac iones homologadas de aves raras en Espana y Portu ga l. Informe de 1989 . A rd eo la 38 : 149-16 6. de Juana, E & Comité de Rarezas de la SEO 1997 . Obse rvac iones de aves raras en EspaRa, aRo 1995 . Ardeola 44: 11 9-141. de Juana, E & Paterson, A M 1986 . Th e statu s of th e seabirds of th e extreme western M editerranea n. In: M edmaravis & M onbail/iu , X (editors), M editerranean marin e avifaun a, Heidelberg, pp 39 -106. Mal/ing Ol sen, K & Larsso n, H 1995 . Tern s of Europe and North A meri ca . London. Martinez -Vilalta, A 1992, 1993. Notes fl oristiqu es i faunistiqu es. Butl/ Parc Nat Delta de l' Ebre 7: 48; 8 : 45. Mitchel/ , D & Youn g, S 199 7. Photog raphi c handbook of th e rare bird s of Britain and Europe. Lond on. M 0 1/er, A P 1981. The mi grati on of Europea n Sandw ich Tern s Sterna s. sa ndvicensis L. Voge lwa rte 31 : 74-94. Muntaner, J, M artin ez-Vil alta, A & Ferrer, X 1984. Atl as deis oce l/ s nidifica nts de Catalun ya i Andorra. Barce lon a. Ogil vie, M & Rare Breeding Bird s Panel 1996 . Rare breeding bird s in the United Kingdom in 1994. Br Bird s 89: 38 7-41 7. O'Sul/i va n, 0 & Smidd y, P 1988 . Thirty-fifth Irish bird report, 1987 . Irish Bird s 3: 632 . Verroken, L 1990. Presumed hybrid Sandwich x Lesser Crested Tern. Birdin g World 3: 41 8-419. Steeie, J & McGuigan, C 1989. Plum age features of a hybrid ju venil e Lesser Crested x Sand w ich Tern. Birding W orld 2: 391 -3 92.

Ricard Cutiérrez, Reserves Naturals Delta del Llobregat, oARp' Cran Via de les Corts Catalanes 61 2-614, 08007 Barcelona, spain

Status van Baltische Mantelmeeuw in Nederland W (Ted) H oogendoorn & Peter van Scheepen

e status van Ba lti sche Mantelmeeuw Larus fuscus (h iern a fuscus) in Nederland is o nduidelijk. (Tot voor ko rt werden de taxa fuscus en graellsii beschouwd als ondersoo rten va n 'kleine mantelmeeuw' sensu lato, maa r word en nu beschouwd als twee soo rten; graellsii en intermedius z ijn samengevoegd; cf Sangster et al 1998). In de Avifauna van Nederland (Kist et al 1970) is over dit taxon vermeld: 'Doortrekker in zee r kl ein aa ntal langs de kust en mogelijke wintergast. Van deze subspec ies bestaan uit Nederland geen bewijsexemplaren ; wel zijn daarentegen enke le ringmeldingen gepubli ceerd. ' In de Atlas van de Nederlandse vogels (SOVON 1987) wordt betreffende het voorkomen van fuscus vo lstaa n met de op merkin g 'wo rd en slechts ze lden bij o ns gez ien'. Van den Berg & Bosman (1996) vermelden fuscus als beoord ee ltaxo n in de statuscategorie zeer ze ldzaa m (1-5 geva llen) . Van Ijzendoorn et al (1996) namen het taxon op in een tabel van beoordeelsoorten en -ondersoorten waa rva n geva llen va n voor 1980 ni et werden herzien. Zij gaven niet aa n of herz iening in een late r stad ium alsnog zou plaatsvinden. O mdat voor de overgrote meerderheid van de in de bewuste tabel vermelde taxa het voorkomen in Nederland aa n geen en kel e twijfel onderh ev ig is, kan hi erd oor de indruk postvatten dat het voo rkomen va n fuscus in Nederland vaststaat. Hoewel in de hierboven ge noemde publicaties de status van fuscus op versc h i Il ende man ieren tot uiting komt, is toch het beeld gevesti gd dat plaatsing va n dit taxon op de Nederlandse avifauni stische lijst ge rec htvaa rdi gd is. In dit artikel wordt door middel van ee n feitenanalyse gepoogd vast te stellen of fuscus al dan ni et terecht op de Nederl andse av ifaunistische lijst is geplaatst. In de eerste pl aats is er het simpele feit dat door de Commissie Dwaa lgasten Nederlandse Avifauna (CD NA) tot en met 1997 geen veldwaarnemingen of vondsten van fuscus zijn aanvaard (Jan van der Laa n pers meded). Rechtvaa rdigin g voor plaatsing op de Nederlandse lijst zou dus ontleend moeten zijn aan rin gmeldingen. Tot dusverre z ijn echter geen rin gmeldingen van als nest jon g van ' klein e man-

telmeeuw' geregistreerd e voge ls die in het broedgebied van fuscus zijn gerin gd door de CDNA beoordeeld. In verband met de beoogde analyse vo lgt hier all ereerst ee n beknopt overzic ht va n de verspreiding van fuscus . Het broedgebied strekt zic h uit va n de oostel ijke kustgebieden va n Zweden en (mogelijk) de Deense Oostzee-e il anden Bornholm en Chri stians0 via Finland en het noord en va n Estland tot in Noordwest-Rusland - in de regio Lenin grad en in de autonome republiek Karelië tot het zuiden van de Witte Zee. De populaties 'kleine mantelmeeuwe n' van Middenen Noo rd-Noorwegen ten noorden van Trondheim , S0r-Tr0ndelag, behoren ook tot fuscus. De najaarstrek vi ndt hoofdzake lijk in zuidoostelijke richting plaats en de belangrijkste overwinterin gsgeb ieden li ggen rond de Rode Zee en in het binnenland van Oost-Afrika (Ba rth 1975, G lutz von Blotzheim & Bauer 1982, Cramp & Sim mons 1983, Kilpi & Sauro la 1984, R0V 1986, Bevanger & Thingstad 1990, Judin & Firsova 1990, Fil chagov et al 1992). Diverse auteurs hebben in eni gerl ei vorm een overz ic ht sa mengeste ld van de Nederlandse teru gme ldin gen van in het buitenland ger ingde fuscus en deze teru gmeldinge n al da n ni et becommentarieerd . Voous (1963) verme ldde in een tabel enkele gegevens omtrent de tot dan uit de literatuur bekende dri e geva ll en en sprak zijn tw ijfel uit of het wel om fuscus ging. Dit in de eerste plaats in verband met het risico va n onjui ste determinatie door de rin ge rs van de nest jongen in gemengde kolonies met Z il vermeeuw L argentatus. Bovend ien waren deze vogels ten tijde van de melding minder dan een j aa r oud en daarom all een door experts te onderscheiden van Zilvermeeuwen. Z ijn twijfel werd verder gevoed door de omsta ndigheid dat de vogels in december en j anuari wa ren teruggemeld, terwijl naa r zijn mening verwacht zou kunn en word en dat ze dan in Zuidwest-Azië of Noordoost- of Centraa l-Afrika zouden verb lijven. Inderdaad wordt door ee n ervaren Finse rin ge r van fuscus en Zilvermeeuw beaamd dat uit rin gmeldingen van ad ulte vogels blijkt dat sommi ge [Outeh Birding 20: 6·10. 1998[

Status van Baltische Mantelmeeuw in Nederland nestjongen bij het ringen verkeerd zijn gedetermineerd, ook door hemzelf (Risto Juvaste pers meded). Over het onderscheid tussen eerstejaars fuscus en Zilvermeeuw is weliswaar veel gepubliceerd (onder anderen Grant 1986, Hario 1986, Nikander 1996) maar het blijft een lastig probleem . De Heer (1981) deed geen expliciete uitspraak over de aanvaardbaarheid van de vijf tot en met 1978 uit de literatuur en uit gegevens van de Nederlandse Ringcentrale (Vogeltrekstation) te Heteren, Gelderland, bekend geworden ringmeldingen. Hij volstond met te vermeIden dat de betreffende vogels als nestjong waren geringd in Zuidwest-Finland en ZuidoostZweden . De strekking van zijn beschouwing is zodanig dat niet blijkt dat het voorkomen van fuscus in Nederland aan twijfel onderhevig is. Glutz von Blotzheim & Bauer (1982) geven een opsomming van de vinddata en -plaatsen van deze vijf ringmeldingen . Cramp & Simmons (1983) noemen alleen een 'uitzonderlijke' Nederlandse ringmelding uit augustus, daarmee impliciet de andere ringmeldingen een status toekennend volgens een te verwachten patroon. Speek & Speek (1984) tekenen de ringplaatsen van de vier toen bij de Nederlandse Ringcentrale bekende ringmeldingen op een kaart in, zonder verder commentaar. Geen van deze auteurs heeft gemeld de originele ringers- en vindersdocumentatie te hebben geraadpleegd. Aangezien, zoals terecht door Voous (1963) onderkend, bij het ringen terugmeldingsproces net zo goed fouten kunnen worden gemaakt als bij de determinatie in het veld, is het van belang om te onderzoeken of dit taxon terecht in overzichten van de Nederlandse avifauna is opgenomen.

Materiaal en methode Analyse van het door de Nederlandse Ringcentrale verstrekte gegevensbestand betreffende Nederlandse ringmeldingen van 'kleine mantelmeeuwen' wijst uit dat vijf gevallen betrekking hebben op vogels die als nestjongen van 'kleine mantelmeeuw' zijn geregistreerd en in het broedgebied van fuscus zijn geringd. Dit betreft vier Finse vogels en één Zweedse. Daarnaast is uit de literatuur nog een ouder soortgelijk Zweeds geval bekend van een Nederlandse ringmelding (Jägerskiöld 1931, 1937). De twee Zweedse ringplaatsen liggen op eilanden in de Oostzee. Alle andere in dit gegevensbestand opgenomen Zweedse ringplaatsen liggen in het noordelijke deel van het westelijke kustgebied, ver buiten het broedgebied van fuscus. Evenzo de Noorse

vogels, waarvan de meest noordelijke c 200 km ten zuidwesten van Trondheim is geringd. Het gegevensbestand bevat geen gevallen uit Estland of Rusland. Van de Finse en Zweedse ringcentrales ontvingen wij de complete documentatie betreffende de tot en met februari 1997 bij hen geregistreerde 'kleine mantelmeeuwen' die als nestjong in het broedgebied van fuscus zijn geringd en uit Nederland zijn teruggemeld. Dit bracht een vijfde ringmelding van een Fins geval aan het licht. De Finse ringplaatsen liggen op eilanden in de Finse Golf, de Oostzee en de Botnische Golf. Beide ringcentrales melden de mogelijkheid dat, voorzover dat niet uit de ringersdocumentatie blijkt, in de betreffende kolonies zowel fuscus als Zilvermeeuw hebben gebroed. De Deense ringcentrale verstrekte gegevens betreffende de tot en met oktober 1997 bij hen geregistreerde 'kleine mantelmeeuwen' die in Denemarken of de Faeröer als nestjong zijn geringd en uit Nederland zijn teruggemeld. Geen van deze vogels is afkomstig uit de populaties van Bornholm en Christians0, die volgens Salomonsen (1963), Dybbro (1978), M011er (1978), Glutz von Blotzheim & Bauer (1982), Cramp & Simmons (1983) en de tot op heden heersende opvattingen in Denemarken (Klaus Mailing Olsen i n I itt) tot fuscus behoren. 20 van de uit Nederland teruggemelde vogels zijn geringd op het Kattegat-eiland Anholt, waar volgens M011er (1978) in 1973 9% van de populatie 'kleine mantelmeeuwen' tot fuscus behoort, zonder dat duidelijk wordt waarop dit is gebaseerd. Daarentegen concludeerde Barth (1966, 1975) na uitvoerig biometrisch onderzoek dat alle Deense populaties tot' intermedius' behoren. Navraag bij de Estlandse, Noorse en Russische ringcentrales leverde geen verdere ringmeldingen op. In tabel 1 zijn gegevens omtrent deze zeven vermeende ringmeldingen van fuscus in Nederland vermeld.

Discussie In geen van de zeven gevallen blijkt uit de beschikbare gegevens dat de betreffende vogel bewaard is gebleven. Bij de gevallen 2 en 6 is door het ontbreken van de ringen geen enkele controle door de Finse ringcentrale mogelijk geweest, zodat deze alleen alom die reden moeten afvallen. Omdat daarnaast in verband met het sympatrische voorkomen van fuscus, Zilvermeeuwen Stormmeeuw L canus in zowel de Finse als de Oost-Zweedse kustgebieden (SOF 1978, Hyytiä et al 1983) niet onomstotelijk vaststaat dat de geringde vogels fuscus waren, zou

Status van Baltische Mantelmeeuw in Nederland TABEL 1

Vermeende Ba lti sche Mantelmeeuwen Larus fuscus (h ierna fuscus) gerin gd als nestjong in Finland en Zweden waa rvan tot en met februari 1997 ringen zijn teruggemeld in Nederland / A ll eged Baltic Gu ll s Larus fuscus (hereafter fuscus) ringed as nestlings in Fin land and Sweden of w hi ch ring recoveries have been reported from the Netherlands up to and including February 1997 ringdatum 1

v inddatum 1

Falholm, Gotland Zweden 57:55N 18:570

1 jul 1930

28 dec 1930 Watergang, Noord-Hol land

2 Helsinki H5578

Ekenäs, Uus im aa Finl and 59:50N 23:150 2

26 jun 1936 3dec1936

Sch ildwo ld e, Gron in gen

Vä li kangas & Hytönen (1938-39)

3 Stockholm B3855

Bl idö, Stockholm Zweden 59:35N 18 :560

9 jul 1941

Breskens, Zee land

ten Kate & Taapken (1955)

4 Helsinki H67638

Pargas, Turku-Pori Finland 60:08N 22:150 2

23 jun 1966 aug 1967

Brielle, Zu id-Holl and 3

Stén (1969)

5 Helsinki C87741

Nagu, Turku-Pori Finland 60:03N 22:050

27 jun 1970

10 apr 1976

Akkrum, Friesland 3

G lutz von Blotzheim & Bauer (1982)

6 Helsinki HT010144

Porvoo, U usim aa Finland 60 :11 N 25:470

10 jul 1973

dec 1992

Mu iden, Noord-Holland

7 Helsinki HT035316

Nykarl eby, Vaasa Fin land 63:23N 22:150

3 jul 1976

mei 1978

Ame land, Friesland

# ringcentra le/ ringplaats ringnummer coördinaten 1 Stockholm 12672D

21 jan 1942

v indplaats

literatuu r

Jägerskiöld (1931)

#1 ringer meldt ter plaatse fuscus- en Stormmeeuw L canus-nestjongen te hebben geringd; door vinder gemeld als 'Kap- of mantelmeeuw' #2 ringer meldt in loka le archipe l fuscus en Z il verm eeuw L argentatus-nestjongen te hebben geringd en is niet zeker of determinatie als Zi lvermeeuw va n enke le ter plaatse door hem geringde nestjongen co rrect is; bij Finse ringcentrale is geen br ief va n vinder aanwezig; niet bekend of ring is in gestu urd #3 ringer meldt ter p laatse all een drie fuscus-n estjongen te hebben geringd; door vinder gemeld als 'zeemeeuw' #4 ringer meldt in lokale arch ipel fuscus- en Z il vermeeuw-nestjongen te hebben gerin gd; Finse ringcentrale meldt dat ringer fouten heeft gemaakt bij determinatie van fuscus- en Z il vermeeuw-nestjongen; voge l is gevonden in fuik; door vinder gemeld als 'vermoedelij ke eendensoort' Anas #5 ringer meldt ter plaatse fuscus- en Stormmeeuw-nest jongen te hebben gerin gd; door vinder is vogel, die was 'aangevreten door roofwild', gemeld als 'vermoede lijk Kokmeeuw' L ridibundus #6 ringer meldt ter plaatse all een 15 fuscus-nestjongen te hebben geringd; ring is niet in gestuurd naar Finse of Nederlandse rin gcentrale; voge l is geschoten en niet door melder als enige soort geme ld ; Finse ringcentrale suggereert dat vogel Brilduiker Bucephala clangula is geweest met ring ui t HX-serie (niet HT-serie) #7 ringer meldt in loka le archipel fuscus- en Zi lvermeeuw-nest jongen te hebben geringd; door v inder gemeld als 'zeemeeuw'

2 3

gegevens overeenkomstig opgave van Finse en Zweedse rin gcentrales; d iverse gepubli ceerde gegevens w ijken hiervan af overeenkomstig verme lde literatuur v indp laatsen onderling verwisseld in G lu tz von Blotzheim & Bauer (1982)

Status van Baltische Mantelmeeuw in Nederland uit de vind e rsdoc ume ntatie m oete n blijken o f er aanvaardbare gevallen z ijn . In geen e nkel geval is een beschrijving van de gevonde n vogel voorhanden, noch is de juiste soortnaam genoemd. Dientengevolge kan worden vastgesteld d at geen van d e zeve n geva lle n voor aanvaardin g in aa nm e rkin g ko mt. De taxonomische status van de popul atie 'k le ine m ante lmeeuwen' van het Deense eiland Anholt is o nduide lijk. Daarom kunnen ook de aldaar geringd e vogels die uit N ederl and z ijn teruggemeld niet als fuscus worde n aa nvaard. Aangezien ve rd er geen aanvaard e geva llen beke nd z ijn, kom e n wij tot de co nclusie dat fuscus to t e n m et 1997 te n o nrec hte op d e N ede rlandse avifauni stisc he lij st stond. H et is op dit moment niet m ogelijk d e status van fuscus in N ederl and te vergelijken m et die in d e ons omringende landen, omdat de probl ematiek aldaar in belangrijke m ate identiek is aan die in N ederl and . Momentee l worden analyses uitgevoerd omtrent d e status van fuscus in Duitsland e n Groot-Brittannië (Buckingham 1998; Pete Combridge in liU, Axel Müller in litt) .

Dankzegging Wij d anke n Jarmo Ruoho en Bengt-Olov Stolt voor het beschikbaar stellen van ged eta ill eerd e gegevens ui t de arc hieven van de Finse en Zweedse rin gcentral es e n voor de door hen verstrekte add itione le info rmati e. Eva Kastepöld , Irina Kharitonova, Klaus Mailing Olsen, Kjeld Ped e rsen e n Olav Runde verstrekten gegevens uit D e nem arken, Estland, Noo rwege n en Rusland. Risto Juvaste verschafte in z ic ht in de gang van zake n met betrekking tot het ringen van grote m eeuwen in Finl and . Gerrit Speek en Rinse Wassenaar verstrekten gegevens uit het arc hief van d e N ederl andse Rin gcentral e, deels via Ja n van der Laan (CDNA) en Arnoud van d en Berg. Laatstge noemde toonde zic h zee r betrokke n bij het onderwerp 'fuscus' en wij zeggen hem dank voor zi jn initi ati ef, stimulans en ad vi ezen.

Summary STATUS OF BALTIC GULL IN THE NETHERLANDS The status of Baltic Gul! Larus fuscus (hereafter fuscus) in the Netherl ands has long been unclear. (U ntil recently, the taxa fuscus and graellsii were considered subspecies of Lesser Black-backed Gul! sensu lato but they are now considered separate species; intermedius has been lumped with graellsii; cf Sangster et al 1998). Accounts as presented in the latest ed ition of the Dutch avifaunal list (Kist et al 19 70) and subsequent comprehensi ve publications dealing w ith species and subspecies occurring in the Netherlands, including th e revision of

the Dutch avifaunal list (va n Ijze ndoorn et al 1996), are summari zed. Through these, the impression was created that fuscus has been placed on the Dutch li st on the basis of rin g recoveri es. Up to and including 1997, there are no accepted field records and no authenticated specimens. It turned out that nobody appea red to have co nsulted the original ringing and recovery documentation and th at th e presence of fuscus on the Dutch list may not be justified. Analysis of data supplied by the Dutch, Finni sh and Swedish ringing offices and th e literature provided a total of seven ring recoveri es of all eged fuscus in the Netherlands (tabie 1). Fi ve of th ese we re rin ged in coastal Finl and and two in coasta l eastern Sweden. There we re no Dutch ri ng recoveri es of Dan ish (from the islands Bornholm and Chri sti ans0 in the Ba ltic Sea), Estoni an, Norwegian (north of Trondheim) or Russian fuscus.

From the analysi s, it appeared th at none of the recovered bi rds had been preserved. Because of the ri sk of inco rrect identificat ion by ringers of chicks in mi xed co lonies of fuscus and Herring Gull L argentatus - fuscus an d Herring Gull being sympatri c in th ese areas - an d mi sidentificat ions by finders of ringed birds, parti cul arl y immatures, the rin g recove ri es had to be assessed ca refull y prior to acceptance as va lid records. However, the original documentation of the recoveries neither included a description of the birds nor in any case the proper species name. In two cases, any co ntro l was impossible because the rings we re lacking at the Finnish ringing office. O ne of these pertained to an adu lt bird (tabie 1, record 6). The other ad ult was reported as a 'poss ibl e Black-headed Gull ' L ridibundus (tabi e 1, record 5). We co nclude th at none of the ring recoveri es met th e standards for accepta nce as a va l id record and th at th e presence of fuscus on the Dutch I ist up to and inc luding 1997 is, indeed, not justified. For the ti me being, it w il! not be possible to compare the status of fuscus in the Neth erl ands w ith that in the neighbouring countries, where th e problems are similar to those in th e Netherlands. At present, analyses of the status of fuscus in Britain and Germany are being carri ed out (Buck ingham 1998; Pete Combridge in litt, Axel Müller in litt).

Verwijzingen Barth, E K 1966. Mantie co lour as a taxonomic feature in Larus argentatus and Larus fuscus. Nytt Mag Zoo l 13: 56-82. Barth, E K 19 75. Taxonom y of Larus argentatus and Larus fuscus in north-western Europe. O rni s Scand 6: 49-63. van den Berg, A B & Bosman, C A W 1996 . Lijst va n Nederl andse vogels. Vijfde editie. Santpoort-Zuid. Bevanger, K & Thin gstad, P G 1990 . Decrease in some CentraI Norwegian population s of the northern subspecies of the Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus fuscus) and its possible causes. Fauna norv Ser C, Cinclus 13: 19-32. Bu ckingham, D L 1998. Vari ation and occurrence of

Status van Baltische M antelmeeuw in Nederland interm edius Lesser Bl ac k-backed Gull s in southern En gland. Br Birds 91: 60-62 . Cramp, S & Simm o ns, K E L (redacti e) 1983 . The bird s of the W estern Palearcti c 3. O xford. Dybbro, T 1978. Oversigt over Danmarks fu gle 1978 . Kopenh age n. Fil chagov, A V, Bianki, V V, Cherenkov, A E & Semas hko, V Y 1992 . [Relation s between Lesse r Bl ac k-bac ked Gull , Larus fuscus and W est-Siberian Gull, L. heuglini, in th e co ntact zone.] Zoo l Z h 71 (10): 148-1 52 . [In Ru ss isc h.] G lu tz vo n Blotzheim, U N & Bauer, K M 1982. H andbu ch der Vöge l Mitteleuro pas 8/1. Wi esbaden. Grant, P J 1986 . Gull s: a guide to id entificati o n. Tweede editie. Calton . Hario, M 1986 . Itämeren lokkilinnut. Helsinki. de Heer, P 198 1. Over statu s van Balti sc he Kl ein e M antelm eeuw in Nederl and. Dutch Birding 3 : 55. H yyti ä, K, Kellomäki , E & Ko istinen , J 1983 . Su omen lintuatl as. Helsinki. va n Ijze nd oo rn , E J, va n der Laan, J & CD NA 1996. Herzienin g Nederl and se av ifa uni sti sc he lij st 180019 79: tweede fase . Dutch Birding 18 : 157-202. Jäge rski ö ld, LA 193 1. Berättelse rö rand e N aturhi sto ri ska mu seets zoo log iska avdelnin g, ar 193 0. In : Jägerski ö ld, L A (redacti e), Göteborgs Mu seum s Á rstryc k 193 1, Götebo rg, pp 15-40. Jägerski ö ld, L A 193 7. O m no rdi ska sillm asa rs (Larus fuscus L. ) fl yttnin g. Acta Soc Faun a Fl o ra Fenn 60:

190-208 . Judin, K A & Firsova, L V 1990 . Larus fuscus, Herin gsmöwe. In: II ' ichev, V D & Flint, V E (redacti e), Handbu ch der Vöge l der Sowjetunion 6/1, Wittenberg Luth erstadt, pp 105- 111 . te n Kate, C G B & Taa pken, J 1955. Terugvond sten va n

in het buitenl and geringde voge ls, 27. Limosa 28 :

30-44 . Kilpi, M & Sa uro la, P 1984 . Mi grati o n and w interin g strateg ies of ju ve nil e and adult Larus marinus, L. argentatus and L. fuscus from Finl and. O rni s Fenn

61:1-8. Ki st, J, Tekke, M J & Voous, K H (redacti e) 1970. Avifaun a va n N ederl and . Tw eede druk. Leid en. M o ll er, A P 1978. M age rn es Larinae yngleudbredelse, besta ndssto rrelse og -;:endrin ger i D anmark, med suppl erende opl ysninger om fo rho ldene i det ovri ge Euro pa. Dansk O rnito l Fo ren Tidsskr 72 : 15-39 . N ikand er, P J 1996 . Nuo ret isot lo kit. A lul a 2 (1 ): 8-1 5 . Rov, N 1986 . Besta nd sfo rho lt hos sildemake Larus fuscus i No rge med hovedvekt pa L. f. fuscus. Var Fu glefaun a 9 : 79-84. Salom o nse n, F 1963. Systemati sk oversi gt over Nordens fugle. Kope nh age n. Sangster, G, Hazevoet, C J, va n den Berg, A B & Roselaa r, C S 1998. Dutch avifaun al li st: spec ies co ncepts, taxo no mi c in stability, and taxo no mi c changes in 1998 . Dutch Birdin g 20: 22-32. SO F 1978 . Sve ri ges fag lar. Stoc kh o lm . SO VO N 1987. Atl as va n de Nederl andse Vogels. Arnh em. Spee k, B J & Speek, G 1984. Thi eme's voge ltrekatl as. Z utph en. Stén, I 1969. Di e Voge lberin gun g in Finnl and im Jahre 196 7. Mem Soc Faun a Fl o ra Fenn 45 : 63 -1 54. Välikangas, I & Hytönen, 0 1938-1 939 . D ie Voge lberingun g in Finnl and im Jahre 1936 . M em Soc Faun a Flora Fenn 14: 70- 107. Voo us, K H 1963 . Geographi c va ri ati o n of Larus fuscus in no rth western Europe. A rdea 51 : 16-24.

W (Ted) Hoogendoom, Notengaa rd 32,394 1 LW Doorn, Nederland Peter van Scheepen, Karolingersweg 96, 3962 A K Wijk bij Duurstede, Nederland (petervanscheepen@wxs.nl)

NASCHRIFT De in dit artikel beschreven rin gmeldin gen en de argum entati es om deze ni et al s aa nvaa rdbaa r te besc houwe n z ijn voo rgelegd aa n de CDN A, teneinde ee n fo rmele uitspraa k te krijgen ove r de status van deze 'geva ll en' . In het ee rstvo lgende C D NA-jaa rve rslag zuI len de resultaten va n deze (her-)beoo rd elin g offi ciee l wo rden gepubliceerd. Sind s enige jaren geni et fuscus ee n toege no men belangstelling van voge laars en z ijn enkele ve ldwaa rnemingen aa n de CDNA voorgelegd. Zee r o nl angs is éé n va n deze w aa rn emingen doo r de CD NA aanvaa rd , w aardoo r de soo rt ee n rechtmati ge plaats o p de Nederl and se avifauni sti sc he lij st heeft verkrege n; het betrof ee n adulte vogel die o p 18 oktober 1992 door Rik Winters we rd gefotog rafeerd o p Schi erm o nnikoog, Fri es land (M ax Berlijn pers meded). W (TED) HOOG EN DOORN & PETER VAN SCHEEPEN

EPILOGU E Th e rin g recoveri es desc ribed in thi s arti cJe and th e arguments to co nsider t hese repo rts as un acceptab le have bee n submitted to the Dutch rariti es co mmittee (C D NA), in o rder to get a fo rm al dec isio n o n the statu s of these reports. In th e fo rth comin g annual repo rt of the CD NA, the results of thi s ' rev isio n', w ill be publi shed. Sin ce several yea rs, bird ers have increasin gly paid attenti o n to fuscus and som e field o bservati o ns have bee n submitted to the CDNA. Very recentl y, o ne of th ese has bee n accepted, giv ing the spec ies a leg itimate pl ace o n the D utch avifaunal li st. It concerned an adult ph otograph ed o n Schi ermo nnikoog, Fri esland, o n 18 October 1992 (M ax Berlijn pers co mm). W (TED) HOOGEN DOORN & PETE R VAN SCHEEPEN

Roodoogvireo op Vlieland in oktober 1996 Het was eigenlijk gekkenwerk om in de middag va n 3 oktober 1996 de hagen bij Lange Paal op Vlieland, Fri esland, af te zoeken . De aanwakkerende westenwind maakte het vrijwel onmogelijk om vogels van bewegende bladeren te onderscheiden. Maar toch, de bosjes zaten vol vinken, mezen en 'phylloscopen', dus wie weet? Vrij snel kregen wij (MariĂŤtte Hoffer en Peter de Knijff) in de gaten dat de meest luwe plekjes ook de meeste vogels herbergden. We besloten deze goed af te zoeken in de hoop iets leuks te vinden. N a twee vruchteloze pogingen liepen we tegen 15:00 voor de derde en laatste keer all e hagen af. Vrij spoedig ontdekten we een grote gemengde groep met Zwarte Mezen Parus ater, Pimpelmezen P caeru/eus en Koolmezen P m ajor. Onverwachts kreeg MH een 'vreemde forse phylloscoop' in beeld welke zic h met het blote oog op zeer korte afstand (c 1 m) goed liet bekijken. Voorzichtig maakte z ij PdK hi erop atte nt, maa r de vogel was gevlogen voordat hij hem kon bekijken. Kort hiern a zag PdK schuin boven z ich iets bewegen en werden hem 20 lange seconden gegund om de zic h rustig door de twijgen bewege nde nogal forse vogel te determineren. Gelukkig keek deze eenmaa l over z ijn schouder en meteen was de voorlopige determinatie een feit: Roodoogvireo Vireo o/ivaceus! De combin atie van o l ijfgroene bovendelen, grij ze kruin , opvallend groot oog, duidelijke w itte wenkbrauwstreep met zwarte begrenzing en vrij forse, grijsblauwe, grasm us Sy/via-achtige snavel was o nmiskenbaar. De vogel werd eve n uit het z icht verloren, maar het lukte PdK hem korte tijd later, nu vrijzittend en van opzij, wat langer te bekijken. Nu ook konden definitief andere soorten zoa ls Philadelphiavireo V phi/ade/phicus worden uitgesloten . N a c 1 min hield de vogel het voor gez ien en ondanks langd urig zoeken kon hij niet meer worden teruggevonden, wellicht mede door de verder aangewakke rd e westerstorm. Omdat de laatste boot vanaf de vastewal reeds in de haven lag werd de waarneming pas later die avond doorgegeven. De vo lgende ochtend waaide het nog steeds hard. De vru chteloze pogingen van de vorige dag om de vogel, ee nmaal uit het z icht verloren, terug te vinden nog vers in het geheugen, besloten wij om eerst andere plekken af te zoeken en pas na aa nkom st van de eerste boot naar Lange Paal terug te keren. Uiteindelijk arriveerden wij daar tegen 13 :00 en troffen een 20-tal somber IOutch 8irding 20: 11 - 13, 19981

kijkende vogelaars aan. Het was duidelijk nog ni et ge lukt de vogel terug te vinden. Pas tegen 14:00 vond Han Zevenhuizen hem teru g, op vrijwel dezelfde plaats waar hij de dag ervoor was ontdekt. Na enige hecti sche taferelen gelukte het all e aa nwez igen om de vireo te bekijken en al vrij snel konden de eerste foto's worden gemaakt. Tot volle tevredenheid van vogelend Nederland besloot de vogel tot en met dinsdag 8 oktober te blijven (cf de Knijff & Ebels 1996) . Onderstaande beschrijving is gebaseerd op aa nteke ningen van PdK en foto's van Arnoud van den Berg, H ans Gebuis en Marc G uyt. Formaat en stru ctuur sterk lijkend op forse grasmu s. Forse kop met platte kruin, opvallend groot oog en forse lan ge snavel met klein maar duidelijk haa kj e aa n bovensnavel. Vleugels lang, handpentoppen tot voorbij onderstaartdekveren reikend. Handpenprojectie vrijwel even lang als z ichtbaar gedeelte va n tertials. Staart relatief kort. Poot stev ig en kort. KOP & H ALS Voorhoofd en kruin blauwgrijs, geleidelij k overlopend in olijfgroen achterhoofd. Opva llende w itte we nkbrauwstreep, va naf snavelbas is tot ver achter oog doorlopend en vrij we l overal even breed. Duidelijk z ichtbare zwa rte wen kbrauwbegre nz in g, vanaf snavelbasis tot ver achter oog doo rl ope nd en geleidelijk breder wordend. Sma lle donkere oogstreep, voor oog duidelijker z ichtbaar dan achter oog. Oorstreek geelgroen, naar achteren toe in olijfgroene z ijhals overlopend. Kin en keel w it. Zowe l op 3 als op 4 oktober duidelijk c 5 x 5 mm rood vlekje op mi dden va n keel, v lak boven borst z ichtbaa r. Op latere data d it vlekje niet z ichtbaar. BOVENDELEN Mantel, sc houder, rug, stu it en bovenstaartdekveren vr ijwe l uniform olijfgroen. ONDERDE LE N Borst w it, zi jborst ter hoogte van v leugelboeg geli g. Buik en flank wit. O nderstaartdekveren lichtgee l. VLEU GEL Hand- en armpennen zeer donker met contrasterende lichte rand rond zichtbaar gedeelte van top. Tertial s olijfgroen. Alle bovenvleugeldekveren olij fgroen. Duimvleugel zwa rt. Vleugelboeg geli g. STAART Olijfgroen met ronde toppen. NAAKTE DELEN Iris in ve ld donker overkomend. Op aantal dia's echter duidelijk dieprode iriskleur waarneembaar. Bovensnavel donkergrijs met lichte snijrand. O ndersnavel lichter grij s, naar punt toe donkergrij s uitlopend. Poot loodg rij s tot blauwgrijs. GELU ID Niet gehoord . GEDRAG Voortdurend verb lij vend in struiken en bomen, meesta l op enkele meters boven maaiveld of in kruinen. Niet sc huw, soms tot op korte afstand zichtbaar. Langzaam en vaak onopva llend bewegend door geb laderte. Voedsel pikkend van bladeren. GROOTIE & BOUW

De combinatie van grootte, postuur, grijze voorhoofd en kruin, zwa rte wenkbrauwbegrenzing, lange li chte wenkbrauwstreep, forse snavel met haakj e aa n de punt van de bovensnavel, olijf11

Roodoogvireo op Vlieland in oktober 1996

2 Roodoogvireo / Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus, Vlieland, Friesland, 6 oktober 1996 (Hans CebuisJ

groene bovendelen en vleugel, witte keel, borst en buik, gelige onderstaartdekveren en loodgrijze poten sloot alle Euraziatische grasmussen en boszangers Phylloscopus uit en paste eigenlijk alleen op Roodoogvireo. Philadelphiavireo, de enige soort waarmee nog enige verwarring mogelijk is, kon onder meer worden uitgesloten op grond van de witte borst en buik (bij Philadelphiavireo vaak uniform lichtgeel tot geel), de zwarte wenkbrauwbegrenzing (afwezig bij Philadelphiavireo) en het forse formaat (National Geographic Society 1987, Bradshaw 1992). Het rode vlekje dat zich twee dagen lang op de keel bevond, was waarschijnlijk afkomstig van bessen. Het op leeftijd brengen van de vogel leverde meer problemen op. Eerstejaars vogels kunnen worden herkend op grond van hun bruine iris. Echter, veel eerstejaars ontwikkelen reeds een rode iris (cf Pyle et al 1987, Glutz von Blotzheim et al 1993, Cramp & Perrins 1994). Deze exemplaren zijn dan zelfs in de hand uiterst moeilijk op leeftijd te determineren. De gelige onderstaartdekveren vormen geen betrouwbaar leeftijdskenmerk (contra National Geographic Society 1987; cf Pyle et al 1987, Glutz von Blotzheim et al 1993, Cramp & Perrins 1994). Er zijn geen andere betrouwbare leeftijdskenmerken in het verenkleed bekend (Pyle et al 1987). Resumerend lijkt het dus in dit geval niet mogelijk om de leeftijd te bepalen. Roodoogvireo broedt in grote delen van 12

Noord-Amerika (behalve het zuidwesten) en in Zuid-Amerika tot Noord-ArgentiniĂŤ. De NoordAmerikaanse populaties trekken en overwinteren in Zuid-Amerika (Cramp & Perrins 1994). Deze waarneming betrof het vijfde geval voor Nederland en de eerste veldwaarneming. Eerdere gevallen waren een vondst op 13 oktober 1985 te Wormerveer, Noord-Holland, een vangst op 19 oktober 1985 te Rottumerplaat, Groningen, en twee vangsten, op 24 september en 2 oktober 1991, op Vlieland (Mauer & Westhof 1986, Terpstra & Ebels 1994). In het najaar van 1996 werden in GrootBrittanniĂŤ en Ierland 13 Roodoogvireo's waargenomen, de helft van de 26 meldingen uit het najaar van 1995 (Evans & Millington 1996, Evans et al 1997; zowel van 1995 als 1996 is een aantal nog niet aanvaard, cf Rogers & Rarities Committtee 1996, 1997), en in Ijsland twee (Dutch Birding 18: 271, 330, 1996). Het is opmerkelijk dat drie van de vijf Nederlandse gevallen van deze soort op Vlieland werden vastgesteld en dat VI ieland ook de eerste (en enige) waarnemingen van Baltimoretroepiaal Icterus galbula (14-19 oktober 1987) en Mirtezanger Oendroica corona ta (13-15 oktober 1996) heeft opgeleverd.

Summary RED-EYED VIREO ON VLIELAND IN OCTOBER 1996 On 3-8 October 1996, a Red-eyed Vireo Vireo o/ivaceus was present near Lange Paal, Vlieland, Friesland, the

Roodoogvireo op Vlieland in oktober 7996 Neth erl and s. It was identifi ed by th e grey fo rehead and crow n, lo ng pale supercilium w ith blac k upper margin, stro ng bill w ith small hook at the tip of the upper mand ibl e, o li ve-g reen upperparts and w in g, mainl y w hite underparts, ye ll ow ish undertail -cove rts and plumbeo us-grey legs . Th e age of th e bird could not be establi shed w ith certainty. Thi s record co nsti tuted th e fifth fo r the Neth erl and s, the third for V li eland and the first field observati o n. Earli er records co nce rn ed a b ird fo und dead at Wo rm ervee r, Noord-H o ll and, o n 13 Octo ber 1985 and of bird s tra pped o n Rottumerpl aat, G ro nin gen, o n 19 October 1985, and V li eland o n 24 Septembe r 199 1 and 2 October 199 1. It is remarka bl e th at th ree of th e fi ve D utc h reco rds of Red-eyed Vi reo have bee n o n VI ieland and that th e o nl y Du tc h reco rd s of Baltim ore O ri o le Icterus ga lbu /a (14-1 9 October 1987) and Myrtle Wa rbi er Oendro ica coronata (13- 15 October 1996) have also been o n thi s W adden island.

Verwijzingen Brads haw, C 1992. Th e identi ficati o n of v ireos in Bri ta in and Europe. Bird ing Wo rld 5: 308-3 11 . Cramp, S & Perrin s, C M (redacti e) 1994. The b irds of the W estern Palea rctic 8. Oxford . Eva ns, L J R & M illin gto n, R 1996 . 1995 : th e review of

the b ird in g yea r. Birdin g W o rld 8: 4 67-4 76 . Eva ns, L J R, Ga ntl ett, S J M & Millington, R 1997. 1996 : th e review of the b irding yea r. Birding Wo rld 9: 467-4 84 . G lu tz vo n Blotzheim, U N, Bauer, K M & Bezzel, E (redacti e) 1993. Handbuch der V盲ge l M itte leuropas 13. Wi es baden. de Knijff, P & Ebels, E B 1996 . DB Actuee l : Kl ein A merika o p V li eland, dee l 1: Roodoogv ireo. Du tc h Birding 18 : 280. M auer, K A & W esth of, J H P 1986 . Roodoogv ireo's te W o rmerveer en Rottum erplaat in o ktober 1985 . Dutc h Bird ing 8: 121-1 25 . Nati o nal Geographi c Society 1987. Field gui de to th e b ird s of North Ameri ca. Second edi tio n. W as hin gto n. Pyle, P, Howe ll , S N G, Yuni ck, R P & DeSa nte, D F 1987 . Identificati o n guid e to North A meri ca n passerin es. Bo lin as . Roge rs, M J & Ra riti es Com mittee 1996; 1997. Repo rt o n rare bi rds in G reat Britain in 1995; 1996. Br Bird s 89: 48 1-53 1; 90: 453 -522 . Terpstra, K & Ebels, E B 1994. Twee Roodoogv ireo's o p V li eland in septe m ber en oktober 199 1. Dutc h Birdin g 16: 64-66.

Peter de Knijff, Keersluis 34, 2408 PL Alphen aan den Rijn, Nederland (knijff@rul y46. medfac. leidenuniv. nl)

Trends in systematics _ _ __ __ _ Purple Swamp-hen is a complex of species Ra il s prese nt a pa radox. In their day-to-d ay li ves, many spec ies are best desc ri bed as be hav iourall y fli ghtless, vet rail s are known to have co lo ni zed mu ch of th e O ld and New Wo rl d, including a great number of island s in the Atlantic, Ind ian and Pac ifi c Oceans. The sca le at w hi ch ocea ni c islands have been co lo ni zed by rail s o nl y recent ly became appa rent. A rchaeo logica l in vesti gatio ns o n a nu mber of trop ica l and subtrop ica l island s in the Pac if ic Ocean in the 1970s and 1980s revea led th at befo re hum an impact virtu all y all major island s harboured o ne to four fli ghtl ess rail s (Steadm an 1995). Most, if not all, of th ese avifaun al losses are pro babl y du e to predati o n and habitat alteratio n by hu mans and introdu ced rats, dogs and pi gs (O lso n & James 1982, Steadman et al 199 0). Steadm an (1995) spec ul ated th at 'a t o ne to fo ur endemi c spec ies pe r island, fli ghtl ess rail s alo ne may acco unt fo r 2000 spec ies of bird s th at wo uld be ali ve today had peopl e not co lo ni zed Ocea ni a' . Th e di scove ry of hi gh leve ls of past biodi ve rsity o n Pac ific Ocean island s led to th e fo rmul ati o n of seve ral new bi ogeographi c pa rad igms (eg, Steadman 1993) . Fo r in stance, ranges of most li vin g spec ies are small er today th an at first hum an contact and few

[Duteh 8irding 20: 73路22, 19981

vo lant species are trul y endemi c to o ne o r two islands (Steadm an 1993, 1995). Th e form er prese nce of fli ghtless rail s o n nea rl y eve ry tro pi ca l ocea ni c island also sparked new interest in th e evo luti o n of fli ghtl ess ness (eg, D iamo nd 198 1, McNab 1994). It beca me c1 ea r th at fli ghtless ness, w hi ch is kn ow n in seve ral groups of rail s (Di amo nd 199 1), may evo lve very rap id ly (Di amo nd 1981), most likely as an adaptati o n to th e limi ted set of resources ava il ab le o n iso lated island s (M cNab 1994). The bi ogeog raphy and relatio nshi ps of fli ghtl ess and vol ant ra il s in th e New Zea land reg io n we re recentl y stu d ied by Trew ick (1996, 1997) . His stud ies, th e first to doc um ent the statu s and relati o nships amo ng rail s fro m a ph yloge neti c perspective, included both form s of th e most famous fli ghtl ess rail , th e New Zea land Takahe Porph yrio mantel/i, as we il as seve ral subspecies of the w id es pread Purple Swam p- hen P porp hyrio. Th e new data address th e ce ntu ry-o ld q uesti o n of w heth er the two named fo rm s of Takahe are trul y di stin ct and ind icate how the Ta kahe and swa mp-hens are related. Trew ick's stu d ies have im pli catio ns w hi ch reac h far bevond the New Zea land reg io n. Th ey fo rcefull y show that th e taxo no my of the Purp le Swa mp-h en compl ex, w hi ch may represent o ne of the most successful radi ati o ns of rail s, needs to be reassessed .

Trends in systematics

3 Australian Swamp-hen / Austra lische Purperkoet Porphyrio melanotus, Auckland, South Island, New Zea land, 24 October 1995 (Theo Roersma) 4 South Island Takahe / Zu iderei landtakahe Porphyrio hochstetteri, Tiritiri Matangi, New Zealand, 9 February 1997 (Ed Opperman)

Trends in systematics

5 Grey-headed Swamp-hen / G rij skoppurpe rkoet Parphyria paliacephalus, Bharatpur, Indi a, 11 Ap ril 1996

(RenĂŠ Pop) O ne or twa takahe? Takahe are the largest li v in g rails. Ad ults are c 1.5 times larger and c 2.5 times bulkier than swamp-hen (Ma rchant & Higgin s 1993) and are fu rther characteri zed by a huge bill and fronta l sh ield, t hi ck and powerful legs and feet and, being fli ghtless, by very short wi ngs. To emphasize the morphological differences between Takahe and swamp-hens, Takahe has been placed in a monotypic genus Notorn is but is now generally included in Parphyria. Two forms have been described. North Island Takahe P m mantelli fo rmerly occurred on North Island but, except for a possible sighting in 1894, is on ly known from fossils (Trew ick 1996). The other form, South Island Takahe P m hachstetteri, was thought to be extinct by the 1930s but was rediscovered in 1948 (Fall a 1949). Fossil material suggests that this taxon formerl y occ urred throughout South Is land, includin g lowland areas. Today, only c 115 indi v idu als remain in a restricted area of alpine tussock grass land in Fiordland, in the south-weste rn part of South Island, New Zea land . To reduce the risk of extin cti on, so me birds have been successfull y tra nslocated to four nearsho re island reserves, Ti ritiri Matangi, Kapiti, Mana and Maud, in the 1980s and early 1990s (C lout & Craig 1994). A lthough North Island and South Island Takahe we re origi nall y described as separate species, they we re downgraded in the first decades of this ce ntury as 'subspec ies' of a single 'polytyp ic' spec ies mainl y because their breeding range did not overl ap. In the 1940s,

taxonomists began to define species on the basis of reprod uctive isolation. Because North Island Takahe is exti nct and only foss il bones are ava il ab le for ana lys is, it was imposs ibl e to determine w hether North Island and South Island Takahe are reproductively compatible o r reproductively iso lated. Therefore, the subspecific status of the two takahe rema ined unchallenged and both forms continu ed to be lumped in a sing le species, a situ atio n which has persisted ri ght up to the present. An important aspect of av ian taxonomy during the 1940s to ea rl y 1980s was the great sign ifi ca nce given to spec ies. Species taxa we re believed to be the on ly true evo luti o nary entiti es; taxa recogni zed below the leve l of spec ies (ie, subspecies), as we il as taxa recogn ized above the leve l of spec ies (ie, genera and other hi gher taxa), were not believed to have any evoluti o nary status (Voous 1975, Mayr 1982). For a lo ng time, rigorous tests of the status of subspec ies and genera were rare and subspec ies and higher taxa were, in fact, recogn ized for co nven ience on Iy. Given the traditional mindset about subspec ies, it is not surprising that it has remained unclear whether the two takahe are truly distinct. In tak ing a fresh look at the problem, Trewick (1996) ana lysed a large number of fossi I bones of both forms, as weil as modern material from recently ske letonized corpses. From thi s material, a total of some 700 elements, a seri es of 25 different measurements was taken. There was no evidence suggesting that North Island and South Island Takahe are co nn ected bya cline. In nearly all compari-

Trends in systematics madagascariensis Afri ca n Swamp-hen

hochstetteri South Island Takahe

me/ano tus

Mo/ecu/ar ph y/ogenetics

Au strali an Swa mp-hen

To assess phylogeneti c relation ships among rail s, Trew ick (199 7) coll ected DNA from 22 recogni zed spec ies and subspec ies of rail s. Trewick (1997) su cceeded in iso lating and sequencin g DNA from th e bon es of several extin ct rails of the New Zea land reg ion, includin g Chath am Rail Ra//us m odestus, Di effenbach's Rail R die ffenbachii, Chath am Islands Coot Fu/ica chathamensis chathamensis, New Zea land Coot F c prisca and North Island Takahe. Thi s in itse lf is a significa nt achievement since onl y very few resea rchers have su ccessfull y isol ated and sequenced DNA from extin ct bird s. A mong th e analysed taxa are six form s of Porph yrio. Their relati onships are summari zed in fi gure 1. Th e evolution ary tree obtained by Trewick (1 997) co nfirmed th at th e two takahe are not sister-taxa. North Island Takahe did not clu ster w ith South Island Takahe but in stead turned out to be more cl ose ly related to swamp-hens from Turkey (P p 'seistanicus') and the Philippin es (P p pu/veru/entus) . P p me /anotus and South Island Takah e, res pectively, branched off befo re th ese taxa . Th e tree shows th at the Afri ca n 'subspec ies' of Purpl e Swamp-hen, P p madagasca riensis, holds a pos ition at the base of th e tree . Th e new results co nfirm Trewick's early co ntention that th e two takah e are not each oth er's closest relati ves. North Isl and and South Island Takahe mu st, therefore, be recogni zed as separate species. If lumped as subspec ies of a single spec ies, North Island and South Island Takahe would not co nstitute a natural monoph yleti c group beca use it includ es some but not all descendants of the common ancestor of North Island and South Island Takahe (ie, P p m e/ano tus, P p 'seistanicus' and P p pu/veru/entus are exclud ed). In systemati sts' jargon such taxa are ca lled 'paraph y leti c' . Th e tree obtained by Trewick (1997) prov ides powerful evidence th at North Island and South Island Takahe independentl y lost their ability to fl y and independentl y developed giganti sm. A lso, geographi ca ll y adj acent forms are not necessaril y each other's cl osest relati ves . It is uncertain w hen the differenti ati on among th e vari ous form s of Porph yrio too k pl ace. Trewick (1997) estim ated a di ve rgence time for mante //i and me /anotus at c 1 million yea rs ago but emphas ized that thi s fi gure is likely to be approx im ate and may we il be unreli abl e. Trew ick (1997) noted that, in addi tion to the two takahe, 'th e subspec ies of Porph yrio porph yrio should also be redefin ed as spec ies, oth erw ise Porph yrio porphyrio w ill remain paraph yleti c.' In th e next secti on thi s suggesti on is furth er elaborated upon.

mantelli North Island Takahe

'seistanicus' = po/iocepha/us Grey-head ed Swa mp-hen pu/veru/entus Philipp ine Swamp-h en FI GURE 1 Evo luti o nary relati o nship s amon g swa mphens and t akahe Po rph yrio base d on mitoc ho ndri al DNA sequences (Trew ick 1997) so ns, a cl ear size d ifference between the tw o forms was detected. Alth ough in general North Isl and Takah e was larger th an South Island Takahe, th e difference is mu ch greater in some skeletal bones than in others. Therefare, North Island Takahe was not simpl y larger th an South Island Takahe, as was previously beli eved, but also had a different shape. These differences in proporti ons ju stify the recognition of th e two takahe as separate species (Trewick 1996) . Trewick (1996) also found that hindlimb bones of North Island Takahe differed more from South Island Takahe th an they did from P p me /anotus, the Au strali an and New Zea land subspecies of Purpl e Swamp-hen, w hich suggests that North Island and South Island Takahe are not each oth er's cl osest relati ves . Thi s evidence is intri guin g because if one of the takahe is in deed more close ly related to a swamphen th an to th e other takahe, the two takahe ca nn ot be co nsidered as representati ves of a single spec ies, let alone be pl aced in a separate, monotypi c genu s. If tru e, the extant South Island Takahe should becom e known as Porph yrio hochstetteri and should no longer be referred to as Porph yrio mante //i or No tornis mante l/i. Moreover, if P P m e/anotus, and perh aps oth er swamphen taxa, turn out to be more cl ose ly related to a takahe th an to oth er swa mp-hens, the many form s of swamp-h en currentl y included in ' Purpl e Swa mp-h en P porph yrio' wo uld not co nstitute a natural (monoph yleti c) assembl age . Thi s would ca ll far a taxonomi c revisio n in w hich several swamp-hen taxa may be raised to spec ies level. It also impli es th at both takahe have independentl y co loni zed New Zea land and th at they independentl y deve loped fli ghtl ess ness and giga nti sm. Th erefore, if the hypothesis that th e tw o takahe evolved independentl y from swa mp-hen-like ancestors is co nfi rmed, there w ill be far-reachin g co nsequences for taxonomy, bi ogeographi c mode Is and theori es about the evolution of thi s group. Howeve r, as noted by Trewick (1996), the morph olog ica l data alone are not

suffic ient to accept thi s hypoth es is. The proper way to analyse relation ships is to perform a phy logeneti c analys is, ie, an analys is des igned to reso lve hi stori ca l (evo lutionary) relati onships. Such an an alys is was offered in a subsequent paper (Trew ick 1997) .

Swamp-hen taxonom y The

currentl y

accepted

taxo nomy

th e

genu s

Porph yrio is rooted in the acti ons of taxonomi sts in th e 1930s and 1940s. By th at time, many form s had been

Trends in systematics TAB LE 1 Taxo no mi c arrangements of Pu rpl e Swa mp-hen co mpl ex Porph yrio

Peters (193 4) M o ro ny et al (1975)

Steadm an (1988)

Rose laa r (in Cramp & Simmo ns 1980)

pro posed interim taxo no my

four spec ies:

three spec ies:

o ne species (P porph yrio), six subspecies gro ups:

six spec ies:

P porph yrio P madagascariensis P po liocephalus P pulverulentus

P porph yrio P poliocephalus P pulverulentus

porph yrio-gro up madagascariensis-g ro up poliocephalus-gro up pulverulentus-gro up indicus-gro up m elanotus-group

P porph yrio P m adagasca riensis P poliocephalus P pulverulentus P ind icus P melano tus

named (c 30), especiall y in the O ri ental and western Pacific reg io ns. Some named forms had been co ll ected in the same genera l areas and thi s was sometim es ta ken as evidence fo r two o r mo re d istin ct coex istin g spec ies (eg, H artert 1924) . Mayr (1949) po inted o ut that in some areas ve ry di ffe rent loo king indi vidu als actuall y represent mo rph s, rather than coex isting spec ies . A lth o ugh taxono mi sts red uced the number of recog ni zed subspec ies, there has been no agree ment abo ut the number of recogni zab le form s, w hi ch is evident fro m the d ifferent numbe r of subspec ies acce pted by va ri o us autho ri ties : 13 (R ipley 1977), 14 (Potapov & Flint 1989), 19 (Peters 193 4), c 20 (C ramp & Simmons 1980) and 24 (Stepa nya n 1975). M any of these form s are o nl y ve ry weak ly d ifferenti ated. Eve n so me subspec ies w hi ch we re recog ni zed by Ripl ey (1977), w ho adopted the most co nse rvati ve stance o n subspec ies, are characteri zed o n the bas is of d iffe rences in average size o r subti e co lo ur di fferences alo ne. Subspec ies, therefore, rema in ed probl ematica l, w hi ch un doubtedl y resulted fro m th e lack of a theo retica I framework fo r subspec ies taxa . At th e leve l of spec ies it was co mmo n practi ce during most of thi s century to lum p fo rm s w hi ch rep lace eac h other geographi ca ll y. Von Boetticher (1935) argued th at beca use all subspec ies seem cl ose ly related and repl ace each oth er geographi ca ll y, they sho uld all be lumped in a sin gle spec ies . Mayr (1938) independentl y reached th e sa me co ncl usio n and noted th at beca use Purple Swamp-hen already includ es seve ral d istin ct As ian, O ri enta l and Australi an fo rms, thi s ' imm edi ately suggests to draw th e specifi c lines still w ider and to in cl ud e also porph yrio, madagasca riensis and pulve rulentus in th e sa me species'. Thi s taxo no mi c treatment has bee n ado pted by most reference wo rks (eg, Ripl ey 1977, Cramp & Simmons 1980, del Hoyo et al 1996), altho ugh so me autho rs occas io nall y recogni zed mo re th an o ne spec ies . M o ro ny et al (1975) fo ll owed Peters (193 4) in recogni zin g fo ur spec ies, P porphyrio, P madagascariensis, P pulverulentus and P poliocephalus, the latter bein g a du stbin far virtu all y all fo rms in th e Oriental and W estern Pac ifi c reg io ns. M cA ll an & Bru ce (1988) and Steadman (1988) also recogni zed severa l spec ies (tabi e 1) bu t neith er di sc ussed th eir reasons for do ing so . Thu s, fo r mu ch of thi s century, swa mp- hen taxo no my is characteri zed by a

flurry of named fo rm s, so me of w hi ch are mo rpho log ica ll y weak ly defined and are someti mes not eve n recog ni zed as subspec ies, w hereas others are stro ngly differentiated and are occas io nall y recog ni zed as full species but w itho ut a clear and ex pl ic it ratio nale. H owever, des pite lingering uncerta in ty about the statu s of seve ral taxa, no signi fica nt rev isio ns have appea red since M ayr's papers (M ayr 1938, 1949). Trew ick's ph yloge neti c analys is prov ides a much needed hi storica l perspective o n swam p-h en d iversity. It fo rcefull y shows that all arra ngements proposed so fa r are un acceptabl e beca use they in c lude spec ies w hi ch are co mposed of fo rms w hi ch are not close ly related . Far in stance, Peters (1934) inclu ded the fo rm m elanotus in P poliocephalus. The latter now appea rs to be mo re cl ose ly related to North Island Taka he th an to melanotus (figu re 1), w hi ch means that Peters' ' P poliocephalus' does not represe nt a natural gro up . In the treatment proposed by vo n Boetti cher (1935), and w hi ch is still w id ely acce pted, ' P porph yrio' is a paraphy leti c taxo n because it does not in cl ude the two taka he. Steadm an's (1988) ' P porph yrio' includ es the forms madagasca riensis and melanotus, w hi ch now appea r to be onl y di stantl y related (the latter is actu all y cl ose r to the two taka he th an to m adagascariensis, figure 1) . If we accept th e two taka he as full spec ies, the tree obtain ed by Trew ick (1997) suggests th at at least three farms of swa mp-h en should also be recogni zed as full spec ies (ie, madagasca riensis, m elanotus and 'seistanicus'jpulverulentus) . Howeve r, Trew ick (1997) d id not analyse all relevant fo rm s; some fo rm s w hi ch we re exclud ed are ve ry di stin ct and maya lso represent species. At present, their statu s ca n o nl y be determined with morpho log ica l characters. If species are v iewed as the most basa l taxono mi c units then they mu st be di ag nosa bl e and sho uld not co ntain any includ ed taxa. Thi s approac h, w hi ch fo llows the Ph yloge neti c Species Co ncept (see Sangster et al 1998 fo r detail s), has not vet bee n appli ed to th e swa mp-h en co mpl ex. Howeve r, the six subspec ies groups w hi ch we re defin ed by C S Rose laa r (in Cramp & Simmo ns 1980) are characteri zed by qu alitati ve mo rph o log ica l differences and may thu s be recogni zed as ph yloge neti c species (tabi e 1, see also f igure 2). Three of th ese subspec ies gro ups (ie, the porph yriogroup, madagascariensis-gro up and pulverulentus-

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FIGURE 2 Breeding range of Western swamp-hen / Westelijke Purperkoet Porphyrio porphyrio, African swamp-hen / Smaragd purperkoet P madagascariensis, Greyheaded swamp-hen / Grijskoppurperkoet P poliocephalus, Black-backed swamp-hen / Zwartrugpurperkoet P viridis, Phi l ipp ine swamp-hen / Fi li ppijnse Pu rperkoet P pulverulentus and Austral ian swamp-hen / Austra lisc he Purperkoet P melanotus, based on Rip ley (1977), snow (1978), Blakers et al (1984), Holl om et al (1988), va n Marl e & Voous (1988), Potapov & Flint (1989), Kasparek (1992), Berezov ikov & Gistsov (1993), Marchant & Higgins (1993) and Maiiez (1997), Numbers denote subspecies recognized by Rip ley (1977): 1 porphyrio, 2 madagasca riensis, 3 seistanicus, 4 poliocephalus, 5 viridis,6 indicus, 7 pulverulentus, 8 melanopterus, 9 samoensis, 10 melanotus, 11 bel/us, 12 chathamensis, 13 pelewensis

Trends in systematics group) co nsist of o nl y o ne subspec ies and their taxo nomy, therefo re, shoul d be relati ve ly straightfo rwa rd . Th e three remaining gro ups (th e poliocephalus-g roup, indicus-gro up and m elanotus-gro up) in c lud e seve ral subspec ies . Because subspec ies have been recog ni zed fo r co nveni ence o nl y and have lacked an evo lu tio nary status, it is impo rtant to determ ine w heth er they represent di agnosab le taxa. In the next secti o n, I w ill deve lo p th e view that each of th ese subspec ies-groups sho uld be treated as a (p hy loge netic) spec ies but th at the va riou s subspec ies in the poliocephalus-gro up, indicus-gro up and melanotus-gro up sho uld not be recogni zed, at least not o n the bas is of present evidence . The porph yrio-group is co nf in ed to the western M editerranea n and is characteri zed by a purp li sh-blu e head, upper- and un derparts and w in gs. Thi s taxo n does not show any gree n to nes in its plumage at any age. Sin ce it has the most westerl y breedin g range, it may be named Western Swamp- hen. The madagascariensis-gro up occ urs in th e N il e va lley and Nile delta in Egypt and in Afri ca south of th e Sahara. It is uniqu e amo ng swam p-hens in hav in g a green lower mantie and scapul ars, co ntrastin g w ith dark blu e upper manti e and w in g-coverts. Thi s taxon may be named Afri ca n Swamp-hen. The Egypti an populatio n of Africa n Swamp-h en has been separated as 'aegyptiacus'. Neumann (in A rcher & Godman 1937) noted th at 'aegyptiacus' ca n be di stin gui shed fro m m adagasca riensis by deeper an d purer o li ve-gree n

upperparts w ith an alm ost com plete abse nce of a coppery ye ll ow was h and also by a pure b lu e throat and fo reneck, w hi ch are less was hed with gree n than in m adagasca riensis. Howeve r, these differences are not di agnostic; bird s w ith an upperpa rt co lorati o n simil ar to those in Egypt ca n be found in West Afri ca and co lo ratio n of upperpa rts of pop ul ati o ns in so uthern Afri ca and Madagascar is intermed iate betwee n th at of populatio ns in Egypt and eastern Africa (C ram p & Simmons T980). A lth ough 'aegyptiacus' is still occas io nall y recog ni zed (eg, Potapov & Flint 1989), it is now most often rega rded as a syno nym of madagascariensis. The poliocephalus-gro up, w hi ch breeds in southern Asia west to southern Turkey and the western sho res of the Caspi an Sea, is characteri zed by a di stin ct ce rul ea nblu e o r grey head and may thu s be ca l led G reyheaded Swamp-hen. Based o n d ifferences in size, taxono mi sts have recogni zed two (R ipl ey 1977, Potapov & Fli nt 1989) o r three subspec ies (C ramp & Simm ons 1980) in thi s group . Th e form 'seistanicus', w hi ch occurs in the M iddl e East, differs fro m poliocephalus in being larger (Cramp & Simm o ns 1980). O n the bas is of differences in size, H artert (1917) described the pop ul ati o ns in the Caspi an reg ion as a separate fo rm w hi ch he named 'caspius' . However, he subsequ entl y d id not recog nize 'caspius' and in cl uded it as a syno nym of 'seistanicus' (Hartert 1921-22). Rose laa r (in Cramp & Simmons 1980) later resurrected 'caspius' , based o n size d ifferences. O n the bas is of three museum speci mens (C S

6 G rey-h eaded Swamp-hens / Grij sko ppurperkoete n Porphyrio poliocephalus, Bharatpur, Ind ia, 10 Febru ary 1998

(RenĂŠ fop)

Trends in systematics Roselaar pers comm), an add iti onal grey-headed form,

'bemmeleni', has been described from no rth ern Sum atra (see van Marle & Voous 1988). The three spec imens differ from poliocephalus o nl y by their sma ll er size. W ing length in the poliocephalus-group declines southeastwa rd s (Cramp & Simmons 1980); birds are largest in the Casp ian region, Turkey and Syri a ('casp ius'), smaller from Iraq to western India ('seistanicus'), still sma ll er in centra l India to western Thailand and sma ll est in southern India, Sri Lanka, Nicobars (po liocephalus) and north Sumatra ('bemmeleni'). The recognition of taxa suc h as 'seistanicus', 'caspius' and 'bemmeleni', w hi eh are mainly or entirely based on differenees in size, is problematic beeause severa l stud ies have shown that size differenees may be indueed by environmental factors su eh as food during the nestling stage (eg, James 1983, Boag 1987, Larsson & Forslund 1991, Larsson 1993). Therefore, size differenees alone are in suffieient evidenee for the ex istenee of taxa. Hence, there is insuffieient bas is for the reeognition of 'seistan icus', 'caspius' and 'bemmeleni' as va lid taxa. Although it has been suggested th at there are eo lour differences between 'seistanicus' and poliocephalus (palmer 1997), no diagnostic eharaeter states are known. Based on present evidence, 'seistanicus', 'caspius' and 'bemmeleni' are probably best regarded as syno nyms of poliocephalus. The indicus-group is distributed in South-East As ia and consists of two named forms, viridis in mainl and South-East As ia and indicus in the Greater Sunda Island s (Sumatra, Java, southern Borneo). This group is eharacterized by blackis h upperparts and wi ng-coverts and a large frontal sh ield w ith pronounced lateral ridges and differs from the melanotus-group in hav in g a turquoise-green to ceru lea n-blu e throat and upper breast (Cramp & Simm ons 1980). An appropriate name fo r this gro up may be Black-baeked Swamp-hen. However, the taxonomie status of popu lations in South-East Asia is comp lex and poorly und erstood. Evidence of the nature of interaction of the poliocephalus-group and indicus-group is contradictory. Although there are reports of intergradation of poliocephalus and 'viridis' (R ipl ey 1977), there is also evid enee that poliocephalus and 'viridis' eoexist in the breeding seaso n in ce rtain parts of South-East Asia (Ri ley 1938). Also, it is not clear w hether the three Sum atran speci mens o n w hi eh the form 'bemmeleni' is based belong to a resident population of greyheaded birds in northern Sumatra, perhaps geographieally close to (or even sympatrie w ith) the resident form indicus or w hether they refer to migrants from mainland As ia (van Marle & Voous 1988). Sibley (1996) appa rently included indicus en viridis in the poliocephalus-group but did not state his reasons for doing so. Clea rl y, the status of swamp- hens in South-East Asia remains incompletely known. At present, it is even not clear w hether there are diagnostie differences between 'viridis' and indicus (see Ripley 1977). The taxonomy of these forms may benefit from detailed f ield observations, the co ll ectin g of additiona l material and phylogenetic ana lys is. The form pulverulentus is endem ie to the Philippines and may be ca ll ed Philippine Swamp-h en. It differs

from all other forms, including poliocephalus (whieh may be its closest relative, figure 1), and the geograph ically nea rest forms, 'viridis', indicus, 'melanopterus' and 'pe/ewensis', by its brown, bronze or o li veehestnut upperparts and grey head and underparts. The me/anotus-group, whie h oecurs from Indones ia to New Zea land, is eharacterized by a blaekish plumage, a sma ll frontal sh ield and short toes (Cramp & Simmons 1980) and may be named Austra li an Swamphen. The melanotus-group is the most variab ie group in the entire comp lex. Mayr (1949), in pa rti cu lar, has stressed the 'a lm ost unbelievable amount of individual variation' and the diffieulties of identifying diagnostie eharacter states for the subspecies in this group. Two widespread fo rms, 'samoensis' and 'melanopterus', are reeogn ized by v irtua ll y all recent authors. Mayr (1949), however, noted th at 'samoensis' differs from 'me /anopterus' on ly by having on average a brighter breast and browner upperparts and th at some indi v idua ls are not id entifyable. Similarl y, the form 'pelewensis', whieh is reeogn ized for the rather iso lated population on the Palau Islands, differs only in subtie eo lour differenees and these differences fa ll w ithin the range of individual variation shown by populations of 'samoensis' and 'melanopterus' (see Mayr 1949). The subspec ies' chathamensis', which has been reeognized for swamp- hens on Chatham Island, was regarded by Marchant & Higg in s (1993) as a syno nym of melanotus beeause no diagnostic differences are known, a treatment wh ieh is supported by 'chathamensis' and me/anotus having id entica l mitochondrial DNA's (Trewick 1997). The south-western Austra li an subspecies 'bel/us' differs from me/anotus mainly in having a cobalt blue or ceru lean, rather than black, breast, usually browner upperparts and a sma ll er and squarer bill shield (Marehant & Higgins 1993). In co loration, 'bel/us' is very similar to 'samoensis' (Ripley 1977) and may not be recognizable. At present, there seems insufficient evidence to recogn ize more than one spec ies in the me/anotus-group, although further stud ies may indi cate otherwise.

Conc/usions Based o n the preceding discussion and Trewick's (1997) evidence for parap hy ly of the Purple Swamphen comp lex, I suggest th at Roselaar's (in Cramp & Simmons 1980) six subspec ies-groups be recognized as spec ies. Further studies shou ld focus on the confusing taxonomie statu s of South-East Asian popu lations and o n the status of the va ri ous populations of the me/anotus-group. It may be argued that because the present state of knowledge is in comp lete no taxonomie changes shou ld be formally adopted. However, taxonomies wi ll never be definitive beeause our knowledge is never comp lete. A ll that can be required from a given taxonomy is th at it reflects current knowledge of the status and relationships of the relevant taxa. At present, th ese six morphologically defined species seem the best supported hypothesis about the basal taxa in this comp lex and recognition of these species avo ids the problem of paraphyly.

Trends in systematics Trewick's (1996, 1997) studies have shown that the evolution of the swamp-hen complex can not be understood unless other, seeming ly very distinct, relatives such as the takahe are also considered . It seems likely th at other extin ct species of Porphyrio are also nested w ithin the swamp-hen/takahe group. These include Lord Howe 5wamp-hen Pa/bus, wh ich was endem ie to Lord Howe Island, New Ca ledon ian 5wamp-hen P kukwiedei, which had gigantic proportions sim ilar to the two takahe and was restricted to New Ca ledonia (Ba louet & O lson 1989) and the sma ll Marquesas 5wamp-hen P paepae, which was similar in size to American Purple Ga llinul e Porphyru/a martinica and w hi ch occurred on the Marquesas Islands at the northeastern edge of Polynesia (5teadman 1988): Bones of another, as vet undescribed, species have recently been discovered on Mangaia, Cook Islands (5teadman 1995). Although a clear understanding of the evo luti on of rails is on ly beginning to emerge, Trewick's studies of the swamp-hen/takahe group will serve as an examp le of what may be regarded as the idea l systematic study : archaeo log ical research and phylogenetic analysis, the two most important sourees of information about the history of birds, used in conjunction. André van der Plas is acknow ledged for preparing the distribution map.

References Archer, G & Godman, E M 1937. The birds of British Soma liland and the Gulf of Aden . London. Ba louet, J C & O lson, 5 L 1989. Fossil birds from late quaternary deposits in New Ca ledon ia. 5mithson Contr Zoo l 469. Berezovikov, N N & Gistsov, A P (1993) . [On the avifauna of the northeastern part of the Caspian Depression.] Russ J Ornithol 2: 89-90. [In Russian, Engl ish summary.] Blakers, M, Davies, 5 J J F & Reilly, P N 1984. The atlas of Australian birds. Melbourne. Boag, P T 1987. Effects of nestling diet on growth and adu lt size of Zebra Finches (Poephi /a guttata). Auk 104: 155-166. von Boetticher, H 1935. Rassenkreisbildung bei den Purpur- oder 5u ltanshühnern. Fol Zool Hydrobiol 8: 47-51. Clout, M N & Cra ig, J L 1994. The conse rvation of critica ll y endangered fli ghtless birds in New Zealand. Ibis 137: 5181-5190. Cramp, 5 & 5immons, K E L (editors) 1980. The birds of the Western Palearctic 2. Oxford. Diamond, J M 1981. Flightlessness and fear of flying in island species. Nature 293: 507-508. Diamond, J 1991. A new species of rail from the Solomon Is land s and convergent evo lution of insular flightlessness. Auk 108: 461-470. Falla, RA 1949. Notornis rediscovered. Emu 48: 316322. Hartert, E 1917. On some Rallidae. Novit Zoo l 24: 265-274. Hartert, E 1921-1 922. Die Vägel der Paläarktischen Avifauna. Three vol umes. Berlin.

Hartert, E 1924. Notes on some birds from Buru. Novit Zoo l 31: 104-111. Hollom, PAD, Porter, R F, Christensen, 5 & Willis, I 1988. Birds of the Middle East and North Africa. Calton. del Hoyo, j, Eli iot, A & 5argata l, J (ed itors) 1996. Handbook of the birds of the world 3. Barcelona. James, F C 1983. Environmental component of morphological differentiation in birds. 5cience 221: 184187. Kasparek, M 1992. Die Vägel der Türkei, eine Übersicht. Heidelberg. Larsson, K 1993. Inheritance of body size in the Barnacle Goose under different environmenta l conditions. J Evol Biol 6: 195-208. Larsson, K & Forslund, P 1991. Environmentally indu ced morphological variat ion in the Barnacle Goose, Branta /eucopsis. J Evol Biol 4: 619-636. Manez, M 1997. Porphyrio porphyrio Purple Ga llinul e. In: Hagemeijer, W J M & Blair, M J (editors), The EBCC atlas of European breeding birds: their distribution and abundance, London, pp 234-235. Marchant, 5 & Higgins, P (ed itors) 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic birds 2. Melbourne. van Marle, J G & Voous, K H 1988. The birds of 5umatra, an annotated check li st. Tring. Mayr, E 1938. Birds collected during the Whitney Sou th 5ea Expedition XL. Notes on New Guinea birds V. Am Mus Novit 1007. Mayr, E 1949. Notes on the birds of northern Melanesia. Am Mus Novit 1417. Mayr, E 1982. The growth of biological thought. Cambridge, Mass. McAllan, I A & Bruce, M D 1988. The birds of New 50uth Wales. Turramurra. McNab, B K 1994. Energy conservation and the evo lu tion of flightlessness in birds. Am Nat 144: 628-642. Morony, J j, Bock, W J & Farrand, J 1975. Reference list of the birds of the world . New Vork. O lson, 5 L & James, H F 1982. Fossil birds from the Hawaiian islands: evidence for wholesa le extin ction by man before western contact. 5cience 217: 633 -635. Peters, J L 1934. Check- list of birds of the world 2. Cambr id ge, Mass. Palmer, P 1997. The Purple Ga llinul e in Cumbr ia - a new British bird? Birding World 10: 463-466. Potapov, R L & Flint, V E (editors) 1989. Handbuch der Vägel der 50wjetunion 4. Wiesbaden. Riley, J H 1938. Birds from 5iam and the Malay Peninsuia in the United States Nation al Museum co ll ected by Drs. Hugh M. 5mith and William L. Abbott. Bull U 5 Nat Mus 172: 1-581. Ripley,5 D 19 77. Rails of the wo rld. Boston. 5angster, G, Hazevoet, C j, van den Berg, A B & Roselaar, C 5 1998. Dutch avifaunal I ist: spec ies concepts, taxonomie instability, and taxonomic changes in 1998. Dutch Birding 20: 22-32. 5ibley, C G 1996. Birds of the world. Version 2.0. Cin cinn ati . 5now, D W 1978. An atlas of speciation in African

Trends in systematics non-passeri ne bi rds . London. Steadman, D W 1988. A new species of Porphyrio (Aves: Rallidae) from archaeo logica l sites in the Marquesas Islands. Proc Biol Soc Wash 101: 162170. Steadman, D W 1993. Biogeography of Ton ga n birds before and after human impact. Proc Natl Acad Sc i USA 90: 818-822. Steadman, D W 1995. Prehistoric extin ctions of Pacific Island birds: b iodivers ity meets zooarchaeo logy. Science 267: 1123-1131. Steadman, D W, Pahlavan, D S & Kirch, P V 1990. Extinction, biogeography, and human exp lo itation of

birds on Tikopia and Anuta, Polynesian out li ers in the Solomon Islands. Bishop Mus Occ Pap 30: 118-153. Stepanyan, L 5 1975. Sostav i raspredelenie ptits fauny SSSR: Nevorob'inye. Moscow. Trewick, S A 1996. Morphology and evo luti on of two takahe: fli ghtless rails of New Zea land. J Zoo l 238: 221-237 . Trewick, 5 A 1997. Flightlessness and phylogeny amongst endemic rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the New Zea land region. Philos Trans R Soc London B 352: 429-446. Voous, K H 1975. An aberrant Reed Warbier, or: on the inequa li ty of genera in birds. Ardeo la 21: 977-985.

George Sangster, Nieuwe Rijn 27, 2312 JO Leiden, Netherlands

CSNA-mededelingen _ _ _ _ _~ Dutch avifaunallist: species concepts, taxonomie instability, and taxonomie changes in 1998 This report, the second since the reinstatement of the Dutch committee for systematics (CSNA) in late 1996 (Dutch Birding 18: 340, 1996), summarizes recent taxonomic decisions affecting the Dutch av ifauna l list. As noted in the previous report (Sangster et al 1997), species limits are consistent with a phylogenetic approach to species leve l taxa . Given the cons iderab le confusion surrounding phylogenetic species concepts, both in the scientifi c and birding literature, further comments about species concepts and their app li cation are presented below. As stated in the previous report (Sangster et al 1997), two basic rules are app lied for the recognition of hi gher taxa (ie, taxa above the level of species) : 1 higher taxa are named clades and, therefore, represent monophyletic groups of spec ies or less inclusive clades, and 2 phylogenetic knowledge shou ld be expressed as accu rately as poss ible in nomenclature. As phylogenetic knowledge grows, implementation of these rules w ill result in taxonomic changes. The necessity of suc h changes and their effect on taxonomic systems are further discussed below. Decisions by the CSNA are either based on unanimous vote or supported by a majority of the committee (Dutc h Birding 18: 340, 1996). Decisions in the present report are all based on unanimous vote and will be adopted in Dutch Birding from the first issue of volume 20 (1998). 22

Choice of species concept and its application Different species concepts may be best for different purposes (End Ier 1989) and it seems increasingly likely that no sing le species concept will satisfy the multiple purposes of 'spec ies' in the biological sciences (eg, Huil 1997). However, a theme common to all biological sciences is that all living organisms are historically connected through their pattern of ancestry and descent. All living organisms are the product of history, and we can understand little about the divers ity of organisms without knowledge of their history, ie, the phylogenetic knowledge provided by systematics (O'Hara et al 1988). Virtually all comparative stud ies of biological variation among taxa depend on suc h phylogenetic knowledge for interpretation (Brooks & McLennan 1991, Harvey & Page I 1991). Therefore, a first and fundamental requirement of any species concept in biology is th at species taxa are compatible with the reconstruction of evolutionary relationships. Species concepts which group taxa that are not closely related in a single species, misrepresent evolutionary history and must be abandoned. Second, species taxa shou ld be delimited on the basis of historical subdivisions (ie, historical patterns) , rather than present-day or possible future interactions and processes (LidĂŠn & Oxelman 1989), suc h as hybridization and gene flow. Species concepts wh ich are prospective and which require speculations about the future are not helpful in biology; since all of our data are of the present and past, the units by which we interpret th ese data must also be stri ctly historical (Maddison 1997). Third, species should be basal, [Dutch Birding 20: 22-32, 1998J

CSNA-mededelingen taxonomically comparable units (Cracraft 1987, 1989); species should be basa/ taxa, that is, taxa that contain no included taxa. A species concept should not combine several distinct taxa in a single (polytypic) 'species' because such 'species' actually are higher taxa. Species concepts which recognize not only single units (monotypic species) but also polytypic assemblages (polytypic species) as 'species' run counter to the fundamental need for species taxa to be basal and comparable. The decision by the CS NA to abandon the traditional Biological Species Concept (BSC) in favour of a Phylogeneti c Species Concept (PSC) was largely based on these three principles. The Biological Species Concept is rejected because its properties violate all th ree aforementioned principles. First, interbreeding taxa are not necessarily more closely related to each other than they are to taxa from which they are reproductively isolated. Because interbreeding is the prime criterion for conspecificity under the BSC, the BSC could still regard such interbreeding taxa as conspecifics. Therefore, the problem of lumping taxa which are not closely related in a single species and, hen ce, the misrepresentation of evolutionary history, is inherent to the BSC and does not simply result from errors in application. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that in various groups of birds 'polytypic' species recognized by the BSC do not represent natural (monophyletic) groups. Evidence comes from phylogenies based on both morphological (eg, Livezey 1995) and molecular data sets (eg, Zink 1988, Friesen et al 1996, Leisier et al 1997, Roy et al 1997, Trewick 1997). Second, under the BSC taxa are recognized as species if they remain 'reproductively isolated', in the sense that they do not fuse into a single population (Mayr 1982). The BSC, therefore, is prospective (O'Hara 1993, 1994, Maddison 1997); only future events will show whether currently recognized taxa remain reproductively isolated or fuse into each other. This poses both theoretical and practical problems. It makes little sense to try to interpret the past and present diversity of organisms with a taxonomy th at is based on expectations ('dreams', Maddison 1997) about the future. A practical problem is that, except for rare cases, the process of fusion transcends observable time. The likely time-to-fusion may be measured in 1000s or even millions of years (Zink & McKitrick 1995). Third, many 'species' . recognized by the BSC contain more than one taxon. The BSC recognizes monotypic species but mayalso unite up to

10 or more diagnosable taxa and still recognize the resulting unit as a single 'species' . This not only underestimates and misrepresents biodiversity but also compromises interspecific comparisons (Prum 1994, Hazevoet 1996, Cracraft 1997). In the systematic literature, two distinct Phylogenetic Species Concepts have been advocated . These versions agree in viewing species as a product of evolution, not as a player in evolution, and support the notion of species as basal taxa. The original version, proposed by Cracraft (1983) and further developed by Nixon & Wheeler (1990) and Davis & Nixon (1992), considers a phylogenetic species to be an irreducible cluster of organisms possessing at least one diagnostic character state. This version thus focuses on the diagnosabi/ity of species. Diagnostic character states are discrete character states which are fixed within the species and absent from close relatives. Diagnosability of species may be based on any intrinsic attribute, either morphological, molecular, ethological or a combination of these. It should be emphasized that this concept is populational (Cracraft 1997); the criterion of diagnosability only applies to populations, and not t~, eg, family groups or individuals. An alternative approach was developed by Donoghue (1985) and de Queiroz & Donoghue (1988, 1990) and considers phylogenetic species to be the smallest monophy/etic groups of organisms supported by autapomorphies (unique derived character states). The diagnosability and monophyly versions of the PSC are significantly different, both in theory and application (Baum 1992). A major difference is that the monophyly version requires phylogenetic analysis prior to delimiting species, whereas the diagnosability version does not. Implementation of the monophyly version will, therefore, result in a significant shift in taxonomic practice, whereas the diagnosability version will not (Baum 1992). In addition to this practical difference, the two versions also differ with regard to which basal taxa are called 'species' . When a smal I group of related individuals leaves a species, evolves diagnostic character states and thus forms a descendant species, the ancestral 'species' will cease to be monophyletic. Because both the ancestral and descendant 'species' are characterized by diagnostic character states, the diagnosability version would recognize both as phylogenetic species; the monophyly version, however, would recognize the descendant species, but not the ancestral 'species', as a phylogenetic species because only the 23

CSNA-medede!ingen former is monophyletic. Proponents of the monophyly version propose that such ancestral 'species' are recognized as a separate class of species, for which they propose the term 'metaspecies' (Donoghue 1985, de Queiroz & Donoghue 1988). The CSNA has adopted the diagnosability version of the PSC as its operational species concept because no phylogenetic analysis is requ i red prior to delimiting species, its implementation involves little modification of existing taxonomie practices and does not require the recognition of additional classes of species. It is believed that these are advantages over the monophyly version, and similar versions (eg, Baum & Shaw 1995), and that these outweigh any disadvantages. Although both aspects (diagnosability and monophyly) may be meaningful at the level of species (Baum 1992), the monophyly version is not sufficiently practical to be acceptable as an operational species concept. Throughout this paper, 'qualitative differences' are differences which can be coded as discrete character states .

Systematics and taxonomic (in)stability There is a large hiatus between our knowledge of phylogenetic relationships, which has increased exponentially since the late 19705, and the avian taxonomie system (classification), which is basically still the same as the one proposed by Alexander Wetmore in 1930, which in turn was largely based on the work of Max F端rbringer and Hans Gadow in the late 19th century. Some have been concerned that the goal of systematics is to produce a 'stabie standard classification' and that the Wetmore classification and sequence is now 50 weil entrenched that it should continue to serve as a stabie standard classification (Mayr 1989, Mayr & Bock 1994). The 'stability' of the Wetmore classification, especially in the light of much systematic research, was viewed by Mayr & Bock (1994) as 'of major advantage to all avian biologists' because, in the Wetmore classification, biologists can easily locate a particular group or species . However, this 'stability' is not to be regarded as a proof of its correctness. In fact, the 'stability' of the Wetmore classification throughout this century is entirely due to failure to incorporate new ideas about relationships (Sibley 1989, 1994). Fortunately, in recent years taxonomie systems have become more consistent with current knowledge of phylogenetic relationships. Closely associated with this development is a reappraisal of systematics as a historica! 24

science (eg, Gould 1986), in which phylogenies are viewed as hypotheses of relationships and taxonomies based on them as dynamic systems, subject to further modification as our knowledge of relationships grows. Systematics is not an exercise in producing classifications convenient for humans, but an attempt to discover an underlying real structure in nature (Griffiths 1994). That real structure, or natural system, is the pattern of historical (phylogenetic) relationships. This natural system is something we discover (ie, reconstruct), not something we create (Ghiselin 1987). The objective of systematics, therefore, is the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships; taxonomy is concerned with the representation of these relationships. With its focus on past events (ie, historical subdivisions), systematics is a historical science. It needs to be emphasized that reconstructed phylogenies (cladograms) are hypotheses. The true organismal phylogeny is buried in history and is unknown and probably unknowable. Therefore, proof, in a literal sen se, of phylogenetic relationships may never be obtained. Because the true organismal phylogeny is unknown, there is no a priori basis for accepting or rejecting a given phylogeny; hypotheses must be tested in the light of additional data. A phylogenetic hypothesis is open to test by the addition of new characters, the addition of new taxa and the reevaluation of other characters. Thus, a phylogeny can be corroborated or rejected and replaced by another phylogeny. Corroboration may come in the form of congruence. Phylogenies are congruent if they show the same branching pattern . If congruence exists between phylogenies based on different sets of data, this may indicate astrong historical signal; congruenee may be regarded as evidence th at the relevant phylogenies identify the true organismal phylogeny. Rejection of a phylogenetic hypothesis requires that an alternative hypothesis better summarizes all available evidence. Because the purpose of taxonomy is communication of information on phylogenetic relationships, taxonomie systems should reflect the current best supported hypothesis of relationships. Taxonomie systems should be adjusted only if it is believed th at an alternative hypothesis is better supported by the available evidence. Because phylogenies are hypotheses which are subject to further testing, taxonomies based on them are provisional and may later be replaced or modified . Therefore, taxonomies are dynamic systems;

CSNA -mededelingen a definitive taxono mic system is probably unattainabl e in prin cipl e. Association of Europea n Rarities Committees In July 199 7, th e Assoc iati o n of Europea n Rari t ies Committees (AERC) held its fou rth bia nnu al meetin g in Bl ahova, Slovak Republi c. During th e meeting, a subcommittee was established with th e objective to revi ew th e taxo nomy of W estern Palea rcti c birds accordin g to modern princ iples. The subcommittee con sists of fo ur members, at present from Brita in, Germ any and the Netherlands. The main purpose of th e subcommittee is to exa mine current ev idence of phyl ogeneti c relati o nships and to produ ce a modern sequence of spec ies taxa . Results are schedul ed to be presented at th e next meetin g of th e AE RC in th e Czech Republ ic in th e summer of 1999. Galloanserae A sister-gro up relati o nship of A nser ifo rmes and Galli fo rmes is stro ngly suppo rted by co ngru ency of phylogenetic analyses of several independent data sets. Th ese include morph o log ica l characters (Crac raft 1986, 1988, Cracraft & M indell 1989, Ando rs 199 1, 1992, Kuroc hkin 1995, Livezey 1997), D NA-DNA hybri d izati o n (5 ib ley et al 1988, 5ibl ey & A hlqui st 1990, Harshm an 1994, Bleiwe iss et al 1995), 125 and 165 riboso mal RNA sequ ences (Hedges et al 1995), cc -c rysta llin sequ ences (Hedges et al 1995, Caspers et al 1997) and mi toc ho ndri al DNA seq uences (M ind ell et al 1997) . The cl ade fo rmed by A nser iformes and Ga lli fo rmes was named Ga ll oa nserae by 5ibl ey et al (1988). In acco rdance w ith the co nve nti o n to li st, of eac h pa ir of sister-taxa, th e less speciose gro up f irst in taxo no mi c systems (de Q ueiroz & Gauthi er 1992), A nser iformes and Ga lli form es shou ld be li sted before the remainin g taxa on th e D utc h li st.

Branfa hufchinsii (Lesser Canada Goose /

Kleine

Canadese Gans) Branfa canadensis (Greater Canada Goose / Grote

Canadese Ga ns) Lesse r Ca nada Goose and G reater Ca nada Goose are spec ifica ll y di stin ct (cf 5ib ley 1996) based o n co ngru ence of phylogeog raphi c analyses of mitoc ho ndri al DNA restri cti o n fragments (5 hi elds & Wil so n 198 7, 5hi eld s 1988, Va n Wag ner & Baker 1990, Q uinn et al 199 1), mitoc ho ndrial DNA seq uences (Q uinn et al 199 1, Baker & M arshall 1997) and morph ometry (Van W ag ner & Baker 1990) . Pendin g further an alys is, /eucopareia, minima and tavem eri are prov isio nall y retained co nspecific w ith hutchinsii; fu/va, interior, maxima, moffitti, occidentalis and parvipes are prov isio nall y retain ed co nspec ifi c w ith ca nadensis.

di stin ct (cf 5tepanya n 1990, Li vezey 199 1, Gantl ett et al 1996) based on qu alitati ve di fferences in mo rph o logy (eg, Li vezey 199 1).

[soft-plumaged complex]

pet rel

complex /

donsstormvoge l-

Fea's Petre l Pterodroma feae, l ino's Petrel P madeira and 50ft-plum aged Petrel P mo l/is are spec ifica ll y d istin ct (cf Bourne 1983, Co l lar & 5tu art 1985, l in o & l ino 1986, 5ibl ey & Monroe 1990, Beaman 1994, Hazevoet 1995, 1997, 5ibl ey 1996, 5now & Perrins 1998) based o n ph y logeogra phi c analys is of mitocho ndri al D NA sequ ences (Nunn & l in o in press) and co nco rd ance of differences in mo rph o logy (lin o & l in o 1986), voca li zati o ns (B retag no ll e 1995) and reprodu cti ve behav iour (lin o & l ino 1986) . Analys is of mitoc ho nd ri al D NA seq uences suggests th at the d ivergence of P feae and P madeira occ urred 84 0 000 yea rs ago and th at P mo l/is is not close ly related to P feae and P madeira (N unn & l ino in press). Po pul ati o ns of Fea's Petrel breedin g o n th e Deserta Island s, Madeira ('deserta'), are prov isio nall y retain ed co nspec if ic w ith feae (cf 5now & Perrin s 1998). Non-mo noph yly of the soft- plum aged petrel co mp lex precl udes th e recogniti o n of a 's upe rspecies' taxo n fo r P feae, P madeira and P mol/is. [Th ere are no accepted reco rd s of P feae, P madeira o r P mo l/is in th e Netherl and s, alth ough a record at Ca mperd uin, Noord -Ho ll and (5tegeman et al 1995), was accepted as P feae/madeira/mo l/is.]

Ca/onectris borealis (Cory's Shearwater / Kuhls Pijlstorm-

vogel) Co ry's 5hea rwater and 5copo li 's 5hea rwa ter C d iomedea are spec ifica ll y di stin ct based o n phylogeog raphi c analys is of all ozymes (Randi et al 1989) and mi tocho ndri al DNA (Heid ri ch et al 1996), qualitati ve d ifferences in voca li zati o ns (B retagno ll e & Lequ ette 1990) and phenetic analys is of mo rpho log ica l characters (G ranadeiro 1993) . Ca pe Ve rde 5hea rwate r C edwards ii is spec ifi ca ll y d istin ct fro m Co ry's 5hea rwater and 5copo li 's 5hearwater (cf Bann erm an & Ban nerman 1968, Norreva ng & den Hartog 1984, Hazevoet 1995, 1997, 5ib ley 1996, Porter et al 1997, 5now & Perrin s 1998), based o n q ualitati ve differences in mo rph o logy and voca li zati o ns (A lexa nd er 1898, Murph y 192 4, Bourn e 1955, Bann erm an & Ba nnerman 1968, H azevoet 1995, 1997, Po rter et al 1997, 5now & Perrin s 1998). [In the Neth erl ands, all reco rd s of Ca /onectris w hi ch we re co ll ected we re identifi ed to spec ies leve l as C borea /is. The identity of sight reco rd s of C bo rea lis/diomedea in the Netherl and s is currentl y being in vesti gated by th e Du tc h rariti es co mmittee (CD N A).]

[porphyrio madagascariensis (African Swamp-hen /

Smaragdpurperkoet)] Anas crecca (Common Teal / Wintertaling) Anas carolinensis (Green-winged Teal / Amerikaanse

Wintertaling) Co mmo n Tea I and G reen-w inged Tea l are spec ifi ca ll y

[Porphyrio po/iocepha/us (Grey-headed Swamp-hen /

Grijskoppurperkoet)] W estern 5wa mp-hen P porph yrio, Afri can 5wa mp-h en, G rey-headed 5wa mp-h en, Philippin e 5wa mp-hen P pu/-

CSNA-mededelingen verulentus, Blac k-bac ked Swamp-hen P indicus and Australi an Swamp-hen P m elanotus are specifica ll y d isti nct (cf Sangster 1998), based on q uali tat ive differences in mo rphol ogy (R ipley 1977, Cramp & Simm o ns 1980, del Hoyo et al 1996) . An alyses of m itoc ho ndri al DNA suggest th at fo rm s previously included und er the name 'Purpl e Swa mp-hen P porph yrio' (eg, vo n Boetti cher 1935, Ripl ey 1977, del Hoyo et al 1996) are pa raphyletic w ith res pect to two large fli ghtless New Zea land taxa, South Island Taka he P hochstetteri and extin ct North Island Takahe P mantelli (Trew ick 1997). These res ults argue aga in st co ntinu ed in cl usio n of swa mp-hen fo rm s in a sin gle po lytypi c species. Th e six gro ups here treated as spec ies (P porph yrio, P madagascariensis, P poliocephalus, P pulverulentus, P indicus and P melanotus) are simil ar to those recog ni zed by Rose laa r (in Cramp & Simmo ns 1980) as subspec ies groups. Pe ndin g further analys is, caspius and seistanicus are tentat ive ly in cl uded in poliocephalus; viridis is tentative ly in cl uded in indicus; and bellus, chatham ensis, melanopterus, pelewensis and samoensis are tentati ve ly inclu ded in melanotus. [The incl usio n of Afri ca n Swamp-hen and G reyheaded Swamp-hen o n the Du tc h li st is currentl y under review by the Dutch rariti es committee (CDNA).]

Gallinago gallinago (Common Snipe ! Watersnip) Co mm o n Sni pe and Wil so n's Snipe C de licata are specifica ll y di stin ct (cf O lsson 1987, Ga ntlett et al 1996) based o n qualitati ve di ffe rences in mo rpho logy, voca li zatio ns and dru m mi ng displ ay (ThĂś nen 1969, Cramp & Simmo ns 1983, O lsson 1987, Ca rey & O lsso n 1995, M ili er 1996a, 1996b, G ibso n & Kesse l 1997) . Pending further analys is, faeroeensis and ga llinago are prov isio nall y reta in ed as co nspec if ic (cf M ili er 1996b) . Afr ica n Snipe C nigripennis, Madagascar Sn ipe C macrodactyla, Pa raguaya n Sni pe C paraguaiae, Magell an Snipe C magellanica and Pun a Snipe C andina are specifica ll y d istinct fro m Commo n Snipe based on qu alitative d ifferences in mo rpho logy, voca lizatio ns and d rumming d isp lay (Tuck 1972, Sutto n 1981, Hayman et al 1986, Fjeldsa & Krabbe 1990, del Hoyo et al 1996) .

Stercorarius skua (Great Skua ! Grote Jager) Recent phy logenetic analyses of all ozymes and mitocho ndri al DNA seq uences (Co hen et al 1997) co nfirm and extend prev io us suggesti o ns based o n sho rt mitocho ndri al DNA seq uences (B lechsc hmidt et al 1993) th at Pomar in e Sku a 5 pom arinus is mo re close ly related to Great Skua and other spec ies pl aced in Ca tharacta th an to A rctic Skua 5 paras iticus and Lo ng-tail ed Sku a 5 longicaudus. Because independent lin es of ev idence suggest th at Ca tharacta and Stercorarius, as currentl y defined (cf Furn ess 1987, Chri stidis & Boles 1994, BOURC 1997, Sa ngster et al 1997), are pa raph yleti c taxa, all sk uas are pl aced in Stercorarius.

Larus graellsii (Lesser Black-backed Gull! Kleine Mantelmeeuw)

Larus fuseus (Baltic Gull! Baltische Mantelmeeuw) Lesse r Blac k-bac ked Gull and Baltic Gull are spec ifi c-

all y d isti nct based on qualitati ve d ifferences in morpho logy and d ifferences in moult, fo rag ing and breeding be hav iour (Ba rth 1968, Bergma n 1982, Cramp & Simm o ns 1983, H ari o 1992, Strann & Vade r 1992). There is no evidence that th e fo rm ' intermedius' is d iag nosab ly di st in ct from graellsii; ' interm edius' is, th erefore, co nsid ered conspec if ic w ith graellsii. Heuglin 's Gull L heuglini is spec ifica ll y di stin ct from Lesse r Bl ack-backed Gull , Ba lti c G ull , Arm eni an G ull L armenicus, Po ntic G ull L cachinnans, Ye ll ow-Iegged G ull L m ichahellis and Vega G ull L vegae based on qu ali tative di ffe rences in morpho logy and be hav iour, and d ifferences in eco logy (G rant 1986, Fi lchagov et al 1992, Hario 1992, Kenn erl ey et al 1995) . The breedin g range of Heuglin 's Gu ll ove rl aps w ith that of Herrin g Gull and Ba ltic Gull , w ith evidence fo r re produ cti ve iso lati o n (F il chagov & Semas hko 1987, Fil chagov et al 1992, Fil chagov 1994). Pen ding fu rth er analys is, ta im yrensis and heuglini are prov isio nall y reta ined as co nspec ific (cf Ke nn erl ey et al 1995) . [Th e inclu sio n of Ba ltic G ull o n th e D utch li st has been qu esti o ned (H oogendoor n & va n Scheepen 1998) and is currentl y under review by th e Dutch rariti es committee (CDNA).]

Larus eaehinnans (pontie Gull! Pontische M eeuw) Larus miehahellis (Yellow-Iegged Gull! Geelpootmeeuw) Pontic Gull and Ye ll ow-Iegged Gull are spec if ica ll y d istin ct (cf Klein & Buchh eim 199 7, Klein & G ruber 1997), based o n q ualita ti ve differences in morpho logy and voca li zat io ns, and differences in behav iour and eco logy (Kl ein 1994, Gruber 1995, Jonsso n 1996, 1998, Garn er 199 7, Ga rn er & Q uinn 199 7, Ga rn er et al 1997, Kl ein & Buchh eim 1997, Klein & G ruber 1997, Larsso n & Lore ntzo n 1998) . Pontic Gull and Ye ll owlegged Gull breed in close prox imity along the Blac k Sea coast of Rum ani a, appa rentl y w ith out interbreedi ng (Kl ein & Buchheim 1997) . Pendin g furt her analys is, atlantis is prov isio nall y retained as co nspecifi c w ith m ichahellis; barabensis and mongolicus are prov isio nall y retained as co nspecific w ith cachinnans. A rmeni an Gu ll L armen icus is spec if ica ll y d istin ct fro m Po nti c Gull, Ye ll ow- Iegged Gull and Heuglin's G ull L heuglini based o n q ualitati ve differences in mo rpho logy and voca li zati o ns (GĂŠ roudet 1982, Hume 1983, Dubo is 1985, G rant 1986, 1987, Satat & La ird 1992, Buzun 1993, Fil chagov 1993, Frede & Langbehn 1997) .

Larus argentatus (He rring Gull! Zilvermeeuw) Herring G ull , Vega G ull and Ame ri ca n Herring G ull L smithsonianus are spec ifi ca ll y di st in ct based o n qu alitative d ifferences in mo rph o logy and voca li zat io ns (Frin gs et al 1958, Hoffm an 1979, G rant 1986, M ull arney 1990, Kennerl ey et al 1995, Dubo is 1997). Th ere is no evidence th at th e fo rm 'a rgenteus' is di agnosa bl y distinct fro m argentatus. Current evid ence ind icates a c lin al va ri ati o n patte rn (Ba rth 1968, Cramp & Simm o ns 1983); th e des ign of studi es w hi ch h a~e suggested cl ea r differences betwee n popul ati o ns of 'a rgenteus' and argentatus (M o nag han et al 1983, Goll ey 1993) was

CSNA-mededelingen in adequ ate to substanti ate such cl aims (eg, Chy larecki 1993). The fo rm 'argenteus' is, th erefore, considered conspecifi c w ith argentatus.

Motacilla flavissima (Yellow Wagtail / Engelse Kwikstaart)

Motacil/a flava (Blue-headed Wagtail / Gele Kwikstaart)

Oenanthe hispanica (Western Black-eared Wheatear / Westelijke Blonde Tapuit)

Oenanthe me/ano/euca (Eastern Black-eared Wheatear / Oostelijke Blonde Tapuit) Western Bl ac k-ea red Wh eatea r and Easte rn Bl ac k-ea red Wh eatea r are specifi ca ll y di stinct based o n qu ali tati ve differences in morpho logy (C lement & Harri s 198 7, Cramp 1988).

Motacilla thunbergi (Grey-headed Wagtail / Noordse Kwikstaart)

Motacilla feldegg (Black-headed Wagtail / Balkankwikstaart) Yell ow W agtail , Blu e-headed W agtail , G rey-h eaded W agtail , Bl ack-headed W agtail , Spani sh W agtail M iberiae, Ashy-h eaded W agtail M cinereocapilla, Yell owheaded W agta il M /utea, G ree n-headed W agtail M taivana, Ka mtchatka W agtail M simillima, Al as ka Wagtail M tschutschensis and Whi te-headed W agtail M /eucocepha/a are specifi ca ll y distinct based o n q ualitati ve differen ces in morphol ogy (Va uri e 1957, Cramp 1988). There is no ev idence th at po pul ation s in western Asia (' beema' ) and Egypt (' pygmaea') are di ag nosa bly di stinct fro m f/ava and cinereocapilla, respectively. Th erefore, 'beema' and 'pygm aea' are included in f/ava and cinereocapilla, respecti ve ly.

Motacilla a/ba (White Wagtail / Witte Kwikstaart) Motacilla yarre/lii (pied Wagtail / Rouwkwikstaart) White Wagtail , Pi ed W agtail , M o rocca n W agtail M subpersonata, M as ked W agtail M personata, Himalayan W agtail M a/boides, Bl ack-backed W agtail M /ugens, East Siberi an W agtail M ocu/aris, Amur W agtail M /eucopsis and Baika l W agtail M baica /ensis are specifi ca ll y di stinct based o n qu alitative d ifferences in mo rphology (Cramp 1988). There is no evidence th at po pul ation s in western Asia (' dukhun ensis') are di agnosabl y distinct from a/ba. Th erefore, 'dukhunensis' is inc lud ed in a/ba. Th e form 'persica' probabl y represe nts a vari abi e hybrid popul ati o n of a/ba and personata (Vauri e 1959, Cramp 1988) and is not recog ni zed.

Saxico/a rubico/a (European Stonechat / Roodborsttapuit)

Saxico/a maura (Siberian Stonechat / Aziatische Roodborsttapuit) Europea n Sto nechat, Si be ri an Sto nec hat and Afri ca n Sto nechat 5 torquata are spec ifi ca ll y di stin ct (cf Sibl ey 1996) based o n qu alitati ve differences in morpho logy (C ramp 1988, Svensson 1992) and phyl ogeographi c analys is (Wittm ann et al 1995). Th ere is no evid ence th at popul ati o ns inh abi ting w este rn Europe are di agnosa bl y di stinct from those in centraI and north ern Europe. Therefore, th e fo rm 'hibernans' represents a syno nym of 5 rubico/a. There is no evidence th at populations inhabi ting eastern Siberi a ('stejnegeri') are di agnosably di stin ct fro m w este rn Siberi an popul ation s. Th erefo re, 'stejnegeri' is included in maura (cf Svensson 1992) . Pending further analys is, variega ta, armenica, indica and przewa/skii are pro visionall y retain ed as con spec ifi c wi th m aura.

Zoothera aurea (White's Thrush / Goudlijster) White's Thru sh and Sca ly Thru sh Z dauma are spec ifi call y di stin ct (cf Eck 1996) based o n qu ali tati ve d ifferences in mo rph o logy and voca li zati o ns (Seebo hm & Sh arpe 190 2, Ali & Ripl ey 19 73, Cramp 1988, G lutz vo n Bl otzheim & Bauer 1988, M artens & Eck 1995). There is no evidence that po pul ati o ns in south -eastern Siberi a, Russi a and south ern Kuril Island s, Japan (' toratugumi') are di ag nosabl y di stin ct from aurea. Therefo re, 'toratugumi' is included in aurea. Am ami Thru sh Z major, Nilghiri Thru sh Z nei/gherriensis, Sri Lanka Thru sh Z imbrica ta, Horsfi eld's Thru sh Z horsfie/di, Fawn-breasted Thru sh Z machiki, New Britain Thru sh Z ta/aseae, San Cri sto bal Thru sh Z margaretae, G uadalca nal Thru sh Z turipavae, Bassian Thru sh Z /unu/ata and Russet-tail ed Thru sh Z heinei are specifi ca ll y di stin ct (cf M ay r 1955, Deignan et al 1964, Fo rd 1983, Ishih ara 1986, White & Bru ce 1986, Christidi s & Bo les 1994, G ibbs 1996, Inski pp et al 1996, Sibl ey 1996) based o n qu alitati ve differences in morph o logy and vocali zati o ns (Seebo hm & Sharpe 1902, Jahn 1942, Mayr 1955, Ali & Ripl ey 1973, Fo rd 1983, Ishihara 1986) . Acrocephalus scirpaceus (European Reed Warbier / Kleine Karekiet) European Reed W arbi er, M angrove Reed W arbi er A avicenniae, Afri ca n Reed W arbi er A baetica tus and Caspi an Reed W arbi er A fu scus are spec ifi ca lly distinct (cf Leisier et al 199 7, Sa ngster 199 7) based o n qu alitative differences in morph o logy (pea rso n 198 1, Ash et al 1989, H arri s et al 1995) . Ph ylogenetic analys is of mitoc hondri al DNA sequ ences indi cates th at M angrove Reed W arbi er, w hi ch is currentl y rega rd ed as a subspecies of A baetica tus, is actuall y mo re close ly related to Eu ro pea n Reed W arbi er, and that Europea n and Cas pi an Reed W arbi er, until recently rega rded as subspecies of A scirpaceus, are not sister-taxa (LeisIer et al 199 7).

Acrocephalus ca/igatus (Booted Warbier /

Kleine Spotvogel) Phylogeneti c analyses of mitoc ho nd rial D NA sequences indi cate th at Booted W arbi er and O li vaceou s W arbi er A pallidus are more cl ose ly related to spec ies traditionall y included in Acrocepha/us th an to Icterin e W arbi er Hippo/ais icterina (Leisier et al 1997, cf Sangster 199 7) . Th erefore, Booted W arbi er and O li vaceo us W arbi er are pl aced in Acrocepha/us. Booted W arb ier and Sykes's W arbi er A rama are spec ifi ca lly di stin ct (cf Stepanyan 1978, 1990, G lutz vo n Blotz heim & Bauer 1991 , Sibl ey & M o nroe 1993,

CSNA -mededelingen Sibley 1996) based on qua litative differences in morphology and voca li zations, and differences in eco logy (portenko et al 1976, G lutz von Blotzheim & Bauer 1991, Cramp 1992, Hirschfeld 1994). Pending info rmation o n phylogenetic relationships of Sykes's Warbier, its placement in Acrocepha/us is tentative.

[Lanius phoenicuroides (Turkestan Shrike / Turkestaanse Klauwier)]

[Lanius speculigerus (Daurian Shrike /

Daurische Klauwier)] \ Turkestan Shrike and Ch in ese Shrike L isabe//inus are spec ifica ll y distinct (cf Kryukov 1995, Pa nov 1995, Panow 1996) based on qua litative differences in morphology (Dean 1982, Cramp & Perrins 1993, Panow 1996, Lefranc & Worfolk 1997) and ana lyses of their contact zone (Kryukov 1995) . Daurian Shrike is specifica ll y distinct from Turkestan Shrike and Chin ese Shrike based on qualitative differences in morphology (Dean 1982, Cramp & Perrins 1993, Panow 1996) and voca li zations (Panov 1995). Pending further ana lys is, tsa idamensis is provisionally retained as co nspec ifi c with isabellinus. [An accepted record of an ' isabe llin e shrike' o n Texel, Noord-Holl and, in May 1995 (D utch Birding 18: 129-131, 1996), is now cons idered to refer to Daurian Sh rike. The identity of all records of ' isabe lline shrike' in the Netherl ands is curre ntl y being investigated by the Dutch rarities comm ittee (CDNA).]

Ch/oris ch/oris (Common Greenfinch / Groenling) Phy logenetic ana lyses of morphological cha racters (Ra ikow 1978, 1985) and sho rt mitochondrial DNA seq uences (Fehrer 1996) provide co ngru ent evidence that Ch/oris is more closely related to Pyrrhu/a t han to Carduelis. Because two independent studies suggest that Ch /oris is not part of the Carduelis clade and identify the same sister-taxon (Ra ikow 1978, Fehrer 1996), whereas inclu sion of Ch /oris in Cardue/is is supported by on ly one study (va n den Elzen & Nemeschkal 1991), recognition of Ch /oris for the greenfin ches is justified. Carduelis Carduelis Cardue/is Carduelis Cardue/is

cannabina (Unnet / Kneu) f/avirostris (Twite / Frater) cabaret (Lesser Redpoll / Kleine Barmsijs) f/ammea (Mealy Redpoll / Grote Barmsijs) hornemanni (Arctic Redpoll / Witstuit-

barmsijs) Published studies of phylogenetic relationships among card uel ine finches (Ma rten & Johnson 1986, van den Elzen & Nemeschkal 1991, Fehrer 1996) are contradictory w ith rega rd to the phylogenetic relatio nships of Acanthis and Cardue/is. Because monophyly of Acanthis has not been estab l ished and is contrad icted by one study (van den Elzen & Nemeschkal 1991), recognition of Acanthis may not sign ifi ca ntl y contribute to the elimin atio n of paraphyletic taxa. Although Carduelis as defined here (ie, includin g Acanthis but excluding Ch /oris) is still likely to be paraphyletic, other hypotheses of relationships, which require changes in no men-

clature, do not seem to be better supported by ava il ab le data. Therefore, pending further phylogenetic analyses, Linnet, Twite, Lesser Redpoll, Mealy Redpoll and Arctic Redpoll are provisionally retained in Cardue/is. Lesser Redpoll and Mea ly Redpo ll are spec ifi ca ll y distinct based on qualitative differences in morphology (Knox 1988, Herremans 1990) and voca li zat ions (He rremans 1989), and overlap of breeding ranges in south-eastern Norway w ithout hybridization (L ifj eld & Bjerke 1996). Pending further ana lys is, rostra ta and exi/ipes are provisionally retained conspecific with f/ammea and hornemanni, respectively.

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CSNA-mededelingen Quinn, T W, Shi eld s, G F & Wilson , AC 199 1. Affiniti es of the Hawa ii an Goose based o n two types of mitoc hondrial DNA data. Auk 108: 585-593. Raikow, R J 1978 . Appendi cular myo logy and relationsh ips of th e New Wor/d nin e-primari ed osc in es (Aves: Passerifo rm es) . Bu ll Ca rnegie Mus Nat Hist 7: 1-43. Raikow, R J 1985. Prob lems in av ian c1assificati o n. CurrOrn itho l 2 : 187-2 12. Randi , E, Spin a, F & Massa, B 1989. Genetic variabi lity in Cory's Shearwater (Ca /onectris diomedea). Auk 106: 411 -4 18. Ripl ey, S D 1977. Rails of the wo r/do Boston. Roy, M S, da Sil va, J M C, Arcta nd er, P, Garcîa-Moreno, J & Fj eldsä, J 1997. The speciation of South America n and Afri ca n birds in montane reg io ns. In: M indell , D P (editor), Avian mol ec ular evo luti on and systematics, San Di ego, pp 325 -34 3. Sangster, G 1997. Acrocepha /us and Hippo/ais relationsh ips: shak ing the tree. Dutch Birding 19 : 294-300. Sangster, G 1998. Purpl e Swamp-hen is a complex of spec ies. Dutch Birdin g 20: 13-22. Sa ngster, G, Hazevoet, C J, va n den Berg, A B & Rosela ar, C S 1997. Dutch avifaun al li st: taxonomic chan ges in 1977-97 . Dutch Bird ing 19: 21-28. Satat, N & Laird, B 1992. The Armenian Gu ll. Birdin g World 5: 32 -36. Seebohm, H & Sharpe, R B 1902. A monograph of th e Turdidae o r fami ly of thru shes . London . Shields, G F 1988. Evo lution of mitochondri al DNA in geese. Proc Int O rnithol Co ngr 19: 1889-1895 . Shi elds, G F & Wi lso n, A C 1987 . Subspec ies of th e Ca nada Goose (B ranta ca nadensis) have di stin ct DNA's. Evo luti on 41 : 662-666. Sib ley, C G 1989 . Respon se to E. Mayr. Auk 106: 5125 15. Sibley, C G 1994. On the phy logeny and c1 ass ifi cation of birds. J Avian Biol 25: 87-92. Sibl ey, C G 1996. Birds of the wo r/d o Version 2.0. Cin cinn at i. Sibley, C G & Ah lquist, J E 1990. Phylogeny and c1assifi cat ion of b ird s. New Haven. Sib ley, CG, Ah lqui st, J E & Monroe, B L 1988. A c1a ss ifi cat io n of the li v in g b irds of th e w or/d based on DNA-DNA hybridi zation studi es. Auk 105: 409-423. Sibley, C G & Monroe, B L 1990. Distribu tion and taxonomy of birds of th e wo r/do New Haven. Sibley, C G & Monroe, B L 1993. A suppl ement to di stribution and taxonomy of bird s of the world . New Have n.

Snow, D W & Perrins, C M 1998. Birds of the W estern Palearctic. Concise ed iti on. Oxford. Stegeman, L, Ei genhui s, K J, va n der H am, N F & Lage rve ld, S 1995 . Don sstormvogel te Ca m perduin in oktober 1992. Dutch Birding 17: 1-5. Stepanyan, L S 1978. [Structure and di stribution of b ird fauna in USSR 1.] Moscow. [In Russ ian.] Stepanyan, L S 1990. [Conspectus of the orn itholog ica l fauna of th e USSR.] Moscow. [In Russian.J Strann, K B & Vader, W 1992 . Th e nomin ate Lesser Bl ack-bac ked Gu ll Larus fuscus fuscus, a gull w ith a tern-like feed in g biology, and its recent dec rease in north ern Norway. Ardea 80 : 133- 142. Sutton, G M 1981. On ae ri al and ground d ispl ays of th e world's snipe. Wil so n Bu ll 93: 457-477. Svensson, L 1992. Identification guide to European passe rin es. Fourth ed ition. Stockholm. Thön en, W 1969. Auffa ll end er Unterschi ed zw ischen den in strumentalen Ba lzlauten der europäisc hen und nordam erikani sc hen Bekassine Ca llinago ga llinago. Ornitho l Beob 66: 6-13. Trew ick, S A 1997. Fl ightl ess ness and phylogeny amongst end emi c rai ls (Aves: Rallidae) of th e New Zea land reg ion. Phi los Trans R Soc London B 352 : 429-446. Tu ck, L M 1972. The snipes: a stud y of the genus Capella. Ca n Wi ld l Service Monogr 5. Van W ag ner, C E & Baker, A J 1990 . Association between mitochondri al D NA and morpho log ica l evo luti o n in Canada Geese. J Mol Evol 31: 373-382. Vaurie, C 1957. Systematic notes o n Palearctic birds. No . 25. Motacilli dae: th e genu s Motacilla. Am Mus Novit 1832. Vaurie, C 1959. Th e birds of the Pa lea rctic fauna, Passeriformes. Lo ndon. White, C M N & Bruce, M D 1986 . Th e b irds of W all acea . London. Wittmann , U, Heidri ch, P, Wink, M & Gwinner, E 1995 . Speciation in the Stonechat (Sax ico /a torquata) in ferred from nu cleotide sequ ences of the cytoc hrome-b gene. J Zoo l Syst Evol Research 33 : 11 6- 122. Z ink, R M 1988 . Evolution of Brown Towhees: all ozymes, morpho metri cs an d spec ies limi ts. Co ndor 90: 72-82. Z ink, R M & McKitrick, M C 1995 . Th e debate over spec ies co ncepts and its impli cation s for ornitho logy. Auk 112: 70 1-719 . Z in o, PA & Z in o, F 1986. Co ntribution to the stud y of th e petreis of th e genu s Pterodroma in the archipelago of Madeira. Bol Mus Mun Funchal 38 : 141-165.

George Sangster, Nieuwe Rijn 27, 23 72 JO Leiden, Netherlands Cornelis j Hazevoet, Museu e Laboratório Zoológico e Antropológico (Museu Bocage), Rua Escola Po/itécnica 58, 7250 Lisboa, Portuga l (mgrama lh @fc.ul.pt) Arnoud B van den Berg, Ouinlustparkweg 98, 2082 EG Santpoort-Zuid, Netherlands (A rnoud. vandenBerg@inter.n l.net) CS (Kees) Roselaar, /nstitute of Systematics and Population Biology, Zoologica l Museum, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94766, 7090 GT Amsterdam, Netherlands (roselaar@bio.uva.nl)

CDNA-mededelingen _ _ _ __ _ Recente beslissingen O p de CDNA-ve rgadering va n 10 janu ari 1998 heeft Gerard Steinh aus na ruim zeve n j aar (twee z ittingsperiod en) afsc heid genomen va n de co mmi ss ie. De vrij gekomen pl ek is in genomen door Bert de Bruin uit Groningen, G roningen. De sa menstellin g va n de commi ss ie is nu als vol gt: M ax Berlijn , Ruud va n Beusekom , Bert de Bruin, Jan va n der Laa n (voo rz itter), Karel M auer, Kees Rose laar, Jell e Scharrin ga (secretari s) en Wim Wi ega nt (a rchi va ri s) . Voor adresse n en telefoonnummers w ordt ve rwezen naa r het co lofon va n Dutch Birdin g. M et ingang va n 1 janu ari 1998 wo rden drie taxa niet meer beoord eeld doo r de CDN A omd at ze te algemeen blijken te z ijn (geword en). Daa rn aast mag, da nkz ij de toege nomen kenni s ove r de determin ati e va n deze taxa, verwac ht w orden dat er onder toekomsti ge meldin gen relati ef we ini g foutmeldingen zull en z ijn . Het gaat om Vale Pijl stormvoge l Puffinus mauretanicus (55 geva llen in 1980-96), Po nti sc he Meeuw Larus cachinnans cachinnans (40+ geva llen in 198 8-97, merendeels nog te aa nvaa rd en) en Kl eine Burgemeester L glaucoides (6 2 geva llen in 1980-96). Bij beide eerstgenoemde taxa va lt op dat het hier om voo rm ali ge ondersoorten va n meer algem ene soorten gaat, die sind s korte tijd als aparte soort w ord en beschouwd . De toegenomen aandacht van voge laa rs voo r deze 'nieuwe' soorten en de toege nomen aand acht in de literatuur voo r de ve ldherkennin g kunn en blijkbaar de statu s va n voo rh een zeer ze ldza am geachte taxa binn en enkele jaren in een

weze nlijk ander daglicht stellen. Inzendin g va n geva llen va n v贸贸r 1 janu ari 1998 wordt door de CDNA zee r op prij s gesteld, zod at de dossiers va n bove ngenoemde taxa zo compl eet mogelijk afgeslote n kunnen wo rden. O pm erkelijk is dat de drie genoemde taxa alle 茅茅n of meer nau w verwa nte taxa of ondersoo rte n kennen die nog niet in Nederl and z ijn vastgesteld maar waa rva n het optreden in Nederl and niet uitgesloten moet worden geacht (en die natuurlijk we l voor indienin g in aanmerkin g komen): Yelkouan Pijl storm voge l P yelkouan, Barabameeuw L c barabensis en M ongoolse M eeuw L c mongolicus, en Kumli ens M eeuw L g kum lieni en Th ayers M eeuw L g thayeri. O p de vergaderin g is besloten een aanta l oude geva llen opni euw te beoord elen, omd at ze door recente taxonomi sc he bes li ss ingen (cf Dutch Bi rding 20: 22-32, 1998) nog niet op soortnivea u aanvaa rd zijn . Het gaat om all e aa nvaa rde 'canadese ga nzen' Branta hutchinsii/ca nadensis, zeetrekwaa rn emin gen va n Kuhl s/Scopoli 's Pijl stormvoge l Ca lonectris borea lis/ diomedea en de v ier aanvaa rd e geva llen va n 'iza bel kl auw ier' Lanius isabellinus/phoenicuraides/speculigerus en Vanwege het beschikbaa r zijn va n nieuwe informati e over de herkenning word en oo k de 'donsstormvoge l' Pteradrama feae/madeira/mo llis van Ca mperduin , Noo rdHoll and , in oktober 1992 en de afgewezen Lachm eeuw L atricilla va n Hard erwijk, Gelderland , in septembe r 1993 opni euw beoordeeld. JAN VAN DE R LAAN

Aankondigingen & verzoeken Bird migration survey in Israel in autumn of 1998 During A ugust-October 1998, the Israel O rnithologica l Center (IOC) orga ni zes the annu al raptor, stork and pelica n mi grati on survey in the Northern Va 11 eys, Israel. Durin g the autumn of last yea r, over a peri od of 45 days, c 806 000 mi grating bird s we re counted in th e ski es ove r Israel, including 580 000 raptors of 30 different spec ies, 250 000 White Storks Ciconia ciconia and 36 000 White Pelicans Pelecanus onocrotalus! You are in v ited to jo in an intern ation al team of birders to experi ence th e bu siest mi gration route in the W estern Palearcti c. Expe ri enced bird ers w illing to assist in the survey for a peri od of at least four wee ks and to watch th e mi gration for at least 10 hours a day are offered free lodgi ng and food for the length of thei r stay. Those interested are requested to send a short curri culum v itae inclu din g detail s of their previous experi ence to: Dan All on, Israel O rnith ologica l Center, 155 Herze i Street, Tel-Av iv, 68101 Israel, teleph one +972 -368268 02, fax +972 -35 182644, e-mail ioc@ netvi sion .net. il. Pl ease state th e peri od you w ill be avail abl e.

[Outeh Birding 20: 33-34, 1998J

Finland for Birdwatchers Finland for Birdwatchers is a leafl et w hich presents 25 bird in g sites in Finl and. For each site there is a bird guide and accommodati o n ava il abl e on demand . Th e target species are also li sted. Some of th e sites are for the hardco re birder, w hile oth ers are for the more generall y interested b irdwatcher. Th e sites are marked on a map of Finl and. The leafl et includes a gen eral presentation of Finl and as a birdin g destin ati on. Those interested ca n w rite for a free copy to: Dutch Birdin g Travel Report Serv ice (DBTRS), Postbu s 737, 9700 AS G ronin gen, Netherlands, fax +31-5052726 68; or BirdLife Finl and, PL 128 5, 00101 Helsinki, Finl and . The inform ati on is also availabl e on the Internet at http ://www.wakkanetJi/bird s. Nieuwe adapter en astronomische oculairen van Swarovski O ptiekfa brikant Swarovs ki heeft sinds kort een speci ale adapter in het assortim ent waa rmee het gebruik moge lijk wo rdt va n de eveneens nieuwe oc ulairen van 77 x en 11 5x (in steekdi ameter 31.7 mm). M et dergelijke vergrotin gen z ijn niet all een de rin gen va n Saturnus en de wo lkenbanden va n Jupiter te bestude-

Aankondigingen & verzoeken ren maar kunnen bijvoorbeeld ook broedplaatsen van ve rstori nggevoeli ge voge lsoo rten heel dichtbij worden getrokken . De prij s van de oculairen bedraagt NLG 385 (77x) en NLG 440 (115x). Verhuizing Natuur en Boek Boekhandel Natuur en Boek te Den Haag gaat verhuizen. Met in gang van begin apri l 1998 wordt Natuur en Boek gehu isvest in het comp lex va n het Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum / Naturalis (n ieuwbouw en het voorma li ge Pesthuis) aan de Darwinweg te Leiden, Zu id-Holl and . De opening van het nieuwe museum is op 8 april 1998. Voorjaarstrek bij Breskens 1997 In april 1998 verschijnt onder de titel Voorjaarstrek bij Breskens 1997 het derde 'B reskens-boekje' van de Telgroep Breskens,

samengesteld door Sander Lilipaly, Peter Meininger en Pim Wolf: ten min ste 32 pagina's vo l informatie over de spectacu laire voo rj aarstrek bij Breskens, Zee land, met het accent op 1997. Opgenomen z ijn onder meer de gesch ieden is van de te lpost, jaartotalen en feno logie 1990-97, dagrecords, de voo rj aarstrek in 1997, speciale hoofdstukken over de trek van 'gele kwikstaarten' Motacil/a en bepaalde topdagen, etc. Tevens wo rden tarieven en vertrektijd en van het veer VlissingenBreskens vermeld. Het boekje is te bestellen door het overm aken van NLG 8.00 op giro 76442 tnv P L Meininger te Vlissingen, ovv 'Breskens' (bij bankoverschrijvingen gaarne vol led ig ad res verme lden!) of door het zenden van NLG 10.00 of BEF 200 in een enveloppe naar Peter Meininger, Lisztlaan 5, 4384 KM Vlissingen, Nederland.

DBA-nieuws DBA-vogeldag te Utrecht in februari 1997 Ruim 250 mensen hebben op 7 februari de jaarlijkse DBA-vogeldag bezocht, meer dan oo it tevoren. Weinigen zu ll en spijt hebben gehad van hun aanwezigheid. Jari Peltomäki uit Finland beet het spits af met een lezing over problemen bij de herkenning van West-Palearctisc he gorzen. Hopelijk za l zi jn lez in g ertoe bijdragen dat we dit najaar onze eerste Pallas' Rietgors Emberiza pal/asi kunnen 'twitchen'. Jari hield zich niet aan zi jn tijd, maar weinigen zu ll en het hem kwalijk hebben genomen dat hij aan het einde va n zijn lez ing nog een groot aantal fraaie dia's van Siberische 'wenssoorten' liet zien. Daarna kwam lan Bu rrows, die jaren lang in Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea heeft gewoond en mooie dia's va n onder meer paradijsvogels vertoonde. Het eerste gedeelte van het middagprogramma werd verzorgd door de O ri enta l Bird Club (OBC). Brian Sykes hield een korte inleiding over werk en doelstelling van de OBC en daarna sprak Paul Jepson, co-auteur van Birding Indonesia. Zi jn lezing over ze ld zame voge ls en natuurbescherming in Indonesia zat zeer goed in elkaar en werd ondersteund met professioneel beeldmateriaal. Opmerkelij k was dat de 'mystery bird-competitie', die dit jaar in de voortreffe lijke hand en was va n D iederik Kok en Nils van Duivendijk, voor het eerst sind s jaren een Nederlandse w innaar kende. Kees de Vries deelde de eerste prijs met Gunter De Smet uit België, beide met 23 van de 27 soorten goed gedetermineerd, een hoge score. Speciale dank verd ient tenslotte Hans ter Haar die de onmogelijke taak om de dit jaar ve rhind erde Wim Wiegant te vervangen toch tot een goed einde bracht. De goede lez ingen, de ve le stands en de mogelijkheid oude bekenden weer te spreken (voor velen misschien nog steeds de belangrijkste reden om naar de DBA-vogeldag te gaan) maakten het tot een zeer geslaagde dag. CHRIS QUISPEL

New address of Dutch Birding-homepage From March 1998 onwards, the revised homepage of Dutch Birding on the Internet can be reached as follows: http:// www.xs4all.nl/-eland/dutchbirding. GIjSBERT VAN DER BENT Nieuw adres Dutch Birding homepage Met in gang van maart 1998 is de vern ieuwde homepage va n Dutch Birding op Internet als vo lgt bereikbaar: http://www.xs4all.nl/-eland/dutchbirding. GIjSBERT VAN DER BENT Programma DBA-vogelweek In samenwerk in g met het Texel Birdwatching Center is voor de DBA-vogelweek op Texel, Noord-Holland (van zaterdag 12 tot en met zaterdag 19 september 1998), een aantrekkelijk programma opgesteld . Dit ziet er beknopt als vo lgt uit: zaterd ag 12 september, Detlef Gruber over 'F ield identification of so-ca lled ' large whiteheaded gull s' that might appear in the Netherlands'; zondag 13 september, George Sangster over 'Taxonom ie van WestPalearctische voge ls'; maandag 14 september, René Pop met 'Natuu rimpress ies van India'; dinsdag 15 september, Ruud Kampf over 'Vogels van O man '; woensdag 16 september, Diederik Kok met een 'mystery birdcompetitie'; donderdag 17 september, 12-uurs big day, gevo lgd door prijsuitreiking, koud buffet voor deelnemers en 'ba l na'; vr ijd ag 18 september, Gera ld Oreel over 'Herkenn in g van 'gele kwikstaarten' Motaci//a en Citroen kwikstaart M citreo/a'; en zate rd ag 19 september, Jelle Scharrin ga over 'Az iatisc he za ngvogels en hun geluiden'. Voor alle lezi ngen wordt een entree geheven. Er komt een aparte in schrijving voor de 12uurs big day. Meer inform atie over lokaties en verdere bijzonderheden volgen in een komend nummer van Dutch Bird in g, maar het za l duidelijk z ijn dat het nu al tijd wordt om accommodatie op Texel te gaan reserveren. GIjSBERT VAN DER BENT

[Outeh 8irding 20: 34, 199B[

Recensies DARRYL N JON ES, RENĂ&#x2030; W R J DEKKER & CEES S ROSELAAR 1995. The Megapodes. Oxford University Press, Walto n Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. 262 pp. ISBN 0-19854651-3. GB P 35.00. M egapodes have long fasc in ated biolog ists and have been the subj ect of study by behavioral eco logists, paleontologists, biogeographers and, mo re rece ntly, by conse rvation ists. This monograph, th e third in the Oxford ser ies, rep rese nts the f irst mo nographi c treatment of the Megapodes sin ce 188 1 and, for th at reaso n alo ne, it is an important book. The Megapodes is a synthetic effort, pu llin g together the w idely scattered knowledge of megapode biology and summarizing it succ in ctl y and thoroughly. The book is d ivided into two parts. Part I consists of a chapter introducin g the megapodes and a further eight chapters dealin g w ith taxonomy, bi ogeog raphy, behav iour, breeding bio logy (th ree chapters), ecophysiology and conservat ion. In Part 11, the species accou nts, all 22 spec ies are described and illu strated in deta il. In the introductory chapter, a bri ef overv iew is presented about th e family. Th e chapter on taxo nom y d iscusses spec ies limits and presents an up-to-date rev iew of the relationships of this group, concluding th at it is most likely the sister-group of all other Galliformes. The chapter on distribution, biogeography an d spec iatio n discusses the origin of megapodes, presents a review of past and present ideas abo ut th e ca uses of current and histori e distribution patterns and outlines co ntact zones. In th e chapter on general biology and behaviour various aspects of the life-hi sto ry of this group are described. Megapodes are, of course, famo us for their hi ghl y unusual breeding biology. Rather than using body heat, megapodes are unique among birds in their use of extern al heat sourees (microbial respiration , hot sprin gs, gases and so lar energy) fo r in cubation. The unusu al breeding strategies of thi s group are discussed, from various angles, in the three chapters on breeding biology. These culmin ate in a chapter o n the evo luti on of megapode incubation strategies, in w hi ch current know ledge abo ut relationships and breeding biology is synthes ized and w hi ch describes how phy logenetic analysis may help to exp lain the evo luti on of megapode breedin g strategies . Fina ll y, the co nservation status and threats to megapodes are discussed, prov iding deta il s of human exploitation of eggs, status of megapodes in the w ild, loca l co nse rvatio n programmes and captive breeding. The importance of thi s chapter is undersco red by th e fact th at no less th an 13 species are threatened with extin ction , mak in g the megapodes one of the most threatened famili es of birds. Each of these chapters is we ll -o rga ni zed, hi ghly readabl e and cl ea rly

[Ou/eh Birding 20: 35, 199B[

shows th at the authors know their subject we il. The spec ies acco unts are o n average 6.5 pages lon g and include deta il ed info rmatio n abo ut subspec ies, plumages, bare parts, moults, measurements, weights, geographi c va ri ation , range and status (ill ustrated by a map), fie ld characte rs, vo ice (often illu strated by so nagrams), habitat, general hab its, food , breed ing behaviour, nest, eggs, di spl ays and breeding season, loca l names and references. These accounts includ e a wea lth of previous ly unpublish ed info rmation. Indeed, much of the info rm ation was gathered especiall y for this book. For example, five new subspec ies were formally described (by Rose laa r) durin g preparations for this book. The eight co lo ur plates by Ber va n Perlo are exce ll ent. Compared w ith other high-profile o rnithol ogica l monographs, th e three titl es pub li shed in the Oxford seri es have covered less species but the qual ity of the information is unsurpassed by any other series. The Megapodes is no excepti o n. The authors, illustrator and ed itors are to be co ngratul ated, not o nl y for produc in g a hi ghly in formative and up-to-date review but also for showing th at monograph s ca n actu all y be good reading. GEORGE SANGSTER

C C MOORE, GONĂ&#x2021;ALO EUAs & HELDER COSTA 1997. A birdwatcher's guide to Portugal and Madeira. Prion Ltd Pub li shers, 21 Roundhouse Drive, Perry, Huntingdon, Cambr idgeshire PE18 OD), UK. Distributed by NHBS, 2 Wills Road, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5XN, UK. 144 pp. IS BN 1-87 1104-07-6. GBP 12.75 . After short introductory chapters o n trave l, accommodation , weather, geograph y etc, 18 prime b ird in g sites in mainl and Portugal are described in detai l, in c lu ding a map. A furth er 14 minor sites are mentioned briefly. A section on seabirds (seawatc hin g and 'pelag ic trips') is included. Th e chapter on Madeira covers o nl y eight pages, but the most mo uthwatering spec ies are menti o ned here: Madeira (or Z in o's) Petrel Pterodroma madeira (if not almost impossible to see due to its rarity, almost imposs ibl e to distinguish from the less rare Cape Verde Petrel P feae), Bu lwer's Petrel Bulweria bu lwerii, Littl e Shearwater Puffinus assimilis, and the endemie Trocaz (or Long-toed) Pigeon Colum ba trocaz. There are se lected li sts of the most sought-after spec ies to be found (a nd where and when!) in Portugal and Madeira, co mpl ete annotated li sts of all the birds seen in both areas, as we il as of amphibi ans, reptil es and mamma Is in mainland Portuga l. The guide is we il w ri tten , very informative and ni ce ly illustrated (by Tony Disley): hi ghl y recomm ended ! PETER L M EININGER

Masters of Mystery Solutions of third round The so lutio ns of mystery photographs IX-X II of the third ro und (Dutch Birding 19: 300-302, 1997) appear bel ow. IX This warbier in the hand proved a hard nut to crack. Based on the general appearance, structure and plumage, the choice can be limited rather easily to the sma ller unstreaked Aeroeepha/us and Hippo/ais warblers but the next step, determining to w hich genus it belongs, is more difficult. Note th at following recent taxonomie decisions of the CS NA (cf Dutch Birding 19: 294-300, 1997; 20: 22-32, 1998), some former members of the genus Hippo/ais are now considered to belong to the genus Acroeepha/us, and that as a resuit the traditional problem of separating Aeroeepha/us and Hippo/ais warblers has become (even) more complex. The pa le brown-grey co loration of the upperparts fits weil for some members and former members of Hippo/ais, espec iall y Booted A ea ligatus, Sykes's Arama, O livaceous Apa Ilidus, O live-tree H o /ivetorum and Upcher's Warblers H /angu ida. A lthough another pointer toward s these species is formed by the presence of pale edges to the outermost tail feather (usua lly absent or less distinct in th e other Acroeepha/us warblers), th e undertailcoverts are too long for them (reaching weil past th e w ing-tip in the mystery bird) . Furthermore, the outermost tail feather is distinetly shorter than the rest of the ta il, w hereas in Booted, Sykes's, O livaceous, O li ve-tree and Upcher 's th e outer pair of tail feathers is of equa l length as or only slightly shorter than the rest of the tail. These spec ies also usually show an all-black eye instead of the contrast between the dark brown iris and th e black pupil shown by the mystery bird. The comb ination of these features rul es out Hippo /ais and the three 'new' spec ies of Aeroeepha/us, so the bird must belong to the other smaller unstreaked Aeroeepha/us warblers. Cape Verde Warbier A brevipennis and Paddyfield Warbier A agrieo/a ca n be easil y put aside as they show, amongst others, shorter wings, browner upperparts and the latter also a well-marked head pattern. Eliminating Blyth's Reed Warbier A dumetorum is more difficult. The pale, rather grey ish upperparts and the uniform pale underparts of th e mystery bird could indi cate ad ult Blyth's Reed (first-year Blyth's Reed has browner upperparts), but this spe-

~_---------,-----s~~j->, -

t-=--/j'V ,-----=-S =-=: KI

OPTIK

cies usually has a better defined supereilium (often not extending behind the eye). Although Blyth's Reed is on average shorter-win ged than Marsh Warbier A pa/ustris and European Reed Warbier A scirpaeeus, the primary projection (about three quarters of the exposed terti al length in the mystery bird) is not always very helpful to the identification, as there is a range of overl ap in primary projection between Blyth's Reed, Marsh and European Reed. A better feature is formed by th e eight visib le primary-tips of the mystery bird . This does not fit Blyth 's Reed w hi ch usuall y shows six or seven tips, w hile M arsh and European Reed have seven or eight tips visib le. A lthough the precise pattern of emargin ated outer webs of the primari es is virtu all y im poss ible to see in the field , it ca n sometimes be used w hen identifying a bird from a photograph. In th e mystery bird, an emargination is onl y visib le on the longest and third outermost primary (p3, primaries numbered from outs ide; note that p2 is w holly covered by p3 and thus not visibl e). This rul es out Blyth 's Reed, in whieh p3 and p4 (and often also pS) are emarginated, w hil e in Marsh and European Reed onl y p3 is emargin ated (rarely, a fa int emargination on p4 is present in European Reed). Indeed, the w ing-formu la, w ith on ly p3 emarginated and eight prim ary-tips visibl e, indicates Marsh or European Reed. The sepa ration of these two spec ies can be very difficult and shou ld be based o n as many characters as possible. O ne of the main differences between the two is th e colour of the upperparts. The mystery bird has rather cold, pale brown-grey upperparts, with no trace of warm brown and rufous tones. This does not fit European Reed; a typica l Europea n Reed has dark warm brown upperparts (warmest, often rufous-brown, on rump), but the va ri ati on in th e upperpart coloration of European Reed is considerable and some birds, mai nly worn ad ults, are more greyish (a nd then more simil ar to Marsh). However, the plumage of th e mystery bird is rath er fresh and a fresh-plumaged European Reed would never show upperparts as grey as those of th e mystery bird . Marsh is slightly co lder, paler and greyer th an European Reed with the upperparts grey ish green -brown or o live-brown (warm er brown in first-yea rs), thus mo re simil ar to those of th e mystery bird. Before deciding th at the bird has to be a Marsh W arbi er, another possibility should be taken into account: Casp ian Reed Warbier [Ou/eh Birding 20: 36-43, 1998[

Masters of Mystery A fuscus, which was until very recently treated as the eastern subspecies of European Reed (cf Dutch Birding 20 : 22-32, 1998). This species, breeding from the Caspian region eastwards and wintering in eastern Africa, is a potential straggler to northwestern Europe. Structurally, Caspian Reed is (very) similar to European Reed, but its plumage is distinctly paler and greyer and thus more like Marsh (but with some differences). The upperparts of Caspian Reed are pale brown-grey, distinctly greyer and less brown than European Reed. Caspian Reed lacks the prominent rufous or warm brown tones of European Reed (rump rather pale sandy-grey or brown-grey, but sometimes, mainly in first-years, rather brown, possibly even warm brown). When compared with Marsh, Caspian Reed is on ave rage even slightly paler and greyer, lacking the green tinge to the upperparts of most Marsh (but there is of course some variation and some Caspian Reed appear very similar to Marsh). Altogether, the cold, very pale and grey upperparts of the mystery bird, lacking distinct warm brown or greenish tones, indicate Caspian Reed . The underparts of the mystery bird are uniform creamy-white, very different from those of a freshplumaged European Reed which shows a rather contrasting cinnamon-brown smudge on flanks and breast sides (underparts more uniform in worn plumage). In Marsh, the underparts are whiter and more uniform than those of European Reed with only a weak yellow-brown suffusion to the flanks. The underparts of Caspian Reed are rather similar to those of Marsh but are on average even marginally whiter and more uniform, with a barely visible buffish suffusion to the flanks. The long and slender bill, accentuated by the sloping forehead and flat crown, are slightly better for both European Reed and Caspian Reed than for Marsh, which has on average a fractionally shorter and stouter bill combined with a slightly steeper forehead and more rounded crown . The rather prominent white eye-ring and long buffishwhite supercilium are good for both Marsh and Caspian Reed (eye-ring and supercilium on average less distinct and less whitish in European Reed, with supercilium often absent behind eye). The mystery bird lacks contrasting markings on the primaries and tertials. A typical Marsh has rather prominent pale crescents on the primary-tips and contrastingly pale-fringed tertials, lacking in most European Reed. Caspian Reed appears to be rather intermediate between the two in this respect, varying from rather uniform wings to primaries with distinct pale edges and tertials with well-defined or broad and diffuse fringes (cf also

Dutch Birding 19: 298, plate 302, 1997). Rather distinct pale edges and tips to the outer tail feathers, as shown by the mystery bird, appear to be present more often in Caspian Reed than in Marsh and, especially, European Reed. Due to this feature and the coloration of upperparts and underparts, Caspian Reed can show a striking resemblance to Olivaceous Warbier (compare plates 8, 9 and 10), and confusion between the two is not unlikely at all. In addition to the already mentioned features which did not fit this former Hippo/ais warbier (see above), it can be separated from Caspian Reed by the following features: 7 six or seven visible primary-tips (against seven or eight in Caspian Reed); 2shorter primary projection, resulting in long-tailed impression; 3 emarginated outer webs of p3, p4 and pS (only p3 and sometimes also p4 emarginated in Caspian Reed); 4 often a faint secondary panel; 5 supercilium usually not extending behind the eye (rather variabie in Caspian Reed but regularly a poorly demarcated supercilium behind the eye is present); and 6 thicker and broader-based bill with a more orange lower mandible. This Caspian Reed Warbier was photographed by Arnoud van den Berg; it was trapped at Jubail, Saudi-Arabia, on 16 April 1991. Plate 12 shows the same bird, with the long undertail-coverts weil visible. The Marsh Warbier in plate 9 is a very greyish (but also greenish) individual, possibly due to its eastern origin. In 1997, when this mystery bird was published, Caspian Reed was still treated as a subspecies of European Reed, the recent split being made official in this issue of Dutch Birding. Therefore, all (European) Reed Warblers were accepted as correct answers as weil. This mystery bird was correctly identified by 24% of the entrants (17% of which mentioned the race fuscus). Interestingly, the most mentioned answer was Olivaceous Warbier (48%), with other incorrect answers including Marsh (13%) and Upcher's Warblers (13%).

X Although not really in a characteristic position, this mystery bird must be a falcon Fa/co based on the long, pointed wings and the straight-ended tail. Cuckoos Cuculidae can be eliminated because they have a distinct rounded tail with the outer tail feathers wellshorter than the inner ones. The bird can be aged as a juvenile because of the pale tips to nearly all visible feathers. The bird does not look heavy enough for the larger falcons, which would also show less slender wings with a more rounded wing-tip. The (al most) unbarred closed uppertail rules out many 37

Masters of Mystery

7 Marsh Warbier / Bosrietzanger Acrocephalus palustris, Jubail, Saud i Arabia, 5 May 1991 (Arnoud B van den Berg) 8 Caspian Reed Warbier / Kaspische Ka rekiet Acrocephalus fuscus, Jubail, Saudi Arabia, 16 April 1991 (A rn oud B van den Berg)

Masters of Mystery

9 Olivaceous Warbier / Vale Spotvogel Acrocephalus pallidus, Jubail, Saudi Arabia, 16 April 1991 (Arnoud B van den Berg) 10 Caspian Reed Warbier / Kaspische Karekiet Acrocephalus fuscus, Jubail, Saudi Arabia, 16 April 1991 (Arnoud B van den Berg)

species of falcon with a barred closed uppertail (for example juvenile Red-footed Falcon F vespertinus). Juvenile Sooty Falcon F concolor has a uniform closed uppertail, but another important feature of the mystery bird, the dark upperparts, do not fit this species (paier blue-grey in Sooty). As is visible on the outermost left tail feather, the barring is restricted to the inner web. This pattern on the tail feathers is typical for juvenile Hobby F subbuteo, although there are often some small spots present on the outer webs. In the very similarly plumaged juvenile Eleonora's Falcon F eleonorae, the barring of the tail feathers is denser and continues further onto the outer web (the central pair of tail feathers being unbarred in both species). This lazy juvenile Hobby was photographed at Alphen aan den Rijn, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands, by Arie de Knijff in August 1995. It was identified correctly by 72% of the entrants, with incorrect answers including Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus (14%) and Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius (7%), but no other falcons.

XI This partially hidden bird can be readily identified as one of the Emberiza buntings by the combination of bill shape and the pale outer edge of the tertials buiging into the dark centre. This tertial pattern, though not particularly weil developed in the mystery bird, is unique to most Emberiza buntings and Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus. The plumage of the bird is very fresh but also rather fluffy, and therefore it can be aged as a juvenile. The lack of bright colours in the plumage makes further steps to the solution difficult because this is a character shared by many juvenile buntings. An important feature of the mystery bird is its well-marked head. There is a broad, pale buff supercilium, and the bold dark surroundings of the pale ear-coverts are broken at the rear, resulting in a prominent dark eye-stripe and moustachial stripe; this pattern is typical for Cirl Bunting E cirlus. In Pine Bunting E leucocephalos and Yellowhammer E citrinella the head pattern is weaker and less contrasting. It can be rather similar in juvenile Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra, but this species can be eliminated by its paler and heavier bill and, of course, tertial edges of even 39

Masters of Mystery width (as member of a different genus). From what can be seen of it, the relatively cold brownbuff rump with darker streaks and lackin g any rufous represents another feature of juvenil e Cirl Bunting. This juvenil e Cirl Bunting was photograph ed in Corsi ca, France, on 11 july 1990 by Leo Boon. It was identified correctly by 20% of the entrants, with incorrect answers including Pine (28%), Rustic E rustica (17%) and Yellow-browed Bunting

E chrysophrys (17%).

XII Almost all entrants identified this mediumsized gull as either a Common Culi Larus canus or Ring-billed C uli L delawarensis. It ca n be aged as a second-year by the extensive black on the outer wing extending onto the primary coverts. Weil known differences between the two ca ndidates like the colour of the upperparts and the shape of the bill are not of any help here, but the patterns on wing and ta il provide some c1u es . Th e mystery bird has an irregul ar, broken subtermin al tail-band. This feature is indicative, but not diagnostic, for second-year Rin g-bill ed Culi which usu all y shows a variabie amount of traces of a tail -ba nd . This is normally lacking in secondyear Common Culi, but a minority of birds shows dark subtermin al tail markings, sometimes forming a partial tail-band reminiscent of Ring-billed. Furthermore, the wing-tip of the mystery bird shows only one mirror. Second-year Ring-billed only shows a mirror on the outermost primary, w hil e most second-year Common have mirrors on the outer two primaries, but sometimes only a mirror is present on the outermost primary. Thus, this second-year gu ll shows two characters good for Rin g-billed: a broken subterminal tail-band and only one mirror. Still, this does not eliminate a second-year Common as both characters can be found occasionally in this spec ies. Th ere is, however, a more diagnostic, not yet mentioned, feature which is the size of the mirror. In the mystery bird, the mirror on the outermost primary is both long (al most reaching th e tip of the feather) and broad (extending over the whole width of the feather). This feature identifies th e mystery bird as a second-year Common, which has a distinctly larger mirror on the outermost primary than second-year Ring-billed. Th e mirror of th e latter is much smaller (confin ed to the inner web) and is, in contrast with second-year Common, often difficult to discern in the field.

This second-winter Com mon Culi was photographed at Woerden, Utrecht, th e Netherlands, on 3 1 March 1996 by Diederik Kok. Pl ate 12 shows another picture of the same bird. Th e combi nation of the broken ta il-band and o nly one mirror made it rath er tri cky to identify. Only 2 1% of the entrants identified it correctly, whilst almost all other entrants identified it as Ring-billed Culi. Thi s third round was quite difficult. Three entrants, Dave Mc Adams, Arjan Boele and Sander Lagerveld, achieved three correct answers. O nly one entrant, Leon Edelaar, made no mistakes and identifi ed all four mystery birds correctly. He is the winner of the third round and will receive a copy of the Photographic handbook of the rare birds of Britain and Europe by Dominic Mitchell & Steve Young, donated by New Holland (Publishers) Ltd . Two other copies of this book will go to Arjan Boele and Sander Lagerveld, who were drawn from those with three correct answers . This was the last round of the 1997 competition. During the three rounds w ith four mystery birds each, Dick Croenendijk, j an van der Laan and Hein Prinsen with seven, Rik Winters with eight and Sander Lagerveld and Pat Lonerga n with nine correct answers, all did very weil . Two entrants, however, achieved ten correct answers: Dave Me Adams from Cermany and leon Edelaar from the Netherlands. They are the overall winners of this competition . Congratu lati ons to both! According to th e rul es, th ere should have been a draw to dec ide who would become th e owner of the new Swarovski 8x20B Century binoeulars. However, Swarovsk i Benelux has very generously decided to to donate a pair of these outstanding binoculars to both winners of this first Masters of Mysteryl Ted Hoogendoorn is acknowledged for his comments on the second-winter Common Culi. Furthermore, we would like to thank the following persons for lending us their photos or help in some other way during this competition: Theo Bakker, Cijsbert van der Bent, Arnoud van den Berg, Max Berlijn, Leo Boon, Richard Chandler, Don Desjardin, Paul Doherty, M arc Duquet, Enno Ebels, Kl aas Eigenhuis, Shawneen Finniga n, j aap van 't Hof, Ricard Cutiérrez, Kevin Karlson, Arie de Knijff, Peter de Knijff, Ron aid de Lange, André van Loon, Arnold Meijer, Cino M erchiers (Swarovski Benelux), Dominic Mitchell, Roef Mulder, jari Peltomäki, René Pop, David Tipling (Windrushl, Ray Tipper, Keith Vinicombe and Ro land van der Vli et.

Oiederik Kok, Blazer 9,3448 WO Woerden, Netherlands (d.s.kok@stud.chem.ruu.nl) Nils van Ouivendijk, Guldenhoeve 34,3451 TG Vleuten, Netherlands

M asters of Mystery

11 Hobby / Boo mva lk Fa/co subbuteo, juvenil e, Alph en aan den Rijn , Zuid-Holland, Neth erl and s, Au gust 1995 (A rie de Knijff) 12 Common Gull / Stormmeeuw Larus canus, second-w inter, Woerden, Utrecht, Neth erl and s, 31 M arch 199 6 (Oiederik Ko k) 13 C irl Buntin g / Cirlgors Emberiza cir/us, ju ve nil e w ith adult male, Porto, Corsica, France, 11 Jul y 199 0 (Leo J R Boon/Cursorius)

Masters of Mystery

First round 1998 This is the first ro und of a new ed itio n of the bird identification competitio n Masters of Mystery. The rul es are the same as last year, but the structure has been slightly changed: th is year's competition will consist of six rounds of two mystery birds each. The six issu es of the 1998 volume will, therefore, contain two new mystery birds as weil as the solutions of the previous ones. Swarovski Benelux has kindly ag reed to a co ntinued sponsorship of this competition. This year, they will award a pair of the highly accla imed Swarovski SLC 8x30 WB binoculars (value c NLG 1700) to the overall winner at the end of the competition (after six rounds). Th ese compact bi nocu lars are multicoated and have wide angle ocu lars and a close focus of less th an 4 m. Th e push-in eye-cups are enab ling eye-glass wearers an abso lutely full viewing field. Additionally, there will be same small er prizes ava il ab le for each round. Plates 1-11 represent the first two mystery photographs. Please, carefully study the rul es below and identify the birds in the photographs. Solutions can be submitted in three different ways:

Swarovski SLC 8x30 WB binoculars

• by postcard to Dutch Birding Assoc iation, Postbus 75611, 1070 AP Amsterdam, Netherland s • bye-mail tod .s.kok@stud.chem.ruu .nl (a confirmation of arrival will be sent) • by Internet via the home-page of the Dutch Birding Association, httpJlwww.xs4all.nl/-eland/ dutchbirding Entries for the first round have to arrive by 20 April 1998. From th ase entrants hav ing identified bath mystery birds correctly, three persons will be drawn who will receive a copy of the H elm identification gu ide Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa by Kevin Baker, donated by A & C Black.

Rules Only subscribers to Dutch Birding are eli gible to enter. Excluded from entry are the ed itors and members of the ed itorial board of Dutch Birding and the members of the board of the Dutch Birding Association. Photographers whose work is used in the competit ion (bath as mystery birds or as photographs accompanying the so lutions) are excl uded from entry in the round (s) in which th eir work is used. For each round on ly one entry per person is accepted (wh ich will be the first received). Entries have to arrive by the closing date stated . Th e Dutch Birding Association cannot be held responsible for possible no n-rece ipt or 1055 of entri es. All spec ies in the photographs have been reco rded (or re liab ly reported) in the Western Palea rcti c as defined in 8irds of the Western Palearctic (BWP) . Hybrids will not be featured.

Masters o f Mystery

Eac h mystery bird must be identified at th e level of spec ies. In this competition, dec isions of th e Commissi e Systemati ek Nederland se Av ifauna (CSNA) are fo llowed (see, for exa mpl e, Dutc h Birding 19: 21-28, 199 7; 20: 22-32, 1998). In case of any di spute concernin g th e identity

of a bird , the dec ision of th e edito ri al boa rd of Dutc h Birding will be binding o n all parti es. The overall winn er will be th e entrant wh o has correctly identified most mystery photograph s during th e competition (si x rounds). In case of joint winn ers, one winn er w ill be drawn.

Oiederik Kok, Blazer 9, 3448 WO Woerden, Netherlands (d.s.kok@stud. chem.ruu.nl) Nils van Ouivendijk, Culdenhoeve 34,345 1 TC Vleuten, Netherlands

WP reports Thi s review li sts rare and interesting bird s repo rted in th e W estern Palearcti c in January-February 1998 and foc uses on north-western Europe. Ma ny additional Feb ru ary reports w ill be dea lt w ith in th e next rev iew. Th e reports are largely unchecked and th eir publi cati on here does not impl y future acceptance by the rariti es committee of th e relevant country. O bservers are requ ested to submit records to each country's rariti es commi ttee . Corrections are we lcome and w ill be publi shed. Th e fifth Whistling Swan Cygnus co /umbianus fo r th e Neth erl and s di scovered at Vee nd am, Groningen, on 28 November 1997 stayed until at least 6 Febru ary, mostly

IDutch Birding 20: 43-49, 1998J

at Spijkerboo r, Drenthe. A group of fi ve Greenland White-fronted Geese A nser a/bifrons f/aviros tris was seen on 2-26 january in Nord-Tr0ndelag, Norway. Two Lesser White-fronted Geese A erythropus were present in th e GĂśksĂź delta, Turkey, on 26 December. Th e largest fl oc k in the Neth erl and s totalled 22, w hich stayed at Burgervlotbrug, Noo rd-H oll and. At least four single Black Brants Branta nig ricans we re stav ing in j anu ary in the coasta l areas south from Rotterd am to western France, including at least two single adults on Schouwe n, Zee land, the Netherl and s, to ea rl y Febru ary (p resumabl y, on e was the same as an indi v idu al on Goeree, Zuid -Holl and, during December and in Feb ru ary), one nea r Sene, Morbihan, France, o n at least 2 j anu ary,

WP reports

14 Rosy Starling / Roze Spreeuw Sturnus roseus, Beeston, Norfolk, England, January 1998 (lain H Leach) 15 Marsh Sandpiper / Poelruiter Tringa stagnatilis, adu lt winter, Tavira, Aigarve, Portuga l, 24 January 1998 (Ray Tipper)

WP reports and one at La Turballe, Loire-Atlantique, France, from 16 December into February. Singles were also present in Suffolk and Norfolk, England. In Ireland, three singles we re seen between 31 j an uary and 25 February. Also in February, four sing les we re found on Texel, Noord-Holland. The Canvasback Aythya va/isineria in England stayed at Welney, Norfolk, until late February. In Spain, up to six Ring-necked Ducks A col/aris we re in Asturias in November-january; during February, three we re present at Cecebre reservoir, Ga licia. If accepted, a female Lesser Scaup A affinis at Embalse de la Fuerza, Asturias, on 17 November w ill be the second for Iberia; a male stayed during February in Galicia. Other females we re reported in Baden-Württemberg, Germ any, on 10 january and on the North Slobs, Wexford, Ireland, from 25 january onwa rds. The third for Denmark was an adu lt male from 13 February at Hanvejle, Thisted, Nordjylland. From 17 january to at least 14 February, an unringed first-winter White-headed Duck Oxyura /eucocepha/a stayed at Amsterdam and Ouderker aan de Amstel, Noord-Holland, const ituting the 12th record for the Netherlands. A flock of 687 was counted at Lake Vistonis, northern Greece, on 29 january. On 10 February, 70 were counted at Burgas Lake, Bulgaria. The second Bufflehead Bucepha/a a/beo /a for Spain was a female near Santander from late December to mid january (the first was accepted for 25 December 1992 to 9 january 1993). In England, an unringed male discovered on 30 November at Hevingham Hall, Suffolk, remained until 19 january. A female stavin g at Macroom, Cork, from 18 j anuary into February was extremely wary; if accepted, it will be the fi rst for Ireland. Three Great Northern Divers Cavia immer were w interin g in Catalonia, Spain . In Germany, the second White-billed Diver C adamsii for this winter was a juvenile at Kiessee, Sch laden, Niedersachsen, on 23 -31 j anuary. An adu lt Pied-billed Grebe Podi/ymbus podiceps rema in ed through February at Rostellan, Cork, Ireland . In London, England, another stayed at Tooting Bec from 6 December 1997 to 10 February. The second for the Netherlands was present on 1-10 january at Krabbeplas, Vlaardingen, Zu id-H oll and, where it may have been present since 13 December. At least four Slavonian Grebes Podiceps auritus were seen in Cantabria, Spain, during December. The first Heraid Petrel Pterodroma arminjoniana for the WP was a darkmorph bird photographed on 18 july 1997 off Pico, Azores (Birding World 10: 456-459, 1997). At Burgas, Bulgaria, 100 Dalmatian Pelicans Pe /ecanus crispus were present on 10 February. At Coto Dofiana, Andaluefa, Spain, a first-winter White Pelican P onocrota /us was seen on 6-8 December and up to eight Black Storks Ciconia nigra and a flock of 72 Glossy Ibises P/egadis fa/cinel/us (at EI Roefo) we re reported through December. A lso in Anda luefa, an unseasonal female Little Bittern /xobrychus minutus was reported at Sotogrande on 1 january. It now appears that, at G ibraltar and Tarifa, Cad fz,

Spain, Turkey Vultures Cathartes aura were not on ly see n in September 1996 and on 2-17 September 1997, but also in September 1995, when presumably the same bird (until 1997 wearing leather jesses) seemed to migrate to Africa but was later seen at the rubbish tip of Tarifa (cf Dutch Birding 19: 256, 1997). The species was also reported in Denmark on 1-3 june 1997 at Skagen, Nordjylland, and on 6 june flying past Blavand, Esbjerg. The fifth Crested Honey-buzzard Pemis pti/orhyncus for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was seen in Dubai on 2 j anu ary. In the Cape Verdes, the population size of Cape Verde Kite Mi/vus fasciicauda was censused in 1996-97 and estimated to be five to six individu als; it is now on ly found on Santo Antao and there is no evidence of breeding. The number of the sympatric Black Kite M migrans was three to five, now restricted to Boavista (J Orn ithol 139: 73-75, 1998). A Long-Iegged Buzzard Buteo rufinus stayed in th e Camargue, Bouches-du-Rh6ne, France, from 13 january to at least 15 February. As in previous winters, at least two Spotted Eagles Aqui/a clanga were winterin g in the Camargue and one at Étang du Lindre, Moselle, from 7 December to at least ea rl y February. At least five we re wi ntering in northern Italy. The third Tawny Eagle Arapax for Israel was photographed on 21 December at Urim fields, Eilat. In the Czech Republic, two Eastern Imperial Eagles A he/iaca were present on 5 january at Dyje-Morava river mouth, southern Moravia (where they were also reported in 1997). There were c 10 Booted Eagles Hieraaetus pennatus in the Camargue during j anuary. A Lanner Falcon Fa/co biarmicus continu ed to be present at Saint-Denisdu-Payré, Vendée, France, from 22 November to at least 7 February. An immature Saker F cherrug stayed until at least late December near Cagli ari, Sard ini a, Italy. More than 20 Western Swamp-hens Porphyrio porphyrio were present in Ebro delta, Cata lon ia, during january. Two Little Bustards Tetrax tetra x were seen in the Göksü delta on 25 December. In India, two adults and an immatu re Siberian White Crane Crus /eucogeranus wintered at Bharatpur. A recently published, amaz in g discovery in 1992 concerned the presence of a population of Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus in the mountains of Pamir-Alai, western Tadzhikistan, at a distance of 1600 km from the nearest breeding area (Alauda 65: 379-380, 1997). Two Black-winged Pratincoles C /areo/a nordmanni at Taizz sewage ponds on 8 November 1997 const ituted the fourth record for Vemen; previous records we re in April 1993 and two sin gles in October 1996 (cf Dutch Birding 19: 305,1997, Guy Kirwan in litt) . The eighth Little Pratincole C /actea for the UAE stayed from 16 December to at least 29 january at the Emirates golf cou rse. On 21 February, the fourth White-tailed Lapwing Vanel/us /eucurus for the Netherlands (and Europe's first for February) was discovered between Assendelft and Krommenie, Noord-Holland, where it stayed into March; possibly, it was one of last summer's 15 birds in Europe (Den mark, Finland, Greece (nine), Hungary, Poland (two) and Sweden; Dutch Bi rdin g

WP reports 19 : 202, 256, 1997, Birdin g W orld 11: 26, 1998) . A Spur-winged Lapwing V spinosus at O ude Zeug, Wi erin germ eer, Noord-Holl and, on 11-1 2 j anu ary and on Ameland, Fri es land, on 13-16 j anu ary was co nsidered to be th e sa me indiv idu al already seen on 17-22 M ay 1997 at Naa rd ermeer, Noo rd-H oll and ; in the meantime, it stayed from june 199 7 to 10 j anu ary in Kent, England (where it had also been present on 30 A pril 1997). Th e fact th at thi s bird was redi scovered fo ur times at d ifferent loca li ties in England and th e Netherl and s, tw ice w ithin 24 hours, is amazing. The southernmost-eve r Northern Lapwing V vane l/us for the USA was see n at Lake Pl ac id, Fl o rida, during December. The second Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricol/aris for Egypt and the WP was reported on 14 December at Aswa n; th e first occurred in M arch 1993 . In Portugal, a Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis from 24 j anu ary in to Febru ary at Tav ira, Ai garve, was we ll-photograph ed. Two first-w inter Lesser Yellowlegs T f/avipes we re togeth er at Banks, Southport, Lancashire, En gland, from 31 j anu ary into M arch. Like last yea r, a Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinere us stayed during

j anu ary in the Camargue. Th e Spotted Sandpiper Actitis m a cu/aria at Roq ui to del Fra il e, Teneri fe, Ca nary Islands, remained thro ugh Feb ru ary. In Spain, an adult w in ter Laughing Gull Larus atricil/a was see n at Blanes, G irona, on 13 janu ary (there are c 15 previous records) . In Ire land, a first-winter (from 22 Febru ary onwa rds) and an adul t (fro m 28 Febru ary) Bonaparte's Gull L phi/ade/p hia we re together at Cork . In j anu ary, sin gles we re see n in Cork and Co rn wa ll, England. A Ring-billed Gull L de /awarensis near Goes, Zee land, from 18 janu ary to 9 Feb ru ary was (o nl y) the seventh fo r th e Netherl and s; there were c 20 indi v idu ais reported for western France in December-j anu ary. In Spa in, at least five we re w inte rin g at the spec ies' traditional w inter haunt at Pa rque de Isa bel la Cat贸li ca, G ij 贸n, during December-j anu ary and single adults were seen in Ga licia on 9 janu ary and 17 j anu ary. O n 19 j anu ary, five adults we re present at Sa ndymoun t, D ublin, Ireland, w hich is a hi gh number fo r th e time of yea r. A n adult Thayer's Gull L g/aucoides thayeri was di scovered on 22 Febru ary at Kill ybegs, Donega l,

16 White-headed Du ck / Witkopeend Oxyura /eucocepha/a, first-w inter, Kleine N ieuwe D iep, A msterdam, NoordHoll and, Neth erl and s, 21 janu ary 1998 (A rnoud B van den Berg) 17 White-headed D uck / Witkopeend Oxyura /e ucocep ha /a, fir st-w inter, Kl ein e N ieuwe Di ep, A msterd am, N oo rd - H o ll and, Ne th erl and s, 25 j anu ary 1998

(johan va n der Louw)

WP re ports Ireland , where it was still see n in ea rl y Mareh. In j anu ary- February, c nine Kumlien's Gulls L g kumlieni we re reported in Britain and 12 in Ireland. Besides, in j anu ary, five first-winter American Herring Gulls L smithsonianus we re see n in Ireland and one in scilly, Cornwa ll. In Feb ru ary, severa l were reported at Killybegs, includin g an adult on 22 February. In north-western France, two ad ult Pontie Gulls (Steppe Gulls) L cachinnans cachinnans we re stav ing during December and ea rl y j anu ary at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-deCa lais, and another was at Armbouts-Cappel nea r Dunkerque, Nord. On 16 j anu ary, one adult was seen at Priolo sa lt-pans nea r siracusa, s ic ily. In NordrheinWestfalen, Germany, large-gu ll co unts on 24 j anuary by th e AG Möwen NRW group at two roosts tota lled 8700 Herrin g L argentatus, 170 Pontic (149 adults), 19 Ye ll ow-I egged L michahellis, 7 Lesser Black-backed L graellsii, and 1 G reater Black-backed Gull L marinus. It has been estim ated that 300 to 500 Pontic Gull s we re present in late j anu ary in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Also in j an uary, 12 we re reported in Denmark and c 15 in th e Netherlands . O n 15 Febru ary, a maximum of 40 was counted in the Netherlands at a gull roost at OostMaarland, Limburg; besides, during Feb ru ary, at least 33 indi vidu als we re reported at other Dutch sites, nea rIy all inl and. The first for Ireland was see n on 13 February in Belfast. Reportedly, the majority of 600 black-backed gull s w intering in December-january at siracusa and Cata ni a, southern sicily, we re Baltie Gulls L fuscus, w ith up to 50 Lesser Black-backed Gull s. An adult Ross's Gull Rhodostethia rosea occ urred at Dun laoghai re, Dublin, on 7 j anu ary and a second-w inter was in Antrim, Northern Ireland, o n 8 February and, subseq uentl y, at G roomspo rt, Down, Northern Ireland, on 9-12 February. Others we re present in Fife, scotl and, on 3 j anu ary, in Lerw ick, shetl and, from 16 j anuary, and at Fa lm outh, Corn wa ll , from 26 j anu ary. The lOth Brünnieh's Guillemot Uria lom via for Denmark was swimm in g in strandby H avn on 23 j anuary and from th e next dav until 3 February at

A first-winter Oriental Turtle Dove 5treptopelia orientalis stav in g from November 1997 into late Febru ary at A lfta, Hälsin gland, was the 12th for sweden. On 22 February, an ea rl y Great Spotted Cuekoo Clamator glandarius was seen at Dawlish W arren, Devon, England . In Israel, three Striated Seops Owls Otus brucei were wintering near Eil at. A minor influ x of Snowy Owls Nyctea scandiaca in j anu ary brought nine individua ls into southern Finl and. severa l sightings occurred in Denmark and, in February, one was see n on Waddensea islands in Germany. A Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus at Hodeid ah on 12 November 1997 may have been the seventh reco rd for Vemen; there we re six previous reports for south Vemen (cf Dutch Birding 19 : 305 -306, 1997, G uy Kirwan in litt). On 17 Febru ary, a Common Swift Apus apus was found dead (still fres h) at Alkmaar, Noord-Holl and; poss ibl y, thi s co nstituted th e first Febru ary reco rd for the Netherlands . The fourth White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis for th e UAE was seen at Dhaya h on 17-23 january. A Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris stavin g from 3 j anu ary to 22 February at Tyrella Beach, Down, was the fourth for Northern Ireland; it is (sti ll) uncertain w hether it concerned one of the Ame ri ca n taxa . The second Wire-tailed Swallow Hirundo smithii for the UAE stayed at the Emirates golf co urse on 14-28 janu ary. A handful of reports of Red-rumped Swallow H daurica in England, W ales and Ireland during Febru ary was exception all y ea rl y. In Spain, up to 18 w interin g Richard's Pipits Anthus richardi we re found at fo ur loca lities. In France, a fl ock of up to 16 was present from 15 january to late Febru ary at the Crau, Bouches-du-Rh6ne. Th e first Blyth's Pipit A godlewskii for France was a first-w inter discovered at th e Crau on 16 j anu ary and still present on at least 18 Febru ary. In the UAE, two stayed at AI Wathba ca mel track during November-j anu ary. Th e first for Italy was a fi rst-w inter stavin g w ith four Ri chard's Pipits at Lentini lake,

18 Blyth's Pipit / Mongoolse Pieper Anthus godlewskii, Crau, Bouches-du-Rh6ne, France, 14 February 1998

19 Ho rn ed Lark / Strand leeuwerik Eremophila alpestris, Tyrella Beach, Dow n, Northern Ireland, j anu ary 1998

(Thierry Fournet)

(Martin Ca rner)

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i, 47

WP reports

20 Dark-eyed Junco / Grijze Junco Junca h yema/is, Chester, Chesh ire, England, Jan uary 1998 (Iain H Leach) Siracusa, south-eastern Sicil y, on 21-30 December. In Israel, one Olive-backed Pipit A hodgsoni, three Buffbellied Pipits A rubescens and two Citrine Wagtails Motacilla citreo/a we re seen in December-January near Eilat. A Blue-headed Wagtail M f/ava at La=S0, Nordjylland, during the third week of Janu ary canstituted the first w in ter record for Denmark. In the USA, the best spec ies in this period included a long-staying Nutting's Flycatcher Myiarchus nuttingi in south-easte rn Arizona (the second or third for the USA), a Siberian Accentor Prunella montanella at a feeder in Anc horage, A laska, and two White-throated Thrushes Turdus assimilis in southern Texas (the second record for the USA). The 22 nd Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti for Sweden was a second -yea r male from 11 January to at least 12 February at Lerh amn, Skane. Another male was present during the same period at Falkenberg, Halland, 100 km further north. In France, indi vidua ls stavin g from December to at least late January included up to two in the Camargue (o ne still present on 6 February) and one at Sarzeau, Morbihan. In Israel, two males and a female Red-tailed Wheatear xanthoprymna were staving from 17 December at Wadi Sh lomo, Eilat. A male Black-throated Thrush T ruficallis atrogu /aris was seen on 15 February in the Camargue. A possible Siberian lesser Whitethroat Sy/via curruca b/ythi stayed on 11-25 January at Lerhamn, Skane, w here it was trapped. In Dorset, England, a Dusky Warbier Phylloscopus fuscatus was present from 23 January into March at Lod moo r, Weymouth. Sin gle Yellow-browed Warblers P inornatus were seen

at Kibbutz Lotan, Israel, during January and on O uessant, FinistĂ¨re, France, on 5 February. A Common Starling Sturnus vu/ga ris at Hugh Town, St Mary's, Sci lI y, from 31 January onwards was long bel ieved to be a Spotiess Starling 5 unica/or; if anyth ing, the misidentification induced a better understanding of latter spec ies' field marks. A w intering male Rosy Starling 5 roseus remained at Beeston, near Sheringham, Norfo lk, from 15 November to at least 14 February. This w inter's total number of Two-barred Crossbill Loxia /eucaptera for the Netherlands increased to 128, w ith 25 reported on 28 December at Doldersum, Drenthe, three on 31 January at Castricum, NoordHolland, two at Posbank, Gelderland, on 15 February, and 15 at Baarn, Utrecht, on 25 February. In Denmark, a flock of up to 22 remained at Vester Torup Klitplantage, Fjerritslev, Nordjylland, until at least 22 February. A female was seen in Forest of Dean, G loucestershire, England, from 15 February into March. In the Netherland s, Common Crossbills L curvirostra with unfamiliar ca ll s we re sound-recorded near Santpoort, NoordHolland; four types could be identified. A first-winter Dark-eyed Junco Junca hyema/is stayed from 15 December to at least late February at Chester, Chesh ire, England (Bird ing World 11 : 11 , 1998). The Spanish Sparrow was still at Waterside, Cumbria, England, and the three House Crows Corvus sp/endens at Hoek van Holland, Zu id-H oll and . On 10 February, several Pine Buntings Emberiza /eucocepha /os were found in the Camargue at the site where last winter up to eight we re seen. One was wintering in Telemark, Norway.

Recente m eldingen For a number of reports, pu blicati ons in Birdin g World , Birdwatch, Brit ish Bird s, Limi co la, O rnithos, Vär Fägelvä rld , W in ging It and Worl d Birdwatch we re co nsulted . News from Britain was kindl y suppli ed by Birdline (089 1-700-222 o r 089 1-700-2 42) and Ra re Bird News (088 1-888-111 ). I w ish to than k Hugh Addlesee, Rafa A rm ada (Spa in), Theo Bakker (Turkey), Peter Barth el (Germany), A ntti Below, Arend va n Bemm el, A ndreas Bu chheim, Ma ri o Cami c i (Liberty To urs), Ro lf Chri stense n, Tony Cla rke (Ca nari an Nature Tours), José Lui s Copete (Spain), A ndrea Corso, Hugh Delaney (Ireland), Eri c Dempsey, Ben D ieli sse n, Joc hen D iersc hke (Ger-

many), Enn o Ebels, Thi erry Fournet, Peter Fraser (UK), M arce ll o G ru ss u, M orten Gün ther, Ri card G utiérrez, Franço is Hupet, Erlin g Jirle, Yves Kaise r, Guy Kirwa n (OSME), Paul Lehman, Pierre Le M aréchal (France), A nthon y M cGeehan, Ri chard Millington, Geir M obakken, Gerald O reel, Ma ri a Panayotopoulou, Charli e Perez, G unnl augur Pétursso n (Ice land), Stefan Aki Ragnarsso n (Iceland), Co li n Ri chard so n (UAE), M agnu s Robb, M artien Roos, Lu c iano Ru ggieri (ltaly), Bob Scott, Peter Symens, Yanni s Tsougraki s, Martin Vavr ik and Will em va n der W aa l for their help in compiling thi s review.

Arnoud B van den Berg, Duinlustparkweg 98, 2082 EG Santpoort-Z uid, Netherlands (Arnoud. vandenBerg@inter.nl.netJ

Recente meldingen Dit overz icht va n recente meldingen va n ze ld za me en interessa nte voge ls in Nederl and en België bes laat voo rn amelijk de periode december 1997-januari 1998. De vermelde geva llen z ij n merendeels niet geverifi eerd en het ove rzicht is niet vo lled ig. A ll e voge laars die de moe ite namen om hun waa rnemin gen aan ons doo r te geven wo rden harte lijk bedankt. W aa rn emers va n soorten in Nederl and die wo rden beoordeeld door de Commi ss ie Dwaa lgasten Nederland se Av ifa un a wordt ve rzoc ht hun waa rn emin gen zo spoed ig moge lijk toe te ze nden aan: CD NA, Postbu s 45, 2080 AA Santpoort-Zuid, Nederl and. Hiertoe gelieve men gebruik te maken va n CDN A-w aarn emingsformuli eren die eveneens ve rkrij gbaa r z ijn bij bovenstaand ad res .

Nederland ZWANEN TOT VA LKEN

De op 28 nove mbe r ontdekte Fluitzwaan Cygnus columbianus bl eef de gehele peri ode ten westen va n Veend am, G roningen, en b ij A nnen, Drenthe. Naast di verse losse exempl aren werd een groep va n zeven Sneeuwganzen Anser caerulescens op 22 en 23 december gez ien op Terschellin g, Friesland, en waa rschijnlijk dezelfde groep op 17 en 18 janu ari te n zuiden va n Klaz ienaveen, D renthe. M inimaa l 50 (!) Dwergganzen A erythropus we rden geteld : va n 25 oktober tot 28 nove mber en m issc hien oo k nog in december max imaa l 14 in de A njumer Kolken, Fri esland, va n 28 nove mbe r tot 1 j anu ari maximaa l 13 in het O ude Land van Strijen, Zu id- Holl and, va n 14 tot 20 december zeve n in het grensgeb ied b ij Maaseik (België), op 27 en 29 december 22 (!) bij Petten, Noo rd-H oll and, en op 29 janu ari vi jf bij Goedereede, Zuid-Ho ll and. Constern atie omtrent het mogelijk w ilde voo rko men va n canadese ganzen Branta ca nadensis/hutchinsii in Nederl and en daa raan gekoppe ld de interesse voo r de veldherken nin g va n de ve rschill ende taxa, leidde tot de ontdekking va n een Hutchins'

IOuteh Birding 20: 49-55, 1998J

Canadese Gans B h hutchinsii, die va n 30 december tot 2 janu ari (maar waarsc hijnl ijk al va naf 16 november) verbl eef in de omgeving va n het Haringvliet, ZuidHoll and. Er werden minim aa l 12 Roodhalsganzen B ru ficol/is gez ien, waa rva n het ove rgrote deel in Zee land en Zuid-Ho ll and . Op 11 janu ari ve rbl even er drie in de Prunj epolder, Zee land. Witbuikrotganzen B hrota bl even sc haars, met waa rnemin gen va naf 7 december bij Scharendijke, Zee land, va naf 23 decem ber in de Prunj epo lder en op 1 janu ari bij de Koudekerkse Inl aag, Zee land . Zwarte Rotganzen B nigrica ns ve rbl even va n 3 tot 20 december bij Goedereede, va naf 7 december in de Prunj epo lder, va n 29 december tot 19 j anu ari bij Scharendijke (verm oedelij k dezelfde als die va n Goedereede), op 30 december op Texel, Noord-Ho ll and, en op 29 janu ari bij de Plaat va n Schee l hoe k, Zuid-Ho ll and . De Witoogeend Ayth ya nyroca va n Best, Noo rd-Brabant, werd daar tot 19 december w aargenomen. Verder zwommen er exempl aren op 14 december bij Oost-M aa rl and, Limburg, va n 14 december tot 25 j anu ari op het Soerend onks Goor, Noo rd-Brabant, op 20 decem ber op de Lek bij Lopik, Utrecht, en op 30 december bij Linn e, Lim burg. Een Witkopeend Oxyura leucocephala we rd op 18 janu ari ontdekt op het Kl eine Nieuwe Di ep in Amsterdam-Oost, Noo rd-H o ll and, en bl eef daar tot 25 janu ari , waa rn a de voge l een pe ndeldienst opzette naar de O uderkerkerpl as, Noord-H oll and. Dat het Nieuwe Di ep een voor deze soort zee r aa ntrekke lijke pl ek is, blijkt we l uit ee rdere aa nvaa rde geva llen in 1965 en 1985. Een w interse Zomertaling Anas querquedula zwom op 12 janu ari op het Vee rse Meer b ij Wo lph aartsdijk, Zee land. Op 18 december vloge n maar li efst 11 00 duikers Ga via, vermoedelijk merendeels Roodkeelduikers C stel/ata, langs Scheveningen, Zuid-H oll and . Eind december wa ren c 85 Rood keelduikers aanwez ig langs de Brou wersdam, ZuidHoll and . Een Parelduiker C arctica werd op 9 december opgemerkt bij Ni euwege in, Utrecht. A ndere in het

Recente meldingen binn enl and ve rb leven te M akkum , Fri esland, op 14 december en bij Roermond, Limburg, op 14-1 5 december. IJsduikers C immer zwommen op 9 en 10 december bij Veere, Zee land, va naf 21 dece mber langs de Brou we rsdam (va n 29 december tot 12 janu ari ze lfs twee), en va n 26 december tot 24 j anu ari op het Ijmeer b ij Di emen, Noord-H o ll and. Spectaculair was de ontdekking va n de tweede Dikbekfuut Podi/ymbus podiceps voor Nederl and, die va n 1 tot 10 janu ari op de Krabbepl as ten westen va n Vl aardingen, Zuid-Holl and, zwom. M oge lijk was hij al van af 13 december aanwezig. O ngewoon was de waa rneming va n een in zui doostelijke ri chting v li egende Noordse Stormvogel Fu/marus g /acia lis te n westen va n Utrecht, Utrecht. Eveneens ongebruikelijk, maar dan meer qua se izoe n, wa ren de waa rn emingen va n andere 'bui sneuze n' in deze peri ode: een Grote Pijlstormvogel Puffinus gravis v loog op 5 december langs Camperduin , NoordHoll and, en we rd kort na de w aa rneming gemeld va n Call antsoog, Noord -Holl and ; Grauwe Pijlstormvogels P griseus vlogen op 26 december langs Schevenin gen en op 6 j anu ari langs Westkapell e, Zee land ; en een Vaal Stormvogeltje Oceanodroma /eucorhoa werd op 12 december gez ien te Schevenin gen. Kuifaalscholvers Stictocarbo aristote/is we rden all een gemeld op 10 janu ari te Scheveningen en op 17 j anu ari bij de M aasv lakte, Zuid-Holl and. Een adulte Kwak Nycticorax nycticorax (va n onbekende oorspro ng) ve rbl eef op 27 december tu sse n de fl amingo's en pelikanen in Di ergaard e Blijdorp te Rotterd am, Zuid-Holl and . Minimaa l zeve n Kleine Zilverreigers Egretta garzetta ve rtoefden tot ten minste 16 janu ari in het westelijke deel va n het Veerse M eer, Zee land. Solitaire exempl aren we rd en opgemerkt op 7 december in de Millingerwaa rd , Gelderl and, op 1 j anu ari in Het Zwin, Zee land, op 6 jan u-

ari bij Makkum , Fri es land, op 11 janu ari bij de Bijl and, Gelderl and, en op 12 j anu ari bij het Muiderza nd, Fl evo land. Grote Zilverreigers Casmerodius a/bus verbl even op 5 december en 10 j anu ari in de Lauwersmeer, G roningen, va naf 7 december op de Korendijkse Slikken, Zuid-H oll and (op 27 december twee), va naf 14 december twee langs de H ertogswetering ten noo rden va n Nuland, Noo rd-Brabant, op 1 janu ari b ij Valkenswaa rd , Noo rd-Brabant, en tu sse n Za ltbomm el en Aa lst, Gelderl and, op 2 janu ari b ij Vianen, Gelderland, va naf december tot 11 janu ari max im aa l vier b ij de Bijl and en va naf 29 j anu ari twee bij G limmen, Gronin gen. Vijf Zwarte Ibissen P/egadis fa /cinel/us liepen op 15 december ko rte t ijd bij Boskoop, Zuid Ho ll and, en ĂŠĂŠn exemp laar vloog op 20 december over de duinen bij Castri cum, N oo rd-Ho ll and . De Zeearend Ha/iaeetus a/bicil/a va n de Vee rmanspl aat in de G revelingen, Zee land, bleef daar onregelm atig gez ien wo rden tot 29 december. Verder ove rw interden Zeearenden va n 13 december tot 27 j anu ari op de Korendijkse Slikken, va naf 13 december een vrij we l adult exempl aa r langs de Praamweg, Fl evo land, op 4 janu ari bij de Ketelbrug, Flevoland, en va naf 12 janu ari , naast de adulte ook een onvo lwasse n voge l langs de Praamweg. Er werd en c 25 Slechtvalken Fa/co peregrinus gemeld. KRAANVOG ELS TOT A LK EN Twee Kraanvogels Grus grus I iepen op 18 j anu ari langs de Praamweg. Een late Morinelplevier Charadrius mo rinel/us was op 3 december aanwez ig in ganzenreservaat De Poe l ten zuidwesten va n Goes, Zee land . Een Sporenkievit Va nel/us spinosus hield z ich op b ij het haventje va n O ude Ze ug in de Wi eringerm eer, Noo rd-H oll and, op 11 en 12 janu ari ; w aarsc hijnl ij k verbleef dezelfde va n 12 tot 16 j anu-

20 Flui tzwaa n / Whistlin g Swan Cygnus co/umbianus en Kl eine Zwa nen / Bewick's Swans C bewickii, G ieten, Drenthe, december 1997 Uan van Holten)

Recente meldingen

21 Ponti sc he Meeuw / Pontic Gu ll Larus cachinnans cachinnans, adult, Huizen, Noord-Holl and, januari 1998 (jan Mu lder)

ari bij Hollum op Ameland, Friesland. Het heeft er alle sc hijn va n dat d it dezelfde voge l was die op 17-22 mei 1997 b ij het Naardermeer, Noord-Ho ll and, ve rbl eef en daarn a tot 10 janu ari (1) in Kent, Engeland . Er was een meldin g va n een Regenwulp Numenius phaeopus op 27 janu ari bij Zoeterm eer, Zuid-Holland . Rosse Franjepoten Phalaropus flllicaria p leisterd en van 28 december tot 3 j anu ari bij de Brouwe rsdam en op 1 j anu ari bi j Scharendijke, en op 24 janu ari vloge n er twee langs Scheveningen. De zeven de Ringsnavelmeeuw Larus delawarensis voor Nederl and, een adult w inter, verbl eef va naf 18 janu ari in de omgev in g va n Goes. Nu voge laars b lijkbaar precies wete n hoe ze eruit z ien worden er vee l adu lte Pontische Meeuwen L cachin nans cachinnans waa rgenomen, in totaal ruim 25, waaronder minim aa l v ier in december te Arcen, Limburg, maximaal acht in december en januari te Oost-Maarl and en Itteren, Limburg, en ten minste dri e te Huize n, Noord-Holland . Er werden c 15 Geelpootmeeuwen L michahellis gemeld, zowe l in het b innenland als aan de ku st. Een Kleine Burgemeester L g laucoides verbl eef op 14 en 15 december te A rce n. Langsvli egende exemp laren we rden opgemerkt op 26 december te Scheven i ngen en op 31 dece mber te Huisduinen, Noord-Holland. Grote Burgemeesters L hyperborelIs waren er ook, en we l op 28 december op Tersc helling, op 31 december bij De Putten bij Camperdu in en langsvli egend bij Scheveningen, op 10

januari bij de Brouwersdam (waarschijn lij k niet de bekende adulte vogel) en van 14 tot 19 j anuari op Ame land. Grote aa ntall en Drieteenmeeuwen Rissa tridactyla werden vastgesteld: op 12 december hin gen er 1900 rond bij Scheveningen en op 6 j anu ari vlogen er 4200 langs Westkape lle. Overwinterende Grote Sterns Stern a sa ndvicensis we rden weer eens gez ien b ij de Brouwersdam en wel op 13 december en 11 janu ari. O p 15 december werd een Zwarte Zeekoet Cepphus grylle gemeld va n Scheveningen. Kleine Alken Alle alle werden gez ien op 20 december (11 ) en op 26 december te Scheven in gen, op 27 december te W estkapell e en op Neeltje Jans, Zee land, op 6 januari te Ijmuiden, Noord-Holl and, op 10 j anu ari langs de Brouwersdam en op 20 januari op Ame land . U ILEN TOT GORZEN Twee Oehoes Bubo bubo bl even de gehele period e bij Maastricht, Limburg. Vanaf 1 januari verbl eef een Middelste Bonte Specht Dendrocopos medills in de stad Enschede, Overij sse l. Daa rnaast waren er in januari enkele meldin gen uit Limburg. Grote aantallen Strandleeuweriken Eremophila alpestris waren 37 bij Het Zw in (Zeeuwse kant), max im aal 80 bij Oostvoorne, Zu id-Holl and, en meer dan 100 op de kwelders van Schiermonnikoog, Friesland. Een Grote Pieper Anth lls richardi was op 10 j anuari aanwezi g te Nummer EĂŠn, Zee land. Pestvogels Bombycilla ga rrll/us bl even zeer dun gezaa id, met

Recente meldingen

22 Rin gsnavelmeeuw / Rin g-bill ed Gull Larus delawarensis, ad ult, Goes, Zee land, j anuari 1998 (Ca rl Oerks) 23 Rin gsnavelmeeuw / Rin g-bill ed Gull Larus delawarensis, ad ult, Goes, Zee land, 20 januari 1998 (RenĂŠ va n Rossum)

Recente meldingen waa rnemingen op 5 decembe r in A lmere-Stad, Fl evoland, en op 23 janu ari in Ca ll antsoog. Zwartbuikwaterspreeuwen Cinc/us cinc/us cinc/us wa ren aanwez ig op 19 en 20 decembe r bij G limmen en va naf 17 j anu ari langs de Hi erdense Beek op de Leuvenhorst, Gelderland . Een Provençaalse Grasmus Sylvia unda ta werd op 1 ja nu ari gemeld bij de Horsmeertjes op Texel, maar kon daa rn a niet wo rd en teru ggevonden. De laatste Bladkoning Ph ylloscopus inornatus va n het se izoe n we rd op 1 december gemeld va n Den Helder, Noo rd Ho ll and . De Siberische Tjiftjaf P collybita tristis va n Huizen bl eef daar tot 13 december. O pmerkelijke waa rn emin gen en meld in gen va n Taigaboomkruipers Certhia fa miliaris ware n op 26 december bij M uiderbe rg, Noord-H o ll and, en bij Nederwette n, NoordBrabant, op 28 decem ber en 7 j anu ari bij W agenin gen, Gelderl and (deze voge l we rd op 28 december gevangen en bleek een Kortsnavelboomkruiper C f macrodactyia) , op 10 j anu ari b ij D un in land goed De Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, en op 16 janu ari , ver buiten de bekende broedgebi eden, bij de Eij sder Beemden, Lim burg. Enkele Buidelmezen Remiz pendulinus ove r-

w inte rden in het Verdronke n Land va n Saeftin ge, Zee land . Geprolongeerd : dri e Huiskraaien Corvus splendens bij Hoek va n Holl and, Zuid-H oll and. De Roze Spreeuw Sturnus roseus bl eef tot 12 december in A njum, Fri es land . De invas ie va n Witbandkruisbekken Loxia leucoptera in West-Europa bracht ten minste 108 ind iv iduen naar Nederl and : grote groepen werde n vastgesteld bij O ranj e-Nassau's Oord, W agenin gen (max imaa l 16 op 27 december); op het Ijze ren Ve ld b ij Huizen (max im aa l 22 op 13 decembe r); in het Kuinderbos, Fl evoland (max im aa l 18 op 21 december); b ij Doldersum, D renthe (25 op 28 decembe r); en b ij D uurswo ude en Haulerw ijk, Fri es land (max imaa l 16 op 2 en 6 j anu ari ). Ve rder wa ren er waa rnemin gen tu sse n Veenend aa l en Rh enen, Utrecht, op 20 december (éé n), te Groet, Noord-Holl and, op 29 december (d ri e) en te Castri cum op 31 janu ari (d ri e) . Een vro uwtje Grote Kruisbek L pytyopsittacus was va naf 11 janu ari te z ien in de Kennemerduinen, Noo rd-H o ll and. Een leuke groep va n 40 Grauwe Gorzen Miliaria ca landra werd op 1 janu ari waargenomen in het Verdronken Land va n Saeftinge.

Ruud M van Dongen, Taalstraat 162, 526 1 Bj Vught, Nederland Remco Ho fland, Koningstraat 23A, 23 16 CC Leiden, Nederland Peter W W de Rouw, Schoolstraat 3-bis, 358 1 PM Utrecht, Nederland

België Een verm oedelijk onts napte Sneeuwgans Anser caerulescens was va n 4 tot 7 j anuari aa nwez ig te Schoten, Antwe rpe n. Va n 14 tot 31 december pl eisterden aan be ide kanten va n de Belgisc h-Nederl and se grens max im aal twee ad ul te en vijf ju ve niele o ngerin gde Dwergganzen A erythropus bij Maaseik, Limburg. Bij Meetkerke, W est-V laanderen, verb leef er één op 27 december. Een voge l met een Fin se nekba nd zat va n 2 tot ten mi nste 17 janu ari bij U itkerke, West-Vlaanderen, en op 7 janu ari werd deze voge l bij V li ssegem, W est-V laanderen, gez ien in gezelschap va n een tweede exempl aa r. O p 3 decembe r ve rb leef een Roodhalsgans Branta ruficollis b ij Sta lhill e, W est-Vl aanderen; op 6 december bij V li ssegem; op 14 december b ij Damm e, West-V laa nderen; en op 15 december te Kl emske rke, West-V laanderen. Het gaat hier om dri e voge ls. De onvo lwassen W itoogeend Ayth ya nyroca va n Duffe l, Antwerpen, b leef nog aanwez ig tot 22 december. Vrouwtjes zwo mmen va n 1 tot 10 janu ari op de Gavers te Harelbe ke, W estV laanderen, va n 17 tot 24 janu ari op Blokkersd ij k, A ntwerpen, en omgevi ng en op 31 janu ari te GentBlaa rmeersen, Oost-V laanderen. Het ma nnetje Ringsnaveleend A collaris bleef de gehele pe ri ode aa nwez ig op Blokkersd ijk en Antwe rpe n-Linkeroeve r, A ntwerpen. Te Klui ze n, Oost-Vlaanderen, werd op 12 december een vrouw tj e Rosse Stekelstaart Oxyura jamaicensis opgemerkt, op 13 december één bij Ka ll o, OostV laanderen, en va n 10 tot 17 j anu ari een mannetj e b ij

GANZEN TOT VA LKEN

Schulen, Limburg. O p 7 decembe r trok een IJ sduiker Cavia immer langs Sint-Idesba ld, Ko ksijde, WestVl aanderen. Ju ve niele wa ren te z ien op de Barrages de la Pl ate-Taill e, H ain aut, gedurende de gehele pe ri ode (va naf 16 nove mber); te Kall o-Doel op 11 en 12 december; in het M echels Broek, A ntwe rpen, op 12 en 13 decembe r; te Roksem, W est-V laa nderen, va n 11 tot 31 janu ari ; en te Zeeb ru gge-Achterhaven, WestV laanderen, op 23 janu ari . Op 28 janu ari v loog een grote, niet nader gedetermin eerd e du iker langs Gent. Een Stormvogeltje Hydroba tes pelagicus trok op 19 janu ari langs Oostende. Op 5 decembe r ve rb leef kortsto nd ig een ju ve niele .Kuifaalscholver Stictocarbo aristote/is te Beerse, A ntwerpen, en een onvo lwassen exemp laa r trok op 28 december langs De Pann e, W estV laa nderen. Een eerste-w inter Kwak Nycticorax n ycticorax vloog op 6 j anu ari ove r Wo mmelgem, A ntwerpen. Te Knokke-Westkapelle- Dudze le ve rbleven nog tot ten min ste 1 janu ari twee Koereigers Bubulcus ibis en op 30 janu ari was er weer één bij het Zw in te Kn okke. In de Bourgoyen te Gent werd er één gez ien op 12 decembe r. O p 21 en 30 december en op 3 j anuari was een Kleine Zilverreiger Egretta garzetta aa nwez ig op Bl okke rsd ij k en op 1 en 30 december één in het Zw in te Kn okke. Va naf 3 janu ari ve rbl even er max imaal twee te Dudze le-Zeebrugge. Een Grote Zilverreiger Casmerodius albus ve rb leef op 5 en 6 december te Kalken, West-Vlaanderen, en op 7 decembe r v loog er één over Overmere, Oost-V laanderen. Va n 7 tot 17 decembe r pl eisterden max imaa l zeven exemp laren op De M aten te Genk- D iepenbeek, Li mburg. Daarn a ver-

Recente meldingen

24 Middelste Bonte Specht / Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius, Ensc hede, Ove rij sse l, jan uari 1998 (Ca rl Derks)

25 Grote Kruisbek / Parrot Crossbill Loxia pytyopsittacus, vrouwtje, Kennemerduinen, Bloemendaa l, NoordHolland, 31 janu ari 1998 (Arnoud B van den Berg)

spreidden deze voge ls z ich ve rder over Limburg en vo lgden waarnem in gen te Helchteren-Meeuwen (11 januari); Sch ul en (10 en 23 j anuari ); Neerpe lt (max imaal drie op 22 en 24 januari); en Bokrijk (twee op 25 janu ari). Op 17 december verb leven er twee te Tienen, V laams-B rabant; op 24 december één te La Hulpe, Waals-Brabant, en op 26 december één te Ploegsteert, Hainaut. Te Harchies-Hensies, Hainaut, werd en tot in febru ari nog één tot twee voge ls waa rgenomen en ook te Geel, A ntwerpen, was de gehele periode een exemp laar aanwezig. Van 24 tot 28 december ve rbl eef een Ooievaar Cicon ia cicon ia in het centrum van Tournai, Hainaut; verder we rden exemp laren waarge nome n te Tessenderlo, Limburg, op 5 januari; te Warchin, Hainaut, op 7 en 8 januari; over Gent op 9 janu ari; over Heule, West-Vlaanderen, op 22 januari; te Geel op 25 januari; en hetzelfde exemplaa r v loog over Geel, Herentals, en Brecht, Antwerpe n, op 26 januari. De eni ge Rode Wouwen Mi/vus mi/vus in Laag-België vlogen op 14 december over Mendonk, Oost-Vlaa nderen, en op 18 december over Kallo-Doel. Op 1 en 2 december werd een mogelijke Sakervalk Fa/co cherrug waargenomen te Lovendegem-Oosterzele, Oost-Vlaanderen.

Op 8 december vertoefde een Rosse Franjepoot Pha/aropus {u/icaria te Oostende en op 14 december één te Blankenberge, West-Vlaanderen. Een late ju veniele Vorkstaartmeeuw Larus sabini v loog op 12 december langs Oostende. Een adult-w inter Ringsnavelmeeuw L de/awarensis werd op 6 en 8 janu ari kortstondig waarge nomen te Nimy, Hainaut. Pontische Meeuwen L cachinnans cachinnans we rden gez ien te Bredene, West-Vlaanderen (twee); Duffel; H arelbeke; H asselt, Limburg; Hermalle-sous-Argenteau, Liège (drie); Maaseik; Mechelen (twee); en Oostende (twee). Uiteraard werden hier en daar ook Geelpootmeeuwen L michahellis opgemerkt. Een stervende tweede-winter Kleine Burgemeester L g/aucoides werd op 23 december opgeraapt te Genva l, Waals-Brabant. In Oostende pleisterde va n 11 december tot in februari een Grote Burgemeester L hyperboreus in v ierde winterkleed . Op het stra nd va n De Panne zaten op 7 december twee eerste-winters en op 17 januari één v ierde-winter en op 28 janu ari werd een vierde-w inter gez ien in het Mechels Broek. Een dode Kleine Alk Alle alle werd op 31 januari opgeraapt te Middelkerke, West-Vlaanderen. Op 12, 26 en 27 december en op 2, 7 en 19 januari v loog er telkens één langs Oostende; op 27 december één langs Heist, West-Vlaanderen; en op 28 december v loge n er zeven langs de Panne. Op 2 j anu ari werd te Oostende een Papegaaiduiker Fratercu/a arctica opge-

KRAANVOGELS TOT VINKEN Op 11 jan uari v logen c 100 Kraanvogels Crus grus over Tongeren, Limburg.

Recente m eldingen merkt. O p 20 j anu ari we rd ee n ee rste-w inter o pgepikt langs de ku stweg te Bredene; tijdens de harde landin g had de voge l z ijn poot bezeerd. O p 25 janu ari overleed hij in ee n voge lopva ngcentrum. Van 8 tot ten minste 27 janu ari pl eisterd e ee n Grote Pieper Anthus richardi te Herm all e-sous-A rgentea u; het betreft het ee rste janu ari geva l voo r België. Bij Zw ijnd recht, OostVl aa nderen, verbl eef o p 7 december ee n adulte Pestvogel 80mb ycilla ga rrulus en op 18 decem be r werden er twee gez ien in het ce ntrum va n Bo rgerho ut, A ntwerpen. De late Veldrietzanger Acrocephalus agricola di e o p 4 dece mber we rd o ntd ekt in de Bo urgoyen te Gent, was meteen de beste naj aa rssoort va n 199 7. Bij Harelbeke we rd o p 11 janu ari ee n Siberische Tjiftjaf Phylloscopus collybita tristis waa rgeno men en op 27 janu ari één te Ro nse, Oost-V laa nderen. Een

Russische Kauw Corvus monedula soemmerringii werd op 13 december opgemerkt te Hensies, op 2 janu ari we rden er zes geteld te Klui ze n en op 15 decembe r was er éé n aa nwez ig te Schoten. Een Witstuitbarmsijs Ca rduelis ho m em anni werd op 8 janu ari geva ngen en geringd te Kapell en, Antwerpen. Deze wa arn emin gsrubri ek kwa m tot stand met medewe rkin g va n Yves Bapti ste (De Gavers), Lu c Bekaert (Oost-Vla and eren), Peter Co ll ae rts (Ti enen), Frank De Sc heemaeker (M ergus), Hugues Dufo urn y (H ain o rni th o), Koe n Leysen (Limburg), Dirk Symens (V lav ico) , Will y Ve rsc hu eren (Groenlink) en Didi er Vieuxtemps (Lu xe mbourg). Ook de hulp va n al di egenen d ie (hun) w aa rnemin gen in spraken o p de Belgisc he D utch Bird in g-vogellijn (03-48801 94) was hi er o nontbee rlijk .

Gerald Driessens, Pastoriestraat 16, 2500 Lie r, België

DB Actueel Newly described bird species Th e dry caatin ga zo ne of eastern Braz il features many endemi c bird s. Ma ri o A Raposo has now added a new spec ies to its avifaun a: San Francisco Sparrow Arrem on franciscanus (Raposo, M A 1997. A new spec ies of Arrem on (Passe riformes : Emberi zid ae). Ararajuba 5: 3-9). The sparro w is o nl y kn ow n fro m th e states of Ba hi a and M in as Gerais. lts closest relati ve is probabl y Half-co ll ared Sparrow A semitorquatus, w hi ch was rece ntl y treated as a separate spec ies fro m the w idespread Pecto ral Sparrow A taciturnus (Bull Br O rnitho l Club 11 7: 294- 298, 1997) . No less th an six other new South Ameri ca n bird spec ies we re described in a mo nograph dedica ted to the late Ted Pa rker (O rnith o l Monogr 48, 1997) . Ga ry R G raves d iscove red that Co lo mbi an popul ati o ns of Du sky A ntbird Cercom acra tyrannina actu all y co nsist of two reg io nall y sy mpatri c spec ies, Du sky A ntbird and a previo usly undesc ri bed fo rm , w hi ch he named Parker's A ntbird C parkeri (G raves, G R 1997 . Co lo ri metri c and mo rpho metri c gradi ents in Co lo mbi an . po pul ati o ns of Du sky A ntbird s (Cercomacra tyrannina), w ith a descri ption of a new spec ies, Cercomacra parkeri. O rnith o l M o nog r 48 : 21-35). Parker's and Du sky Antbird appea r to repl ace each oth er eleva tionall y and females have di stinct plumages. Jo hn W Fitzpatri ck and Do uglas F Stotz described a ve ry di stin cti ve new spec ies of tyrannine flycatcher, Cinn amo n-faced Tyrannul et Ph yllosca rtes parkeri, fro m th e foothill s of th e A nd es of south-eastern Peru and adj ace nt no rthern Bo li via (Fitzpatri ck, J W & Stotz, 0 F 1997 . A new species of tyrannul et (Phyllosca rtes) from the and ea n foothill s of Peru and Bo li v ia. Ornith o l M o nogr 4 8 : 37-44). Significa ntl y, both Parker's A ntbird [Outeh Birding 20: 55-5 6, 1998[

and Cinn amo n-faced Tyrannul et remain ed w ith out a name until now, despite both bein g present in mu seum co ll ecti o ns fo r ove r half a century. In a detail ed stud y of the notori o usly d ifficult genu s Scytalopus, N iels Krabbe and Tho mas S Schul enberg recog ni zed th ree new species: Chocó Tapacul o 5 chocoensis fro m the Chocó reg io n in no rth -western South Ameri ca (easternmost Panama, western Co lo mbi a and no rth -weste rn Ecuado r), Ecuado ri an Tapac ul o 5 robbinsi from the Pac ifi c slo pe in Az uay and EI O ro, Ecuado r, and Chu sq uea Tapac ul o 5 pa rkeri fro m the A ndes of so uthern Ecuado r and no rth ern Peru (K rabbe, N & Schul enbe rg, T S 1997. Species li m its and natural hi sto ry of Scytalopus tapacul os (Rhin oc ryptid ae), w ith descrip tio ns of th e Ecuador ian taxa, in c ludin g three new spec ies, O rnitho l M o nogr 48 : 4 7-88) . A ll three spec ies have hi ghl y di stin ct so ngs and occ upy separate elevati o nal zo nes. Both Ecuado ri an and Chu squ ea Tapacul o occ ur at sites w here other new spec ies have rece ntl y bee n di scove red (a parakeet and a cotin ga, res pecti ve ly) and w hi ch are often visited by birders. O range-eyed Fl yca tcher Tolmom yias traylori was o ne of Ted Parke r's ow n d iscove ri es (in 1983) and featured pro minentl y in Don Stap's boo k o n the famou s Lo ui siana State Uni ve rsity ex pedition s to the last un expl o red parts of the Peru vian rainfo rests (A parrot w ith o ut a name, New Yo rk, 1990) . O range-eyed Fl yca tcher is now kn ow n from 11 rainfo rest sites in eastern Ecuado r and north -eastern Peru and coex ists with three other members of th e genu s (Sc hul enberg, T S & Parker, T A 1997 . A new spec ies of Tyrant-fl ycatcher (Tyrannidae: Tolmom yias) from the western Amazon Ba sin. Ornithol M o nogr 48 : 723 -73 1). GEORGE SANGSTER

DB Actueel

26 Witstaartkievit/ White-tailed Lapw in g Vanel/us leucurus, Krommenie, Noord-H o ll and, 23 februari 1998 (René Pop)

Witstaart kievit bij Krommenie Op zate rdag 21 februari 1998 was Martien Roos op zoek naar teruggekeerde G ru tto's Limosa Iimosa in de voor toekomstige woningbo uw gedeeltelijk met zand opgespote n weilanden te n zuiden van Krommen ie en bij Assende lft, NoordHolland. In een ondiepe plas vo nd hij drie ste ltl ope rs, waarva n hij er twee direct als Tureluur Tringa totanus determ in eerde; bij de derde voge l lukte dat ec hter ni et zo gemakke i ijk. De lange gele poten en w itte staart vielen bij deze voge l het meest op. Even dacht MR aan een Goudp levier Pluvialis apricaria maar al snel co ncl ud eerde hij dat het d ie niet kon z ijn. Thuisgekomen raadpleegde hij de ' Lars Jonsson' en kon hij geen andere concl usie trekken dan dat het om een Witstaartkievit Vanel/us leucurus gin g. Hoewel MR niet spec iaa l geïnteresseerd is in ze ldzaam heden besefte hij dat anderen graag kennis zouden nemen van deze bijzondere waarneming; daarom belde hij z ijn kennis Peter Meijer, die het nieuws direct ve rspre idde. Ongeveer een uur later werd de waa rn em in g bevestigd en konden de massaal toegestroomde (en aa nva nkei ijk vee lal onge lovi ge) voge laa rs dit o rnitho logische mirakel met eigen ogen aansc hou we n. Nadat de voge l zich over een flinke afstand verp laatst had en daarmee nog even voor wat spa nnin g zorgde, li et hij zic h tot donker bekijken in

een weiland ten zu id en van de opspuitin gen. De vo lgend e ochtend bleek de voge l nog steeds in het geb ied aa nwez ig, tot op lu chting van laatkomers en fotografen. Hij werd tot in maart gez ien. Deze waa rnemi ng betekende het v ierde geva l voo r Nederland; eerdere geva ll en waren op 9-12 juli 1975 op Texel, Noord-Holland (Limosa 49: 207-210, 1976), op 10-15 juni in het Bargerveen, Drenthe (Dutc h Birding 7: 98-99, 1985), en op 10-16 juli 1984 bij Petten, Noord-Holl and (Limosa 58 : 33, 1985). Omdat het eerste geval uit het pre-DBA tijdperk was en de twee geva ll en uit 1984 be ide sti lgehouden werden, was de voge l van Krommenie de eerste die door een groot publiek bewonderd kon worden. Van oudsher wordt deze soo rt geassoc ieerd met de mid-zomerperiode; deze waa rnem in g betekende het eerste februarigeval voor Europa. De vroegste tot nu toe was op 29 maa rt 1975 in de Neusiedler See, Oostenrijk (cf Dutch Birding 7: 79-84, 1985). De zeer zachte winter en de influ x in de zomer va n 1997, toen in noordwest-Europa ten minste v ijf exemp laren werden gez ien waa rvan er misschien één of meer z ijn blijven 'hangen', kunnen als mogelijke verkl aringen wo rden aangedragen. PETER C MEilER & MARTIEN Roos

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Dutch Birding CHIEF EDITOR Arnoud van den Berg (tel +31-235378024, fax +31-235376749) e-mail Arnoud .vandenBerg@inter.nl.net)

Dutch Birding

DEPUTY CHIEF EDITOR Enno Ebels (tel /fax +31-302961335, e-mail ebels@wxs.n l) EXECUTIVE EDITOR André van Loon (tel/fax +31-206997585, e-maillaan@bio.vu.n l) PHOTOGRAPHIC EDITOR René Pop (tel +31-223690141, fax +31-223690142) EDITORlAL BOARD Ferdy Hieselaar, Peter Meininger, George Sangster and Roland van der Vliet EDITORlAL ADVISORY BOARD Peter Barthel (Germany), Klaas Eigenhuis (Netherlands), Dick Forsman (Fin land), Ted Hoogendoorn (Netherlands), Lars jonsson (Sweden), Paul Lehman (USA), Anthony McGeehan (Northern Ireland), Killian Mullarney (Ireland), Gerald Oreel (Netherlands), Kees Roselaar (Netherlands), Frank Rozendaal (Netherlands), Hadoram Shirihai (lsrael), Gunter De Smet (Belgium), Lars Svensson (Sweden) and Peter Symens (Belgium)

International journaion Palearctic birds

EDITOR lAL A5SISTANTS Ruud van Dongen, Gerald Driessens, Nils van Duivendijk, Remco Hofland, Graham Holloway, Diederik Kok, Hans van der Meulen and Peter de Rouw PRODUCTION AND LAY-OUT André van Loon and René van Rossum

EDITORS

ADVERTISING Peter Meijer (tel +31-348431905, fax +31-348430216, e-mai l meijerpc@worldonline.nl)

Dutch Birding Postbus 116 2080 AC Santpoort-Zuid Netherlands fax +31 -235376749

SUBSCRIPTIONS The subscription rate for 1998 is: NLG 65.00 (Netherlands), BEF 1320.00 (Belgium), NLG 72.50 (other countries inside Europe) and NLG 77.50 (countries outside Europe). A subscription can be entered preferably by sending a Eurocheque, with the amount payable in Dutch guilders, t~: Dutch Birding (subscriptions), c/o jeannette Admiraal, Iepenlaan 11, 1901 ST Castricum, Netherlands. Payment mayalso be made by credit card (Access, Eurocard, MasterCard or Visa). Please send your credit card type and account number, indicating the expiry date and appending a signature. (Note: this latter method of payment is not applicable to subscribers resident in the Netherlands and Belgium.) British and Irish subscribers are requested to pay exclusively by Sterling cheque (GBP 26 .00). The subscription starts upon receipt of payment. Dutch Birding is a bimonthly journal with issues in February, April, June, August, October and December. It publishes original papers and notes on morphology, systematics, occurrence and distribution of birds in the Benelux, Europe and elsewhere in the Palearctic region. It also publishes contributions on birds in the Asian-Pacific region and other regions. The sequence of birds in Dutch Birding basically follows a classic 'Wetmore sequence'. Within this framework, the following lists are used for taxonomy and nomenclature: Lijst 98 Nederlandse vogelsoorten by A B van den Berg & C A WBosman (1998, Santpoort-Zuid) (taxonomy and scientific and Dutch names of birds recorded in the Netherlands); List of birds of the Western Palearctic by British Birds (1997, Blunham) (English names of Western Palearctic birds); the list compiled by C S Roselaar in GeiJ/ustreerde encyclopedie van de vogels by C M Perrins (1991, Weert), with modifications and additions by A J van Loon in Vogels van de wereld - complete checklist by M Walters (1997, Baarn) (Dutch names of remaining birds of the world); and Birds of the world door C G Sibley (1996, Vers ion 2.0, Cincinnati) (taxonomy and scientific and English names of remaining birds of the world). Deviations from and additions to these lists are based on CSNA decisions (cf Dutch Birding

19: 21-28, 1997; 20: 22-32, 1998). A schedule of payment rates for authors, photographers and artists is avai lable from the editors.

Dutch Birding Association BOARD Theo Admiraal (treasurer), Gijsbert van der Bent (president, tel +31-714024547), Peter Meijer, Marc Plomp and Chris Quispel (secretary, tel +31-715124825); also the editors of Dutch Birding have one seat in the board

PHOTOGRAPHIC EDITOR

Dutch Birding c/o René Pop Postbus 1007 1780 EA Julianadorp Netherlands SU8SCRIPTION ADMINISTRATION

c/o Jeannette Admiraal Iepenlaan 11 1901 ST Castricum Netherlands BOARD

Dutch Birding Association Postbus 75611 1070 AP Amsterdam Netherlands DUTCH RARITIES COMMITTEE

CDNA Postbus 45 2080 AA Santpoort-Zuid Netherlands

BOARD ASSISTANTS jeannette Admiraal, Gerald Driessens, Ron van den Enden, Hans Gebuis, Leo Heemskerk, Remco Hofland, Paul KnolIe, Sander Lagerveld, Ger Meesters, Arnold Meijer, André van der Plas and Kees Tiemstra DUTCH BIRDING TRAVEL REPORT SERVICE (DBTRS) Ib Huysman, Postbus 737, 9700 AS Groningen, Netherlands, tel +31-505274993, fax +31-505272668, internet http://www.mebweb.nl/DBTRS

Dutch rarities committee (CDNA) MEMBERS Max Berlijn, Ruud van Beusekom, Bert de Bruin, Karel Mauer, Jan van der Laan (chairman, tel +31-725203091), Kees Roselaar, Jelle Scharringa (secretary, tel +31302523801) and Wim Wiegant (archivist) The CDNA is a committee of the Dutch Birding Association and the Netherlands Ornithological Union . The CSNA is the subcommittee of the CDNA on taxonomy, nomenclature and status of Dutch (sub)spec ies and consists of Arnoud van den Berg, Cornelis Hazevoet, Kees Roselaar and George Sangster (secretary, tel/fax +31-715143790).

© 1998 Stichting Dutch Birding Association. The copyright of the photographs and drawings remains with the photographers and artists. ISSN 0167-2878. Printed by Steens Schiedam BV, Postbus 59, 3100 AB Schiedam, Netherlands

INTERNET

http://www.xs4al •. nl/-eland/dutchbirding

Dutch 8irding

JAARGANG

20 NUMMER 1 1998

VOLUME

NUMBER

7 7998

1 6

Elegant Tern in Llobregat delta, Spa in, in April 1993 Ricard Gutiérrez Status va n Baltische Mantelmeeuw in Nederland W (Ted) Hoogendoom & Peter van Scheepen

Roodoogvireo op V lieland in oktober 1996 Peter de Knijff

Trends in systematics

Purple Swamp-hen is a comp lex of spec ies George Sangster

CS NA-mededelingen

Dutch avifauna l li st: spec ies concepts, taxonomie in stabi lity, and taxonomie changes in 1998 George Sangster, Comelis J Hazevoet, Amoud B van den Berg & CS (Kees) Roselaar

CDNA-mededelingen

Recente bes lissin gen

Aankondigingen & verzoeken

Bird migration survey in Israe l in autumn of 1998; Finl and for Bird watchers; Nieuwe adapter en astronom isc he oculairen va n Swarovski; Verhuizing Natuur en Boek; Voorjaarstrek bij Breskens 1997

DBA-nieuws

DBA-vogeldag te Utrecht in februari 1997; New address of Dutch Birding homepage; Nieuw ad res Dutch Birding-homepage; Programma DBAvoge lweek

Recensies

The Megapodes by Darryl N Jones, René W R J Dekker & Cees S Rose laar George Sangster A birdwatcher's guide to Portugal and Madeira by C C Moore, Conça lo Elias & Helder Costa Peter L Meininger

Artikelen

35 Masters of Mystery

Solutions of third round: Caspian Reed Warbier, Hobby, Cirl Bunting & Common Culi Diederik Kok & Nils van Duivendijk First round 1998 Diederik Kok & Nils van Duivendijk

WP reports

WP reports : January-February 1998 Amoud B van den Berg

Recente meldingen

49 53

Nederland: december 1997 -januari 1998 Ruud M van Dongen, Remco Hofland & Peter W W de Rouw België: december 1997 -j anu ari 1998 Gerald Driessens

Newly described bird spec ies; Witstaartkievit bij Krommenie

DB Actueel

Voorplaat / front cover

Indische Oorgier / Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps ca lvus, Keoladeo NP, Bharatpur, India, 11 april 1996 (René Pop)

Abstracted / indexed in

Auk, Ecological Abstracts, Emu, CEOBASE (Ceo Abstracts Database), Orn ith o log ische Schriftenschau, Wildlife Review, Zoo log ica l Record

Ibis,