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X 4402 )£>. ISSN 352-481 1 THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM “3 OCT 1994 PURCHASED Bulletin oftheAfrican Bird Club Vol 1 No 1 March 1994 African Bird Club TheAfricanBirdClubaimsto: ABCLaunchCommittee GaryAllport,MarkAndrews(PublicityOfficer),JohnFanshawe, • provideaworldwidefocusforAfricanornithology LincolnFishpool,PaulGreen,AnnieHarrap(MembershipSecre- • encourage an interest in the conservation of the tary),PeterLack,DuncanMacdonald,RodMartins,IainRobertson, birdsoftheregion RichardWebb(Secretary)andMartinWoodcock(Chairman). • liaise with and promote the work of existing BulletinEditorialTeam GaryAllport,John Fanshawe, Lincoln Fishpool, Eng-LiGreen, regionalsocieties PaulGreen,PeterLack,IainRobertsonandRichardWebb. « publishatwice-yearlycolourbulletin MembershipoftheABC • encourage obseivers to visit lesser known areas MembershipoftheABCisopentoallandcosts£12perannum,£15 oftheregion Family, £300 Life,.£25 libraries/institutions. Supplements are payableforairmailpostageandnon-sterlingpayments.Detailsare • encourageobserverstoactivelysearchforglobally availableonrequest. Tojoinorforfurtherdetailspleasewriteto threatenedandnear-threatenedspecies theMembershipSecretary,AfricanBirdClub,c/oBirdLifeInterna- • developaConservationResearchFund tional,WellbrookCourt,GirtonRoad,CambridgeCB3ONA. The Bulletin of the African Bird Club TheBulletinoftheABCprovidesaforumfornews,letters,notices, resultsintheBulletinoftheABCdoesnotprecludepublicationof recentpublications,preliminaryexpeditionresults,reviewsand finalresultsasjournalpaperseitherbytheABCorelsewhere.No preliminaryorinterimpublicationofstudiesonAfricanbirdsby material should, however, besubmittedsimultaneouslyto the contributorsfromall parts oftheworld. Publicationofinterim BulletinoftheABCandtoanyotherpublication. Notes to Contributors TheABCwelcomesoriginalcontributionsonallaspectsofthebirds Ifpossible,pleasesubmityourcontributiononfloppydiskand ofAfrica. AfricaisheredefinedastheareacoveredbyCollar,N.J. statecomputer(egIBMcomjaatiblePC,Macintosh) andword- &Stuart,S.N.1985. ThreatenedBirdsofAfricaandrelatedislands; processingpackage(egWord,WordPerfect)used:pleasenotethat theICBP/1UCNRedDataBook,pa>11.3rdEdition.Cambridge,UK: AmstradPCWdisks are notacceptable. Whenyou sendyour ICBP/IUCN,namelyContinentalAfrica,IndianOceanislandswest contributionondisk,pleasedonotkeyanythinginALLCAPS(ie of80°E,egMadagascar,theMascareneIslandsandSocotra;Atlantic with the CAPS LOCK key depressed) unless the combination Oceanislandsonoreastofthemid-Atlanticridge,egtheTristanda alwaysoccursinthatform(eg‘USA’).Donotusethecarnagereturn Cunhagroup,theAzoresandtheCanaries. keyattheendoflines,anddonotrightjustifythemargins. When Contributionswillbeacceptedsubjecttoeditingandreferee- formatting tables use one tab, and not spaces, between each ingbyindependentreferees,whereappropriate. Thematerial column. Pleasealwayssendtwohard(printed)copiesinaddition. publishedisdividedintoPapers,ShortNotes,News&Comment, Preferrednames Discoveries, Reviews, LiteratureGleanings, RecentReportsand Withthecurrentinstabilityoverworld-widelistsofbirdnames, Letters.TheEditorialTeamwillbehappytoadviseauthorsonthe authorsarerequestedtofollowthoseusedinBirdsofAficaVols. acceptabilityofmaterialatdraftstageifdesired. 1-4. Forspeciesnotyetcovered,pleaseuseappropriateregional Submissions handbooksandchecklistsegRobertsforSouthernAfrica,Britton Twocopiesofcontributionsshouldbesubmitted. Typewritten forEastAfrica.Deviationfromsuchworksshouldbenotedandthe manuscriptsshouldhavedouble-spacedlinesononesideofthe reasonsgiven.TheEditorialTeamwillkeepabreastofchangesin paper only, with wide margins all round. Clear hand-written nomenclatureandwhenanagreedlistofAfricannamesisavail- manuscriptsarealsoacceptable. Contributionswillbeacceptedin able,willconsiderswitchingtofollowit. EnglishorFrench:Frenchsummaries,aswellastableandfigure Unlessasketch map is providedaspartofthearticle, the captions,willbeprintedforallmajorpaperspublishedinEnglish, namesofplacesshould,ifpossible,followthoseonstandardor andviceversa. Allsubmissionswillbeacknowledged. readilyavailablemaps. (continuedinsidebackcover...) CoverIllustration MountKupeBush-shrikeMalaconotuskupeensisbyS.MarkAndrews. ABCisgratefultoTomGullickforpermissiontoreproducethis paintingandtoAndrewJohnsonofTheBird&WildlifeBookshopforsponsoringtheproductionofacolourcoverforthisbulletin. — Contents BullABC Vol 1 No 1 THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 2 Editorial TheEditorialTeam OCT 1994 4 Club News CompiledbyRichard Webb PURCHASED — 6 Africa Round-up Compiled byRichard Webb IMG LI—BRARY £,'T' "i* ny>ivrJi 10 Groundhornbills, thegenus Bucorvus Alan Kemp The two species ofgroundhornbill, one on each side ofthe equatorin the sub-Saharan savannas, are the largest hornbills and in manyways the most primitive. 13 MtKupeandits birds ChristopherG. R. Bowden andS. MarkAndrews Over 320 bird species have been recorded in the 25 km2 offorestswhich remain on Mount Kupe, Cameroon. One, the Mount Kupe Bush-shrike, has not been found anywhere else. 19 TheShoebill NigelJ. Collar Anaccount ofthe discoverywith a briefdescription, and some notes on the habitat and feeding behaviour, ofthis extraordinaryand highlysought-afterbird. 21 Shoebill: howto see one Iain Robertson 24 Discoveries The brightsides ofstumbling overa newbirdspecies ThomasLehmberg andLarsDinesen Rediscovery ofMonteiro’s Bush-shrike in Cameroon S. MarkAndrews Elusive Congo Peacock foundbyfilm-makerAlan Root John H. Fanshawe 28 Recent Reports CompiledbyIainRobertson 32 Notes on the field identification of the bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) of UpperGuinea. Part 1 LincolnD. C. Fishpooletdl. Concentrating on visual field characters, the notes showthat in UpperGuinea at least, field identification ofgreenbuls is much easierthan currently available texts suggest. 39 African Birding John H. Fanshawe A briefoverview ofthe birding infrastructure for the countries and island groups covered by the ABC, with appendices listing societies, publications, museums and where to submit observations. 49 Reviews Putting Biodiversity on the Map Reviewed byP. M. B. Kasoma A Birder’s Guide to Gabon, WestAfrica Reviewed byRichard Webb 50 Literature Gleanings CompiledbyPeterLack. Illustrations: S.MarkAndrews, Martin Woodcock Photographs: S. MarkAndrews, ChrisBowden, AlanBrown, PaulDonald, BirdLifeInternational Frenchtranslations:RonDemey BullABC Vol 1 No 1 -1 Binding is expanding rapidly in Africa, increasing as a forum in which to publish ideas, information, enthusiasm forthe exchange ofideas and infor- reviewsandanythingelseofinterestonAfricanbirds. mationaboutthecontinent. TheAfricanBirdClubhas BullABC is the main means of communication be- beenestablishedinresponsetothis,withthekeyaimof tween ABC members. We hope it will become an bringingtogetherallthosewhoshareacommoncon- essentialsourceforallAfrica’sbirders:forhelpwiththe cernforAfrica’sbirds. FormanyAfricanbirdspecies, identification of difficult species, of the latest news, decline and extinction are a real prospect and stem- details on important sites, meetings to be held, new ming this tide presents a major challenge. Records books published and recent reports from around the fromkeenbirdersandornithologistshavealwayshelped continent. WithitsBulletin, theABCplanstofocusa conservationists identify species in need of special brightlightonbirdingandbirdconservationinAfrica. attention,andtheneedforsuchinformationhasnever Features on specific sites, such as that on Mount beenmorepressing. KupeinCamerooninthisissue,orarticlesoninterest- Theideaofabirdclubwithapan-Africanperspec- ingAfricangenera, likethe remarkable groundhorn- tive has generated a great response from the birding bills described by Alan Kemp, may become regular and ornithological community, and the ABC already features. TheEditorialTeamisdeterminedtoshapea has367membersincluding190FounderMembers(see bulletinwhich takesaccount ofmembers’views, and pagefour). with this issue comes a request for constructive criti- As a priority, the Club seeks members from the cismfortheimprovementofitssuccessors. African continent, but we also aim to harness the Although some articles will be solicited, there is energy existing in the birding communityoutsideAf- room for contributions from anyone who has some- rica to contribute to the studyandconservation ofits thing to say. We welcome your letters, records for birds. Birding brings together people of different RecentReports,identificationtips,newsofevents,your experience and background who share a common reportonaparticularthreatenedsite; indeedanything fascination for birds. With threats increasing every- youcansharewithothermembers. Ultimately,mem- where,we needtomake informationasaccessibleas bers need to ensure that the Editorial Team is kept possible to all involved in bird conservation, both informedofnewsthatcanbepassedontothebirding individualsandinstitutions. Criticaltotheprocessare community throughout Africa via the pages of the thepeoplewhowatchbirds;yourrecordsandobserva- Bulletin oftheABC. tionswillexpandourknowledgeofAfrica’sbirdsand The question ofthe geographical area to be cov- contribute directly to theirconservation. ered by the Club has been resolved by adopting the Birding in Africa is often challenging; identifying AfricanBirdRedDataBookregion (see the map on trickyspecies,findingthebestroutetoaremotemon- page 12). We await the final outcome ofplans now tane forest or gaining access to existing information. afoottoshapeworldwideconsistencyforbirdnomen- The quality of this information varies dramatically; clatureandauthorityundertheauspicesoftheInterna- there are those countries for which no formal anno- tional Ornithological Congress. For now, we shall tated checklist had been published until recently, for followBirdsofAfricatodate, andregionalauthorities exampleBeninandBurkinaFaso,andtherearethose forthefamiliesnotyetcovered. Contributionswillbe whichhaveactivenationalsocietiesandbirdingcom- welcomed in English and in French and summaries, munities, like The Gambia and Kenya. South Africa figureandtablelegendswillbepublishedintheother also has localclubsandsocietiesoperatingalongside language. Further details for contributors are found museums, research institutes and conservation agen- insidethecoversofthis Bulletin. ciesinadiversebutintegratedornithologicalcommu- Induecourse,meetingswillbeheldinAfrica;there nity. will certainly be a meeting alongside the Ninth Pan- Sharing information widely is a key step towards AfricanOrnithologicalCongressinTheGambiain1996 betterbirdingandtheABCaimstohelpcatalysesuch (fordetailsseepageseven),ifnotsooner. TheAfrican exchanges. Central toachievingthisistheBulletinof BirdClub’sinauguralmeetingwillbeheldon12March theABC which, asthisfirstissueillustrates, willserve 1994inLondon(seepagefour). ® TheEditorial Team 2-BullABC Vol 1 No 1 Editorial L'observationdesoiseauxsedevelopperapidementen d’Afrique.LeBw/ZASCconstituelemoyenprincipalde Afrique, accroissant l’enthousiasme pour (echange communication entre les membres du Club, et nous d’idees et d’informations concemant le continent. Le esperonsqu’ildeviendrabientotunoutildereference AfricanBirdClub(ClubOrnithologiqueAfricain)aete essentielpour(ensembledesornithologuesenAfrique: creeenreponseacela, aveccommeobjectifprincipal unesourced'informationpour(identificationd’especes de rassembler tous ceux qui ont (interet pour les difficiles et les dernieres nouvelles, fournissant oiseaux d’Afrique en commun. Beaucoup d’especes egalementdesrenseignementssurdessitesimportants, d’oiseauxafricains risquent une diminutiondrastique surdesreunionsannoncees,desouvragesnouvellement de leurs effectifs et meme (extinction: arreter cette parus etdesrapports recents du continententier. Par evolution constitue un defi majeur. Des donnees voiedesonbulletinleABCseproposed’attirer(attention recueillies par des ornithologues amateurs et sur(observationetlapreservationdesoiseaux. professionnels ont contributes a (identification des Des articles concernant des sites specifiques, tel especesrequerantuneattentionparticuliere.Lebesoin que celui sur le mont Kupe au Cameroun dans ce detellesdonneesn’ajamaiseteaussipressant. numero, ou traitant de genres Africains interessants, Lacreationd’unclubaperspectivepan-africainea tels que lesremarquablescalaosterrestres decrits par suscite une forte reponse de la communaute AlanKemp,pourraientparaitreregulierement.L’equipe ornithologiqueetleABCserejouitdecompterdeja376 de redactionalaferme intentionde creerunbulletin membres, dont 190 membresfondateurs. qui tient compte de (opinion des membres. Afin BienqueleClubchercheenprioritedesmembres d’ameliorer la forme et le contenu des prochains originates du continent africain, nous comptons numeros, nous lanqons done d’ores et deja un appel egalement exploiter (energie de la communaute auxlecteurs, pourqu’ilsnousenvoientsuggestions. ornithologiquehorsd’Afrique,danslebutdecontribuer Bien que des articles sur certains sujets seront a(etudeetalapreservationdesonavifaune. Comme specifiquementsollicites, nousinvitonstousceuxqui lesmenacespesantsurcelle-cisemultiplientpartout,il ontquelquechosed’interessantadireas’exprimer.Vos estimperatifdecanaliser(informationpertinentevers lettressontlesbienvenues,ainsiquevosobservations les personnes et les institutions responsables de la pour la mbrique ‘Recent Reports’ (Communications preservation des oiseaux. Un element cle de ce Recentes), vos tuyauxsur(identification de certaines processus est constitue par tous ceux qui observent especes, vos nouvelles de certains evenements, vos lesoiseauxetqui, bienque d’experienceetd’origine rapportssurdessitesparticularsmenaces,eneffettout diverses,sontreunisparunefascinationcommune;en cequepourraitinteresserlesmembres. Ilestessentiel effet, vos donnees etobservations augmenteront nos que (equipe de redaction soittenue informee parles connaissances desoiseauxd’Afrique etcontribueront membres,afinquelesnouvellespuissentetrediffusees directementaleurpreservation. parmi la communaute ornithologique de (Afrique Observer les oiseaux en Afrique - identifier les entiereatraverslespagesdu BullABC. especes difficiles, trouver le meilleur moyen pour Leproblemede(airegeographiqueacouvrirparle accederauneforetdemontagneeloignee,seprocurer clubaeteresoluenadoptantlaregionduLivreRouge lesinformationsexistantes-constituesouventundefi. desOiseauxafricains(voirlacartepage12).Pourcequi Laqualitedesinformationsvariedefagonconsiderable: concernelanomenclature,nousattendonslesdecisions d’une part il y a les pays pour lesquels une liste finales du Congres Ornithologique International au annoteeformellen’a etepublieequerecemment, tels sujet du projet de creation d’une nomenclature queleBeninetleBurkinaFaso,d’autrepartilyaceux universelle uniforme. Pourle moment, noussuivrons qui possedent des societes nationales et des TheBirdsofAfricaet, subsidiairement, les authorites communautes ornithologiques actives, tels que la regionalespourlesfamiliesnonencoretraiteesparce Gambie et le Kenia, ainsi que (Afrique du Sud, qui dernier.Lestextessontacceptesenanglaisetenfranqais. possede egalement des clubs locaux et des societes Ceuxquisontredigesenanglaisaurontunresumeen quioperentacotedemusees,d’institutsderecherche franqais,etinversement;leslegendesdesfiguresetdes etd’organismesdedefensede(environnement. tables seront publiees dans les deux langues. Des L’echange et la large diffusion d’informations instructions aux auteurs se trouvent au verso des constitueunpasessentielversunemeilleureobserva- couverturesdecebulletin. tion des oiseaux, et le ABC entend jouer un role de Des reunions seront tenues en Afrique en temps catalysateur dans ce domaine. Comme le montre ce utile.Ilyauracertainementunereuniona(occasiondu premiernumero, leBullABCserviradeforumpourla Neuvieme Congres Ornithologique Pan-Africain en publicationd’idees,d’informations,d’analysesdelivres Gambieen 1996,sipasplustot.Lareunioninaugurate et de tout element interessant ayanttrait aux oiseaux duAfricanBirdClubauralieule12mars1994aLondres. Editorial BullABC Vol 1 No 1 -3 Club News Inaugural meeting A note about Direct Debits The inaugural meetingofthe ABCwill be heldatthe Atpresentanencouraging40memberspaytheirsub- FriendsMeetingHouseoppositeEuston Station, Lon- scriptionbyDirectDebit. Ifyou haveaSterlingbank don, onSaturday 12March 1994. accountitwillhelpbothyouandusifyoupaybythis Programme means. AmandateformisenclosedwiththisBulletin. 10.15 Doorsopen(coffee, tea andbiscuits You benefit from having no worries about re- availableforasmallcharge) membering to pay, no need to write out and post 11.00 IntroducingtheAfricanBirdClub cheques,noqueuingatcashcountersand,withsome Martin Woodcock, Chairman accounts,reducedbankcharges. Weallbenefitasthe 11.20 BustardsinAfrica resultoffewermistakesbeingmade. TheABCbenefits Paul Goriup, Nature Conservation Bureau from reduced time and money needed to administer 12.00 Refreshmentbreak(foodanddrinkwillbe membershiprecords. ForsubscribersbyDirectDebit, availableatasmallcharge) the Club undertakes to tell you well in advance the 13.00 Kenya’sCoastalForests amountthatwillbedeductedfromyouraccount, and John Fanshawe, BirdLifeInternational when. You will be reassured to know that, in the 13-45 Mystery Photograph competition unlikely event ofan error, you can obtain a full and immediate refund from your bank/building society. 14.20 Break(coffee, teaetcavailableasabove) You remain in full control, since you can cancel the 14.50 BirdinginEthiopia instructionatanytimesimplybyinformingyourbank Martin Davies, RSPB orbuildingsocietyandourselves. 15.35 Raffle draw 15.45 Formal closeofmeeting ABC administration Booksandsoundrecordingswillbeonsalethrough- Pleasenotethatmembersofthelaunchcommitteedeal outthedaycourtesyofthe Bird&WildlifeBookshop with ABC matters on a voluntary basis in their spare andWildSoundsrespectively.Wealsoinviteallmem- time. Whilstwe make everyeffort to deal with corre- berstoretirewithustoTheRoyalGeorgepublichouse, spondenceasquicklyandefficientlyaspossible,some nearEustonStation, aftertheendoftheofficial meet- delays are inevitable at times particularlywhen Club ing, from l6.00hruntil 19.00hr. officersareaway, sopleasebearwithus. The Club’s official address is a permanent postal ABC Membership address,whichremovestheneedforchangeeachtime We are pleased to report that the ABC membership an officerchangesormoveshouse. TheClubhasno drivehasbeenverysuccessful. Atthetimeofwriting staffatBirdLifeInternationalandpostisforwardedon (February 1994) the membershipstandsat 376, made toABC officers once a weekthroughthe kindness of up of 190 Founder Members, 180 standard Members theBirdLifestaffinCambridge. Whilstthismayadda andsixFamilyMembers. fewdaystothetimeittakesletterstoreachthecorrect The geographical spread ofmembers is: Europe Clubofficer,webelievethatthestabilityofapermanent 298,Africa44,NorthAmerica21,with13elsewhere.In addressoutweighsanydisadvantage. allwehavemembersresidentin35 countries. Ifyou doexperienceunacceptabledelays, please WeareparticularlygratefultotheLifeandFounder letusknowbywritingtotheSecretary. MemberswhosesubscriptionshavehelpedtheClubto Please note that BirdLife International cannot ac- establishasolidfinancialbase. TheFounderMembers cepttelephonecallsorpersonalcallersforABC. todatearelistedonpagefive. ABC Treasurer Itisimportanttomaintaintheimpetusofmember- ship to enable the Club to become firmlyestablished TheAfricanBirdClubLaunchCommitteehasavacancy over the coming year. Please encourage all your forthepostofTreasurer.Atpresentmanyoftheday-to- friendswithaninterestinAfricanbirdstojoinandhelp day financial matters are dealt with by the Secretary, usachieveouraimof600membersbytheendof1994. andbytheMembershipSecretarywhobanksallcheques received,processescreditcardpaymentsandadminis- 4 -BullABC Vol 1 No 1 Club News