Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus: the first records for Seychelles

2005·0.61 MB·

by  Camille Hoareau

Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus: the first records for
Seychelles
Camille Hoareaua andAdrian Skerrett^
Premieres mentions de l’lbis falcinelle Plegadisfalcinellus pour les Seychelles.
Jusqu’a 12 Ibis falcinelles Plegadisfalcinellusont ete observes pres de la piste dat-
terrisage de Denis Island, le 22 fevrier 2003, et jusqua six a La Passe, La Digue,
de mi-janvier jusqu’au 27 mars 2003. Ces mentions ont ete acceptees par le
Comite d’Homologation Seychellois comme les premieres pour le pays.
O
n the morning of 22 February 2003, neck, indicative of non-breeding plumage,
Camille Hoareau (CH) and Mickey although a second had a few spots. All others
Mason (MM) noted a flock ofsix birds beside appeared to be adults in full breeding plumage.
the airstrip on Denis Island whose shape
CH Status and distribution
reminded of Sacred Ibis Threskiornis
aethiopicus. Later the same day, 12 similar birds Glossy Ibis has a broad discontinuous breeding
MM range from southern Europe, Africa and
were seen by flying over his house at the
northern end ofthe airstrip. They were identi- Madagascar to Central and southern Asia,
Papua New Guinea and Australia; also on the
fied as Glossy Ibis Plegadisfalcinellus by refer-
ence to guide books. Arecord formwas submit- Atlantic coast of North America and in the
ted to the Seychelles Bird Records Committee Caribbean. It is migratory, dispersive and noto-
riously nomadic, European populations migrat-
(SBRC), but not beforeasecond, possibly relat-
ed sighting occurred a short time later on La ing mainly to sub-Saharan Africa (Brown et al.
Digue. 1982, del Hoyo etal. 1992).
Michael Betts (MB), warden ofAride Island First accepted records
Nature Reserve and a member of the SBRC The records have been accepted by the SBRC as
received a report that four birds suspected to be the first for Seychelles. The report ofone on La
Glossy Ibises were present at La Passe,MLBa Digue in mid-January would appear to distin-
Digue, at the farm ofPearson Nibourette. guish this individual from the flock that
went to investigate on 12 March 2003 and con- appeared on Denis Island on 22 February, but
firmed the identification. He informed Adrian some or all of the other five La Digue birds
Skerrett (AS), who found five birds present on might have involved the same individuals as on
13 March (Figs. 3-4, p.46). According to Denis Island, and all sightings might relate to
Pearson Nibourette, one arrived in mid- the same group.
January, asecond and subsequentlya third dur-
ing February, with four present by 11 March References
and five on 14 March. A visiting tourist, Peter Brown, L. H., Urban, E. K. & Newman, K. 1982.
Grundy, reported six birds there on 27 March The Birds of Africa. Vol. 1. London, UK:
to SBRC.Therewas subsequenthearsayofcon- Academic Press.
&
tinued presence. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. Sargatal, J. (eds.) 1992.
Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1.
Description and identification Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
Head, neck and body dark chestnut-brown;
wings blackwith shiny green and purple feath- aDenisIsland, Seychelles.
ers. Legs long and dark; bill long and curved, bp.O. Box 336, Victoria, Seychelles or Hazeley
with pale arc ofbare skin at base; eye dark; face Brook, KeeleRoad, Keele, Staffs ST55AL, UK.
black. Onlyone individual, on La Digue, had a
significant number ofsmall white spots on the
44-BullABCVol12No 1(2005) GlossyIbis: thefirstrecordsforSeychelles: Hoareau &Skerrett