Melodious warbler Hippolais polyglotta at Ngulia, Kenya - first record for East Africa

3 Pages·1998·2.2 MB·English

by  D J Pearson

Shortcommunications 43
Short communications
Melodious WarblerHippolaispolyglotta at Ngulia, Kenya—first record for
East Africa
On 19 November 1995, on aday with a large and variedpasserine catch, an unusual
warbler was netted at dawn at Ngulia Lodge, Tsavo West National Park, Kenya
(3°00'S, 38°13'E). Its head and bill shape and worn olive upperparts were at first
glance like those ofthe many Marsh Warblers being ringed atthe time, butmoulting
innerprimaries, yellowerunderparts and amore roundedwing quickly marked it out
assomethingdifferent.Therathershortundertailcovertsandsquaretailindicatedthat
it was aHippolais warbler. IcterineWarblerH. icterina (arare visitoratNgulia) was
considered,butthewinglength(70.5 mm) wastooshort, andthewingformulawrong
(firstprimarytoolongandsecondtooshort).Thecrownshapewasmoreroundedthan
thattypicalofeitherIcterineorOlivaceousWarblerH.pallidaelaeica. Plumage, soft
part, structural and size characters all fitted those of Melodious Warbler Hippolais
polyglotta anditwas identified as such.
Afulldescription was taken, as follows:
Plumage: Upperparts worn, olive with slight greenish tinge, ratherpaler on rump. Whole
underparts pale yellowish, more strongly yellow on newly growing feathers on centre of
throatandbreast. Lores andearcoverts pale olive, tingedhuffish yellow. Superciliumpale
yellow, quiteprominent to c. 3 mm behindeye, merging intoearcoverts furtherback. Un-
moulted largerwing feathers brown with palerouteredges; smallerwing coverts olive; no
palepanelonsecondaries.Newwingfeathers(innerprimariesandtheircoverts,greatercov-
erts, centre tertial) blackish brown, greater coverts with broad greenish olive outer edges,
centre tertial with narrow pale brown fringe but no bright outer edge. Bend of wing and
underwingcovertspaleyellow.Newtailfeathersdarkolive,oldouterpairfadedbrownwith
palerhuffishdp.
Soft parts: Iris blackish brown; legs dark brownish grey; bill blackish horn above, paler
alongcuttingedge,pinkishbelow.
Measurements (in mm): wing 70.5; tail 54; tarsus 20.5; bill length, to skull 16, torearof
nostril 11.5; billwidthacrossrearofnostril4.8.Weight9.0g(fatscore0).
Wing formula (primaries numbered from outermost inward): P3 = P4 longest; P5
-0.5 mm,P6-4mm, (newP7growing),newPIO-10mm; P2-5 mm, shorterthanP5; small
PI quitebroad,5mmlongerthanlongestprimarycovert.PP3^andtipofP5emarginated.
mm
Tail: square,outermostfeather3 shorterthanlongest(butunmoulted).
Moult: PP8-10new, P7 growing; outermost secondary growing; central tertial new; inner
fourpairs oftail feathersnew, T5 growing; greatercoverts and innerprimary coverts new.
Rest of wing feathers and T6 unmoulted. New feathers growing on centre of throat and
breast; bodyandheadplumageotherwiseold.
There werenotongue spots, but as the tips ofthe oldprimaries andtail feathers were only
moderatelywornthebirdwasconsideredtobefirstwinter.
The bird was at the top of the winglength range of Melodious Warbler, but
measurements and structural details appearedtorule outall otherHippolaiswarblers
exceptOlivaceousH.pallidaelaeica. OlivaceousWarbler,however, ispalebrownish
greyabovewhenworn,andwhitishbelow.Eveninfreshplumage ithasnomorethan
44 Shortcommunications
Figure 1. MelodiousWsLrhltrHippoIaispolyglotta, Ngulia, 19November 1995
Shortcommunications 45
afaintcreamy washbelow, andneverhas ayellow supercilium oryellow underwing
coverts.
A small blood sample was taken, from which an analysis ofmitochondrial DNA
waskindly carriedoutinGermany inthe laboratoryofDrAndreas Helbig. This con-
firmedthe maternal identity ofthebirdasH.polyglotta.
The Melodious Warbler breeds in Europe east to Switzerland, Italy and Croatia,
and also in northwest Africa (Cramp 1992). Its wintering range in humid savanna
woodlandinWest Africaextends eastto Cameroon, andthere arethreerecords from
17-18°E inthe Central African Republic (Germain & Comet 1994). The Nguliabird
was presumably a vagrant which migrated southeast rather than southwest, perhaps
fromtheAdriaticareawherethespecies' rangemeetsthatofsoutheastward-migrating
Olivaceous andOlive-treeWarblers.
This appears to constitute the first satisfactory record ofMelodious Warbler from
easternAfricaandhasbeenacceptedas suchbytheEastAfricanRaritiesCommittee.
Sassi (1916) listed abirdfrom Bukobain northwestern Tanzania, laterreferredtoby
Vaurie(1959)andWhite(1960).ButGrote(1930),Moreau(1937)andChapin(1953)
doubtedthisrecord,andintheabsenceofdetailsoralocatedspecimenitwasrejected
byBackhurstetal. (1973). AUgandaspecimen intheBritishMuseum,referredtoby
Williamson (1968) is, in fact, anIcterineWarbler(Backhurstetal., op. cit.).
References
Backhurst, G. C, Britton, P. L. & Mann, C. F. 1973. The less common Palaearctic migrant
birds ofKenya and Tanzania. Journal ofthe EastAfricaNaturalHistory Society andNa-
tionalMuseum 140: 1-38.
Chapin,J.P. 1953.ThebirdsoftheBelgianCongo.Part3.BulletinoftheAmericanMuseumof
NaturalHistory75A: 1-821.
Cramp, S. (ed.) 1992. The birds ofthe western Palearctic, Vol. 6. Oxford: OxfordUniversity
Press.
Germain, M. & Cornet, J.-P. 1994. Oiseaux nouveaux pour la Republique Centrafricaine ou
dontlesnotificationsdecepayssontpeunombreuses.Malimbus 16: 30-51.
Grote, H. 1930. Wanderungen und Winterquartiere der palaarctischen Zugvogel in Afrika.
MitteilungenausdemZoologischenMuseuminBerlin 16: 1-116.
Moreau, R. E. 1937. Migrant birds inTanganyikaTerritory. TanganyikaNotes & Records 4:
17-50.
Sassi,M. 1916.BeitragzurOmisZentralafrikas(II).AnnalendesK.K.Naturhistorischen(Mu-
seums)Holmuseum. Wien 30: 239-306.
Vaurie, C. 1959. The birds ofthe Palearcticfauna, a systematic reference. Order Passeri-
formes.London: Witherby.
White, C. M. N. 1960. A check list ofthe Ethiopian Muscicapidae (Sylviinae). Part I. Occa-
sionalPapersoftheNationalMuseumsofSouthernRhodesia24B: 399-430.
Williamson,K.(1968).Identificationforringers,1,thegeneraCettia,Locustella,Acrocephalus
andHippolais. 3rded.Tring: BritishTrustforOrnithology
D.J.Pearson,4LupinClose,Reydon,Southwold,Suffolk,IP186NW, UK,C.H.Jackson,
DepartmentofOrnithology,NationalMuseumsofKenya,Box40658,Nairobi,Kenya
(presentaddress:Box383, Watamu,Malindi,Kenya)and
G. C.Backhurst,Box15194,Nairobi,Kenya
Scopus20:43^5,May 1998 Received 15August 1997