Sierra Leone Prinia Schistolais leontica in the Fouta Djalon of Guinea, its song, distribution and taxonomic status

2006·2.2 MB·

by  Clive R Barlow

Sierra Leone Prinia Schistolais leontica in the Fouta Djalon of
Guinea, its song, distribution and taxonomic status
C. R. Barlow* R. B. Payneb L. L. Payneb andM. D. Sorensonc
, ,
Prinia de Sierra Leone Schistolais leontica dans le Fouta Djalon, Guinee, son chant, sa distri-
bution et son statut taxonomique. Un couple de Prinias de Sierra Leone Schistolaisleonticaaete
observe le 10 octobre 1999 pres de Dalaba, dans le Fouta Djalon, Guinee (11°40’N 12°17’W).
Un des oiseaux, qui apu etre capture, avait une becquee d’insectes etpresentait une plaque incu-
batrice. Ceci constitue une extension considerable vers l’ouest de l’aire de repartition de cette
espece menacee, ainsi que la premiere donnee de nidification. Un sonogramme du chant est
presente etcompare acelui de la Prinia agorge blanche S. leucopogon espece presentant un com-
,
portement et un chant en duo semblables. Les differences vocales et genetiques prouvent toute-
fois qu’il s’agit bien de deux especes distinctes.
/^Vn 10 October 1999 we observed a pair of which was not found. When moving through the
V>/smallgreywarblers attheedgeofavillage c.1 vegetation, the birds held the tail low, not cocked
km north-west of Dalaba, Guinea, at 1,160 m over the back; the two species ofSchistolais war-
(11°40’N 12°17’W), whichwe identified as Sierra
Leone (White-eyed) Prinias Schistolais leontica.
The birds had a long tail and rounded wings, a
whitish belly, distinctly buff flanks, a thin black
bill, relatively long pink legs, and a cream-white
iris (Figs. 2-3).Theyoccurred together in thickets
near a trail and stream by the edge offorest; they
didnotenterthe forest (Fig. 1). One birdwas car-
rying insects and, when captured, was found to
haveanactivebroodpatch. Its tailwasbentto one
side, indicating it was attending a covered nest
Figure 1. Habitatwithin 10 mofSierraLeonePrinia Figures 2-3. SierraLeonePriniaSchistolaisleonticanear
SchistolaisleonticanearDalaba, Guinea,withdensethick- Dalaba, Guinea, 10 October 1999 (LauraPayne)
ets, rockyoutcropsanddisturbedforest (LauraPayne) PriniadeSierraLeoneSchistolaisleonticapresdeDalaba,
Habitatsituea 10 mdelaPriniadeSierraLeone Guinee, 10 octobre 1999 (LauraPayne)
Schistolaisleonticapres deDalaba, Guinee, avecdes
bosquetsdenses, des affleurementsrocheuxetdelaforet
degradee (LauraPayne)
SierraLeonePriniain theFouta-Djalon, Guinea:Barlowetal. BullABCVol13No 1(2006)-45
I I
fi' A' ^ A A A' A A?
1 b
8
5N46 v' ' \is\ v, * vn \ •'MA '' MAA' ^
2
0 1.0 2.0 s
Figure4. SonogramsofSierraLeonePriniaSchistolaisleonticaandWhite-throated PriniaS. leucopogon.A: songof
SierraLeone PriniaatDalaba, Guinea (originalrecordingbyCB onSonyTC-D5M recorderwithBeyerM69 micro-
phonein 33 cmparabola); B: songofSierraLeone PriniaatMtNimba, Liberia (Chappuis 2000); C: songofWhite-
throatedPriniaatGarouaBoulai, Cameroon (Chappuis 2000). SonogramsgeneratedwithKayElectrics DSP Sona-
Graph 3500 and Printer5509, at234 Hz.
Sonogrammes delaPriniadeSierraLeoneSchistolaisleonticaetlaPriniaagorgeblancheS. leucopogon.A: chantdela
PriniadeSierraLeoneaDalaba, Guinee (enregistrementoriginalparCB avecunenregistreurSonyTC-D5M etun
microphone BeyerM69 dans uneparabolede 33 cm); B: chantdelaPriniadeSierraLeoneauMontNimba, Liberia
(Chappuis 2000); C: chantdelaPriniaagorgeblancheaGarouaBoulai, Cameroun (Chappuis2000). Sonogrammes
realises avecKayElectrics DSP Sona-Graph 5500 etimprimante 5509, a234 Hz.
biers, S. leontica andWhite-chinned Prinia S. leu- repeated structure in the song (Fig. 4b). Songs at
copogon, differ in this behaviour from warblers in MtNimbaandDalabaweresimilar, anditappears
the genus Prinia (Irwin 1997). Although Bates these songs are species-typical. Song duets of
(1931) described S. leontica cocking their tails’, Sierra Leone Prinia differ from those of its con-
Irwin (1997) suggests Schistolais simply raise the gener, the Central African White-chinned Prinia,
tail over the back. whose notes are lower pitched (the short notes 5
The birds sang both singly and together. The vs. 7 kHz; the long notes 3-4 kHz vs. 4-5 kHz),
vocalisations were recorded and sonograms are andhave anarrowerfrequencyenvelope (theshort
presented here for the first time (Fig. 4a). When notes 1.0-1.5 kHz vs. 3-4 kHz; the long notes
duetting, they uttered their notes at different 1 kHzvs. wkHz) (Fig. 4c).Theirregularsequence
rhythms, and the notes ofthe two birds were not ofthehigherpitchednotes in Fig. 4showthattwo
closely synchronised. The songs recorded at Mt birds independentlygavethenoteseachatadiffer-
Nimba, Liberia, by Stuart Keith, weredescribedas ent rhythm, and neither bird was in tight syn-
a tuneless, unstructured, unsynchronized duet; chrony with the rhythm ofa third bird with the
one bird gives rapid, high-pitched ‘sipsipsipsip...’ lower, longer notes. Another recording from
and the second bird gives a lower, nasal, measured Foumban, Cameroon (Chappuis 2000), indicates
‘bur-bur-bur-bur...’.’ (Irwin 1997). Two of the two birds giving the lower notes at different
three songs on Chappuis (2000) show the same rhythms, and a third bird giving the high notes at
phrasing and sequence of notes, so there is some a third rhythm.
46-BullABCVol13No 1(2006) SierraLeonePriniain theFouta-Djalon, Guinea:Barlowetal.
White (1962) considered Sierra Leone and across the Sierra Leone border. The species’ range
White-chinned Prinias to be the same species, as coincides with the inland massifs and an annual
did Morel & Morel (1988) when listing ‘leuco- rainfall of2,000-2,600 mm (Gwynne-Jones etal.
pogon for Guinea. However, the two differ in size 1978, Gatter 1997). Dalaba lies on the rugged,
(leontica being smaller) and appearance (Irwin rockymassifoftheFoutaDjalon,whichextendsas
1997), and their songs are distinct. In molecular an inland plateau through western Guinea south
geneticanalyses, thetwo Schistolaisaremoreclose- into north-east Sierra Leone. The habitat ofwet
ly related to the genera Camaroptera and Apalis thickets and patches of secondary forest among
than to Prinia subflava and Cisticola spp. (Sefc et granitic outcrops, ravines and ridges, ofwhich we
al. 2003). The genetic sequences of their mito- only briefly sampled a small area around Dalaba
chondrialND2genearec.4% divergent (Sefcetal. duringourvisitin October 1999, occurs through-
2003), reflectingahistorical divergence ofperhaps out the Fouta Djalon and the species may well
two millionyears for the two species. The warbler occur elsewhere in the region.
lineages SchistolaisandApalis Prinia and Cisticola
are included in the familyCist,icolidae in Sibley& References
Monroe (1990), Sefc etal. (2003) and Dickinson Bates, G. L. 1930. [Newbirds fromWestAfrica.] Bull.
(2004). Although Urban etal. (1997) included all Br. Ornithol. Cl. 51: 47-54.
within thefamilySylviidae, recentgeneticanalyses Bates, G. L. 1931. Account ofan expedition to Sierra
suggest this assemblage, were it monophyletic, Leone and French Guinea on behalfofthe British
would include certain babblers and white-eyes Museum. Ibis 1931: 446-466.
BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened Birds ofthe
Z2o0s0t3e,ropBsarakserweeltla(l.Ci2b0oi0s4).etSaclh.is1t9ol9a9i,s aSenfdc metanaly. World2004. CD-ROM. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife
International.
Apalis sing in duet. In contrast, most warblers of &
Brosset, A. Erard, C. 1986. Les oiseaux des regions
the genus Prinia such as P. subflava, sing alone
, forestieres du nord-est du Gabon. Vol. 1. Paris:
rather than in duet (Irwin 1997), although
& SocieteNationale de Protection delaNature.
BandedPriniaP. bairdiiregularlyduets (Brosset Chappuis, C. 2000.AfricanBirdSounds:BirdsofNorth,
Erard 1986). Duetting behaviour in songbirds is Westand CentralAfrica andNeighbouringAtlantic
involved in maintaining an exclusive pair-bond, Islands. 15 CDs. Paris: Societe d’Etudes
and the distribution ofduettingsong tends to fol- Ornithologiquesde France &London, UK: British
low systematic relatedness rather than certain LibraryNational SoundArchive.
habitats (Payne 1971, Farabaugh 1982, Smith Cibois, A., Pasquet, E. & Schulenberg, T. S. 1999.
1994, Langmore 1998, Slater etal. 2002). Molecular systematics of the Malagasy babblers
The observation at Dalaba constitutes a con- (Passeriformes: Timaliidae) and warblers
siderable range extension and also the first breed- (Passeriformes: Sylviidae), based on cytochrome b
ing record of this globally threatened species, and 16S rRNA sequences. Mol. Phyl. &Evol. 13:
which is categorised as Vulnerable (Irwin 1997, 581-595.
&
BirdLife International 2004). Considered Very Colston, P. R. Curry-Lindahl, K. 1986. TheBirdsof
local and uncommon’ (Irwin 1997), its previously Mount Nimba, Liberia. London, UK: Br. Mus.
known range included north-east Sierra Leone, (Nat. Hist.).
south-east Guinea (Pic de Fon and Mt Nimba), Demey, R. & Rainey, H. J. 2004. The birds ofPic de
northern Liberia (Mt Nimba and other ranges in Fon Forest Reserve, Guinea: a preliminary survey.
northern Nimba county) and western Cote Bull.ABC11: 126-138. &
d’Ivoire (Bates 1930, 1931, Colston & Curry- Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2004. The Howard Moore
Lindahl 1986, Gatter 1997, Irwin 1997, Demey Complete Checklist ofthe Birds ofthe World. Third
& edn. London, UK: ChristopherHelm.
Rainey 2004). Pic de Fon (08°31’N 08°34’W)
is c.500 km from Dalaba; BirwaPeak, in theTingi Faranbiafuigcha,nceS.ofM.due1t9t8in2g..TIhneKreocooldosgmiaca,lDa.ndE.s&ociMailllseirg,-
Mountains, Sierra Leone (08°34’N 10°48’W),
E. H. (eds.) Acoustic Communication in Birds. Vol.
from where the species first was described (Bates 2. NewYork: AcademicPress.
1930), is 339 km distant. Bates (1931) also col- Gatter, W. 1997. Birds ofLiberia. Robertsbridge: Pica
lected it near Saiama, in southern Guinea just Press.
SierraLeonePriniain theFouta-Djalon, Guinea:Barlowetal. BullABCVol13No 1(2006)-47
Gwynne-Jones, D. R. G.,Mitchell,P. K., Harvey,M. E. ceps, and Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Laniarius bar-
& Swindell, K. 1978. A New Geography ofSierra barus. Ostrich73: 49-51.
Leone. Singapore: Longman. Smith, W. J. 1994. Animal duets: forcing amate to be
IrwiAnp,alMis.. PI.nSU.rb1a9n9,7.E.GeKn.e,raFryP,riCn.ia,H.Sch&istoKleaiitsh,anSd. Thiolaltateyn,tivJe..-/M..Th1eo9r8.5.BioTl.he166b:ir2d2s1-o2f23I.vory Coast.
(eds.) The Birds ofAfrica. Vol. 5. London, UK: Malimbus7: 1-59.
Academic Press. Urban, E. K., Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) 1997. The
Langmore, N. E. 1998. Functions of duet and solo Birds ofAfrica. Vol. 5. London, UK: Academic
&
songsoffemale birds. TrendsEcol. Evol. Biol. 13: Press.
136-140. White, C. M. N. 1962. A check list ofthe Ethiopian
&
Morel, G.J. Morel, M.-Y. 1988. Listedesoiseauxde Muscicapidae (Sylviinae). Part II. Occ. Pap. Natl.
Guinee. Malimbus 10: 143-176. Mus. SouthernRhodesia26: 653-694.
Payne, R. B. 1971. Duetting and chorus singing in aBirdsoftheGambia, POB279, Banjul, TheGambia,
African birds. OstrichSuppl. 9: 125-145.
Sefc, K. M., Payne, R. B. & Sorenson, M. D. 2003. bMuseum ofZoology andDepartment ofEcology and
Phylogenetic relationships ofAfrican sunbird-like Evolutionary Biology, University ofMichigan, Ann
warblers: Moho (Hypergerus atriceps), Green Hylia Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
(Hyliaprasina) and Tit-hylia Pholidornis rushiae). cDepartment of Biology, Boston University, 5
(.
Ostrich74: 8-17. Cummington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215,
Sibley, C. G. & Ahlquist, J. E. 1990. Phytogeny and USA.
Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular
Evolution. New Haven & London, UK: Yale Received 19 October 2004; revision accepted 19 July
2005
UniversityPress.
&
Slater, P. J. B., Gil, D., Barlow, C. R. Graves, J. A.
2002. Male-ledduetsintheMoho,Hypergerusatri-
Rockjumper Birding Tours
Best of African,
Asian,
&
Malagasy Birding
Contact us for
the most comprehensive selection
ofAfrican birding tours
Tour Destinations: Angola; Botswana;
Cameroon; Canary Islands; Cape Verde; Egypt & Petra; Ethiopia; Gabon; Ghana;
Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mauritius; Morocco; Namibia; Reunion; Rwanda;
Sao Tome & Principe; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Tanzania; Tunisia;
Uganda; Zambia. Our Asian destinations include: Bhutan; China; India;
Malaysia & Borneo; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Sri Lanka; Thailand.
E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.rockjumper.co.za
PO Box 13972, Cascades 3202, South Africa, Tel/fax: [phone]
48-BullABCVol13No 1(2006) SierraLeonePriniain theFouta-Djalon, Guinea:Barlowetal.