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& William S. Clark Dennis R. Paulson 156 Bull. B.O.C. 2002 122(2) Specimen record of Short-toed Snake Eagle for Kenya is invalid & William S. Clark Dennis R. Paulson Received3April2001 The only published record ofShort-toed Snake Eagle Circaetusgallicus for Kenya is a specimen collected near Lake Turkana (formerly called Lake Rudolf) in 1968 (Owre&Paulson 1968). ThespecimenwasdepositedintheFieldMuseumofNatural History (Chicago) as FMNH 369299 (Fig. 1). WSC recently examined the specimen and determined that it was not an adult Short-toedSnakeEaglebutasimilar-appearingsecondplumageBlack-breastedSnake Figure1. Specimen offirst plumage Black-breasted Snake Eagle collected at Lake Turkana (upper) compared to an adult Short-toed Snake Eagle (lower). Note the new black breast feathers and the moreprominentblackbandingonthenewsecondaryandundertailoftheBlack-breastedSnakeEagle. & William S. Clark Dennis R. Paulson 157 Bull. B.O.C. 2002 122(2) Eagle C.pectoralis. Thisplumagehadnotbeen describedatthetimethis eaglewas collected. It was not known until Newman (1983) described and illustrated it; however,hecalleditanalternatejuvenileplumage. Maclean(1993)callsthisplumage asecondyearplumage. BothNewman(1983)andMaclean(1993)haveillustrations ofperched eagles in this plumage that show how similar they are in appearance to adult Short-toed Snake Eagles. ThespecimenalsostronglyresembledadultShort-toedSnakeEaglesbutdiffered in having some new black breast feathers and a mix ofnew adult secondaries with wide black subterminal bands and brownishjuvenile secondaries. The secondaries ofadult Short-toed Snake Eagles have a wide dusky terminal band and a narrower blacksubterminalband. Theuppersidesofthe specimenappearidenticaltothoseof adult Short-toed Snake Eagles. Clark(2000)discussedinmoredetailtheseparationofthesetwosimilarplumages andthefieldidentificationofthelargeCircaetussnakeeagles. Clark(1999)discussed taxonomicproblemsinthegenuscausedbyfailuretorecognizethe secondplumage ofBlack-breasted Snake Eagles at nests and confusing them with other species. Acknowledgements WethankthecuratorsoftheFieldMuseumofNaturalHistoryforpermissiontoexaminethisspecimen. References: Clark,W. S. 1999. PlumagedifferencesandtaxonomicstatusofthreesimilarCircaetussnake- eagles.Bull. Brit. Orn. CI. 119:56-59. Clark,W. S. 2000. FieldidentificationofBeaudouin's SnakeEagle Circaetusbeaudouini.Bull. Af.BirdClub7:13-17. Maclean, G. L. 1993.Roberts'birdsofsouthernAfrica.TrusteesofJohnVoelckerBirdBook Fund, CapeTown. Newman, K. 1983.BirdsofsouthernAfrica. SouthernBookPub., HalfwayHouse, S.A. OwreO.T. &Paulson,D. R. 1968. RecordsofFalconiformesfromtheLakeRudolfarea, Kenya. Bull. Brit. Orn. CI. 88:151-152. Addresses:W.S.Clark,Raptours,PObox531467,Harlingen,TX78533,USA,[email protected]; D.R.Paulson,SlaterMuseum,Univ.ofPugetSound,Tacoma,WA98416USA,[email protected] BritishOrnithologists'Club2002