ZooChat Big Year 2017

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Whoops, never posted anything of my year yet.

Birds
1. Common loon (Gavia immer)
2. Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
3. Black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
4. Eurasian great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis)
5. Great egret (Ardea alba)
6. Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
7. White stork (Ciconia ciconia)
8. Greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons)
9. Greylag goose (Anser anser)
10. Brent goose (Branta bernicla)
11. Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
12. Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis)
13. Tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii)
14. Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)
15. Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
16. Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
17. Common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
18. Northern pintail (Anas acuta)
19. Eurasian teal (Anas crecca crecca)
20. Northern shoveler (Anas clypeata)
21. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
22. Eurasian wigeon (Mareca penelope)
23. Gadwall duck (Mareca strepera)
24. Garganey (Spatula querquedula)
25. Lesser scaup (Aythya affinis)
26. Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris)
27. Common pochard (Aythya ferina)
28. Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)
29. Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
30. Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
31. Smew (Mergellus albellus)
32. Common eider (Somateria mollissima)
33. White-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
34. Common buzzard (Buteo buteo buteo)
35. Western marsh-harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
36. Hen harrier (Circus cyaneus)
37. Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus)
38. Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
39. Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
40. Common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
41. Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
42. Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
43. Water rail (Rallus aquaticus)
44. Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
45. Pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
46. Common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
47. Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
48. Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
49. Sanderling (Calidris alba)
50. Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
51. Black-tailed godwit (Limosa Limosa)
52. Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata)
53. Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)
54. Common redshank (Tringa totanus)
55. Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
56. Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
57. Mew gull (Larus canus)
58. Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)
59. Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus)
60. Rock pigeon (Columba livia)
61. Common wood-pigeon (Columba palumbus)
62. Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
63. Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
64. Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis)
65. Common house martin (Delichon urbicum)
66. Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
67. Sand martin (Riparia riparia)
68. Meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis)
69. White wagtail (Motacilla alba)
70. Yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava)
71. Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
72. Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
73. Eurasian robin (Erithacus rubecula)
74. Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
75. Blackbird (Turdus merula)
76. Eurasian song thrush (Turdus philomelos)
77. European goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
78. Sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
79. Common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
80. Willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
81. Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
82. Great tit (Parus major)
83. Marsh tit (Poecile palustris)
84. Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
85. Eurasian nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
86. Short-toed treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla)
87. Northern shrike (Lanius excubitor)
88. Common raven (Corvus corax)
89. Carrion crow (Corvus corone)
90. Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
91. European jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
92. Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)
93. Common magpie (Pica pica)
94. Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
95. House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
96. Tree sparrow (Passer montanus)
97. European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
98. Greenfich (Carduelis chloris)
99. Twite (Carduelis flavirostris)
100. Common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
101. Common linnet (Linaria cannabina)
102. Reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)

Mammals
1 European hare (Lepus europaeus)
2. European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
3. Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
4. Common vole (Microtus arvalis)
5. Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina)
6. European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)
 
Hevden said:
A long overdue update after not really doing any birding for over two months and one that i previously missed.

130. Canada goose
131. Bittern
132. Barnacle goose
133. Red-crested pochard
134. Red kite
135. Sparrowhawk
136. Spotted redshank
137. Greenshank
138. Mediterranean gull
139. Yellow-legged gull
140. Caspian gull
141. Little gull
142. Sandwich tern
143. Green woodpecker
144. Woodlark
145. Sandmartin
146. Swallow
147. White wagtail
148. Nightingale
149. Wheatear
150. Blackcap
151. Dartford warbler
152. Sedge warbler
153. Cetti's warbler
154. Willow warbler
155. Bearded tit
156. Yellowhammer
157. Stone curlew
Click to expand...

A nice day out fairly locally gave me a few more today.

158. Black grouse
159. Whimbrel
160. Whitethroat
161. Grasshopper warbler
162. House martin
163. Reed warbler
164. Cattle egret
165. Green sandpiper
 
I have now gone through all of my Thai bird sightings properly and put them into my own system and I can correct/update the list here.

Firstly, #164 should actually be Small Minivet (not Scarlet)

Newly identified bird:
368) Buff-breasted Babbler

Additions simply missed off when posting the list in this thread for whatever reason:
369) Indian Cormorant
370) House Swallow
371) Dusky Crag Martin
372) Asian House Martin

There could possibly be some more additions by identification, but I think that will probably be all the changes and corrections.

That means a total of 280 species seen in Thailand, of which 231 were lifers. I plan to post a breakdown of numbers of species, lifers, and year birds seen at each location in my trip thread probably this weekend.

It's also worth noting that my lifelist currently stands at 995. I wonder what lifer #1000 will be. I hope it's not a boring totally nondescript warbler or something :P. Interestingly, my lifelist would be at 999 if I included heard only species which I don't, but I keep track of them anyway.
 
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LaughingDove said:
Hirundo javanica

House Swallow (Hirundo javanica)

It says 'hitherto treated as conspecific with H. tahitica.'
Click to expand...
basically they have just split off the French Polynesia bird (in Tahiti and Moorea) as an endemic species (retaining the name H. tahitica) and renamed the entire rest of the population as H. javanica. I can't follow that, especially because it is based solely on the Tobias Criteria.

Amusingly HBW, IUCN, etc have all simply changed the name of their French Polynesia split to Tahiti Swallow but left all the accompanying data as it was before, so it will say that tahitica is monotypic and restricted to French Polynesia, but then talk about the subspecies and how it is not at risk due to its extensive range. Great job guys!
 
animalszoos said:
@Hix - I must say I am very impressed with your list of wildlife in Brunei! Although I have seen all of the species you mentioned, I struggled to see many more mammals than you did and I have lived there for 6 years. Did you not see any rufous-backed kingfishers, cream-vented bulbuls, plovers or any other squirrel species?
When was the KB Rd renamed?
Will you be posting details of your trip, I'd like to see how Brunei has changed (especially Panaga since I lived in that area)?
Have you visited Bukit Teraja yet? It has many birds, but they are not always easy to spot since the forest is very dense, however the edge of the forest and some forest clearings allow you to see a wide variety of bird species in the different rainforest layers. You may also see martens, tree shrews, squirrels and porcupines and maybe lorises, civets and deer (there are probably many more species to see as well but these make up the majority of what I saw there).
Click to expand...

I'm still in Brunei but will be returning to Christmas Island on the weekend. I'm a little disappointed by the numbers of birds that I've got, because it has been raining and there hasn't been as many active as normal. As for mammals, they have increased only slightly in the past week. And as far as I know I haven't seen any of the birds you mentioned (plovers are migratory and aren't expected here for a few more months). While driving around I got lost and wandered into Panaga, and I must say I liked it quite a bit. Very nice place to live. No idea when they changed the name of KB Rd, and won't have time to visit Teraja.

I will be writing up my trip when I return home (I will still have a week before returning to work so can work on it then) and when a Brunei gallery has been created.

:p

Hix
 
Chlidonias said:
basically they have just split off the French Polynesia bird (in Tahiti and Moorea) as an endemic species (retaining the name H. tahitica) and renamed the entire rest of the population as H. javanica. I can't follow that, especially because it is based solely on the Tobias Criteria.

Amusingly HBW, IUCN, etc have all simply changed the name of their French Polynesia split to Tahiti Swallow but left all the accompanying data as it was before, so it will say that tahitica is monotypic and restricted to French Polynesia, but then talk about the subspecies and how it is not at risk due to its extensive range. Great job guys!
Click to expand...

I know it's not very scientific, but I quite like the Tobias Criteria. A straightforward, consistent system for taxonomy is a great idea. I imagine you would agree with this whether or not you think that it is practically possible and whether or not you think the Tobias Criteria is a good way of going about it. I would agree that for more scientific applications, the Tobias Criteria is not very good since it only takes phenotypic differences into account, but for birding that's what I'm concerned about and the tahitica swallow does look quite different. I'm curious about why you disagree?

As for the HBW and IUCN listings, I think it's a bit unfair to criticise since the splits from the Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Passerines were incorporated less than a month ago and they can't really be expected to correct everything instantly. Though I agree that they'd have been better off putting the accompanying data with H. javanica rather than with H. tahitica (though in most cases leaving the accompanying data with the nominate works better).
 
My favourite thing about 'The Tobias Criteria' is that it sounds like a cheap thriller novel such as one buys in an airport lounge.
 
Maguari said:
My favourite thing about 'The Tobias Criteria' is that it sounds like a cheap thriller novel such as one buys in an airport lounge.
Click to expand...

There is a reason why such books are so common, as explained by Terry Pratchett:

It is a simple universal law. People always expect to use a holiday in the sun as an opportunity to read those books they've always meant to read, but an alchemical combination of sun, quartz crystals and coconut oil will somehow metamorphose any improving book into a rather thicker one with a name containing at least one Greek word or letter (The Gamma Imperative, The Delta Season, The Alpha Project and, in the more extreme cases, even The Mu Kau Pi Caper). Sometimes a hammer and sickle turn up on the cover. This is probably caused by sunspot activity, since they are invariably the wrong way round.
 
LaughingDove said:
I know it's not very scientific, but I quite like the Tobias Criteria. A straightforward, consistent system for taxonomy is a great idea. I imagine you would agree with this whether or not you think that it is practically possible and whether or not you think the Tobias Criteria is a good way of going about it. I would agree that for more scientific applications, the Tobias Criteria is not very good since it only takes phenotypic differences into account, but for birding that's what I'm concerned about and the tahitica swallow does look quite different. I'm curious about why you disagree?

As for the HBW and IUCN listings, I think it's a bit unfair to criticise since the splits from the Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Passerines were incorporated less than a month ago and they can't really be expected to correct everything instantly. Though I agree that they'd have been better off putting the accompanying data with H. javanica rather than with H. tahitica (though in most cases leaving the accompanying data with the nominate works better).
Click to expand...
I think for a quick and ready approach it is certainly a good system - but basing actual science and conservation on it is not. And that is what is happening by HBW and IUCN taking it on board - it makes it "official". I've discussed this a little elsewhere (in the taxonomy thread back in 2014, when it was a discussion thread before it got turned into just a series of links to splits):

Chlidonias said:
The "Tobias criteria" is a good idea in some ways - in broad terms it can determine relatively simply whether a particular taxon is "valuable" enough for protection without having to wait for DNA testing - but it falls down in not taking the genetic evidence into account. And there is some criticism that for particularly uniform groups of birds - say swifts or warblers - it may not be at all accurate. I imagine there would also be quite a few birds where the behaviour and voice simply weren't well enough known - or even known at all in many neotropical forms - to take them into account, and splits/non-splits would therefore be judged basically on morphology (e.g. coloured parts, size of crest, length of tail, etc). It has been argued that the "Tobias criteria" method of using physical differences and ignoring genetic differences is pretty much the exact opposite of most taxonomy research nowadays. More importantly, there is the criticism that there is not a body of back-up work to the decisions. Generally speaking when taxa are split or lumped, there are reasons given to the effect of "we did this research, and took into account these peoples' studies, etc etc". With BirdLife's "Tobias" splits it is more a case of "we have split/lumped this. Accept it."

I do get the intent behind the use of the "Tobias criteria" (they are covering every bird in the world and need an all-encompassing technique in the absence of genetic data for many of them) but it lacks finesse.
Click to expand...

For the tahitica split, the Tahitian birds do look different to Thai birds (for example) - but there is a grade through their range. In fact the HBW page even acknowledges this. Eastern birds are darker-bellied and western birds are paler-bellied. There's not a sudden change in Tahiti - the dark- and pale-bellied "types" meet much further west. Lots of people have discussed a split between these two forms, but for some reason HBW have made the split at a really stupid place.

As for it not being fair criticising the IUCN or HBW pages because the taxonomy is a recent change there - I think it is perfectly fair. They are presenting themselves as scientific authorities. Not changing anything but the name is sloppy in the extreme!
 
Chlidonias said:
I think for a quick and ready approach it is certainly a good system - but basing actual science and conservation on it is not. And that is what is happening by HBW and IUCN taking it on board - it makes it "official". I've discussed this a little elsewhere (in the taxonomy thread back in 2014, when it was a discussion thread before it got turned into just a series of links to splits):



For the tahitica split, the Tahitian birds do look different to Thai birds (for example) - but there is a grade through their range. In fact the HBW page even acknowledges this. Eastern birds are darker-bellied and western birds are paler-bellied. There's not a sudden change in Tahiti - the dark- and pale-bellied "types" meet much further west. Lots of people have discussed a split between these two forms, but for some reason HBW have made the split at a really stupid place.

As for it not being fair criticising the IUCN or HBW pages because the taxonomy is a recent change there - I think it is perfectly fair. They are presenting themselves as scientific authorities. Not changing anything but the name is sloppy in the extreme!
Click to expand...

Does HBW really present itself as more of a scientific authority than any of the other lists do? Regardless, the IUCN and Birdlife certainly do and I would agree that purely using the Tobias Criteria for those is not ideal other than as a starting point until better evidence can be found. However from the point of view of a birder and not looking at it from a science and conservation point of view, I think splits based on phenotypes make sense. This is obviously not how the IUCN and Birdlife present their lists though, so I do agree with you in that.

I hadn't really looked into the taxonomy much so I didn't realise there was a cline in breast colour. That makes the split much less convincing.

The majority of the newly-split species have been done much better than this swallow split with the pages of the split species left with no information as opposed to wrong information. I'm inclined to not criticise the occasional error with over 600 splits which were incorporated less than a month ago, but I do completely see why you do.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
There is a reason why such books are so common, as explained by Terry Pratchett:

It is a simple universal law. People always expect to use a holiday in the sun as an opportunity to read those books they've always meant to read, but an alchemical combination of sun, quartz crystals and coconut oil will somehow metamorphose any improving book into a rather thicker one with a name containing at least one Greek word or letter (The Gamma Imperative, The Delta Season, The Alpha Project and, in the more extreme cases, even The Mu Kau Pi Caper). Sometimes a hammer and sickle turn up on the cover. This is probably caused by sunspot activity, since they are invariably the wrong way round.
Click to expand...

As soon as Maguari said it I was looking for the same footnote. By the time I located it (The Last Continent) you'd already posted it. I guess your book collection is more easily accessible than mine currently is... :p
 
Hix said:
129. Oriental Pied Hornbill
130. Blue-eared Barbet
131. Olive-backed Sunbird
132. Black-shouldered Kite

:p

Hix
Click to expand...

133. Lesser Coucal
134. Common Iora
135. Pied Triller
136. Thick-billed Pigeon
137. Stork-billed Kingfisher
138. Long-tailed Parrot
139. Black-headed Bulbul
140. Yellow-bellied Bulbul
141. Arctic Warbler
142. Wrinkled Hornbill
142. Yellow-bellied Prinia

:p

Hix
 
LaughingDove said:
Does HBW really present itself as more of a scientific authority than any of the other lists do? Regardless, the IUCN and Birdlife certainly do...
Click to expand...
I'm not sure the HBW can be adequately described as a "list"... :p

But yes, I think the HBW is clearly published as, and seen as, an authoritative scientific work on birds.
 
Hix said:
133. Lesser Coucal
134. Common Iora
135. Pied Triller
136. Thick-billed Pigeon
137. Stork-billed Kingfisher
138. Long-tailed Parrot
139. Black-headed Bulbul
140. Yellow-bellied Bulbul
141. Arctic Warbler
142. Wrinkled Hornbill
142. Yellow-bellied Prinia

:p

Hix
Click to expand...
Error in the last post - Yellow-bellied Prinia should be 143.

Boat trip on the Brunei River this morning turned up some niceties in the mangroves.

Birds
144. Chinese Pond Heron
145. Striated Heron
146. Black-Crowned Night Heron
147. Brahminy Kite
148. Whiskered Tern
149. Little Green Pigeon

Mammals
13. Proboscis Monkey

Reptiles
8. Bengal Monitor

:p

Hix
 
Ituri said:
MAMMALS:
9 Virginia Opossum - Didelphis virginianus

BIRDS:
162 Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
163 Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri
164 Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus
165 Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus
166 Black-whiskered Vireo - Vireo altiloquus
167 Louisiana Waterthrush - Parkesia motacilla
168 Cape May Warbler - Setophaga tigrina
169 Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana

AMPHIBIANS:
1 Southern Leopard Frog - Lithobates sphenocephalus
2 Cuban Tree Frog - Osteopilus septentrionalis *introduced exotic
Click to expand...

BIRDS:
170 Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica
171 Barred Owl - Strix varia
172 Northern Bobwhite - Colinus virginianus
173 Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus
174 Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius
175 Least Tern - Sternula antillarum
176 Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
177 Common Nighthawk - Chordeiles minor
178 Blackpoll Warbler - Setophaga striata
179 Blue Grosbeak - Passerina caerulea
180 Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea

REPTILES:
10 Southern Black Racer - Coluber constrictor priapis
11 Northern Curly-tailed Lizard - Leiocephalus carinatus armouri *Introduced exotic
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Got back from North Norfolk yesterday but haven't had internet at home until today. On my trip, I managed thirteen new birds (one of them a lifer), two mammals, two butterflies and another bumblebee:

115. Barn swallow Hirundo rustica
116. Great white egret Ardea alba
117. Ruff Philomachus pugnax
118. Red-crested pochard Netta rufina
119. Long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis (Vu)
120. Velvet scoter Melanitta fusca (Vu)
121. Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
122. Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius
123. Garganey Anas querquedula
124. European nuthatch Sitta europaea
125. Northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis
126. Pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus
127. Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia

12. Brown hare Lepus europaeus
13. Atlantic grey seal Halichoerus grypus

8. Painted lady butterfly Vanessa cardui
9. Speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria

9. Common carder bee Bombus pascuorum
Click to expand...

Just realised I have not added any of my sightings since returning from Norfolk - in that time I have seen nine species of bird, one new butterfly and my first damselfly:

128. Common whitethroat Sylvia communis
129. Common cuckoo Cuculus canorus
130. Sedge warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
131. Western yellow wagtail Motacilla flava
132. Eurasian reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus
133. Sand martin Riparia riparia
134. Common house martin Delichon urbicum
135. Northern wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe
136. Common nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos

10. Small copper butterfly Lycaena phlaeas

1. Large red damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula
 
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