Holy Grails of birding - 'Lost species' (1 Viewer)

After some spectacular rediscoveries in the last years I wondered what species are out there and are just waiting to be refound by some keen birdwatcher or ecologist.
A while back I already started to dig into this, so here is a list of species I believe to be of interest and I will try to write an essay about one species or another every once in a while. If you think a species is missing from the list or you have some kind of knowledge about them it would be greatly appreciated if you would share it here.

Some astonishing recent rediscoveries
Night Parrot
Blue-eyed Ground-dove
Banggai Crow
Tachira Antpitta

Some Holy Grails of birding (not all are 'lost', though)

African River Martin Pseudochelidon eurystomina
Alaotra Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus
Anambra Waxbill Estrilda poliopareia
Anjouan Scops Owl Otus capnodes
Archer’s Lark Heteromirafra archeri
Ash’s Lark Mirafra ashi
Bahia Tapaculo Scytalopus psychopompus
Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor
Bates’s Weaver Ploceus batesi
Baumann’s Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni
Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata
Black-chinned Monarch Monarcha boanensis
Black-lored Waxbill Estrilda nigriloris
Blue-eyed Ground-dove Columbina cyanopis
Blue-wattled Bulbul Pycnonotus nieuwenhuisii
Blüntschli’s Vanga Hypositta perdita
Bogotá Sunangel Heliangelus zusii
Brazza’s Martin Phedina brazzae
Brown-banded Rail Rallus mirificus
Bulo Burti Boubou Laniarius liberatus
Caatinga Woodpecker Celeus obrieni
Caerulean Paradise-flycatcher Eutrichomyias rowleyi
Carrizal Seedeater Amaurospiza carrizalensis
Cayenne Nightjar Caprimulgus maculosus
Cebu Flowerpecker Dicaeum quadricolor
Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer Diglossa gloriosissima
Colombian Crake Neocrex colombiana
Cone-billed Tanager Conothraupis mesoleuca
Congo Bay Owl Phodilus prigoginei
Coppery Thorntail Discosura letitiae
Crested Shelduck Tadorna cristata
Damar Flycatcher Ficedula henrici
Degodi Lark Mirafra degodiensis
Dorst’s Cisticola Cisticola guinea
Dusky Greenbul Bernieria tenebrosus
Dusky Starfrontlet Coeligena orina
Eastern Wattled Cuckoo-shrike Lobotos oriolinus
Emerald Starling Lamprotornis iris
Eskimo Curlew Numenius borealis
Fernando Po Swift Apus sladeniae
Forest Owlet Athene blewitti
Friedmann’s Lark Mirafra pulpa
Gabela Helmet-shrike Prionops gabela
Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus
Golden-naped Weaver Ploceus aureonucha
Grand Comoro Scops Owl Otus pauliani
Guadalupe Storm-petrel Oceanodroma macrodactyla
Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa
Hooded Seedeater Sporophila melanops
Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis
Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis
Jamaica Petrel Pterodroma caribbaea
Jamaican Pauraque Siphonorhis americana
Javanese Lapwing Vanellus macropterus
Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus
Kabobo Apalis Apalis kaboboensis
Kinglet Calyptura Calyptura cristata
Lake Lufira Weaver Ploceus ruweti
Least Pauraque Siphonorhis brewsteri
Lesser Masked Owl Tyto sororcula
Liberian Greenbul Phyllastrephus leucolepis
Long-tailed Pipit Anthus longicaudatus
Luzon Buttonquail Turnix worcesteri
Madagascar Pochards Aythya innotata
Magdalena Tinamou Crypturellus saltuarius
Maned Owl Jubula lettii
Manipur Bush Quail Perdicula manipurensis
Miniature Tit Babbler Micromacronus leytensis
Mohéli Scops Owl Otus moheliensis
Monteiro’s Bush-shrike Malaconotus monteiri
Nechisar Nightjar Caprimulgus solala
Negros Fruit Dove Ptilinopus arcanus
Nicobar Scops Owl Otus alius
Nicobar Sparrowhawk Accipter butleri
Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis
Nubian Bustard Neotis nuba
Obbia Lark Spizocorys obbiensis
Orange-breasted Bush-shrike Laniarius brauni
Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea
Prigogine’s Bulbul Chlorocichla prigoginei
Prigogine’s Nightjar Caprimulgus prigoginei
Purple-winged Ground-dove Claravis godefrida
Recurve-billed Bushbird Clytoctantes alixii
Red Sea Swallow Hirundo perdita
Rockefeller’s Sunbird Nectarinia rockefelleri
Rondônia Bushbird Clytoctantes atrogularis
Rueck’s Blue Flycatcher Cyornis ruckii
Rufous-throated White-eye Madanga ruficollis
Rusty-throated Wren Babbler Spelaeornis badeigularis
Sangihe Shrike-thrush Colluricincla sanghirensis
Sangihe White-eye Zosterops nehrkorni
Schouteden’s Swift Schoutedenapus schoutedeni
Sharpe’s Rail Gallirallus sharpei
Shelley’s Eagle Owl Bubo shelleyi
Short-billed Crombec Sylvietta philippae
Siau Scops Owl Otus siaoensis
Sillem’s Mountain Finch Leucosticte sillemi
Silvery Pigeon Columba argentina
Sinaloa Martin Progne sinaloae
Slender-tailed Cisticola Cisticola melanurus
Somali Pigeon Columba oliviae
Sombre Chat Cercomela dubia
Spix’s Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii
Stresemann’s Bristlefront Merulaxis stresemanni
Sulu Bleeding-heart Gallicolumba menagei
Swierstra’s Francolin Francolinus swierstrai
São Tomé Grosbeak Neospiza concolor
Tana River Cisticola Cisticola restrictus
Tessmann’s Flycatcher Muscicapa tessmanni
Turquoise-throated Puffleg Eriocnemis godini
Vaurie’s Nightjar Caprimulgus centralasicus
Warsangli Linnet Carduelis johannis
White-browed Nuthatch Sitta victoriae
White-chested Tinkerbird Pogoniulus makawai
White-eyed River-Martin Eurochelidon sirintarae
White-fronted Swift Cypseloides storeri
White-tipped Monarch Monarcha everetti
Whitehead’s Swiftlet Collocalia whiteheadi
Williams’s Lark Mirafra williamsi
Yellow-footed Honeyguide Melignomon eisentrauti
Yellow-legged Weaver Ploceus flavipes
Yellow-throated Serin Serinus flavigula

You missed Ivory-billed Woodpecker! 3

John

Farnboro John said:

You missed Ivory-billed Woodpecker! 3

John

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Oops... now added

What about Slender-billed Curlew?

From a European perspective this is the grandmother of all holy grails...

Your list is a bit outdated.

These are on my list, so they cannot be holy grails:
Bahia Tapaculo - at the Michelin plantation. It's a dubious split at best, the song is the same as that of White-breasted Tapaculo.
Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer - easy (if you travel on horseback) at Colibri del Sol.
Forest Owlet - there are 40 pairs (most of them suppressed) within three hours from Bombay/Mumbai. Very easy to get now you do not have to travel to some remote tiger reserve.
Recurve-billed Bushbird - not too hard at the Bushbird reserve (but too hard at the Cerulean Warbler reserve). The area is decidely dodgy at the moment!
Rusty-throated Wren-Babbler - crossing the Brahmaputra was the most difficult bit to see this one.
Stresemann's Bristlefront - not sure if that is still being seen. I saw a pair a few years ago.

These are non-existent:
Blüntschi's Vanga was a complete and ridiculous misidentification by some silly Germans, haha! (actually, they were White-throated Oxylabes chicks)
Bogotá Sunangel was very recently shown to be a hybrid.
Carrizal Seedeater has been lumped.
Long-tailed Pipit was a combination of three other pipit species. No wonder some people saw it with ease!

And these have lost some mystery as well:
Madagascar Pochard - just go that lake.
Sillem's Mountain Finch - now gettable in Tibet
Silvery Pigeon - (still) gettable on Simeulue off Sumatra (https://www.dutchbirding.nl/gallery/detail/12914?page=0#navbar-collapse)
The other Indonesian birds are mostly on the Banda Sea cruise. James Eaton is still looking for the babbler.
White-browed Nuthatch - just go to Mount Victoria (https://www.dutchbirding.nl/gallery/detail/20025?page=0#navbar-collapse).

I think you should delete all those swifts (they are really just unidentifiable) and add Cherry-throated Tanager, which has been extremely difficult in the last ten years.

The Nicobar birds are mostly easy (and boring!) if you are Indian, except the Bulbul which is on a closed island and could be on your list instead (still boring though!)

Seems a fairly random list! It includes species that are almost certainly extinct (e.g. Alaotra Grebe, Javan Lapwing), species that are local but otherwise pretty mundane (e.g. White-browed Nuthatch, Sombre Chat), species that are simply very rare, species that have been lumped (e.g. Degodi and Archer's Larks), species that were never really lost (Night Parrot), species that never existed (e.g. Long-tailed Pipit), species that are inaccessible for political / security reasons (e.g. anything with Nicobar in the name), and some genuine enigmas (e.g. Rueck's Blue Flycatcher).

For me, the most unexpected ornithological (re)discovery in recent decades was finding a population of Madagascar Pochard.

The Madanga is less of a holy grail than some of the other Buru endemics (dipping it still hurts... at least most of my friends failed as well, otherwise I would quite rightly never have heard the end of it).

Wow!

I'll certainly never see any of them.............from a WP point of view I would still say Siberian Rubythroat and White-throated Needletail are holy grails in their own way, though I sometimes wonder, certainly in the case of the swift, whether it is because of the name itself. If it had been called White-backed Swift for instance, the glamour might not be so strong?

wolfbirder said:

Wow!

I'll certainly never see any of them.............from a WP point of view I would still say Siberian Rubythroat and White-throated Needletail are holy grails in their own way, though I sometimes wonder, certainly in the case of the swift, whether it is because of the name itself. If it had been called White-backed Swift for instance, the glamour might not be so strong?

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The beauty of birding is that holy grails can be relative. I doubt there is a single European birder who didn't grow up dreaming about Siberian Rubythroat.

DMW said:

For me, the most unexpected ornithological (re)discovery in recent decades was finding a population of Madagascar Pochard.

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Both the Forest Owlet and the much weirder Long-whiskered Owlet certainly were holy grails, which both have interesting rediscovery stories (esp. the Forest Owlet). Another interesting South American bird that was recently rediscovered is the White-masked Antbird. It's a bastard to see, but no holy grail anymore!

Snoring Rail: now that's a bird that everyone seems to miss!

And isn't the Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher still lost? The sister taxon on Guadalcanal was recently collected as we should all recall.

I expect there to be an antbird in the Sira Mountains related to the "Cordillera Azul" Antbird. I guess that makes a nice holy grail – it may not exist!

Xenospiza said:

Both the Forest Owlet and the much weirder Long-whiskered Owlet certainly were holy grails, which both have interesting rediscovery stories (esp. the Forest Owlet). Another interesting South American bird that was recently rediscovered is the White-masked Antbird. It's a bastard to see, but no holy grail anymore!

Snoring Rail: now that's a bird that everyone seems to miss!

And isn't the Bougainville Moustached Kingfisher still lost? The sister taxon on Guadalcanal was recently collected as we should all recall.

I expect there to be an antbird in the Sira Mountains related to the "Cordillera Azul" Antbird. I guess that makes a nice holy grail – it may not exist!

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Indeed, the Forest Owlet story is especially interesting (arguably more than the actual bird!). The point for me with Mad Pochard is that friends of mine spent many months over several years undertaking survey work looking for it, with absolutely no success. They were convinced it was gone - then it turns up in completely the "wrong" place!

The only report I've seen of Snoring Rail is at some reserve where there are hides overlooking a salt lick - forget the name.

I think "lost" in relation to Bougainville translates more as hardly anybody has looked. It's surely still there.

Echoing others comments here a bit but:

Alaotra Grebe is near 100% certainly extinct.
Bogota Sunangel has been fairly decisively shown to be a hybrid.

On the other hand:

Anjouan, Comoro, and Moheli Scops-Owls are pretty straightforward.
Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer is straightforward at a handful of sites.
Dusky Starfrontlet is straightforward.
Recurve-billed Bushbird is straightforward at the reserve, safety permitting.

Still hard but:
Rondonia Bushbird can certainly be seen but it does takes some doing.
Sinaloa Martin has a summertime stakeout along the Durango Hwy, and is reliable there.
White-fronted Swift is, from what I understand, reliable if you stake out the waterfall in Michoacan for a day or two in summer.

Some bigger neotropical holy grails that come to mind are:

Colorful Puffleg
Gorgeted Puffleg
Chiribiqueti Emerald
Barred Tinamou
Tachira Antpitta
Elusive Antpitta
Red-billed Ground-Cuckoo
Red-winged Wood-Rail
Dot-winged Crake
Gray-headed Piprites
Santa Marta Sabrewing

Birds that are there and accessible but a PITA (ala the Rondonia Bushbird) include:
Ayacucho Thistletail - AFAIK I am one of two westerners outside of Peter Hosner and his group to have gone and seen it but the area is dangerous and I am not sure I would recommend others do the same.
Tacarcuna Warbler
Tacarcuna Wood-Quail
Tacarcuna Tapaculo
Acre Antshrike
Yellow-browed Toucanet
White-masked Antbird
Pirre Warbler
Pirre Hummingbird
Green-naped Tanager
Beautiful Treerunner
Blue-bearded Helmetcrest
Santa Marta Wren
Sira Tanager
Sira Curassow

Those who know Venezuela and Brazil better can certainly contribute more.

Xenospiza said:

I expect there to be an antbird in the Sira Mountains related to the "Cordillera Azul" Antbird. I guess that makes a nice holy grail – it may not exist!

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This is certainly on my mind. I hope to get to the Sira at some point!

Also Bachman's and Semper's Warbler?

Another comes to mind - Fuegian Snipe.

If you want to add the really hard pelagic species, the list will grow a lot. Fijian, Mascarene & Magenta Petrels, Amsterdam Albatross, Bryan's Shearwater, and some more. Most are "gettable" but far from easy or cheap.

pbjosh said:

Birds that are there and accessible but a PITA (ala the Rondonia Bushbird) include:

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White-masked Antbird - It is not too hard near San Lorenzo if you don't try the usual location where it is obviously taped out. Taking a picture is too much to ask.
Pirre Warbler - gettable after the long slog up
Pirre Hummingbird - gettable after the long slog up
Green-naped Tanager - dipped this one. You rarely see pictures and it's easy to string (I saw a dark tanager there).
Beautiful Treerunner - dipped this one as well. There's another mountain where it appears to be easier, but we lacked time after ten days on Pirre.

pbjosh said:

Those who know Venezuela and Brazil better can certainly contribute more.

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How about Great Antpitta and Guaiquinima Redstart (the latter probably easy once you get there, but you can't)
In Brazil the Alagaos endemics are of course all vanishing. I missed a few that are still around (I should have managed the tyrannulet and the kite) and they claimed I was half a year too late for the foliage-gleaner.
The Scaled Ground-Cuckoo is not one to expect to see, but you can dream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lsydp_crS0
Awaiting rediscovery: Antioquia Brush Finch, Vilcabamba Brush Finch (the oversplit brushfinches can't be holy grails, can they? Miguel Lezama is searching the latter at the moment).

More in the Pacific:
Tooth-billed Pigeon (almost gone), Red-throated Lorikeet (completely gone?)

AidenD said:

Also Bachman's and Semper's Warbler?

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Gone and gone...

Xenospiza I got the Pirre Brush-Finch, Warbler, Hummer and Beautiful Treerunner in a few hours up on the ridge but dipped the Tanager. Isaac claimed to see a handful of them along the way I don't know if the Treerunner is really easier on Chucanti. George Angehr commented that they saw a few of them there so perhaps.

The two Brush-Finches are good calls. I had a whack at Vilcabamba BF last year, obviously nothing, but found P luluae (Johnson's Tody-Fly) in the Vilcabamba which was interesting.

Scaled Ground-Cuckoo is probably not as hard as Red-billed or the Wood-Rail, IMO. Not easy, though, I haven't gotten it and have spent plenty of time looking, including many days in Anchicayá and week at Canandé. That and the Colombian Crake are what I'm missing from that area.

Viridian Dacnis and Dusky-backed Jacamar have recently gotten easier though I don't have either yet...

Great Antpitta & others

Cool thread,

Great Antpitta is relatively easy at PN Yacambu in VZ. We found several nests for that species as part of work there in the late 2000s.

Yellow-crested Helmet-shrike seems like a legit "holy-grail" unless there have been recent sightings that I don't know about.

Another interesting bird that was refound last year after a long (50+ yr) hiatus is the Bornean form of Rajah Scops-Owl (Otus brooki brooki). Almost certainly a good species.

Andy

Rondonia Bushbird is becoming easier. I just saw it on a Birdquest tour to Campos Amazonicos NP, and Field Guides is going there next year.

White-browed Nuthatch is actually relatively easy on Mt.Victoria.