Afrotropical vagrants reaching WP (1 Viewer)

Cant really help on species, but ive always thought that the species most likely to occur in europe/WP would be more nomadic 'northerly' species, waterbirds, sandgrouse etc... that get dispersed by drought, or the species that mix with our birds when they migrate south in winter, raptors, storks, waders, swifts, hirundines etc... and get caught up with them when they return north

Jos Stratford said:

Waddling penguins have made it

Click to expand...

I don't think penguins were what was meant by seabirds in the original reference, and not what I was referring to - yes they have a higher escape risk.

DMW said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't many intra-African migrants migrate in response to rainfall or food availability, rather than strictly according to season as is the case with most Palearctic / Nearctic breeding migrants? A disoriented juvenile warbler hatched in Siberia has an instinct to keep migrating, and might eventually find itself in the UK. Would an Afrotropical migrant species possess the same instinct?

Click to expand...

Rainfall does trigger movements of many species over long distances in the Sahel (see Living on the edge - wetlands and birds in a changing Sahel, Zwarts et al 2009; get it via your library), in Australia and also in arid areas of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Human activity can also change bird movements - the establishment of irrigation and water-supply ponds and small dams attracts long-staying migrants, an example (from the 1980s onwards) being the spread of mostly Indian species to NW Pakistan and through the Khyber into Afghanistan; observations and records are from ponds with surrounding vegetation in areas where previously they did not exist; generally in earlier decades, the monsoon was seemingly more regular.

The corollary in the case of Sahel residents might be that small ponds created north of the Niger might attract birds driven out by widespread drought elsewhere; once these ponds dry up, perhaps early in the year, birds would be forced to move, but in any direction. Those headed north could well make it to North Africa.
MJB

well...a recent Gray-headed Gull record from Coney Island is on track to acceptance...might need to reconsider that UK record...

DMW said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't many intra-African migrants migrate in response to rainfall or food availability, rather than strictly according to season as is the case with most Palearctic / Nearctic breeding migrants?

A disoriented juvenile warbler hatched in Siberia has an instinct to keep migrating, and might eventually find itself in the UK. Would an Afrotropical migrant species possess the same instinct?

Click to expand...

Indeed. Tropical-breeding migrants typically undertake movements associated with the seasonal ebb and flow of certain natural resources. But relatively few have the innate urge (or physiology and navigational capability) of Holarctic-breeding migrants to spontaneously set off on journeys of thousands of km, involving long flight sectors, possibly at night, and sometimes including lengthy crossings of inhospitable deserts and/or seas.

DMW said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't many intra-African migrants migrate in response to rainfall or food availability, rather than strictly according to season as is the case with most Palearctic / Nearctic breeding migrants?

Click to expand...

I don't think anybody studied migratory drive among African birds. Certainly they include "proper" migrants, with separate wintering ranges, passing thousands of kilometers and flying over inhospitable habitat (eg. Congolese rainforest).

I just looked on the map, and Abdim's Stork, breeding over the Equator and wintering to South Africa would certainly land in Mediterranean region of further if it migrated north instead of south (for example joining Black Storks). Of course, proving wild origin would be challenging.

On the side - what has become of a requirement to ring captive birds which was mooted some time ago? Is it obeyed?

@jwreeves
Yes, a group of Sahelian species is another candidate to WP list. Many birds from the dry steppe or bushland would find most of Sahara not much different from their normal habitat.

jurek said:

On the side - what has become of a requirement to ring captive birds which was mooted some time ago? Is it obeyed?

Click to expand...

Many larger birds are chipped and (apparently) not ringed...

MJB said:

Human activity can also change bird movements - the establishment of irrigation and water-supply ponds and small dams attracts long-staying migrants, an example (from the 1980s onwards) being the spread of mostly Indian species to NW Pakistan and through the Khyber into Afghanistan; observations and records are from ponds with surrounding vegetation in areas where previously they did not exist; generally in earlier decades, the monsoon was seemingly more regular.

Click to expand...

That’s an interesting observation about the spread of Indian species westward into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Are you referring to range extensions of resident species, or changes to migratory patterns?

On the other side of the coin, I am aware of at least one species – Sind Sparrow – which has done the opposite and has colonised NW India as far as Delhi, following the path of irrigation canals.

MJB said:

Human activity can also change bird movements - the establishment of irrigation and water-supply ponds and small dams attracts long-staying migrants, an example (from the 1980s onwards) being the spread of mostly Indian species to NW Pakistan and through the Khyber into Afghanistan; observations and records are from ponds with surrounding vegetation in areas where previously they did not exist; generally in earlier decades, the monsoon was seemingly more regular.

The corollary in the case of Sahel residents might be that small ponds created north of the Niger might attract birds driven out by widespread drought elsewhere; once these ponds dry up, perhaps early in the year, birds would be forced to move, but in any direction. Those headed north could well make it to North Africa.
MJB

Click to expand...

Indeed, this is the case of 5th WP record of the African Crake (Crex egregia) and the only one found and stayed alive after its discovery (stayed about a week in a "bassin" of the ‘Maraichage du Sahara” farm near Dakhla, see reference below which included a pohotograph of the bird as well).

Chevalier F. & Bergier P. 2011. Notes sur quelques oiseaux observés près de Dakhla, Oued Ad- Deheb. Go- South Bull. 8: 114- 124. PDF