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Undescribed (1 Viewer)

Do you mean that leucopyga and latifascia could be sympatric in North-western Brazil (and may be also in North-eastern Peru) and the second type of voice being the one of the latter ?

I should have checked the new Birds of Peru instead of doing it on memory - I thought they mentioned the vocal variation, but they don't. Anyhow, what I meant is that:

1) The species limits in N. leucopyga (-complex) needs resolving. Even if disregarding the potential species level splits, subspecific variations are poorly understood.
2) N. l. leucopyga with the "standard voice" occurs widely north of Rio Amazon. In the Rio Negro region (not just in Jaú NP) there is another population, which morphologically is quite similar, but its voice is different. Some 50 years ago, the name latifascia was given to a population in far SW Venezuela and adjacent Colombia. In terms of biogeography, this region is part of the Rio Negro drainage. This taxon is still poorly known, and the name has been abandoned by some (while many still recognized it). It may - or may not - match the new population, in which case it really wouldn't be new at all. To settle this, a check of specimens and manuscripts is needed. Obviously, you can only name a new taxon once you've established with certainty that it isn't an already described taxon (otherwise, you'll just end up with a junior synonym).
 
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Can I just come in and say thanks Laurent for reminding me of the Togian Zosterops description ? It was me who posted a message on the Bird news forum when it went public. I guess I'm a bit overzealous in finding "undescribed" birds. Besides being forgetful.
 
Anyone that happen to know anything recent about that mysterious black bird found on Goodenough Island in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands?

To my knowledge it is known from something like 2-3 observations in total and there has been quite a discussion in the past about what it could be.

It has been described as: Black plumage and it have the size of a small crow and it also poses a long tail. Its call is short and explosive.

I think it was first recorded by some of the members on the fourth Archbold Expedition in 1953, and was later seen by James Menzies who observed a small group of these birds in the forest canopy on Mount Oiamadawa in 1975.

Some suggests that it could be a undescribed bird of Paradise, while others think it may be somesort of honeyeater or Drongo. I have also read about thoughts that it may be a population of the Paradise crow L. pyrrhopterus, but the last alternative is very unlikely.

Problem seems to be that it is restricted to the mountains of Goodenough, some birdwatchers do visit Goodenough but very few, if anyone has visited the mountain areas in recent decades.
 
As Daniel mentioned the Goodenough bird has entered the dubious realm of cryptozoology. Gilliard wrote in his monograph on Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds that A.S.Meek climbed the islands mountain forest to "great height looking for a particular species of bird of paradise". This was not the long-tailed bird L.J.Brass reported for the first time. Meek was looking for Paradisaea decora and, of course, he did not find it nor the black bird.
When I was in Australia I learned that someone, who shall remain nameless, planned to visit Goodenough in 1985 to check this bird out. He had everything organised, permits from the government included, but the whole thing fell through in the end for reasons I can not remember.
There is a recent article on the birds of Goodenough published by Lecroy and Peckover in the Muruk 8 (2), P.41-44. Might be something there.
Personally I doubt it very much that if this bird will be found it will prove to be an Astrapia or Epimachus. I consider the drongo theory much more likely. The Ribbon-tailed Drongo lives close by on New Ireland although I don't know if that's a mountain bird.
 
Here are some more from South America I'm curious about. They have been mostly gleaned from trip reports/tour descriptions. Does anyone know more about them?

"Sao Paolo" Antwren: in Sao Paolo state in Brazil, a Field Guides tour itinerary mentions this species "to be formally described in mid-2006", but the description is not out yet as far as I know.

new antwren (and several other species) along the Rio Javarì, Brazil. Mentioned in several trip reports and tour itineraries, but I don't know anything else about them.

New antpitta from Colombia: included (as Grallaria sp nov) in the new Colombia checklist published in Conservacion Colombiana. I noticed they placed it between Undulated and Giant, it should be a pretty spectacular bird if these are indeed its closest relatives! Anyone know more?
 
On Tom Jenner's excellent website for birding in Gutamala, El Salvador and Honduras he describes some unknown possibles. The Tinamou sounds like the most promising...

extract:

One of the great things about Honduras is that there are opportunities to make new discoveries. Right within the main area for tourists along the north coast, especially at Lancetilla, there have been many reports by well respected birders, mostly in the 1950’s, of a large swift with a white nape (see Monroe for details). This may be White-naped Swift, which is otherwise an endemic to West Mexico, or it could be a new species. No specimens have yet been obtained, or photos taken, so keep your camera handy at all times... Mark Bonta, who is one of the leading authorities on the birds of Honduras and the undisputed expert on Olancho, once saw a strange hummingbird at Botaderos. He describes it as something between a Coquette (in terms of its patterning) and a Mountain-gem (in terms of structure). He cannot be sure if it was an aberrant, or a hybrid, or an undescribed species... On my one visit to Mosquitia... The most experienced resident birder in Las Marias (the most remote town in the region) is a guide called Martin. He is sure that he has seen and photographed an undescribed species of Tinamou. Unfortunately, he gave the photo to a foreign birder several years ago and has not heard back since. He still has the negative, but I was unable to see what the bird is like. When you are birding in areas like these there is always the chance for something unexpected and that, for me, makes it very exciting birding.

http://www.mayanbirding.com/
 
The most experienced resident birder in Las Marias (the most remote town in the region) is a guide called Martin. He is sure that he has seen and photographed an undescribed species of Tinamou. Unfortunately, he gave the photo to a foreign birder several years ago and has not heard back since. He still has the negative, but I was unable to see what the bird is like.

There is also a Nothura sp. in Bertelli’s 2004 tinamou systematics. It is not said where it comes from ...

And thank you Rasmus for the woodpeckers.

Daniel
 
On Tom Jenner's excellent website for birding in Gutamala, El Salvador and Honduras he describes some unknown possibles. The Tinamou sounds like the most promising... http://www.mayanbirding.com/

The Las Marias, Honduras, site guide on Tom's website also has a brief description of a Thryothorus wren he & I saw there that we have not been able to assign to species. We saw the bird well but cannot find a wren species or plumage that fits (Black-throated being most similar).
 
Tyrannidae

Here are the taxa I listed in this family. Do I need to amend/update some data ?

- a Tolmomyias in Bahia state, Brazil (this thread: message #19)

- 2 Hemitriccus, one in Amazonas state, Brazil, discovered by Andrew Whittaker & Mario Cohn-Haft and one in North-eastern Peru (this thread: message #23)

- a Phyllomyias “Yungas Tyrannulet” discovered by Ted Parker on the Peru-Bolivian border: Serran ía Pilón & Cerro Asunta Pata (Sebastian Herzog in litt.)
http://www.birding-peru.com/masterperu/default.asp?paginaactual=13

- a Serpophaga “Straneck's Tyrannulet” http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396909/print

- a Zimmerius “San Martin Tyrannulet” found in Peru (San Martin: Tarapoto),
http://www.birding-peru.com/masterperu/default.asp?paginaactual=14
but I was told this is probably Z. villarejoi

- a Stigmatura in Amazonas,Venezuela (this thread: message #4)

- 2 Cnemotriccus, “La Paz Ollala's Flycatcher” and “Cochabamba Ollala's Flycatcher” from Bolivia, the former discovered by LSUMNS team (Cardiff, Cohn-Haft, et al.)
http://worldtwitch.com/new_species_hornbuckle.htm
There is also the “Varillal Flycatcher” from Peru (Loreto: Allpahuayo): http://www.birdingperu.com/forums/expeditionbirding/files.asp
but I was told this is C. [fuscatus] duidae, "Campinarana Flycatcher"

- a Myiodynastes “Island Streaked Flycatcher” with specimens from early 1980s in the LSU Museum of Natural Science (this thread: message #22)

- more ?

Daniel
 
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As for undescribed Tyrannids I've seen a photograph of a Myiornis Pygmy- Tyrant from Pernambuco, if I'm not mistaken. But I can't find it anywhere anymore.
 
As for undescribed Tyrannids I've seen a photograph of a Myiornis Pygmy- Tyrant from Pernambuco, if I'm not mistaken. But I can't find it anywhere anymore.
There were two pictures on surfbirds (where I can't find them), which I saved (send a pm if you're interested). I obviously can't put them here, as I have no idea who the photographer is!
But I'm guessing this is a better picture of the same thing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciroalbanofotos/2099915803/
 
Thanks Xenos and Sclateria for the link and the additional details on the Myiornis. I've just found one of the surfbird photo's in my archive.
I'm almost sure that surfbird also posted a photograph of the Bismarck Microeca, the New Ireland bird (birds from that island are a little different from the other undescribed New Britain bird), but that one's equally untraceable.
 

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