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Pleske's Ground Jay (1 Viewer)

olontur

watcher
Hello!
I'm new to this forum, and I've come with a questions and puzzle's which I hope you can help me solve.

The Facts:

The Pleske's or Iranian Ground Jay is almost certainly endemic to Iran. There are no confirmed records outside Iranian borders, however it might occur in Afghanistan and even as far as Kashmir.

There is hardly anything known about it, except that birders know that the best place to watch it are semi-desertous plains with Zygophyllum atriplicoides.

Although the Fieldguide to the Birds of Middle East claims it to be elusive, (proffesional) birders I have consulted claimed that watching it wouldn't be really difficult, as it often perches on bushes and after some time of accomodation even looses its fear of humans and comes close.

Park-guards at the Touran National Park - more info on that later - said that the bird would even come up to your campfire and that it is rather curious.

The bird should not be rare or threatened. In fact, the population should be quite healthy.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Middle East says that the nest of it has NOT been described up to now.

THIS BUGGED ME!

My Plan:

Going to somewhere, where I knew this bird occured and try to gather information of its breeding behaviour.

The place I chose was the Touran National Park. It lies in north-central Iran, consists of desert and semi-desert and isolated peaks, salt plains, and said Zygophyllum covered areas.

I consulted many birders and ornithologists, and after finding out that no one knew much more about this bird than I, I set out.

Talking to Park guards with as much as 35 years of work background, I found that they seemed to have seen (pairs of) chicks running on the ground in late april. This was also confirmed by the ornitholgists and birders. But none had seen a nest.

So, on March 11. I went to the Touran National Park, and filnally after 4 hours walk in the scrubby desert landscape, I finally saw the bird. It flew off a Atraphaxis bush, in a dry riverbed, and quickly ran away, disappearing.
To my excitement, I seemed to have hit the heart on my very first day! In bush the bird had been perched on, there was a nest. And everything seemed right: The nest looked much like a magpie's, being domed only smaller, and containing four eggs like crows eggs, each less than an inch long, sandy colored with brownish speckles, especially on the poles.

I hid some 200 metres farther away, so the bird might come back. But it didn't. Not even after an hour I had been completely out of sight. Sigh...

On the next day, there was a heavy rainstorm so I decided to leave t come back in a few of days. I just had some long conversations with older park rangers.

On March 16. I was there again, and this time with the park SUV, I was driven to the riverbed where the nest was. On the way, I saw five Ground Jays, but couldn't take any picture. Still, I was even more hopeful, as i had seen FIVE birds, only on my way there!!!

I got out 1 km farther from the nest. But even spending 8 hours in field was not enough to catch glimps of a bird. Until, when I was going back, I saw a bird, and managed to take a picture. I'll attach it.

Spending ten hours searching, staying hidden, watching the plain from hilltops, all where no good on the day after.

Question:

Does anybody know ANYTHING about the breeding/nesting beviour of any other Ground Jay? Perhaps this could help me further. I couldn't find any useful info on the net...

What else could I do? Do you have any ideas about this?

My most sincere Thanks in advance

smiles
sam
 
Hi Sam,
This is a tough genus to gather information about. This bird thought near threatened some years back is thought to be more common than thought, just very elusive. In my books, regarding the range I have southern Afghanistan (with a big question mark), and western Pakistan (with another big question mark).

I hope you thought to take some photos of the nest and eggs, of course, without disturbing the bird. You might think about constructing a very discrete blind at some distance away. This is the type of thing where you just have to camp out, and if you are doing this in your spare time from your normal work, you might think about finding some young buck who is willing to camp out at a blind.

Somewhere in the threads on this site, if my memory is not failing me, are some querys floated by a Chinese scientist regarding information for congener P. biddulphi. It was about a year and a half ago. I do know that he subsequently published a treatise on this bird. I can't remember his name offhand, but if you can find these threads you might arrive to him, and he should know something about the habits and nesting of P. biddulphi at least.
 
as far as i know breeding is virtually undocumented.

basically this: nests in a bush about a mtere of ground, higher if bushes arebiger, resembles a Desert Finch nest but a lot bigger. Clutch size 4-6 eggs

Distribution: desert depressions of eastern Iran, chiefly in Dusht i Lut of Khorasan and extreme Kerman; northernmost record from northern Semnan, south to Iranian Baluchistan. Could occur over border into Pakistani Baluchistan, perhaps even western Afghanistan

Let me know if you'd like a formal reference for this info...
 
thanks guys!

Bold task I've started, eh? Yet, the idea to find out something no one's known before is great!
I'm going back tomorrow, this time for 4-5 days.

Tim, so the nest I've found should be quite the right thing... Yep, it would be great to have a formal reference!

Steve, about finding a young buck, that would be basically myself ;)
Though, now I think of it, I know smeone who'd be of use!

No bird ever visited the nest I found, I even was there before sunrise, when it's still pretty cold. But no sign. So only time will tell, whether THIS one was right or not.
The only other nests I found where three scrub warbler's.

BTW, the guards say that it is not usual to have such a hard time seeing P. pleskei. I guess, they're busy nesting or something.
One thing else that occured to me, is that they might nest in holes in the ground. There are lots of them...

Cheers and all the best
sam


PS: the farsi name for it is: Zaagh-e Bur, meaning Blond Chough ;)
 
Hi Olontur,

I saw Pleske's Ground Jays in Iran in 1990's. From what I gathered when talking with few Iranian scientists, there is some information, but unpublished or published only in Farsi and unknown abroad.

I also met info that this bird builds open nest, so your suggestion of roofed nest is interesting! If you get some more observations, it is worth publishing eg. in OSME Bulletin (Ornithological Society of Middle East).

Good luck with studying the bird - it is something very special!
 
hmm, I talked with most authorities on this field, but everybody said that no work has been done... could you perhaps tell me whom you talked to? There are, among others Mr. Kiabi, Mr. Adhami, Mr. Jowkar, Mr. Bakhtiari...
Thanks again
sam
 
any of you interested in pleske's ground jay, get a hold of me , i have spend quiet some time on this specie and i have alot of information to share, like color of the eggs, nesting habbits, time and season of breeding, chicks count, photos, habitat and all that might suit your taste. my study covers only iranian teritory though.
 
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