[Edward woodwood]

Howdy people

I am off to Sri Lanka to try and get the endemics in a couple of weeks and am very mindful of the number of potential new splits coming up. Does anyone (Steve Cuckooroller?) have any info on the what the potential splits actually are - I know a few but only the more obvious ones - there are 50+ Sri Lankan subspecies I think!

Wont be haring about but will spend more time in the better places notably Sinharaja forest and the uplands such as Horton Plains.

Plus does anyone have reasonably up-to-date info on difficult stuff like the new Scops Owl, Whistling Thrush etc or just any tips in general to make my trip run a bit smoother..... good spots for a beer etc

[Dave B Smith]

Tim,
I don't have any direct info on new species but you can check the Ornitaxa website and they keep a list of "incipient species" that I've used for North and Central American proposed splits and found it quite helpful.

Sounds like another good birding trip in the making. Have a good trip!

[Edward woodwood]

hi Dave

i'm familiar with the site but had completely overlooked the idea - thanks

you been down to El triunfio for the Guans yet?

[Dave B Smith]

Tim,
Hope the site info helps.

Don't want to take your thread off subject, but quickly, as far as the Guans and El Triunfo, I'm afraid that trip is probably not going to happen. It's about a 4 hour trek into the reserve and then camping for several days and my wife prefers to sleep under just "5 stars" rather than a whole sky full . We did get to San Cristobal though. This trip can be seen at my Sumidero Canyon Trip Report

[Swift]

The Whistling Thrush is always seen by the lake at Horton Plains ,just be there early for your best chance.
The new Scops Owl is a whole different kettle of fish , I have heard it at Kitugala, cross the river from the main digs area and keep on the main trail , through the village keep going past a clearing on the left after 15 mins rigourous walking a bit further there is an obvious split the main track seems to go left go straight on down a slope, approx another 5 mins you start to cross some smallish streams leave the track and go up the hill to the right , I was almost on top of it but could not see it!!!

[godwit]

This is copied from a recent issue of Sri Lankan Wildlife News:

"Proposed additions to the endemic birds of Sri Lanka

Pamela C. Rasmussen, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI
48824-1045 USA

While preparing a book on birds of South Asia (Rasmussen and Anderton,
in press), I became convinced that numerous species-level changes to the
region's avifauna were required. Many other ornithologists and birders
had of course been aware of some of these taxonomic issues for years.
However, formal scientific publication of changes is an extremely slow
process, and there has been negligible recent work on many species
problems. All things considered, I decided therefore that the best
strategy would be to enact well-justified changes in our forthcoming book,
accompanied with necessary and sufficient evidence.

This short note is specifically on the revisions which will impact on
the number of endemic bird species found in Sri Lanka.

Wijesinghe (1994) treated the Black-capped Bulbul (Pycnonotus
melanicterus), Ceylon Small Barbet (Megalaima rubricapillus) and Ceylon
Hill Munia (Lonchura kelaarti) as Sri Lankan endemics. However Grimett
et al (1999) did not accept these as full species because the taxonomic
elevations were simply published in a checklist without a rigorous
taxonomic justification. In our book, we recognize the first two as full
endemic species to Sri Lanka, and provide justification for this treatment.
Ceylon Hill Munia was not accorded endemic full species status as the
material available to me, especially of vocalizations, was inadequate to
make a determination at this stage.

The Sri Lankan races of the Common Hawk Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius
ciceliae) and the Indian Blackbird (Turdus simillima kinnisii) may well
also warrant treatment as full species and would therefore be island endemics.
However, they are not so treated in Rasmussen and Anderton (in press), pending
further data and analyses.

Based on this work, which will be described more fully in the
forthcoming book, the proposed list of thirty three Sri Lankan Endemic Birds, is
given below. Species which have not been treated as endemic to Sri Lanka in
Grimmett et al (1999), are shown in bold face and prefaced by an
asterisk (*).

Ceylon Spurfowl Galloperdix bicalcarata
Ceylon Junglefowl Gallus lafayetii
Ceylon Woodpigeon Columba torringtonii
* Pompadour Green Pigeon Treron pompadora
Ceylon Hanging Parrot Loriculus beryllinus
Layard's Parakeet Psittacula calthropae
Red-faced Malkoha Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus
Green-billed Coucal Centropus chlororhynchos
* Serendib Scops-Owl Otus sp.
Chestnut-backed Owlet Glaucidium castanonotum
Ceylon Grey Hornbill Ocyceros gingalensis
Yellow-fronted Barbet Megalaima flavifrons
* Ceylon Small Barbet Megalaima rubricapillus
* Crimson-backed Flameback Chrysocolaptes stricklandi
* Ceylon Swallow Hirundo hyperythra
* Ceylon Woodshrike Tephrodornis affinis
* Black-capped Bulbul Pycnonotus melanicterus
Yellow-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus penicillatus
Ceylon Whistling-Thrush Myophonus blighi
Spot-winged Ground-Thrush Zoothera spiloptera
* Ceylon Scaly Thrush Zoothera imbricata
Sri Lanka Bush-Warbler Elaphrornis palliseri
Dusky-blue Flycatcher Eumyias sordidus
Brown-capped Babbler Pellorneum fuscocapillus
* Ceylon Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus [schisticeps] melanurus Ceylon
Rufous Babbler Turdoides rufescens Ashy-headed Laughingthrush Garrulax
cinereifrons Legge's Flowerpecker Dicaeum vincens Ceylon White-eye
Zosterops ceylonensis
* Ceylon Crested Drongo Dicrurus lophorinus
Ceylon Blue Magpie Urocissa ornata
White-faced Starling Sturnia albofrontata
Ceylon Hill-Myna Gracula ptilogenys


The ten newly recognised endemics, which will doubtless attract renewed
interest, are listed below for convenience.

Pompadour Green Pigeon Treron pompadora
Serendib Scops-Owl Otus sp.
Ceylon Small Barbet Megalaima rubricapillus
Crimson-backed Flameback Chrysocolaptes stricklandi
Ceylon Swallow Hirundo hyperythra
Ceylon Woodshrike Tephrodornis affinis
Black-capped Bulbul Pycnonotus melanicterus
Ceylon Scaly Thrush Zoothera imbricata
Ceylon Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus [schisticeps] melanurus Ceylon
Crested Drongo Dicrurus lophorinus

References
Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp. 1999. A guide to the birds of
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the
Maldives. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton.

Rasmussen, P. C. and J. C. Anderton. In press (expected 2004). Birds of
South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2 vols. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Wijesinghe, D.P. (1994) Checklist of the Birds of Sri Lanka. Ceylon Bird Club Notes Special Publication Series No. 2, Ceylon Bird Club. Colombo. 49 pp."

Dave

[Edward woodwood]

many thanks Dave
that's fantastic mate!

I was aware of Pam's many splits in her new India guide thru my OBC work but wasn't sure just what they were - the woodshrike was a suprise.... makes my trip all the more exciting. That's a good number of endems for an island like Sri Lanka and very high for a destination in the subcontinent.