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

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Having recently been to Sulawesi, there seem to be a few endemics there that are rarely seen. Snoring Rail was mentioned above but how often are Sulawesi Woodcock or Sulawesi Cuckoo seen? They certainly seem to be impossible birds to target in any way.

 

[DMW]

Having recently been to Sulawesi, there seem to be a few endemics there that are rarely seen. Snoring Rail was mentioned above but how often are Sulawesi Woodcock or Sulawesi Cuckoo seen? They certainly seem to be impossible birds to target in any way.

I heard Sulawesi Cuckoo at the bottom of the Anaso track a few years ago, in March. It's a notoriously hard species to see (a fact I can attest... it was right above my head and I still couldn't see it), and I suspect that it is vocal in the wet season when fewer birders visit. As you know, many cuckoo species are invisible when not singing.

Sulawesi Woodcock does seem to be a genuinely very difficult bird.

Edwards's Pheasant is another seemingly near impossible one... if there are any left?

 

[James Eaton]

I heard Sulawesi Cuckoo at the bottom of the Anaso track a few years ago, in March. It's a notoriously hard species to see (a fact I can attest... it was right above my head and I still couldn't see it), and I suspect that it is vocal in the wet season when fewer birders visit. As you know, many cuckoo species are invisible when not singing.

Sulawesi Woodcock does seem to be a genuinely very difficult bird.

Edwards's Pheasant is another seemingly near impossible one... if there are any left?

I agree on the woodcock - how that has gone undetected for so long, considering how much night birding and how many birders visit Sulawesi is beyond me. I once flushed what I presumed was one, only to find out that evening, that my friend Rob had had great views on the deck of one at the same spot, earlier in the morning!
Sulawesi Cuckoo - go to Buton in the wet season, not so difficult. Otherwise, we had a group last week that had great views of one at Toraut.

Edward's Pheasant is a sad story, and maybe there aren't any left now, but ironically plenty in captivity.

James

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Having recently been to Sulawesi, there seem to be a few endemics there that are rarely seen. Snoring Rail was mentioned above but how often are Sulawesi Woodcock or Sulawesi Cuckoo seen? They certainly seem to be impossible birds to target in any way.

I jammed a Sulawesi Woodcock on the Anaso track at Lore Lindu. Quite high up, ie above where the Geomalia gets seen (which I dipped). I recall thinking shortly afterwards that I doubt I'll ever see anything that's seen by less birders than that.

 

[Maffong]

I took all your comments into consideration and made these changes to the last version in comment #32

Deleted from list
Tessmann's Flycatcher

Transferred to Former Holy Grails
Black-chinned Monarch
Silvery Pigeon

Added to Real Holy Grails
Zapata Rail

Added to former Holy Grails
New Zealand Storm-petrel

Added to possibly extinct Holy Grails
Edward's Pheasant

Added to enigmatic species
Crested Argus
Madagascar Serpent-eagle
Sulawesi Woodcock

To clarify the distinction between 'Real Holy Grail' and 'Possibly extinct Holy Grail' I'd like to add this comment:
While the former are species we never knew much about and where information lacks very much, the latter are species that comparatelively much knowledge was gathered about. The line is difficult to draw, but whilst regular wintering sites were known for e.g. Slender-billed Curlew from which they disappeared slowly, White-eyed River-Martin just suddenly appeared on our radar, only to disappear just as quickly again. While both may well be extinct I believe the latter are much better known to allow for such a classification.
Please let me know if you disagree on anything

Maffong

 

[temmie]

Another enigmatic species since 2015: Rufous-headed Robin

 

[GrizGrouse]

Samoan & Makira Moorhen

Samoan Moorhen & Makira Moorhen

I don't know a ton about the status of these birds, other than they haven't been seen alive in 100+ years and their potential habitat is rarely visited by birders. I know a group of researchers surveyed for one species (I can't remember which) without success in 2016. Might warrant adding to the list?

Andy

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Samoan Moorhen & Makira Moorhen

I don't know a ton about the status of these birds, other than they haven't been seen alive in 100+ years and their potential habitat is rarely visited by birders. I know a group of researchers surveyed for one species (I can't remember which) without success in 2016. Might warrant adding to the list?

Andy

I read about a fairly recent sighting of what was presumed to be Samoan Moorhen a few years ago. Can't recall the details.

 

[johnallcock]

There's a few species in China that potentially qualify on the former Holy Grail list e.g. Chinese Crested Tern, Crested Ibis, Blue-crowned/Courtois' Laughingthrush, White-speckled (Biet's) Laughingthrush, Rusty-throated (Przevalski's) Parrotbill, Blackthroat. I think all were missing for a number of years but are now seen at known sites found in the last few years. There are potentially more that I've forgotten at the moment.

 

[lewis20126]

I'm not sure it is mentioned about but Long-legged Warbler (Fiji) was a former classic Holy Grail, but after rediscovery is now regularly seen in several locations.

cheers, alan

 

[lewis20126]

Another enigmatic species since 2015: Rufous-headed Robin

Has this been seen at all since 2015?

cheers, alan

 

[Captain_of_Crunch]

Not sure if this has been posted already, but I think Julian Hulme's Extinct Birds is worth consulting as Appendix 1 gives a list of Data Deficient taxa which most likely contains most of the Holy Grail species.

 

[lewis20126]

Colombian Crake is a BLI DD species, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo of one - I haven't tried too hard - anyone else seen one or know where it can be seen?

IBC:
http://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/colombian-crake-neocrex-colombiana

cheers, alan

 

[pbjosh]

Colombian Crake is a BLI DD species, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo of one - I haven't tried too hard - anyone else seen one or know where it can be seen?

IBC:
http://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/colombian-crake-neocrex-colombiana

cheers, alan

There is an old record from Tocumen marsh in Panamá of all places. I don't recall how old, but 80's maybe? A lot of that marsh has since been lost, and there are few or perhaps no other Panama records. So little known about the bird it is hard to say if that was a vagrant or if it could be regularly occurring in E Panamá. I don't know of any records in Colombia off the top of my head though there doubtless are. There is a small marsh in Ayampe, Ecuador, essentially in the corner of the road junction that takes you to the Jocotoco reserve. It's a scrubby shitty little patch that is separated from the main riverbed / riparian area by the road itself. Apparently the bird has been seen in that scrappy little patch a couple of times. One of the records is in eBird and I talked with the person who saw it, I think perhaps she has seen it more than once but memory is vague, she is a local birder/guide. As well the rangers/staff of the Jocotoco reserve have seen it there at least once. We gave it a couple tries slogging through the marsh in gumboots for an hour or a two at a time and the only thing we flushed / saw were clouds of mosquitos, unsurprisingly.

 

[pbjosh]

Ok, some more on Colombian Crake:

A sight record from Hitoy Cerere, Costa Rica, in 1986 that was considered reliable.

A specimen (type specimen of subsp ripleyi) was taken on Achiote Rd in the canal zone of Panama in 1965.
They were found in Tocumen marsh in 1982 and apparently there were various records including a juvenile, "indicating almost certain breeding here."

There appear to be old records from both the Chocó and from the N/NE in Colombia, though I wonder when the last time anyone saw it in N Colombia was?

 

[temmie]

Has this been seen at all since 2015?

cheers, alan

According to my sources, no. But happy to hear I am wrong...

 

[amears]

I've also heard 'no', Alan

 

[Jacana]

Liberian Greenbul can be removed, it is probably a plumage variant of the Icterine Greenbul

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10336-017-1477-0.pdf