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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Undescribed (1 Viewer)

That makes perfect sense since the New Ireland birds are seen between 700 and 1400 m. while the New Britain birds seem te be restricted to the lowlands.
 
parrotfinches are a very popular group for bird keepers and many unusual variants have been bred in Gouldian finch, red-throated parrotfinch, blue-faced parrotfinch, pin-tailed parrotfinch, tricolored parrotfinch, red-eared parrotfinch and perhaps others. There are also hybrids produced like red-throated X blue-faced, blue-faced X Gouldian and red-headed X tricolored. I have seen one photo of red-headed X tricolored and it looks like a red-eared parrotfinch with smaller red ear patch and more blue below. Very different from parents. From websites it sounds like most parrotfinches will produce hybrids easily. One website also warns that many red-eared parrotfinches in aviculture really are hybrids (http://www.avianweb.com/redearedparrotfinches.html). One could imagine a bird keeper buying a group of red-eared parrotfinches, discovering they are hybrids and then releasing them.

Bird keeping and trading is widespread in Indonesia. I don't know much about the variants and hybrids and don't know if one that looks like the Timor parrotfinch exists. I'm only saying this is a group where people have to be careful before calling something a new species. If the Timor parrotfinch is a new species it needs protection from bird trappers and I hope the exact site won't be released until protective measures have been established.
 
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Roy'N said:
parrotfinches are a very popular group for bird keepers and many unusual variants have been bred in Gouldian finch, red-throated parrotfinch, blue-faced parrotfinch, pin-tailed parrotfinch, tricolored parrotfinch, red-eared parrotfinch and perhaps others. There are also hybrids produced like red-throated X blue-faced, blue-faced X Gouldian and red-headed X tricolored. I have seen one photo of red-headed X tricolored and it looks like a red-eared parrotfinch with smaller red ear patch and more blue below. Very different from parents. From websites it sounds like most parrotfinches will produce hybrids easily. One website also warns that many red-eared parrotfinches in aviculture really are hybrids (http://www.avianweb.com/redearedparrotfinches.html). One could imagine a bird keeper buying a group of red-eared parrotfinches, discovering they are hybrids and then releasing them.

Bird keeping and trading is widespread in Indonesia. I don't know much about the variants and hybrids and don't know if one that looks like the Timor parrotfinch exists. I'm only saying this is a group where people have to be careful before calling something a new species. If the Timor parrotfinch is a new species it needs protection from bird trappers and I hope the exact site won't be released until protective measures have been established.
Click to expand...

Valid points, especially the last paragraph. A specimen or preferably a DNA sample should be collected before its formally described rather than just the photos.
 
Well, there is still the swift I've seen 2 times in Udzungwa Mountains (June 1997 & July 2011) and once in Usambara Mountains (2 individuals); photo here http://www.valeryschollaert.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1121&Itemid=387

Description of the bird on the photo.

"It was in a group of African Palm Swifts. MUCH smaller (!) than Palm Swift, it
is all dark (I would described as sooty or dull very dark slaty but not black),
no contrast on rump nor throat.

It has an erratic flight like a Bat-like Spinetail...

The closest is shape and proportions are White-rumped and Scarce Swifts, but
both plumages and flight action are different; it looks even smaller than both."

Still no news since I've seen 2 of them in Usambara Mts in September 2011.
 
Lombok Scops Owl

Lombok Scops Owl
_______________________________

On Oriental Birding today

"Hi,
I heard the rumour of an undescribed species of scops-owl from a Bali Barat NP ranger and tried my luck. I was able to fotograph the scops-owl last week in Lombok. It is an undescribed species, apparently allready discovered several years ago, but kept surpressed for unknown but dubious reasons. The pictures were taken north of Senggigi. The species occurs in lush gardes and coconut palmgroves mixed with other trees. During my surveys on three evenings I saw a few, but heard quite a lot of them. I think it is fairly common in this widespread habitat. I made some sound recordings as well, will shall be published on Xeno-canto. The sound is very unlike the of Moluccan Scops-owl, which is also supposed to occur on the island.

Best regards,
Wiel Poelmans."

Photos on the OBC Image Database
 
Markus Lagerqvist said:
Lombok Scops Owl
_______________________________
It is an undescribed species, apparently allready discovered several years ago, but kept surpressed for unknown but dubious reasons.
Click to expand...

Nice one! I'd heard rumours of this some while ago. Sometimes researchers are trying to pull together large volumes of data on closely related taxa to see where a species fits within the genus and that can take time. That said where a species is common in a given location there seems little value in surpression, other than to preserve the "impact factor" of the publication. That is a big deal to some researchers and their funding streams. I look forward to the decription of "Otus anothermillionairensis" in due course! ;)

cheers, a
 
Bet Mikkola's cursing....would have been a good addition to the new book! ;) Fab pics too (esp 2nd one), where would we be without lamping.....;)
 
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birdboybowley said:
Bet Mikkola's cursing....would have been a good addition to the new book! ;) Fab pics too (esp 2nd one), where would we be without lamping.....;)
Click to expand...

It's almost as if everone was waiting for him to publish his book before they played their hand! To be fair, at least most of the "new" Ninox are in the book.

cheers, a
 
Markus Lagerqvist said:
Lombok Scops Owl
_______________________________

On Oriental Birding today

"Hi,
I heard the rumour of an undescribed species of scops-owl from a Bali Barat NP ranger and tried my luck. I was able to fotograph the scops-owl last week in Lombok. It is an undescribed species, apparently allready discovered several years ago, but kept surpressed for unknown but dubious reasons. The pictures were taken north of Senggigi. The species occurs in lush gardes and coconut palmgroves mixed with other trees. During my surveys on three evenings I saw a few, but heard quite a lot of them. I think it is fairly common in this widespread habitat. I made some sound recordings as well, will shall be published on Xeno-canto. The sound is very unlike the of Moluccan Scops-owl, which is also supposed to occur on the island.

Best regards,
Wiel Poelmans."

Photos on the OBC Image Database
Click to expand...

I saw a Scops Owl at Tete Batu on Lombok 14 December 1989 assuming it to be magicus as the only species recorded there. However i note "the call clearly differs from the single clear whistled monotone note of madanensis, (it also differs from the descriptions of the calls of magicus from Halmahera). I had not seen or heard magicus at the time.

I describe 2 calls from this owl, a "soft, resonant 'hooa' [v diff to locate]...and a sharp squarkng 'kark-kark-kark' reminicent of a juvenile bird [this call readily allowed me to locate the bird].

So did i see this undescribed owl? any toughts on the occurence of magicus on Lombock?
 
Can I put birds which are not only undescribed, but just predicted?

New Britain has no known owlet-nightjar nor frogmouth although they occur in New Guinea and (frogmouth) Solomons. I guess they exist in unvisited montane interior of New Britain, waiting to be discovered.
 
Ficedula said:
I describe 2 calls from this owl, a "soft, resonant 'hooa' [v diff to locate]...and a sharp squarkng 'kark-kark-kark' reminicent of a juvenile bird [this call readily allowed me to locate the bird].
Click to expand...
You'll have to wait for Wiel's recordings! Good going though. Funnily, I believe he had actually just been to Lombok on a BirdTour Asia trip.
 
Roy'N said:
Bird keeping and trading is widespread in Indonesia. I don't know much about the variants and hybrids and don't know if one that looks like the Timor parrotfinch exists. I'm only saying this is a group where people have to be careful before calling something a new species. If the Timor parrotfinch is a new species it needs protection from bird trappers and I hope the exact site won't be released until protective measures have been established.
Click to expand...

Indeed trade is rampant in Indonesia, with a few variants of parrotfinches found in private collections.

Having done plenty of research and checked collections and the finer details of the photos of the wild bird(s), I think there can be little doubt as to its appearance, as this is not the first time the new taxon has been seen, it's just taken a few years for it to be confirmed.

Though the location will not be released for a while, due to its potential rarity a formal description is in the process of being completed already.

Ficedula - you can rest in peace, your description of the Lombok otus match the sound recordings of it I have heard...

Regards,

James
 
Alor & Pantar

Trainor, C. R. et al., 2012. The avifauna of Alor and Pantar, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia. Forktail 28: 77-92.

Abstract: "... The most significant records were the discoveries on Alor of a population of Timor Bush Warbler Locustella timoriensis which may represent an undescribed subspecies, an undescribed species or subspecies of honeyeater resembling Crimson Myzomela Myzomela kuehni, and an undescribed subspecies of Timor Stubtail Urosphena subulata. The endemic subspecies of Southern Boobook Ninox boobook plesseni collected historically from Alor was found to be vocaly distinct and may be a distinct species; it was recorded on both Alor and (a new population) Pantar. Vocalisations of a presumed scops owl Otus on Pantar are distinct from Moluccan Scops Owl Otus magicus and may also be an undescribed taxon. ..."
 

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