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Third Buzzard on Fuerteventura (1 Viewer)

D

Dave Barnett

Member
All, Final Buzzard ID required please. Was hoping one of them might be a Long Legged Buzzard but have just been through some of the Birdforum posts and it seems the rufous tail and light colour is also present in the local common Buzzards on the Canary Islands. Also found that the subject of Canary Island Buzzards can really be a controversial topic!!
Cheers,
Dave
 

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What was the Northwest African race of Long-legged Buzzard is now considered a form of Common Buzzard anyway. Canaries buzzards have always been Common Buzzards but with some similarities to what used to be the Long-leggeds from the adjacent mainland.

Steve
 
Dave Barnett said:
All, Final Buzzard ID required please. Was hoping one of them might be a Long Legged Buzzard but have just been through some of the Birdforum posts and it seems the rufous tail and light colour is also present in the local common Buzzards on the Canary Islands. Also found that the subject of Canary Island Buzzards can really be a controversial topic!!
Cheers,
Dave
Click to expand...

There is no chance of Long-legged Buzzard on the Canaries. Records are from cirtensis that proved to be a sub-species or an allo-species of Common Buzzard. Fuerteventura Common Buzzards look very much like B. (b.) cirtensis indeed.
 
I have seen LLB deep in Maroc and put them down as such but there are birds up on the Straits that have now been classed as ‘Gibraltar’ Buzzards which is rather confusing...

Laurie -
 
rollingthunder said:
I have seen LLB deep in Maroc and put them down as such but there are birds up on the Straits that have now been classed as ‘Gibraltar’ Buzzards which is rather confusing...

Laurie -
Click to expand...

They are not longer considered as LLB, but North African Buzzard, with shape and voice as Common Buzzard, not like LLB. I scream that since more than 20 years, but finally science confirmed recently.
 
In the April 2017 British Birds, there is an article by Guillermo Rodriguez, Juan Ramirez and Javier Elorriaga entitled 'Phenotypic characteristics of Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura'; the abstract says
"The Common Buzzards Buteo buteo ‘lanzarotae’ from Fuerteventura, in the Canary Islands, are distinctive. This taxon often resembles Long-legged Buzzard B. rufinus but also shows some plumage traits consistent with Common Buzzard B. buteo. We describe the plumage of ‘lanzarotae’, and highlight features that separate it from Common Buzzards in the western Canary Islands and from North African Long-legged Buzzard B. r. cirtensis. We suggest that the appearance of ‘lanzarotae’ may be the product of a hybrid origin and also that currently accepted records of Long-legged Buzzard in the Canary Islands are in fact ‘lanzarotae’."

N.b. IOC v9.2 does not recognise 'lanzarotae' but also does not include any part of the Canaries as part of the range of 'cirtensis' either.
 
rollingthunder said:
So - are all Buzzards in the Mahgreb just a subspecies of Common i.e. cirtensis or what?

Laurie:t:
Click to expand...

Yes, either a subspecies of Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo cirtensis) or a closely related species Buteo cirtensis.

It is like for Scottish Crossbill, Heuglin's Gull and many others : we will probably disagree for years... split - lump - split - lump... ;)

But in no case Long-legged Buzzard.
 
davercox said:
In the April 2017 British Birds, there is an article by Guillermo Rodriguez, Juan Ramirez and Javier Elorriaga entitled 'Phenotypic characteristics of Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura'; the abstract says
"The Common Buzzards Buteo buteo ‘lanzarotae’ from Fuerteventura, in the Canary Islands, are distinctive. This taxon often resembles Long-legged Buzzard B. rufinus but also shows some plumage traits consistent with Common Buzzard B. buteo. We describe the plumage of ‘lanzarotae’, and highlight features that separate it from Common Buzzards in the western Canary Islands and from North African Long-legged Buzzard B. r. cirtensis. We suggest that the appearance of ‘lanzarotae’ may be the product of a hybrid origin and also that currently accepted records of Long-legged Buzzard in the Canary Islands are in fact ‘lanzarotae’."

N.b. IOC v9.2 does not recognise 'lanzarotae' but also does not include any part of the Canaries as part of the range of 'cirtensis' either.
Click to expand...

I said that in 2015 already when I visited Fuerteventura. I've shown, as a test, a bird taken on the island and claimed it was taken in Morocco. The question was : local cirtensis or wintering buteo ?

100% said cirtensis (then I told them the truth).

The article is ok, but still consider cirtensis as a sub-species of Long-legged like most in 2017.


Now everyone accept cirtensis that is linked to buteo and not to rufinus, it changed it all. The similarity of Canarian sub-species and cirtensis is a point to lump cirtensis with buteo.
 
just a comment that regardless of the new research *as of today* all the world checklists still count cirtensis as a subspecies of LLB.
No doubt that will change in time however,
cheers,
James
 
James Lowther said:
just a comment that regardless of the new research *as of today* all the world checklists still count cirtensis as a subspecies of LLB.
No doubt that will change in time however,
cheers,
James
Click to expand...

You are right, and I've no idea why they are so shy to move on, while some of them are splitting like crazy on every occasions.

Already in 2002 while publishing my French guide book about bird of Morocco, I wanted to change the traditionnal classification while my co-authors thought it was too early, although they agreed that should be done soon or later.

I've very surprised that 17 years later while genetics confirmed, earlier this year, what we said, none of those international references have taken action yet.
 
James Lowther said:
just a comment that regardless of the new research *as of today* all the world checklists still count cirtensis as a subspecies of LLB.
No doubt that will change in time however,
cheers,
James
Click to expand...

That’s far from certain in fact.

Sure enough the taxonomy of buzzards «from North Africa» is bound to evolve sound or late.
As, for instance, the current classification makes little sense when it lumps «Gibraltar buzzard» with cirtensis while birds from the Canary’s are listed under Common buzzard.

The paper by Jowers and al. (2019) certainly help and build a better understanding of the relationship between cirtensis and it’s close cousins, buteo and rufinus. However the reasons put forward to lump cirtensis with Buteo buteo aren’t considered valid by some (very good) geneticists.

The genetics of cirtensis is not homogenous across its range (or what is currently considered to be its range ...) as the contribution of Common buzzard clearly increases as we go to the northwest(ie Northern Morocco/Gibraltar) while eastern birds (Tunisia) are apparently closer to rufinus.
And thus lumping cirtensis with buteo is still considered premature, or even incorrect by some, based on the very same results obtained by Jowers and al.

So...the last word on this topic as yet to be written it seems.
 
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