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Andalucian Hemipode in Andalucia?? (1 Viewer)

I did eliminate gamebird chicks. I am very familiar with them and they are abundant in fields at home, and I thought November a bit late for these in Portugal. In a long-ish day at Cape St Vincent I saw no other gamebirds - adult or young. I have no doubt that this was an adult bird.
 
In recent times most records for the nominates Turnyx sylvatica sylvatica in Europe, the northern most form of the Small Buttonquail, are all referred to the Cabo de Gata area in Almeria province, some coastal areas in southern Cadiz and Doñana. It is considered to be extinct from Sicily (last observation in 1920) and Portugal (1972), probably extinct from Algeria (1976), need to be studied in Tunez (1985). There are still small located populations in northern Morocco.

The last records:
Van Ijzwndorn, E. 1990 - 01, one heard in Coto del Rey, Doñana.
Barroso I. 1992, one hunted in Gibraleon, Huelva
Garrido H. 1997, twice that year in Doñana
Garrido H. Heard in Acebuche, Doñana
Crouzier P. 2002, heard near Caceres
Viteri A. 2002, one individual in Cabo de Gata

No reliable or physical proves in the last 25 years.

In the last few years 2006–08 some 11.00 has of appropriate habitats have been thoroughly studied in Andalusia, in the provinces of Cadiz, Huelva, Sevilla and Almeria with no positive results. So at present there are no reliable proves of the presence of the species in Andalusia.
 
I've given this thread a 'bump' as I'm sure there are a good few people who'd like to know, whether in the six years or so since the last comment, there have been any sightings of this enigmatic species in Iberia or in north-west Africa (outside the known range in Morocco).

My own interest has recently been fired after doing a little research (mainly of an historical nature) on the species for my blog on Cadiz birding (far too long to be quoted in full here but if you'd like to read it see – http://birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birding-blog-page. My own feelings are that, given the rather surprising reports of the species in Spain at the start of this century and its notorious elusiveness, it would be premature to entirely discount the possibility that a few might yet survive, but that if any are found it will only be for us to witness their final extinction here. On the other hand I rather expect, if anyone's been able to look, for them to be found elsewhere in NW Africa outside the tiny relict population in SW Morocco.

It's also been interesting to discover that, contra the otherwise excellent and seminal article by Gutierrez et al (see History, status and distribution of Andalusian Buttonquail in the WP” by Carlos Gutiérrez Expósito et al Dutch Birding 33: 75-93; available online via www.researchgate.net), that the species was known to writers in Spain long before 1834 as they suggest. It's even noted and illustrated in,
*'A General Synopsis of Birds' (Vol II Part 2 p790 – see http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33730435 published in 1783 – four years before it's 'official discovery by Desfontaines. It was apparently described even earlier as 'Three-toed Quail' by Dr George Shaw (one of the greatest naturalists of his day), but I've as yet not found the exact reference. The earliest report of the species I've found thus far is in 1770 (although it wasn't published until much later) when Gilbert White wrote to Thomas Pennant that his brother John (then a chaplain Gibraltar) to say his brother has sent him a “Tetrao coturnico similis, pedibus tridactylis - Smaller than the quail, and called trail, or terraile” (the name clearly being an Anglicised form of the Spanish El Torillo). Given that by this time British military personnel, always keen 'sportsmen', had been stationed on Gibraltar for over 50 years, it's quite likely that there are other (unpublished) records of the 'terralie' mouldering away amongst private papers.

Finally, it's been interesting to discover that the claimed British record of 1844 was supported by a photograph (presumably of the dead bird) which must surely be one of the earliest reports of photography being used to support the claim of a rare bird! (See - The Zoologist'*1849 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/123055#page/303/mode/1up).
 

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Hi John thanks for the reference, it's really interesting. I've found that is also cited in Gibraltar by Bonnaterre (1790), in his book Tableau encyclopédique des trois règnes de la nature, when describing the genus for the first time. Unfortunately, no proven or substained records of this species have occured in Spain since 1981. Probably it was still present in the early nineties, but nowadays possibilities of any remnant population in Spain is remote.
 
Thanks for the reference. Is the source available online? Does he say anything further about the species or his source of information? My guess would be that his source is not independent but comes from Latham whose General Synopsis was so well regarded that even the French were inclined to reference it ;-)

I fear you're right about the species' status in Spain although, optimist as I am, I'm inclined to believe that a few might just have staggered on into the early 2000s.
 
Hello. This message tries to thank James Lowther, John Cantelo and RGoater, and all those who showed interest in the current status of the Andalucian Hemipode.
If it is of some interest, there is a series of articles in a generalist nature conservation magazine in Spain. It is called Revista Quercus, and you can find it on www.revistaquercus.es. In the "Observatorio" section from magazine number 388 (June2018) to the present issue, number 394( Dec 2018 ), you will find a monthly article titled "OPERACIÓN TORILLO".
Torillo is the spanish word for Turnix sylvatica. The series of articles depicts the adventures of five fanatic, in the noble sense of the term, researchers in the quest of this rare bird in the Atlantic district of Morocco. It has lots of colourful descriptions of the people and landscapes of this region.
In addition, they have organized a conference about this trip, which took place in the spanish museum of natural sciences, on November, the 6th. You could find a piece of news related to all this trip in the 393 issue of the revista Quercus ( Nov 2018 ). You can find it there, with the key words " OPERACIÓN TORILLO ".
Hope this could help, Blanca and Paco.
 
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