Most difficult W Pal species to see anywhere? (1 Viewer)

DMW · Apr 5, 2019

What are the most difficult species that have been recorded in the WP to see anywhere in the world? Ignoring awkward curlews and auks, obviously...

Off the top of my head, Striped Crake and Schrenk's Bittern come to mind; Yemen Accentor if Arabia is included. Any advance on these?

Alexjh1 · Apr 5, 2019

Depends what you mean exactly by "difficult"? Getting to a place to see certain birds is not necessarily the same as spotting a widely distributed but super skulking bird. For instance, I'd argue seeing a Common Quail is more difficult than seeing a Spanish Imperial Eagle, despite the latter being far more endangered and range restricted.

I mean, I guess looking at a look at WP endemics, Algerian Nuthatch probably has to be up there?

davercox · Apr 6, 2019

Common Buttonquail, perhaps ? Or are they easily found in the few areas of Morocco where they still hang on ?

jurek · Apr 6, 2019

You mean inside WP or outside WP?

Inside the WP there are birds in central Sahara which are unseen for decades, like Pygmy Sunbird and some bustards.

DMW · Apr 6, 2019

I mean anywhere in the world. For example, Common Buttonquail is quite common and frequently encountered in e.g.. India or sub-Saharan Africa.

Nubian Bustard must be another candidate.

Andy Adcock · Apr 6, 2019

Yellow-breasted Bunting is harder than it used to be, are there still any sites in Finland?

wolfbirder · Apr 6, 2019

Little Whimbrel?

DMW · Apr 6, 2019

Alexjh1 said:
Depends what you mean exactly by "difficult"? Getting to a place to see certain birds is not necessarily the same as spotting a widely distributed but super skulking bird. For instance, I'd argue seeing a Common Quail is more difficult than seeing a Spanish Imperial Eagle, despite the latter being far more endangered and range restricted.

I mean, I guess looking at a look at WP endemics, Algerian Nuthatch probably has to be up there?

Good point. By difficult I mean birds that you have to make a proper effort to see, and aren't guaranteed even if you put in the effort. This would rule out Algerian Nuthatch, which now seems very gettable.

Another candidate - Golden Nightjar.

Andy Adcock · Apr 6, 2019

DMW said:
I mean anywhere in the world. For example, Common Buttonquail is quite common and frequently encountered in e.g.. India or sub-Saharan Africa.

Nubian Bustard must be another candidate.

You're confusing me here................

Many birds that are rare in the WP are common elsewhere so I can't underststand your point?

Xenospiza · Apr 6, 2019

andyadcock said:
Yellow-breasted Bunting is harder than it used to be, are there still any sites in Finland?

I think you have to go about 5000 km east for these now.

DMW · Apr 6, 2019

andyadcock said:
You're confusing me here................

Many birds that are rare in the WP are common elsewhere so I can't underststand your point?

I am referring to birds that have been recorded in the WP and are hard to see anywhere in the world, not just in the WP. So - for example - Striped Crake has been seen a handful of times in the WP, but is a complete b'stard to see in its regular African range.

Xenospiza · Apr 6, 2019

DMW said:
What are the most difficult species that have been recorded in the WP to see anywhere in the world? Ignoring awkward curlews and auks, obviously...

Off the top of my head, Striped Crake and Schrenk's Bittern come to mind; Yemen Accentor if Arabia is included. Any advance on these?

Schrenck's Bittern is actually quite easy if you go to the right location (a certain lake in China that's full of Baer's Pochards).

Can't imagine it can get much worse than Striped Crake!

How about Trindade Petrel?

DMW · Apr 6, 2019

Xenospiza said:
Schrenck's Bittern is actually quite easy if you go to the right location (a certain lake in China that's full of Baer's Pochards).

Can't imagine it can get much worse than Striped Crake!

How about Trindade Petrel?

Yes, the not-so-secret Lake H...!

Trindade Petrel seems a good call. I guess Atlantic Petrel too - perhaps the most expensive to see?!

lewis20126 · Apr 6, 2019

DMW said:
Yes, the not-so-secret Lake H...!

Trindade Petrel seems a good call. I guess Atlantic Petrel too - perhaps the most expensive to see?!

Atlantic Odyssey 2003, with supporting cast of 3 adult Emperor Penguins. Cost £3,300. THis is the Petrel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZ94E2izTg

Algerian Nuthatch is very easy to get now - weekend trip:
http://www.surfbirds.com/gallery/share_photo.php?imgname=20190324155005293.jpg

Agree with Striped Crake and Nubian Bustard a close second.

cheers, alan

Jos Stratford · Apr 6, 2019

No guarantee how long the window for Algerian Nuthatch will remain open - hopefully the current political upheavals don't see a descent into something worse, but if the nuthatch is a highly desired species for anybody, I'd be wondering if it will remain doable in the future.

Alexjh1 · Apr 7, 2019

As I said, it kind of depends on how you frame it.

If the idea was that you were hypothetically taking time just to see each individual species with no other objectives, and measured the least time and money it would likely take to go see reliably, then you'd get one set of birds.

But if you were literally trying to see every WP-recorded bird and tried to do it in the least number of trips, you'd probably end up with some very local endemics like the nuthatch left at the end.

Steve Lister · Apr 7, 2019

The Netfugl listing website has a list of 'False WP blockers' that shows how many of the 482 WP listers on the site have seen the bird anywhere in the world.

The top five are
Nubian Bustard (seen by 4)
Caspian Tit (6)
Bermuda Petrel (7)
Arabian Golden Sparrow (8)
Striped Crake (9 - including me!!)

Trinidade Petrel is 14th (24 seen it) and Atlantic Petrel 19th (31).

Steve

DMW · Apr 7, 2019

Steve Lister said:
The Netfugl listing website has a list of 'False WP blockers' that shows how many of the 482 WP listers on the site have seen the bird anywhere in the world.

The top five are
Nubian Bustard (seen by 4)
Caspian Tit (6)
Bermuda Petrel (7)
Arabian Golden Sparrow (8)
Striped Crake (9 - including me!!)

Trinidade Petrel is 14th (24 seen it) and Atlantic Petrel 19th (31).

Steve

Interesting, Steve. Of that top 5, two should be gimmes if you make the effort - Bermuda Petrel (in Bermuda) and Arabian Golden Sparrow.

Very envious of your Striped Crake - Zimbabwe?

lewis20126 · Apr 7, 2019

DMW said:
Interesting, Steve. Of that top 5, two should be gimmes if you make the effort - Bermuda Petrel (in Bermuda) and Arabian Golden Sparrow.

Very envious of your Striped Crake - Zimbabwe?

The Caspian Tit is now a gimme in Iran (I've not been) - through not in Azerbaijan, which is where the WP listers are keen to see it!

cheers, a

Steve Lister · Apr 7, 2019

DMW said:
Very envious of your Striped Crake - Zimbabwe?

No - fluked one at the Mountain Lodge waterhole on Mt Kenya back in 1989.

Steve

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