Barbary / Peregrine Falcons (1 Viewer)

[Acrocephalus]

Go-South, 1 May 2015: Barbary (?) Falcon at Rissani.

Despite the dark head and large moustaches, this bird is indeed a Barbary Falcon according to the comments of Dick Forsman and Andrea Corso. Both commented that this bird is within the normal variation of Barbary's. A Moroccan falconer, who knows the subject very well, made also interesting comments.

Extract from the comment of the Moroccan falconer (which Andea agreed with):

Barbaries have a lot of individual and regional variations in sizes and color morphs. From absolute black nape, wide moustaches and helmet to reddish nape, thin moustaches and almost red top of the head color pattern.

Contrasts in colors, within the same clutch varies from dark brown reddish to light pale on light brown spots in juveniles.

This shows once more that the identification of these falcons in Morocco is not easy (and that's why we see now and then ID requests in Bird Identification subforum.

 

[macrourus]

Mohamed,

note also that as back as in 2001 I reported in a identification paper about the fact that Barbary Falcon from Middle East to Morocco show two different main types A - typical field guide Barbary to B- darker "morph", indeede the darker Peregrine-like Moroccan birds. This was widely discussed in Corso, A. 2001. Le Faucon de Barbarie Falco pelegrinoides, Statut en Europa et critères d’identification. Ornithos 8 (5): 164175.

thanks

ciao

A

 

[Richard Klim]

White et al 2013

White, Cade & Enderson 2013: Peregrine Falcons of the World.

Reviewed by George Sangster (p905–906)...

• Book reviews. Ibis 157(4): 895–908. [pdf]

 

[Richard Klim]

Lost Coast of Alaska

Lewis & Kissling 2015. Clarifying subspecies of Peregrine Falcons along the Lost Coast of Alaska. J Raptor Res 49(4): 367–375. [abstract]

White et al 2015 (HBW Alive).

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Wink, M.: Molekulare Systematik und Phylogenie der Wanderfalken Falco peregrinus in Südwestdeutschland. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wanderfalkenschutz, 175-188 (2015)

[Abstract]

 

[l_raty]

Wink, M.: Molekulare Systematik und Phylogenie der Wanderfalken Falco peregrinus in Südwestdeutschland. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wanderfalkenschutz, 175-188 (2015)]

The pdf (password protected) is [here].

 

[Nutcracker]

Wink, M.: Molekulare Systematik und Phylogenie der Wanderfalken Falco peregrinus in Südwestdeutschland. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wanderfalkenschutz, 175-188 (2015)

[Abstract]

Interesting article with relevance far beyond southwest Germany! Shows once again that Barbary Falcon is nested within Peregrine, baffling why it continues to be maintained as a separate species by IOC et al.

 

[George Sangster]

Non-monophyletic mtDNA does not falsify species rank. There are many pairs of valid species that do not possess reciprocally monophyletic mtDNA sequences, and not just in the usual suspects (Anas ducks, gulls, Carduelidae and Darwin's tanagers). However, the peregrinus/pelegrinoides complex does indeed deserve a critical look which should include all evidence published so far.

 

[daveholden]

Interesting article with relevance far beyond southwest Germany! Shows once again that Barbary Falcon is nested within Peregrine, baffling why it continues to be maintained as a separate species by IOC et al.

The abstract only mentions brookei - is there some mention of pelegrinoides in the main text (which I can't access)?

 

[daveholden]

Having seen the whole text - some interesting things in the cytB trees:

The cytB tree has brookei as basal to the other peregrines (including barbary), but brookei commonly hybridises with these other races (I think this is in the text, but my German is poor). In that context, I wonder if there's much chance of pelegrinoides really being a distinct biological species - the lack of monophyly is not the problem, but rather the genetic similarity and the lack of evidence for species boundaries within the complex.

Also, Merlins do not divide neatly into Nearctic and Palearctic taxa and Hierofalcons actually do divide neatly into the currently accepted species - I think both of these are contra previous studies (but with the caveat that this is just a cytB tree).

 

[Richard Klim]

'atlantis'

Schollaert & Willem 2000. Taxonomy of the Peregrine Falco peregrinus / Barbary Falcon F. (peregrinus) pelegrinoides complex in Morocco. ABC Bull 7(2): 101–103. [abstract]

Fareh, Franchimont, Maire & CHM 2016. Les oiseaux rares au Maroc: Rapport de la Commission d’Homologation Marocaine Numéro 21 (2015). Rare birds in Morocco: 21st (2015) report of the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee. Go-South Bull 13: 18–35. [pdf]

Faucon pèlerin du complexe 'Atlantis' – Peregrine Falcon 'Atlantis' Falco cf. atlantis RB (3/6, 1/1)
2014 (14/54) Souss, Oued Souss, femelle immature, photos, 27 octobre (J. Franchimont et al.)

Quatrième mention nationale retenue par la CHM pour un oiseau de ce complexe atlantis localisé sur la côte atlantique, complexe pour lequel une étude génétique est nécessaire, en plus de la variabilité phénotypique, afin de déterminer si ces oiseaux représentent une bonne sous-espèce de Falco peregrinus, voire un complexe d’hybridation ou d’intergradation entre Falco peregrinus et Falco pelegrinoides.

[~ Fourth national record accepted by the MRBC for a bird of the atlantis complex located on the Atlantic coast, a complex for which a genetic study, in addition to phenotypic variability, is needed to determine whether these birds are a good subspecies of Falco peregrinus, or a complex of hybridisation or intergradation between Falco peregrinus and Falco pelegrinoides.]​

 

[Richard Klim]

Forsman 2016

Forsman 2016. Flight Identification of Raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Bloomsbury.

BARBARY FALCON
Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides
VARIATION ... The considerable individual variation found within the Moroccan and Canarian populations possibly indicates a large-scale exchange of genes between Peregrine and Barbary. The disputed 'atlantis' Peregrines from the Moroccan Atlantic coast (Schollaert & Willem 2000) are perhaps best seen as a stable hybrid population between Barbary and Peregrine. Pending further genetic studies and given the extensive apparent hybridisation with Peregrine, Barbary Falcon is here treated as a subspecies of Peregrine.

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Barbary Falcon

IOC Update Diary Feb 29

Post proposed lump of Barbary Falcon on Updates/PL

 

[Nutcracker]

IOC Update Diary Feb 29

Sorry a bit off-topic, but further down the same page, "Feb 2 Change Burma to Myanmar" – anyone know what the reasoning behind that is? Private message if you want to keep it off the thread.

 

[Mysticete]

Wikipedia has a very very long discussion of the use of different names for this country:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Myanmar

 

[Nutcracker]

Wikipedia has a very very long discussion of the use of different names for this country:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Myanmar

Yep, but nothing about any recent change that would prompt IOC to change policy I was wondering if the new democratic government there had issued new guidance on what they prefer - I've not heard anything in the news on that.

 

[Richard Klim]

Sorry a bit off-topic, but further down the same page, "Feb 2 Change Burma to Myanmar" – anyone know what the reasoning behind that is?

Also H&M4...

Geographic names
In H&M3 we based our geographic names on the 10th edition of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. We have made a few changes since then. For example, "Myanmar" has been adopted in place of Burma, ...

and The Guardian and Observer style guide...

Burma
is now Myanmar
Myanmar
not Burma, but its people and language are Burmese

 

[Mysticete]

IIRC the present democratic government is indeed pro-Myanmar as far as name usage.

 

[Nutcracker]

Thanks! Apologies for the digression, back to Barbary Peregines now . . . :t:

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Falco pelegrinoides

IOC Updates Diary May 16

Lump Barbary Falcon