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Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus), a first-winter seen and later photographed at Deltebre on 31st December 2014, would be the first for Spain if accepted. The bird has been overwintering there and was still present at the same spot on 2nd March 2015.
Report photo by Mariano Cebolla
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Spangled Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles tatei), one spotlighted and sound recordings of the song and the alarm call were obtained in lowland forest along the Kali Muyu river, Western Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), on 6th October 2012. It's the first record for the western part of New Guinea and therefore for Indonesia.
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Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius), a first-summer photographed on 14th April 2013, swimming and in flight, from a boat at Najirgong ferry, Sujanagar, Pabna district, in the Padma River, being the first record for Bangladesh. It's a very rare vagrant for South Asia, where this is only the fifth record, there being a specimen from Kolkata market, and sightings in Rajasthan, Maharashtra in India, and Pakistan.
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Merlin (Falco columbarius), one seen from a boat just off the southern tip of Hatiya Island, Noakhali (central coast), on 13th March 2013, is the first record for Bangladesh.
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Stout-billed Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina caeruleogrisea), male photographed at Ngura-Gogaili, Bololo (01°26'N, 128°28'E), at 890m in primary forest on limestone on Halmahera Island, on 18th April 2012, is the first confirmed record for the Maluku Islands, Wallacea region.
Report photo by Hanom Bashari
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Chinese Thrush (Turdus mupinensis), one photographed in Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India, on 13th November 2013, is the first recorded for the Indian subcontinent.
Report photo by Ravi Rajagopal
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Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush (Monticola rufiventris), female photographed at Ramgar, Khagrachari, Chittagong, Hill Tracts on 15th or 16th January 2010 is the first documented record for Bangladesh.
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Siberian Blue Robin (Luscinia cyane), female caught in Lawachara NP, Srimangal, on 2nd March 2013, would be the first proven record for Bangladesh.
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Hodgson's Bushchat (Saxicola insignis), female photographed in a tea garden near Madhupur Lake, Srimangal, in late November 2007 would be the first documented record for Bangladesh.
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Hill Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis banyumas), male photographed in Satchari NP on 22nd November 2013 and present in the same area of forest throughout the remainder of the year is the first confirmed record for Bangladesh.
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Chestnut-croned Bush-warbler (Cettia major), one ringed on 16th February 2012 at Pashua Haor is the first record for Bangladesh.
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Aberrant Bush-warblers (Cettia flavolivacea), six ringed, five at Pashua Haor during 12th-19th February 2012 and one at Tanguar Haor on 8th March 2013, are the first documented records for Bangladesh.
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Grey-sided Bush-warbler (Cettia brunnifrons), one ringed on 24th February 2012 on an island in Tanguar Haor is the first record for Bangladesh.
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Large-billed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orinus) one ringed on 6th December 2011 at Baikka Beel is the first proven record for Bangladesh. It was first identified by the combination of long bill and long hindclaw, and later confirmed in January 2014 through an assay of cytochrome b.
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Sykes's Warbler (Hippolais rama), ringed at Baikka Beel on 7th March 2011 is the first confirmed record for Bangladesh.
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Grey-necked Bunting (Emberiza buchanani), male photographed on a small channel in mangroves at Hiron Point, Sundarbans, on 29th November 2012 is the first confirmed record for Bangladesh. This record is considerably east of the normal wintering range, which extends as far as peninsular India, but vagrants have been recorded in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.
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Long-trained Nightjar (Macropsalis forcipata), male seen on 23rd september 2014, later photographed on 5th October 2014 at Zanja de Pirapó, Departamento Itapúa, is the first record for Paraguay.
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References
Bashari, H. & van Balen, S. (2014). First record of Stout-billed Cuckooshrike Coracina caeruleogrisea in Wallacea, a remarkable range extension from New Guinea. Bull Brit Orn Club 134(4): 302-304.
Hostettler, H. & Smith, P. (2014). Long-trained Nightjar (Macropsalis forcipata) (Aves, Caprimulgidae): first Paraguayan record. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 22(4): 411-413.
Rajagopal, R. & Inskipp, T. (2014). First record of the Chinese Thrush Turdus mupinensis from the Indian Subcontinent. Indian Birds 9(5-6): 155-157.
Reservoir Birds website at www.reservoirbirds.com retrieved on 2nd March 2015.
Round, P.D., Haque, E.U., Dymond, N., Pierce, A.J. & Thompson, P.M. (2014). Ringing and ornithological exploration in north-east Bangladesh wetlands. Forktail 30: 109-121.
Thompson, P.M., Chowhury, S.U., Haque, E.U., Khan, M.M.H. & Halder, R. (2014). Notable bird records from Bangladesh from July 2002 to July 2013. Forktail 30: 50-65.
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The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula
By Eduardo de Juana and Ernest Garcia
The Iberian Peninsula is one of Europe's most ornithologically varied regions offering a host of regional specialities. It includes famous birding hotspots such as the Coto Donaña wetlands, mountainous areas such as the Picos de Europa and the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean cork and holm oak forests of the southwest, the migration crossroads of the Strait of Gibraltar and the steppe-like plains of Extremadura and Alentejo. Large numbers of birders from around Europe visit the region to see this wealth of winged wildlife, but to date there has been no comprehensive regional avifauna in English.
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Birds of the Iberian Peninsula is a national avifauna that fills this gap in the ornithological literature. Full-color throughout, the book begins with authoritative introductory chapters covering subjects such as geography, climate, habitats, the history of Iberian ornithology and the composition of the avifauna. The species accounts then cover every species recorded in mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra, including the many vagrants. For each species there is detailed treatment of distribution – with maps of breeding and wintering ranges – habitat selection, population trends, historical and current status, migration and conservation.
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Spanish Imperial Eagle
(Aquila adalberti)
A video of a range-restricted raptor: a Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) arriving to a feeding station and taking a piece of carrion.
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El Barraco, Ávila, Castile and Leon, Spain © Josep del Hoyo, 1 February 2015
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New Zealand Storm-petrel
(Fregetta maoriana)
A picture of a Critically Endangered seabird: the New Zealand Storm-petrel (Fregetta maoriana).
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Hauraki Gulf, Auckland Region, North Island, New Zealand © Frederic Pelsy, 22 November 2011
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Short-tailed Swift
(Chaetura brachyura)
A sound recording of Short-tailed Swifts (Chaetura brachyura) calling.
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Iracoubo, French Guiana © Patrick Ingremeau, 30 August 2010
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During the last month we finished the updating process for all of the “new species” (resulting from splits) from the families Trochilidae (Hummingbirds), Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles and allies) and Tytonidae (Barn-owls). And we have already started on Cuculidae (Cuckoos).
Check out the updated texts.
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This March we will be working on the updating process for the “new species” (resulting from splits) from the families Alcedinidae (Kingfishers) and Strigidae (Typical Owls).
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Once a “new species” (resulting from a split) has been updated in HBW Alive, we add links to videos, photos and sound recordings to complement the texts. Right now more than 200 of these new species have links.
D’Arnaud’s Barbet (Trachyphonus darnaudii) has been split into three species; the new species are Emin’s Barbet (Trachyphonus emini) and the Usambiro Barbet (Trachyphonus usambiro). Explore them:
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The Yellow-eared Barbet (Psilopogon australis) has also been split into three species; the new species are the Black-eared Barbet (Psilopogon duvaucelii) and the Blue-eared Barbet (Psilopogon cyanotis).
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With the new taxonomy there are three “Green Woodpeckers” in the Western Palearctic: the Eurasian, the Iberian and the Maghreb Green Woodpeckers:
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We have added links to photos, videos and sound recordings in the 16 Harrier species (Circus spp.). Explore them!
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Did you know that there are three House Martin species (Delichon spp.)? Now all of them have links in their species accounts.
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Check out some of the other species that have links incorporated:
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(Cyanoramphus auriceps)
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More on the Geographic Filter
One of the most exciting moments when planning an ornithological trip is finding out the new species you might be able to see. It’s an essential point when deciding what places to go and the number of days to spend in each, the species to research before going abroad, etc. The Geographic Filter is the most important tool for achieving these objectives in HBW Alive. The Geographic Filter (see Birds Alive Nº 7) allows you to explore the birds present in one or more countries in an easy way, as only the species present in the countries that you select will be displayed in the Taxonomic Tree, the Family plates, the Species plates, etc.
For example, if you are planning to go to India and Sri Lanka, first you have to filter by those two countries. Imagine that you’re interested in knowing which kingfishers you might see. In the header menu, click on “Families” and in the “English name” field type and select Kingfishers and click “Apply”. You will be taken to the Alcedinidae family page.
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If you go to the “Species table” within this family entry, you will find a list of all the kingfishers present in India and Sri Lanka and with just one click you can get to the species account of the kingfisher species that you’re interested in, making it easy to learn more and prepare your trip.
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If you’ve previously checked the species that you’ve seen, then the list will also show you a check mark next to the ones that you’ve already seen.
If you want to see the illustrations of the species you might see on your trip, simply click on “Go to the plate of this family” in the right-hand bar of this family entry and you will be shown illustrations of all the kingfishers present in Sri Lanka and India.
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If you are interested in finding out all the species that you could see in both localities, in the header menu select “My Birding” and click on “Word list”. You will see that in the “Geographic filter” field you already have India and Sri Lanka. Set the other filters as you wish, including “Global conservation status”, “Country status” and “My sightings. Note that if you have “Yes” marked in “My sightings”, like in the image below, only the species for which you have marked sightings will be displayed.
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If you have marked “Any” in these three fields, you will get a list of all the species that can be seen in India and Sri Lanka, including vagrants and introduced species. For every species its status in each locality is shown, with Endemics marked in red.
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If you want to print the list, in the header menu select “My Birding” and click on “Printable checklist”. You can customize the checklist by choosing different languages to be displayed, personalizing the columns and deciding if you want the figures, country status and conservation status to be shown, and also if you have checked the species or not. You can even add the number of days of your trip to include a checklist line for each day.
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First Sighting
One of the most frequently asked questions related to My Birding is about First Sightings. First Sightings (a first-ever sighting of a bird species by a birdwatcher) are automatically calculated by the system when you introduce sightings in your Birdlists, based on the date of each sighting.
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What should you do if, for example, you see an escaped bird or an exotic bird, or you go to a ringing station or to the zoo and you see a species that you have not seen previously, but you do not want it to count as a First Sighting?
Mark the “captive” box for that bird sighting so it won’t count for the First Sighting calculations. To do so, when you are adding sightings to a birdlist, click on the species name for more information about the species and to include details about the sighting, like the number of birds seen, notes, if it was heard only, etc.
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Once you mark the “captive” box, click the green “Save with details” button to finalize the sighting.
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If you’ve done this correctly, when you go to the account of that species you will see in the My Birding box that you have this sighting, but not as a First Sighting.
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If you want to see all of your First Sightings, in the header menu select “My Birding” and click on “Sightings”. Then, mark the “First sighting” box and click on “Apply”.
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And you will get a list of all your First Sightings. You can sort the list by taxonomic order, date, scientific name or common name.
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Learn more about creating Trips, Birdlists and Sightings in this tutorial.
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Handbook of the Mammals of the World
Volume 5: Monotremes and Marsupials
Platypus, Echidnas, Opossums, Kangaroos, Koalas, Wallabies, and Wombats – Monotremes and marsupials include a host of animals that have intrigued mammal fanciers for centuries. Monotremes are a very distinctive ancient group of mammals with only a handful of extant species in Australia and New Guinea and marsupials, with roots in South America, likely reached Australia via Antarctica some 50 million years ago. With relatives remaining in America, Marsupials have adapted to an amazing diversity of lifestyles and habitats.
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Volume 5 of HMW provides complete coverage of these two important groups of mammals. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs showing different behaviors of all of them, the text contains the latest up-to-date information on all families of Monotremes and Marsupials, both Australasian and American.
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SPECIAL PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER!
Pre-order until May 15th
at the special offer price:
125 €
(REGULAR PRICE 160 €)
To be released in June 2015
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