Spotted Forktail © James Eaton / BirdtourAsia
OBC Members should already have received the latest edition of BirdingASIA 29. Another issue packed full of the latest news from the region, including articles on latest taxonomic updates, species new to Malaysia and elsewhere in the region, new breeding records, latest sightings and much much more…
As an OBC member you will receive two issues of BirdingASIA per year plus our scientific journal Forktail – all for a bargain membership fee. So don’t delay, join today!
OBC Members should already have received the latest edition of BirdingASIA 28. Another issue packed full of the latest news from the region, including articles on latest taxonomic updates, species new to Malaysia and elsewhere in the region, new breeding records, latest sightings and much much more…
As an OBC member you will receive two issues of BirdingASIA per year plus our scientific journal Forktail – all for a bargain membership fee. So don’t delay, join today!
Chinese Grey Shrike © James Eaton/Birdtour Asia
Norbert Lefranc and Tim Worfolk are preparing a revised edition of 'Shrikes: a Guide to the Shrikes of the World' for Bloomsbury Publishing.
The book will include photos and the authors are seeking images of as many species, subspecies and recognisable plumages as possible. Photos should be uncropped, preferably in RAW or TIFF format, however for rarely photographed species a high quality JPEG may be acceptable.
All published photos will be individually credited. Unfortunately the budget is insufficient to allow payment, but contributing photographers will receive a copy of the book. Please contact Tim Worfolk timworfolk@blueyonder.co.uk if you think you can help.
2017 Autumn MeetingThe OBC Autumn Meeting, incorporating the 33rd AGM, will be held in the Wilkinson Room, St John the Evangelist, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8RN on Saturday 23rd September 2017.
Doors open at 10:30 and the meeting starts at 11:00. All are welcome – please bring your friends. Snacks, cakes and hot and cold drinks will be available all day.
The Annual General Meeting, at which only OBC members may vote, will be held at 12:10 pm.
Programme
10:30 Doors open – hot drinks & cakes available 11:00 Opening remarks by the Chairman 11:15 Species conservation beyond borders: the need for collaboration Rob Sheldon, Chairman of OSME 12:10 Annual General Meeting 12:40 Lunch break – refreshments and sales 13:40 In search of the Grey Ghost – Snow Leopards and birds of Ladakh. Andy Mears 14:30 The Asian songbird crisis Brian Sykes 15:15 Winners! OBC Prize Draw 2017 15:30 Break – refreshments & sales 15:50 Is the Pochard Baering up? Updating Baer’s Pochard conservation Debbie Pain, Director of Conservation, WWT 16:40 Beidaihe: migration on the East Asian Flyway Mark Andrews 17:20 Closing remarks by the Chairman and day raffle draw 17:30 Meeting closes
Day raffle in aid of the OBC Conservation Fund
OBC Annual Report & Accounts 2016
Getting there: Parking in side streets around the venue is very limited and we recommend that you travel by rail where possible or use the ‘Park and Ride’ service, see: http://www.cambridgeparkandride.info/babrahamroad.shtml Walking time from Cambridge Station forecourt is about 15-20 minutes. Walk up Station Road to the junction with Hills Road and turn left. The venue is on the left hand side of Hills Road, about 400m after it crosses the railway, directly opposite Homerton College. There is a frequent bus service from Drummer Street bus station via the railway station forecourt, and along Hills Road. For a map, type the postcode CB2 8RN into www.streetmap.co.uk.
OBC Members already, or should shortly receive the latest edition of BirdingASIA 27. Another issue packed full of the latest news from the region, including articles on recent taxonomic changes proposed for Asian birds, breeding birds of Wallacea, the Asian songbird crisis, Rote Island Indonesia, Virachey National Park Cambodia and much much more...
As an OBC member you will receive two issues of BirdingASIA per year plus our scientific journal Forktail - all for a bargain membership fee. So don't delay, join today!
The December 2016 issue of BirdingASIA should have reached all members by now. As ever, the issue is packed full of information from the Oriental region, including an article on Breeding records of the Sunda Frogmouth Batrachostomus cornutus, which features on the cover.
Non-members can find out just what they're missing here, and they'd be more than welcome to join the Club online here.
In line with OBC policy, papers from back issues of the Club's journal, Forktail, are made available for free download after three years. PDFs from the 2014 issue (Forktail 30) are now available.
The OBC Autumn Meeting, incorporating the 32nd AGM, will be held in the Wilkinson Room, St John the Evangelist, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8RN on Saturday 29th October 2016. The meeting starts at 11:00 and all are welcome - please bring your friends. Snacks, cakes and hot and cold drinks will be available all day.
Sales by WildSounds Prize draw in aid of the OBC Conservation Fund The AGM, at which only OBC members may vote, will be held at 12:10
Parking in side streets around the venue is very limited and we recommend that you travel by rail where possible or use the 'Park and Ride' service (www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/info/20149/park_and_ride). Walking time from Cambridge Station forecourt is about 15-20 minutes. Walk up Station Road to the junction with Hills Road and turn left. The venue is on the left hand side of Hills Road, about 400m after it crosses the railway, directly opposite Homerton College. There is a frequent bus service from Drummer Street bus station via the railway station forecourt, and along Hills Road. For a map, type the postcode CB2 8RN into ww.streetmap.co.uk.
Please find here the Minutes of the 2015 AGM, held in September 2015 and the OBC Accounts for 2015, both in PDF format.
Programme 10:30 Doors open – hot drinks & cakes available 11:00 Opening remarks by the Chairman 11:15 The Bengal Florican in India and Nepal – new insights from satellite telemetry – Paul Donald, Principal Conservation Scientist, RSPB 12:10 Annual General Meeting 12:40 Lunch break – refreshments and sales 13:40 How many bird species ARE there in Asia? – Dr Nigel Collar, Birdlife International 14:30 Birding in China 1984—2016 – Dr Per Alstrom , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 15:20 Break for refreshments & sales 15:50 Remote Sulawesi – a search for hidden avian gems – Mike Edgecombe 16:30 The Beijing Cuckoo Project: tracking migrations to engage, discover and inspire – Dr. Chris Hewson, BTO Senior Research Ecologist, International Research Team 17.15 Prize draw and closing remarks by the Chairman 17:30 Meeting closes
Spoon-billed Sandpiper © Richard Thomas/TRAFFIC
Khok Kham, one of only two regular wintering sites in Thailand for the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper and other wader species of the East Asian-Australasian flyway is under threat from a solar farm development.
A number of Thai organizations and individuals are campaigning against the development. The Oriental Bird Club is offering our support to their efforts.
More information about the nature of the threat can be found in this article on the Birdguides website.
Oriental Bird Club members should now have received their latest issue of BirdingASIA 25. Featuring a superb image of a Western Tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus photographed near Shilt, Great Himalayan National Park, Dirthan, Himachal Pradesh, India, by Jainy Kuriakose on the cover, the issue is packed full of bird news from around the region.
For anyone with an interest in birds of the Oriental region, subscribing to the Oriental Bird Club to receive your biannual BirdingASIA and the Club’s Journal, Forktail, is an absolute necessity – so if you haven’t done so already, subscribe today!
There was exciting news earlier this week when Flappy – or Flappy McFlapperson to give her full name: the female Cuckoo sponsored by the Oriental Bird Club through the Beijing Cuckoo Project—apparently began her southward migration. Speculation was rife as to whether she would head towards Africa or South Asia. However, as the maps below demonstrate, she is not about to give her secret away just yet.
By 15th July, Flappy was back in China, having been tracked to the edge of the Gobi Desert, and it appeared as if she was retracing her route from her tagging location in Beijing.
Things looked to be quite normal, but then her latest position revealed she had headed north once more to a location in Mongolia to the southeast of where she had started, thus completing three sides of a parallelogram!
Although the behaviour might appear extraordinary, such return movements of southbound migrants are not unknown, according to the BTO’s Dr Chris Hewson, who manages the project.
According to Hewson, migrant birds are sometimes even known to return to where they began their autumn migration.
In this instance, it is possible that on encountering harsh conditions on the edge of the Gobi Desert, Flappy turned back north to where she knew there was favourable habitat and a food source.
The next few days are keenly awaited to see where Flappy will make her next move.
Meanwhile, the other four cuckoos fitted with transmitters through the Beijing Cuckoo Project are all still on their breeding grounds.
All five of the birds were trapped in the Beijing area where local schoolchildren chose names for them and encouraged to follow their movements online as they move first to their breeding grounds then in the autumn to their as yet unknown wintering grounds.
The Beijing Cuckoo Project aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation and helping to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.
The main scientific goal will be to discover the presently unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia.
The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.
Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation.
An exciting new project is currently underway to find the wintering grounds of East Asia's Common Cuckoos.
Through the Beijing Cuckoo Project, satellite transmitters have been placed on five Common Cuckoos in order to track their international movements.
The birds were all trapped in the Beijing area where local schoolchildren have chosen names for them and encouraged to follow their movements online as they move first to their breeding grounds then in the autumn to their as yet unknown wintering grounds.
The Oriental Bird Club has sponsored a transmitter on one of the cuckoos, which the pupils at Dulwich International School, Beijing, chose to name Flappy McFlapperson.
The project follows a hugely successful study on Common Cuckoos breeding in the United Kingdom that for several years has tracked the birds' movements between Europe and their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.
That project attracted huge interest, both from the scientific community and from those with an interest in the natural environment.
The Beijing Cuckoo Project similarly aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation, and help to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.
The main scientific goal will be to discover the presently unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia.
Speculation is rife about whether the birds will head for: Southeast Asia or, like their European cousins, sub-Saharan Africa.
Flappy, which is probably of the race canorus (blood analysis should confirm), has already provided some interesting insights into Common Cuckoo migration in the region. Following her fitting with a transmitter at Cuihu Urban Wetland Park, she first headed east then NNW and is currently on the border of Mongolia and Russia. The route taken suggests she flew in an arc around the Mongolian Plateau.
Remarkably a second female cuckoo, tagged 161315, followed almost precisely the same route and at one point the two were within 50 km of one another in the Hentiyn Mountains. However, female 161315 carried on even further north and is now around 200 km east of Lake Baikal.
By contrast the three tagged male cuckoos, probably of the race bakeri, have all remained in the Beijing area.
You can keep up-to-date with all the latest developments through the Beijing Cuckoo Project pages on the Birding Beijing website, which includes further migration maps.
The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.
Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation.
OBC Members will now have received, or shortly be receiving, their copy of Forktail 31 appeared later than anticipated, for which the Club apologies. The delay was due to technical problems outside of our control. However, we are sure members will consider it has certainly been worth the wait. The latest issue is packed full of 14 full papers and 7 short notes covering a wide variety of topics. Among the main papers is one documenting the extinctions or near-extinctions caused by excessive wild trapping and trade in a number of Asian bird species. This is an issue of growing concern, but there is gathering momentum for action to be taken.
A paper on the number of species and subspecies in the Red-bellied Pitta Erythropitta erythrogaster complex is certain to be of particular interest to pitta-listers.
Non-members will have to wait until 2018 before they can download all the papers from Forktail 31. The Club's policy is to make the scientific information freely available three years after publication date. The papers from Forktail 29 will therefore soon be available on this website.
Oriental Bird Club members should now have received their latest issue of BirdingASIA 24. Featuring a superb image of a Rufous-bellied Niltava Niltava sundara by Jainy Kuriakose on the cover, the issue is packed full of bird news from around the region.
Articles include the latest taxonomic updates - splits and other changes - through to little known birding areas in the Philippines, together with all the latest conservation news.
For anyone with an interest in birds of the Oriental region, subscribing to the Oriental Bird Club to receive your biannual BirdingASIA and the Club's Journal, Forktail, is an absolute necessity - so if you haven't done so already, subscribe today!
First published in 2012, all 18 full articles and the 19 short communications from Forktail 28 are now available for free download online through the Forktail 28 page on the OBC website.
The OBC Autumn Meeting, incorporating the 31st AGM, will be held in the Wilkinson Room, St John the Evangelist, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8RN on Saturday 5th September 2015. The meeting starts at 11:00 and all are welcome - please bring your friends. Snacks, cakes and hot and cold drinks will be available all day.
Sales by WildSounds Prize draw in aid of the OBC Conservation Fund The AGM, at which only OBC members may vote, will be held at 12:00
Parking in side streets around the venue is very limited and we recommend that you travel by rail where possible or use the 'Park and Ride' service (www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/info/20149/park_and_ride). Walking time from Cambridge Station forecourt is about 15-20 minutes. Walk up Station Road to the junction with Hills Road and turn left. The venue is on the left hand side of Hills Road, about 400m after it crosses the railway, directly opposite Homerton College. There is a frequent bus service from Drummer Street bus station via the railway station forecourt, and along Hills Road. For a map, type the postcode CB2 8RN into ww.streetmap.co.uk.
Please find here the Minutes of the 2014 AGM, held in November 2014 and the OBC Accounts for 2014, both in PDF format.
Programme 10:30 Doors open - hot and cold drinks available 11:00 Opening remarks by the Chairman 11:15 'China's Grippers' - a talk on the most sought-after birds of China by Pete Morris 12:00 Annual General Meeting 12:30 Lunch break - refreshments and sales 13:30 'Baer's Pochard: responding to a critical situation' by Dr Debbie Pain, Director of Conservation at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust 14:15 'In search of the endemic birds of Taiwan' by Andy Walker 15:00 'Restoration of Indonesian rainforest - sustainable model or Government whim?' by Andrew Impey, Head of Global Habitats, RSPB 15:45 Break for refreshments and sales 16:00 'Bangladesh's Spoon-billed Sandpiper and World Shorebirds Day' by Mya-Rose Craig (aka Birdgirl) 16:30 'Videoing around the Philippines' by Keith Blomerley 17:15 Prize draw and closing remarks by the Chairman 17:30 Meeting closes
The 100,000th image on OBI: Bar-headed Goose at Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, Dholpur, Rajasthan, India. (c) Sunil Singhal.
Oriental Bird Images, www.orientalbirdimages.org, the online photographic image resource library of the Oriental Bird Club today celebrated with the upload of its 100,000th image.
The stunning landmark image is a portrait of a Bar-headed Goose taken by Sunil Singhal at Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, Dholpur, Rajasthan, India on 16 March this year. Bar-headed Geese are known to migrate over the Himalayas at altitudes of more than 7,000 metres (23,000 ft).
“The uploading of the 100,000th image is testament to the years of dedicated hard work put in by a multitude of unpaid volunteers over the past 13 years since OBI was launched,” said Krys Kazmierczak, who conceived the idea for a publicly accessible online image library for Asian bird species and subspecies.
“The library speaks volumes for the sheer dedication of more than 1,500 amateur and professional bird photographers who have freely contributed their stunning images to this resource for bird researchers worldwide.”
Oriental Bird Images (OBI) includes photographic illustrations to a staggering 2,876 Asian bird species, around 99% of all those found in the region, and also includes examples of each known subspecies of the majority of species illustrated. There are just 29 “missing” species from the 2,905 species recognised by the Oriental Bird Club in the region.
Today, OBI is among the most visited bird images libraries on the internet, and has proved of immense value to the scientific community, ornithologists, conservationists and anyone with an interest in Oriental Birds.
“OBI goes way beyond just an image gallery for bird photographers to post their images—it is a vital academic resource for anyone with an interest in the birds of the Oriental region,” said Richard Grimmett, Director of Conservation at BirdLife International and author of several bird field guides to the Oriental region.
“I consult OBI on a regular basis when carrying out research on the Asia’s bird life—the site’s importance as a conservation tool is immense.”
ENDS
About Oriental Bird Club
The Oriental Bird Club, UK registered charity 297242, is for people around the world who are interested in birds of the Oriental region and their conservation. The Club was founded in 1984 and has around 2,000 members.
The Club exists: to encourage an interest in wild birds of the Oriental region and their conservation to promote the work of regional bird and nature societies to collate and publish information on Oriental birds
Through the generous support of members and corporate sponsors, the OBC conservation fund has supported more than 250 conservation projects throughout Asia, primarily run by local people. More than £200,000 has been invested in conservation in the region since 1984.
Website: www.orientalbirdclub.org Twitter: @orientbirdclub Facebook: /groups/OrientalBirdClub/
The following is based on an article by OBC member Andy Mears that first appeared on the Birdguides website. Many thanks to Birdguides for granting the OBC permission to repost the article here. Vietnam is a bird-rich country bordered by China, Laos and Cambodia and strategically placed on the OBC region's eastern seaboard. From wintering Rufous-tailed Robins to breeding White-winged Magpies, the country has much to offer the travelling birder or interested reader.
Talk to non-birders about Vietnam and they are usually surprised to hear that it is a popular birding destination. In the same way that Ethiopia is perceived to be stark and famine-ridden, Vietnam is often viewed as war-torn and scarred. Neither perception is correct. Vietnam is in fact within an important area of endemism and retains some valuable tracts of rainforest that can easily be visited by birders today. Add to that accessible mountains and wetlands that host some of the rarest shorebirds on earth, and Vietnam becomes a stunning destination.
Birders visiting for a two- or three-week trip may well head to a series of well-known sites in the south after flying into Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The upland areas of the Da Lat Plateau — including the wonderful Mount Lang Bian — are home to such quality species as Indochinese Green Magpie, Vietnamese Cutia and Collared Laughingthrush; and not far away sits the steamy, lowland forest of Cat Tien, which is perhaps Vietnam's flagship nature reserve.
Central areas are harder to reach and less well known. The near-mythical Crested Argus used to be a real possibility here for anyone willing to undertake an expedition but it is now all but gone, sad to say. Other areas could produce a suite of birds rarely seen, including Sooty Babbler and Limestone Warbler.
In the north after flying into Hanoi (the country's capital), birders may well visit the mist-shrouded forests of Tam Dao and other sites to search for parrotbills and cochoas. New on the birding map is Ba Be National Park, where White-eared Night Heron can be found; and over on the coast is the Ramsar site Xuan Thuy, an extensive tidal wetland with some very special passage visitors. Last but not least, they may travel just a couple of hours south from Hanoi to Cuc Phuong National Park.
Cuc Phuong is likely to be an important feature of any Vietnamese birding itinerary. It is a large reserve set in the limestone foothills of the Annamite Mountains. Accommodation, catering and birding trails can all be found at the remote Bong substation, which is 13 miles beyond the park headquarters; and areas immediately around the headquarters itself are also well worth birding. I spent five days in the park with fellow Brit birder Dennis Teece and I recount here just a few of our most interesting experiences.
At the Bong substation, there is simple bungalow accommodation for visitors and it's ideal for birders. The substation is set in a large forest clearing where the air is cool and the nights quite chilly. A small, simple restaurant provides lunches and evening meals, and we were also able to prepare a flask of hot water every evening ready for early-morning coffees the next day. So our days started before dawn with hot drinks and homemade flapjack and we would then be out to catch the first of the avian activity. Undisturbed, extensive rain forest is literally on the doorstep.
A great thing to do as the forest wakes up is to walk the level valley trail carefully looking ahead for thrushes on the path. Some patience was needed and waiting on the trail close to the substation paid off when we had nice views of a 'bobbing and weaving' White's Thrush and, on another day, a foraging Japanese Thrush. Others have also seen Black-breasted Thrush and Chinese Blackbird so this early-morning routine is well worth the effort and you never know what else might appear.
Walking the valley trail later, we sometimes heard Grey Peacock-pheasants giving their grating, staccato calls from way back in the trees. These are shy, forest-dwelling birds and we never did see one. They are a world away from the introduced Common Pheasants bred year on year and let loose into the British countryside. The true pheasants form a stunning family, with most species being difficult to see and displaying intricate and spectacular plumage. They are always a top target on an Asian birding trip along with the trogons, broadbills, pittas, hornbills and kingfishers. I've birded several areas that have the peacock-pheasant from northeast India to southern Thailand and have yet to lay eyes on one of these forest-floor ghosts.
As it gets lighter, the forest starts to come to life. Early morning is still a good time to find skulkers on or close to trails, however, and it also gets you out before any noisy tourists. We spent plenty of time on the loop trail and found that one section was a favourite area for one particular Bar-bellied Pitta. We saw this bird, a male, on several days and he almost seemed to get used to us hanging around. This was luxury for the pitta connoisseur and what a bird it is; out of the same box as Gurney's and Banded Pittas, Bar-bellied is an Indo-Chinese endemic and the male a spectacular mix of blue, yellow, black, green and turquoise.
In this same area, we had a brief view of what appeared to be a Chinese Thrush in some dense trail-side shrubs. This species is certainly a possibility at Cuc Phuong and it was frustrating to miss out on definitive views. Blue Whistling-thrushes were also seen a couple of times, keeping the thrush count high.
As I entered the forest on the loop trail one morning, a movement close by caught my eye. We carefully waited beside a large tangle and peered in hoping for any sign of a bird. After a minute or two, a rufous sliver of wing could be seen, which turned out to be part of a small robin. This was a bird neither of us had seen before and we patiently tried to paste together a full mental image. Eventually it walked out into an open patch and hopped across, with a nervous gait and some tail flicking. The rufous wings and tail and distinct scalloped breast pattern meant Rufous-tailed Robin, no doubt a wintering bird. Another movement and another small bundle of feathers hopped into the clearing. With a supercilium to end all supercilia, and the most minimal of tails, there was no mistaking this guy, an Asian Stubtail; a tiny but spectacular warbler and another new bird for us. What a great little tangle!
Perhaps the main focus of the Bong area is the grid. This is a lovely patch of rich forest, criss-crossed by narrow concrete paths. You can walk nice and quietly, and check round every corner with care hoping for a ground bird caught off guard. We spent long periods in the grid scanning the canopy, the understory and the ground, and working through any mixed flocks we encountered as best we could. The back of the grid was a particularly quiet area and time spent here revealed Blue-rumped and more Bar-bellied Pittas, plus Limestone Wren-babblers. The Blue-rumpeds were a devil to see and only gave the briefest of glimpses after we spent long periods staking them out. Often their subdued 'teu' call was all that gave them away even when they were very close. The babblers were vocal and active, and much easier to connect with as they bounced around the limestone outcrops.
Up in the canopy, the grid was alive with birds. Fairy Bluebirds, Paradise Flycatchers, Blue-winged Leafbirds and a multitude of other species were regularly seen. A few Silver-breasted Broadbills showed well, very special birds that quietly occupy a mid-canopy niche. We only heard Long-tailed Broadbills but they're around in the area and can be seen with luck.
Warblers were seen in numbers and presented many identification conundrums. Up in the canopy, views were often brief and incomplete. The birds moved quickly and rarely could all their features be seen. Experience here makes a huge difference, but neither of us had studied the Asian Phylloscs in depth other than a range of treasured birds seen in the UK and a handful of species seen on a few other foreign trips. Arctic Warblers were something of a relief. They were fairly common and tended to call allowing a quick ID. We realised that Blyth's Leaf Warbler fed like a nuthatch and with just a few supporting features seen, we could name these with confidence. Other warblers that we confirmed were Eastern Crowned, Grey-crowned, Bianchi's, Kloss's Leaf, Yellow-bellied and Yellow-browed; but I wonder what we missed.
After much perseverance, we eventually clinched views of Cuc Phuong's third pitta species, the elusive Eared Pitta. We'd been hearing these birds regularly on the loop trail, an eerie, double-whistle uttered most commonly at dawn and dusk. They are shy birds, however, with an unhelpful habit of freezing if they spot an intruder. Their cryptic plumage then renders them all but invisible and I suspect we sometimes overlooked birds in full view. Eventually, we spotted dry leaves being tossed some way up an open slope and there was a pair, quietly feeding together in the lee of some limestone crags.
I haven't mentioned a host of other species we saw and every birding group that visits sees a different set of species. Anything between a couple of days and a week could be spent productively working this fantastic area and anyone visiting will come away with treasured memories of some classic Oriental forest birding. Andy MearsFebruary 2015
Vietnamese Cutia photographed in the Da Lat uplands of Southern Vietnam by BirdtourASIA tour guide James Eaton. James is a regular contributor to the OBC’s Forktail and BirdingASIA journals. BirdtourASIA is a proud corporate sponsor of the Oriental Bird Club — many thanks to James for providing photos for this article.
Red-collared Woodpecker is a Cuc Phuong speciality. We searched hard for it but never found one. I later read that it is often seen feeding very low on tree trunks so perhaps we walked right past one… (Photo: János Oláh).
Parrotbills are always popular with birders. This stunning Black-headed was photographed at Ta Nung in Southern Vietnam and is another highly range-restricted species that can be found in the country (Photo: János Oláh)
Limestone Warbler was only recently recognised as being distinct from Sulphur-breasted Warbler. It has a very restricted range but is one of a multitude of warblers that could be encountered at Cuc Phuong. This individual was photographed at Phong Nha (Photo: János Oláh)
Limestone Wren-babbler at Cuc Phuong (Photo by OBC Council Member Tony Sawbridge)
Your first view of a pitta is often incomplete; patience and perseverance are usually required to get the full show, even when you’ve located a bird. I well remember spotting male Bar-bellieds from Cat Tien’s Crocodile Lake Trail by the flash of a bright blue-green head popping up behind a log or darting between patches of low foliage. This one was photographed at Cat Tien by OBC committee member Chris Gooddie.
A Sooty Babbler photographed at Phong Nha in Central Vietnam and characteristically perched on a chunk of limestone (Photo: James Eaton)
Black-browed Barbet is widespread in South-East Asia but the Indochinese subspecies is distinct and also known as Annam Barbet. This individual was photographed at Da Lat by Birdquest tour guide János Oláh. Birdquest is a proud corporate sponsor of the Oriental Bird Club — many thanks to János for providing photos for this article.
Jerdon’s Babbler, rediscovered in Myanmar in May 2014 © Robert Tizard / WCS
5th March 2015—Jerdon’s Babbler Chrysomma altirostre has been rediscovered in Myanmar by a scientific team from WCS, Myanmar’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division – MOECAF, and National University of Singapore (NUS).
Jerdon’s Babbler had last been seen in Myanmar in July 1941 and was considered by many to be extinct in the country.
News of the exciting rediscovery has been unveiled in the latest issue of BirdingASIA, the six-monthly journal of the Oriental Bird Club.
The printed article will be distributed to Club members, while an electronic version can be downloaded here: BirdingAsia22 pp13-15 (PDF, 50 KB)
The team rediscovered Jerdon’s Babbler on 30th May 2014 while surveying grasslands near the town of Myitkyo, Bago Region near the Sittaung River, close to an abandoned agricultural station.
After hearing a distinctive call, scientists played back a recording and were rewarded with the sighting of an adult Jerdon’s Babbler.
During the next two days, the team repeatedly found Jerdon’s Babblers at several locations in the immediate vicinity and mistnetted individuals to obtain blood samples and high-quality photographs.
The small brown bird, about the size of a House Sparrow Passer domesticus, was initially described by British naturalist T. C. Jerdon in January 1862, who found it in grassy plains near Thayetmyo, Myanmar.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the species was common in the vast natural grassland that once covered the Ayeyarwady and Sittaung flood plains around Yangon. Since then, agriculture and communities have gradually replaced most of these grasslands as the area has developed.
“The degradation of these vast grasslands had led many to consider this subspecies of Jerdon’s Babbler extinct. This discovery not only proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that the habitat can still be found as well. Future work is needed to identify remaining pockets of natural grassland and develop systems for local communities to conserve and benefit from them,” said Colin Poole, Director of WCS’s Regional Conservation Hub in Singapore.
Jerdon’s Babblers in Myanmar are currently considered as one of three subspecies found in the Indus, Bhramaputra, and Ayeyarwady River basins in South Asia. All show subtle differences and may yet prove to be distinctive species.
Further analysis of DNA samples taken from the bird will be studied at the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, to determine if Jerdon’s babbler in Myanmar should be considered a full species. If so, the species would be exclusive to Myanmar and be of very high conservation concern because of its fragmented and threatened habitat.
“Our sound recordings indicate that there may be pronounced bioacoustic differences between the Myanmar subspecies and those further west, and genetic data may well confirm the distinctness of the Myanmar population,” said Professor Frank Rheindt of NUS’s Department of Biological Sciences and a key member of the field team and leader of the genetic analysis.
This work was carried out as part of a larger study to understand the genetics of Myanmar bird species and determine the true level of bird diversity found in the country. Already Myanmar has more species of bird than any other country in mainland Southeast Asia and this number is likely to increase as our understanding of birds in this long isolated country continues to grow.
WCS’s work in Myanmar which led to this discovery was supported by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Oriental Bird Club, UK registered charity 297242, is for birders and ornithologists around the world who are interested in birds of the Oriental region and their conservation. The Club's aims are to encourage an interest in wild birds of the Oriental region and their conservation, to promote the work of regional bird and nature societies and to collate and publish information on Oriental birds. The Club is run by a team of dedicated volunteers.
Jerdon’s Babbler, Myanmar © Robert Tizard / WCS
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