Vanuatu kingfisher ID assistance sought
By Birding-Aus, on March 25th, 2014
While on a small island off Espiritu Santo last week I saw quite a few kingfishers that confused me. Any help on ID would be appreciated. A rather poor pic is at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4wr9c4l354dtypt/KyZYC7iJ28 I hope the photo is good enough and Dropbox doesn’t do a go-slow. Thanks in advance Peter Scott _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
My copy of Dutson 2011says Todiramphus chloris juliae (collared kingfisher) from Vanuatu has long rufous supercilium; my memory of seeing them on Santo in 2012 agrees. Have no bird photos other than dove shot by ranger (don’t ask)! Helen Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
I’ve just joined this group in anticipation of 10 weeks birding your east coast this July-Sept so I’m going to enjoy these ID challenges. We have several Halcyon kingfishers in Tanzania and are quite use to seeing these well marked imm birds. Fry et al 1992 names this Vanuatu bird as H. chloris juliae and the IOC list (3.4) retains this among the 50 recognized races for this neat bird. regards to all Neil Neil and Liz Baker, Tanzania Bird Atlas, P.O. Box 1605, Iringa, Tanzania. Mobiles: +255 785-311298 and +255 784-834273. http://tanzaniabirdatlas.com Subscribe to: tanzaniabirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com On Tuesday, 25 March 2014, 4:04, Prof Michael Tarburton < tarburton.m@optusnet.com.au> wrote: G’day Scottie All of what Steve Says is correct, but if you look at birdsofmelanesia.net you will see that the Rufous-bellied has been also seen on Aore as well. So if you had named the island you were on, it would be easier to alert you to what is around there. birdsofmelanesia.net gives you annotated checklists for 600 Melanesian islands. If you find something new let me know and I can add it to the appropriate list(s) The bird in your photo is a well-coloured Collared Kingfisher. Cheers Mike Tarburton ————————- Email sent using Optus Webmail _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
G’day Scottie All of what Steve Says is correct, but if you look at birdsofmelanesia.net you will see that the Rufous-bellied has been also seen on Aore as well. So if you had named the island you were on, it would be easier to alert you to what is around there. birdsofmelanesia.net gives you annotated checklists for 600 Melanesian islands. If you find something new let me know and I can add it to the appropriate list(s) The bird in your photo is a well-coloured Collared Kingfisher. Cheers Mike Tarburton ————————- Email sent using Optus Webmail _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
G’day Scottie No books here at work but according to The Handbook of the Birds of the World online (www.hbw,com) there are only two possibilities. Chestnut-bellied Kingfisher (*Todiramphis farquhari*) is restricted to forests on Espiritu Santo, Malo and Malakula islands. It has no supercilium, a white throat and the rest of the underparts uniform rufous-orange. Your bird is Collared Kingfisher- probably *Todiramphus chloris santoensis*. Unlike the Australian birds some of the Pacific island forms have this reddish supercilium and wash to the breast and belly. Cheers Steve On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 9:49 AM, Scottie < rust-ed@bigpond.net.au> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org