From: Brian Finch [birdfinch@gmail.com]
Sent: 2009-09-10 18:36:51 CEST To: tanzaniabirds@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [tanzaniabirds] Mackinder's Eagle Owl and Moorland Chat
Hi All,
After posting this about Mackinder?s Eagle Owl, I received an email
from Darcy Ogada. Together with Paul Muriithi, they have been studying
some 18 pairs around Mweiga, and taken a good sample of the calls, but
none of this published. They are preparing a paper for Scopus.
An amusing error in the brief write-up on Moorland Chat has the birds
waiting for an electrical storm before they stop singing, This of
course should read ?lightening in the sky,? not lightning!!!!
Best to all
Briian
> Comments from Brian Finch from a recent visit to Mt. Kenya. Both relevant to
> us.
Mackinder's (Cape) Eagle Owl occurs on Mt Meru and should be on Kili. It
also occurs in the Natron Rift and should be in the Gols and on Gelai &
Kitumbeine.
Interesting about the chat not being recorded before, many thousands of
people must have heard it singing on Kilimanjaro.
Mackinder's Eagle-Owl
Heard at night at the bandas. The call was recorded, and this possibly
for the first time ever. All references to the calls of Mackinder's in
Owl. Our bird is lumped with this by many authors.
The Mackinder's Eagle Owl called noisily; a very hoarse and throaty
"cook.coooo-kuk" and this continued without much variation at about
twelve second intervals.
The call suggests that in spite of its treatment, that this bird is
not the same species as Cape Eagle Owl. We are waiting on response
from some expertise we have sought.
Moorland Chat
Very common in moorland, especially around the bandas. Amazingly in
spite of how common this bird is where found, the song has never been
recorded nor described. The birds commenced singing at 5-00am, and
ceased just before it became light. Individuals chose prominent
perches from which to sing, the ends of protruding bamboo stalks,
roofs of the buildings or bare lateral branches of Hagenia trees.
Maybe it is because the birds only sing in the dark, that the song has
not been identified, as it is the most prominent songster of the
pre-dawn chorus. The only competitors being Mackinder's Eagle Owl,
Montane Nightjar and before the Chats finish their repertoire, Streaky
Seedeaters.
I taped quite a lot of the song, sadly over the first recordings of
the full song of Abbott's Starling!
The Handbook states "Not Tape-recorded" and "Song not known," only
quoting Moreau stating that they were "silent creatures." This is so
very far from the truth. Accordingly they can only list "a pleasant
chirping" and "a sibilant alarm." Zimmermann and Turner state " a
metallic piping" and "a soft chirping." Sinclair and Ryan, is word for
word Z&T. When I wrote the text for the vocalisations of the species
in Stevenson and Fanshawe, it was based on the recordings that I had
personally taken, and this mainly on a sub-song given by a bird at the
Met Station above Naro Moru. This I put down as ". formless and
unattractive series of various sparrow-like chirps, interspersed with
squeaks." During daylight hours these birds are extremely quiet.
We have not done this bird justice. The song has a distinct pattern
(form), and is both loud and attractive. The complexity of the refrain
is certainly not just "chips" and "squeaks." The sequence lasts three
to four seconds with two second breaks between each delivery. There is
variation in the individual phrases, and the song continues for very
long periods, ceasing when there is an indication of a lightning of
the sky. The song has a peculiar hurried quality, a scratchy but
pleasant and obviously chat-like variable "weet-tit
tcherr-ti-chit-ti-churr" sometimes ending on a lower note, or at times
with a higher inflection. The bird reacts to playback, finding another
perch close by to challenge the intruder, but usually returning to the
favoured perch. (All in the dark!).
Interestingly the song is totally different from the other two members
of the genus found in Kenya, and far more complex.
Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment