News

The following largely unconfirmed records are taken from bulletins of the African Bird Club and are for information only.

Records from December 2006 are as follows. A dark-morph Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis was at Lake Hora on 1st. What appeared to be an adult Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle Circaetus beaudouini was near Giba on 18th. On 12th, 41 Pacific Golden Plovers Pluvialis fulva were seen near Lake Abiatta. Three swifts, seen and heard calling in the Bale Mountains on 4th were identified as African Black Swifts Apus barbatus. A Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola was at Lake Ziway on 12th and a Ménétries Warbler Sylvia mystacea at Bilen Lodge, in the Awash area, on 14th.

In late April 2007, two Rose-coloured Starlings Sturnus roseus in breeding plumage were photographed in a flock of Wattled Starlings Creatophora cinerea in Abiatta-Shalla Lakes National Park; this is the second record for Ethiopia, the first being from 23 March 2005, when one was c.50 km west of Yavello, also in the company of Wattled Starlings (cf. Bull. ABC 13: 75).

In 2006, the endemic Harwood’s Francolin Francolinus harwoodi was not only found at its usual site in the Jemma Valley, but also at the base of the cliffs at Debre Libanos, on 8 October.

In December 2005 the following species were reported. A pair of White-backed Duck Thalassornis leuconotus with seven young was observed at Lake Chelekleka on 2nd. A Western Banded Snake Eagle Circaetus cinerascens was at Lake Langano on 8th and two were at Wadera Forest, near Kibre Mengist, on 16th. A juvenile Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca was at Lake Langano on 9th. Three Degodi Larks Mirafra degodiensis were claimed from Bogol Mayo on 18th, and six Sidamo Larks Heteromirafra sidamoensis from the Liben Plains, Negele, on 16th. A Golden Pipit Tmetothylacus tenellus was seen near Negele on 16th and a Somali Short-billed (Philippa’s) Crombec Sylvietta philippae near Bogol Mayo, on 18th. Two female or first-year Ménétries Warblers Sylvia mystacea were found at Lalibella on 18 November 2004.

The following records are from November 2004-February 2005. Western Reef Egrets Egretta gularis were found at Lake Ziway on 6 January (one), at Awash NP (=National Park) on 16 January (one) and at Lake Basaka on 14 January (two) and 6-8 February (one). Single Levant Sparrowhawks Accipiter brevipes were claimed from Sof Omar on 26 January, from the Genale River, Wadera, on 28 January, near Yabello on 17 February and east of Yabello, on the road to Negele, on 18 February. Long-legged Buzzards Buteo rufinus were seen between Wondo Genet and the Bale Mountains on 7 January (three), near the Bale Mountains on 25th (two) and near Goba on 28th (one). An adult Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca was seen in Awash NP on 16 January and another near Awassa on 24th. In the Bale Mountains, single Golden Eagles A. chrysaetos were seen on 25 and 27 January. In November, 20 Saker Falcons Falco cherrug were counted in a single day between Awash NP and Addis Ababa. One was mobbed by a pair of Lanner Falcons F. biarmicus near the Bale Mts on 25 January.

A Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus was seen at Lake Langano on 13 January and a first-winter Slender-billed Gull Larus genei at Lake Basaka next day. Two Star-spotted Nightjars Caprimulgus stellatus were found at Awash NP on 15 January. Also there was a first-winter male Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala, with another below Ankober escarpment on 7 February. Two Grey-headed Silverbills Odontospiza griseicapilla were at Yabello on 12 January.

Records from October 2004 include the following. A Sooty Falcon Falco concolor, of which there are few records for Ethiopia, was seen in the Yabello area on 26th. Three Water Thick-knees Burhinus vermiculatus were on the Daua River on 23rd; this is a little-known species in Ethiopia. Two Greater Sand Plovers Charadrius leschenaultii were found on the mudflats at Lake Abiata on 18th. These are apparently the first for Ethiopia; they were identified by their larger size than the many nearby Kittlitz’s C. pecuarius and Common Ringed Plovers C. hiaticula and by their long, heavy bill and greenish-grey legs. A Pel's Fishing-owl Scotopelia peli was flushed from its roost along the Daua River, and subsequently scoped and observed in detail, on 23 October; this appears to be a major range extension: the species is not even known from north-east Kenya or the adjacent part of Somalia.

^top

In November 2003, a Sooty Falcon Falco concolor was seen at Filowa, Awash National Park on 15th and at least two Terek Sandpipers Xenus cinereus were on the north-eastern shore of Lake Shalla on 27th.

Noteworthy records from October 2003 include a male Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca on Lake Cheleleke on 25th; this is an uncommon visitor to the country. A Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus flew over Debre Libanos on 10th; this Palearctic migrant is occurring with increasing frequency in sub-Saharan Africa. An Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aepyptius at Lake Awassa on 18th was a surprise; there are only a few scattered records for the Rift Valley and this appears to be the first for Awassa. A flock of 38 Pacific Golden Plovers Pluvialis fulva were found on Lake Abiata on 17th. At Lake Hora, an Icterine Warbler Hippolais icterina was seen on 13th; this appears to be an uncommon species in Ethiopia.

^top

The following records are from the second half of October 2001.

Two adult and a juvenile Lesser Moorhen Gallinula angulata were seen, and others heard in a swamp south of Bahar Dar on 14th and another adult was at Lake Awassa on 20th; this species is apparently rarely recorded in Ethiopia. A female Plain Nightjar Caprimulgus inornatus was picked up from the road near Robe, in the Bali Mountains on 24th; the location and altitude seem to be somewhat unusual for this species. Two pairs of White-tailed Swallows Hirundo megaensis appeared to be nesting in a large hole under a 'chimney-stack' termitary south of Yabello on 22nd; the birds were frequently entering the hole and one was seen carrying food. According to the literature, the species is presumed to breed in Jan-Feb and Apr-May, but the present records and those from October 2000, when four apparently fresh nests were found in culverts under the main road, suggest that its breeding season is more prolonged. Three Golden Pipits Tmetothylacus tenellus were found near Yabello on 23rd and three Bush Pipits Anthus caffer on 22nd; the status of the latter in Ethiopia is uncertain. On 28th, 19 Wattled Cranes Bugeranus carunculatus were observed on the shore of Lac Abiyata.

The following records are from October-December 2000.

At least 90 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea were seen on the Sanetti Plateau in October; a high count for this species at the southernmost tip of its range. A Western Banded Snake Eagle Circaetus cinerascens was seen by Lake Awasa on 1 December and at least six Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos on the Sanetti Plateau on 30 November. A juvenile Sooty Falcon Falco concolor was in the Jemma Valley on 9 October. Two Brown-backedHoneybirds Prodotiscus regulus were seen in Awash National Park on 5 December. A pair of Desert Larks Ammomanes deserti were seen between Dulecha and Fantalle on 11 October; this appears to be an extension of the known range. Also there were at least three pairs of Black-crowned Sparrow Larks Eremopterix nigriceps; apparently outside the range shown in Birds of Africa, but within that given by Urban & Brown (1971, A Checklist of the Birds of Ethiopia). A pair of Golden Pipits Tmetothylacus tenellus were seen south of Yabello on 23 October. A female / immature Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochrurus in the Jemma Valley was at the southern tip of its wintering range. A White-crowned Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga was seen by the roadside between Addis Ababa and Nazret in December. A Grey Tit-Flycatcher Myioparus plumbeus at Sof Omar was apparently just outside of its known range. An Icterine Warbler Hippolais icterina was in the Jemma Valley on 9 October.

Two Spectacled Warblers Sylvia conspicillata south of the hotel at Lake Langano on 16 October 1996, two immature Subalpine Warblers Sylvia cantillans seen in good light in the same area the next day, and several Cretzschmar's Buntings Emberiza caesia associating with Ortolan Buntings E. hortulana on the western edge of Lake Chelekleka on 16 March 1997, would appear to constitute first records of these species for Ethiopia.

Last page update 6th December 2007

^top