Albinistic Tree Sparrow Passer montanus

Obwohl Berichte von albinotischen oder teilalbinotischen Vögeln nicht selten sind, gibt es vom Feldsperling Passer montanus nur wenige publizierte Fälle von völligem Albinismus. Diese Arbeit beschreibt einen solchen Vogel, der im September 2001 bei Dresden gefunden wurde. Der Sperling trägt ein vollständig weißes Jugendkleid, sein Schnabel und die Beine sind gelblichweiß gefärbt. Das Präparat dieses Vogels befindet sich jetzt in der ornithologischen Sammlung des Museums für Tierkunde Dresden.Although records of albinistic or partial albinistic birds are not seldom there are only few published cases of complete albinism in the Tree Sparrow Passer montanus. This article describes such a bird found near Dresden in September 2001. The Sparrow wears an entirely white juvenile plumage, beak and legs are coloured yellowish-white. The bird’s skin is now in the ornithological collection of the Museum für Tierkunde Dresden

Albinistic Tree Sparrow Passer montanus

Obwohl Berichte von albinotischen oder teilalbinotischen Vögeln nicht selten sind, gibt es vom Feldsperling Passer montanus nur wenige publizierte Fälle von völligem Albinismus. Diese Arbeit beschreibt einen solchen Vogel, der im September 2001 bei Dresden gefunden wurde. Der Sperling trägt ein vollständig weißes Jugendkleid, sein Schnabel und die Beine sind gelblichweiß gefärbt. Das Präparat dieses Vogels befindet sich jetzt in der ornithologischen Sammlung des Museums für Tierkunde Dresden.Although records of albinistic or partial albinistic birds are not seldom there are only few published cases of complete albinism in the Tree Sparrow Passer montanus. This article describes such a bird found near Dresden in September 2001. The Sparrow wears an entirely white juvenile plumage, beak and legs are coloured yellowish-white. The bird’s skin is now in the ornithological collection of the Museum für Tierkunde Dresden

The Corvids Literature Database - 500 years of ornithological research from a crow’s perspective

Corvids (Corvidae) play a major role in ornithological research. Because of their worldwide distribution, diversity and adaptiveness, they have been studied extensively. The aim of the Corvids Literature Database (CLD, http://www.corvids.de/cld) is to record all publications (citation format) on all extant and extinct Crows, Ravens, Jays and Magpies worldwide and tag them with specific keywords making them available for researchers worldwide. The self-maintained project started in 2006 and today comprises 8000 articles, spanning almost 500 years. The CLD covers publications from 164 countries, written in 36 languages and published by 8026 authors in 1503 journals (plus books, theses and other publications). Forty-nine percent of all records are available online as full-text documents or deposited in the physical CLD archive. The CLD contains 442 original corvid descriptions. Here, we present a metadata assessment of articles recorded in the CLD including a gap analysis and prospects for future research

Short communications: New breeding records and observations of the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus minor from Ethiopia

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Taxonomic status of the Liberian Greenbul Phyllastrephus leucolepis and the conservation importance of the Cavalla Forest, Liberia

We thank Jochen Martens for his long-lasting patience in dealing with the specimen of leucolepis, and Brian Hillcoat for comments and advice. It is hardly possible to thank by name all those who have supported WG over the past 30 years and more since 1981 in the fields of forest ecology and ornithology in eastern Liberia. In particular, we express gratitude to Alex Peal and Theo Freeman, both Heads of Wildlife and National Parks, for their many years of cooperation, and the Silviculture Officers Wynn Bryant, Momo Kromah and Steve Miapeh. The knowledge of the tree experts Joe Keper and Daniel Dorbor helped us to gain insights into the ecological complexities of the relationship between man, birds and trees. William Toe worked for three years as bird trapper and assistant in bird banding. WG’s attachment to the University of Liberia and to the students who so often accompanied him was made possible by Ben Karmorh from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and University of Liberia. NABU, the German Conservation Society, has supported the Liberian projects for almost 30 years now. We also thank Nigel Collar, Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire and Hannah Rowland for comments and advice. We thank the African Bird Club and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for helping to fund the 2013 expedition to the Cavalla Forest, in particular Alice Ward-Francis, Robert Sheldon, Alan Williams and Keith Betton. We also are extremely grateful to Michael Garbo and staff of the Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia for all manner of help with the expedition, to Harrison Karnwea and colleagues at the Forest Development Authority of Liberia for permissions and other support, as well as to Emmanuel Loqueh, Trokon Grimes, Flomo Molubah and Amos ‘Dweh’ Dorbor for being such excellent companions in the field. YL performed the genetic work as part of her M.Sc. (Genetics) at the University of Aberdeen, whose support is acknowledged.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus from an Uyghur well in Karabalgasun (Ordu-Baliq), Central Mongolia

A partial skeleton of a female Gyrfalcon, dated at 1044–1214 AD, was excavated in an abandoned well in Karabalgasun, Central Mongolia. Karabalgasun lies in the Orkhon Valley, a landscape of special symbolic, political and spiritual significance in the age of the Turk, Uyghur and Mongol empires. The falcon was interred during the reign of the Khitan (Liao) dynasty. The vertebral ribs show healed fractures, a sign that the bird was nursed in captivity. For falconry was an important element at the imperial court, the presence of the Gyrfalcon indicates the importance of the Orkhon Valley as a place of annual hunting rituals and as a sacred landscape during the reign of the Liao dynasty. The lack of wings, tail and clawed feet of the falcon carcass points towards a post-mortem decorative or ritual use of these body parts. Since Gyrfalcons do not naturally occur in Mongolia, this individual bird may have been a particular symbol of status.FOLG

A New Measurement Conception for the ‘Doing-Using-Interacting’ Mode of Innovation

The ‘doing-using-interacting’ (DUI) mode of innovation describes informal innovative activities and it can be juxtaposed with the ‘science-technology-innovation’ (STI) mode based on deliberate research and development. While both modes contribute substantially but differently to technological progress, our empirical understanding of DUI mode innovative activity suffers from the lack of a comprehensive measurement approach. While empirical measurement of the STI mode is well established, empirical indicators for DUI activities are scarce and no consensus has emerged concerning its constituting learning processes. We propose a new measurement conception for innovative activity and based on 81 in-depth interviews with German firms and regional innovation consultants. We derive fifteen categories of DUI mode learning processes and a comprehensive set of 47 indicators comprising both established and new DUI indicators for empirical measurement. This new measurement conception and the respective indicators provide a holistic perspective and their application can be used to increase our understanding of the importance of DUI mode innovative activity, as well as guiding policy-makers

Shaping potential landscape for organic polariton condensates in double-dye cavities

We investigate active spatial control of polariton condensates independently of the polariton-, gain-inducing excitation profile. This is achieved by introducing an extra intracavity semiconductor layer, non-resonant to the cavity mode. Saturation of the optical absorption in the uncoupled layer enables the ultra-fast modulation of the effective refractive index and, through excited-state absorption, the polariton dissipation. Utilising these mechanisms, we demonstrate control over the spatial profile and density of a polariton condensate at room temperature

Notes on the behaviour, plumage and distribution of the White-tailed Swallow Hirundo megaensis

The White-tailed Swallow Hirundo megaensis is a threatened and poorly known bird endemic to southern Ethiopia, where it is restricted to a small area of Acacia savanna. Despite the paucity of previous nest records, we found 67 nests in the years 2010–14, commonly in village huts lived in by people, and report the first confirmation of nesting (two certain records) in termite mounds. Its nests are small mud cups lined with grass and animal hair, fixed to roof joists and similar to those of its sister species, the Pearl-breasted Swallow H. dimidiata of southern Africa, although it appears to lay larger clutches (3–4 pure white eggs) and breed less frequently, producing one brood in each of its two rain-driven breeding seasons (April–June and October–November). The same nests are reportedly used in these two seasons, presumably by the same pairs. Incubation lasts 16–17 days, with some broods showing clearly smaller chicks and hence presumably asynchronous hatching. Study of nestlings in the hand and museum skins confirmed that juveniles can be determined by their shorter tails, browner heads and frequently also wings, and reduced white in the tail. Although birds are typically seen singly or in pairs, flocks of up to 50, sometimes mixed with other hirundines, can occur. The breeding range appears to be almost identical to that of the Ethiopian Bush-crow Zavattariornis stresemanni but regular sightings of White-tailed Swallows since 2005 at the Liben Plain, 120 km to the east of the core area, suggest that the birds are frequent visitors there.We are grateful to the numerous funding bodies which have supported this research over several years: NERC, RSPB, British Birdfair, African Bird Club, British Ornithologists’ Union, Gesellschaft für Tropenornithologie, Tim Whitmore Zoology Fund, Magdalene College (Cambridge), Cambridge Philosophical Society, and BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme; and especially to Julian Francis. We also thank Robert Prys-Jones at the Natural History Museum (NHMUK) for access to specimens; Les Colley for his photograph used in Fig. 5; Stefanie Rick for her excellent drawings used in Fig. 9; Steve Rooke (Sunbird Tours), Bernard, Willem and Sjoerd Oosterbaan, Simon Busuttil, Merid Gabremichael and Claire Spottiswoode for providing additional information and sightings; Alazar Dakar, Abiy Dange, Birhan Dessalegn, Solomon Desta, Okotu Dida, Ali Guche, Sam Jones, Gufu Kashina, Stuart Marsden, Tesfaye Mekonnen, Samson Zelleke and many others including all the staff of Borana National Park for help with fieldwork; Angela Turner and John Atkins for their services as referees; and the Borana villagers who so kindly allowed us into their homes to study the White-tailed Swallow’s nests and without whose hospitality our knowledge of this species would be much poorer.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from African Bird Club

Further notes on the natural history of the Ethiopian Bush-crow Zavattariornis stresemanni

The Ethiopian Bush-crow Zavattariornis stresemanni is a charismatic and Endangered endemic bird of southern Ethiopia, whose general biology remains under-studied. We present field notes and observations from 2008 to 2014, covering many aspects of the species’ behaviour and morphology. Bush-crows breed co-operatively in response to both of the local rainy seasons, but group size and fidelity of helpers appears to be variable. Bush-crow nests were found for the first time on man-made structures; a low power distribution pole and a tall electricity pylon. The display of one bush-crow to another is further described. Juveniles can be identified by darker coloration around the face, bright red gapes and distinctive begging calls. Adults possess lightweight, low-density body feathers and it appears that bush-crows have a moult phenology that overlaps extensively with breeding, a trait unusual in birds. Post-breeding dispersal is often limited, although anecdotal evidence and a handful of observations suggest that some individuals cover greater distances between breeding seasons. We report the first confirmed predation of a bush-crow, and supplement this with notes on other interspecific interactions. Finally, bush-crows were found for the first time north-west of Yabello (a small range extension), and we discuss the implications of local movements and range fluctuations in the context of the species’ apparent climatic range limitation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from African Bird Club via https://www.africanbirdclub.org/bulletins/abc-bulletin-231-march-2016/further-notes-natural-history-ethiopian-bush-cro