Johnstone, R E

van Balen, Bas

English

KUKILA

77 1997 Notes on the avifauna of the Riau Archipelago 24 February 1996 (SA, LKS). The islet is mainly covered by coconut plantations and scrub. The following species were recorded: Striated Heron Butorides striatus. Pacific Reef egret Egretta sacra, Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus, White bellied Sea eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster, Whimbrel Numenius arquata, Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos. Little Tern Sterna albifrons, Great Crested Tern Sterna bergii, Rock Pigeon Columba livia, Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis, Little Swift Apus affinis, Collared Kingfisher Halcyon chloris, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica, Yellow vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier, Black naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis, Large billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos, Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis, Olive backed Sunbird Nectarinia jugularis, and Eurasian Tree sparrow Passer montanus. Acknowledgements. The author wishes to thank the members of the Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group listed above for making their records available, and to Subaraj Rajathurai and Derek Holmes for their comments on a first draft. References Kukila 1996. Sumatra Bird Report. Kukila 8:9 56. MacKinnon, J. & K. Phillipps. 1993. A field guide to the birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali, the Greater Sunda Islands. Oxford Univ. Press. Marle, J.G. van & K.H. Voous. 1988. The birds of Sumatra: an annotated check list. Brit. Orn. Union Check list No. 10. Tring, UK. Rajathurai, S. 1996. The birds of Batam and Bintan Islands, RiauArchipelago. Kukila 8: 86 113. Address: Block 14 Eunos Crescent, #02 2809, Singapore 400014. Postscript. The following additional records were submitted after acceptance of the paper, and relate to records collected on Batam on 24 25 May 1997 by LKS and SA: Black crowned Night heron Nycticorax nycticorax. One adult, Turi Beach. 24 May, appears to be the first record for the island. Sooty headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster. One, Turi Beach, 24 May, appears to be the first record for Batam and the Riau Archipelago. (In view of the popularity of this species as a cage bird in Indonesia and the influx of human population into Batam, it seems likely that this bird may have had a feral origin ed.). Cream vented Bulbul Pycnonoctus simplex. Additional record: 2 in beach scrub at Turi Beach, 25 May. NOTES ON THE MIGRATION OFSACRED KINGFISHERS IN INDONESIA by Bas (S.) van Balen & R.E. Johnstone KUKILA 9: 78-80 (Received 30 August 1996) INTRODUCTION InAustralia the Sacred Kingfisher Halcyon sancta is largely a migrant, leaving the colder parts of its breeding range (mainly the southern areas) in late Summer or Autumn and returning in Spring. They winter mainly north of the tropic (especially far northern coasts) and also on islands to the north of Australia from as far west as Sumatra (Bangka Island) and east to New Guinea and the Solomons (Storr 1984; Fry et al. 1992). Most migrants appear to leave Queensland (evidently by long flights across the Coral Sea as well as via Torres Strait) but considerable numbers winter in northern coastal mangroves and woodlands, and progressively smaller numbers further south. In Western Australia birds leave the southern parts of the State between early February and Mid July and return between late August and late October (Storr & Johnstone 1988). In the far north of Western Australia there is a large increase in numbers during the winter (especially in mangroves) when the resident population is augmented by southern visitors. Kingfishers on passage On passage Sacred Kingfishers have been recorded on remote islands off north Western Australia, including Browse Island (14°07'S, 123°33'E) and Ashmore Reef(12°15'S, 123°00'E). They are regular visitors to oil rigs in the Timor Sea at 12°S, 125°E, staying up to three days and arriving mainly in the wet season months of October to March (REJ own data). While on a boat cruise through the eastern part of the Banda sea, off Kur Is, at 4°58'S; 132°07'E, on the evening of 2 May 1994 at 20.10 hrs, a Sacred Kingfisher flew across the boat; somewhat later about twenty birds of this species were flying around the light at the top of the mast for about half an hour. One of the birds was caught by the boatmen and kept in a waste bin until the following morning, when we released it off the coast of Manawoko Island, to which it flew with bold wing strikes. Only the outer tail feathers of this bird were worn, indicating almost completed moult (SvB own obs.). Wintering period in Indonesia: Sumatra: dates reported by Van Marle & Voous (1988) for Sumatra are between 2 June and 23August. Kalimantan/Borneo: dates reported by Smythies (1981) are between 17 June and 12 September, but see Kalimantan Bird Report (this issue) where dates are between 30April and September. Java: recorded mainly between May and September (Hoogerwerf & R. H. Siccama 1938), but has been observed as early as 15 April (SvB own data: Segara Anakan) and as late as mid November (Hoogerwerf & R H. Siccama (1938). Bali: van Helvoort (unpublished data) reported dates between 5 April and 28 October On 21 May 1989 79 1997 Migration of Sacred Kingfisher more birds than normal were noticed in the Bali Barat national park where, after a night of clear moon, at least eight birds were counted perched at regular intervals in a strip of mangrove which normally would contain only one or two birds (SvB own data). Major concentrations of birds that were presumably on return passage were noted on 20 September 1991, when at least 15 birds were encountered along a stretch of beach in the Bali Barat national park where otherwise at most only a few were seen; some were in full breeding plumage. Being normally strictly solitary, keeping to well defined territories, on 19 20 October 1993 three birds in full breeding plumage were seen together on a branch (SvB own data). Sulawesi: extreme dates are 28 May (Stresemann 1941) and September (Escott & Holmes 1978). The species appears to be more common here than White & Bruce (1986) suggest (SvB own data). Lesser Sundas: the species is a regular, common winter visitor arriving during April to June (earliest date 4April) and departing mainly mid September to mid October (latest date 21 October) (REJ own data). Moluccas: there are many records between April and October (earliest and latest dates 16 April and 30 October) (REJ own data). Discussion Most migrants appear to reach eastern Indonesia during April May. Our data suggest a shift of first arrival dates from the east (Timor to Bali in April) to the west and north (Sumatra in June). The departure from Indonesia back to Australia appears to occur mainly during September to October, which accords with the breeding season in Australia which is October to January. A few individuals may remain in their winter quarters, as suggested for Java by Hoogerwerf & Siccama (1938) and Mees (1949). Sacred Kingfishers are known to migrate by night, and large numbers cross Torres Straits during March and April (Coates 1985). Migration in the northern direction probably occurs on a broad front as suggested by the lack of concentrations elsewhere (Fry et al. 1992). However, the present data suggest the existence of at least a few more concentration points, the importance of which should be further investigated. Perhaps because of its geographic position the Bali Barat national park appears to be an important passage point (both arrival and return), also for a number of northern migrants such as Japanese Sparrow hawk Accipiter gularis. Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus and Fork tailed Swift Apus pacificus (Ash 1984; SvB own data). Acknowledgments The boat cruise was made with the Seatrek travel company (Amsterdam/Denpasar), and we would like to thank director Mr Dick Bergsma for giving SvB the opportunity to join. Thanks are also forwarded to the Bali Barat national park staff. We thank Mr N. Kolichis whose grants to the Western Australian Museum covered fieldwork costs for REJ in the Lesser Sunda Islands. 80 van Balen & Johnstone	 KUKILA 9 References Ash, J.S. 1984. Bird observations on Bali. Bull. Brif.Om.Club. 104: 24 35. Coates, B.J. 1985. The birds of Papua New Guinea. Vol. 1: Non-Passerines.Alderley: Dove Publications. Fry, C.H., K. Fry & A. Harris. 1992. Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Helm & Black, London. Hoogerwerf, A. & G.F.H.W. Rengers Hora Siccama. 1938. De avifauna van Batavia en omstreken. (3e gedeelte). Ardea 27: 41 92. Johnstone, R.E. 1994. Observations of seabirds and shorebirds in Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sundas) and Moluccas, Indonesia. The Western Australian Naturalist 19: 339 349. Marle, J.G. van & K.H. Voous. 1988. The birds of Sumatra. Brit. Orn. U. Check list No. 10. Mees, G.F. 1949. Een waameming van Halcyon s. scmcta Vig. & Horsf. op Java in Februari, Limosa 22: 410 411. Smythies, B.E. 1981 The birds of Borneo. Third Edition. The Sabah Society with the The Malayan Nature Society. Storr, G.M. 1984. Revised list of Queensland birds. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. Suppl. 19: 94. Storr, G.M. & R.E. Johnstone. 1988. Birds of the Swam Coastal Plain and adjacent seas and islands. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. Suppl. 28: 55. Addresses: S. van Balen, BirdLife International	 Indonesia Programme, P.O. Box 310, Bogor 16003, Indonesia, and Department of Terrestrial Ecology and Nature Conservation, Wageningen Agricultural University, Bornsesteeg 69, 6708 PD Wageningen, the Netherlands. R.E. Johnstone, Department of Ornithology, Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, W.A. 6000, Australia. BIRDS OF THE NEGARA RIVER BASIN, SOUTH KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA by Bas van Balen & Crawford Prentice (Received 19 February 1996) 

Notes on the migration of Sacred Kingfishers in Indonesia

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Notes on the migration of Sacred Kingfishers in Indonesia

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