Clark, Steve

Turner, Donald A.

English

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Short communicationsShort communications Striped Pipit Anthus lineiventris—overlooked in Uganda?IntroductionThe Striped Pipit Anthus lineiventri is a large, distinctive pipit of southern African where it inhabits rocky hills and slopes well covered with trees and shrubs. It is readily identifiable, if seen well, being large, boldly striped and having distinctive yellow-edged wing feathers. There are no published records for Uganda. This paper reports on two birds at Mihingo Lodge adjacent to Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda in November 2016, a single bird at Rwakobo Rock Lodge nearby in May 2017 and some previously unpublished records from the same locations. We suggest that Striped Pipit may be a low-density, overlooked species in suitable habitat in southwest Uganda and adjacent northwest Tanzania.Published distributionThe main range is southeast Africa from southern Kenya through eastern and southern Tanzania, Malawi, southeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), southeast Zambia, southeast and northeast Botswana, Zimbabwe, western Mozambique and northeast and eastern South Africa. A second population occurs in Angola and a third disjunct population occurs in western and northwest Tanzania from about Kasanga in Rukwa Region north to Gombe National Park in Kigoma Region and in adjacent Burundi and Rwanda (Tyler 2017). There are no records in the Tanzania Bird Atlas from the Kagera Region of north-west Tanzania, but a sighting from Rusumo Falls, Rwanda in October 2009 was only 300 m from the Tanzanian border. eBird has one record from Uvubu National Park, Burundi (March 1994), but no records from northwest Tanzania or Rwanda (eBird 2012). Britton (1980) reported no records for Uganda and only one for western Tanza-nia (Kibondo, March 1961). Clancey (1990) did not mention western Tanzania, Burun-di or Rwanda as included in the range of this species.SubspeciationClancey (1990) recognized four subspecies, but none in the vicinity of the Albertine Rift that would include northwest Zambia, western Tanzanian, Burundi and Rwandan birds. The most likely of the four is A.l. angolensis Bocage 1870 about which he stated “Range: Western Angola from Huambo and Malanje, south to the escarpment of Huila, but precise limits and status uncertain. Clearly uncommon”. This is the form considered to be in Zambia (Dowsett et al. 2008).The Handbook of the Birds of the World recognizes two subspecies, A.l. lineiventris Sundevall 1850 in southeast Botswana to northeast South Africa and Swaziland, and A.l. stygium Clancey 1952 elsewhere (Tyler 2017). The IOC does not recognize any subspecies (Gill & Donsker 2017).The Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium has three Striped Pipit specimens from the DRC and one from Zambia. These are not categorized to subspe-cies level, but are all considered to be the same as birds from eastern DRC, western Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.4243Records for UgandaTwo pipits were seen by SC at Mihingo Lodge, Western, Uganda (0°36’S, 31°03’E, 1330 m) on the thatched roof of the dining room on the morning of the 13 November 2016. They flew down to forage in the natural grass/rock area around the swimming pool. Distant photographs indicated their identity as Striped Pipit as the yellow tint to the folded wings was clearly visible (Fig. 1). Later that afternoon no pipits were in evidence, but playback of a recording of their call from the eGuide to Birds of East Africa (2014) immediately resulted in one bird emerging from cover and close photographs were obtained. The record was submitted to eBird in November 2017 and to the East African Rarities Committee (EARC) in February 2017. This record has been fully accepted by the EARC, which formally puts this species on the Ugandan list. Subsequently, a single bird was seen by SC on the lodge roof at Rwakobo Rock Lodge (0°31’S, 31°00’E, 1290 m) on the late afternoon of 8 May 2017 (Fig. 2). It re-sponded to playback, but stayed on the roof. There was no sign of the bird the next morning. This record has been submitted to the EARC for consideration.  Subsequently it has been found that eBird has records from Mihingo Lodge (3 Au-gust 2013) and Rwakobo Rock Lodge (0°31’S, 31°00’E, 1290 m; 10 October 2016). Both records were of single birds. Admittedly neither of these records have been vetted by the EARC, but they are from the same localities as the November 2016 and May 2017 records. The lodges are both just outside the boundaries of Lake Mburo National Park, which has many similar rocky hills. It is not permitted to get out of your vehicle in the park and this restriction might contribute to the species being overlooked. It is also possible that the recent records represent a range expansion from the south or west. Both Crested Barbet Trachyphonus vaillantii and Black-collared Barbet Lybius torquatus have been recorded in the park in recent years and their nearest recognised occurrences would be northwest Tanzania or Rwanda respectively.ConclusionThe Striped Pipit can now be said to occur in Uganda—at least in the vicinity of Lake Mburo National Park. It extends to the north and east the range of the population Figure 1. Striped Pipit, Mihingo Lodge, Western Uganda, 13 November 2016. Photo S. Clark.Figure 2. Striped Pipit, Rwakobo Rock Lodge, Western Uganda, 8 May 2017. Photo S. Clark.Short communicationsthat occurs in Zambia, the DRC, western Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. It should be looked for in other well-vegetated rocky slopes and hilltops in southwest Uganda and northwest Tanzania.AcknowledgementsWe wish to thank Michel Louette and Alain Reygel at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium for examining specimens of Striped Pipits in their collection, also to Bob Dowsett for his comments concerning current subspecific divisions within this species. Thanks also to Neil Baker who provided information from the Tanzania Bird Atlas project and Jason Anderson who gave details of his Rwandan sightings from 2009.ReferencesBriTTon, p.L. (ed.). 1980. Birds of East Africa. Nairobi: EANHS.cLancey p.a. 1990. A review of the indigenous pipits (Genus Anthus Bechstein: Motacillidae) of the Afrotropics. Durban Museum Novitates 15: 42–72.doWSeTT, r.J., aSpinWaLL, d.r. and doWSeTT-Lemaire, F. 2008. Birds of Zambia: an Atlas and Hand-book. Liège: Tauraco Press.eBird. 2012. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. eBird, Ithaca, New York. Available: http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed: 19 March 2017).eGuide To The BirdS oF eaST aFrica. (2014). mydigitalearth.com. Version 1.5. Retrieved from http://itune.apple.com.GiLL, F and d donSker (edS). 2017. IOC World Bird List (v 7.1). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.7.1.TyLer, S. (2017). Striped Pipit (Anthus lineiventris). In: deL hoyo, J., eLLioTT, a., SarGaTaL, J., chriSTie, d.a. & de Juana, e. (edS.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/57786 on 19 March 2017). vande WeGhe, Jp and vande WeGhe Gr. (2011). Birds in Rwanda. Kigali: Rwanda Development Board.Steve Clark45 Carmichael Street, Hamilton, Victoria, 3300, Australia. Email: bukoba.steve@gmail.com Donald A. TurnerP.O. Box 1651, Naivasha 20117, Kenya. Email: don@originsafaris.infoScopus 37(2): 42–44, July 2017Received 12 May 2017Short communications44

Short communications: Striped Pipit Anthus lineiventris — overlooked in Uganda?

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Short communications: Striped Pipit Anthus lineiventris — overlooked in Uganda?

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