Collins Bird Guide

Citation preview

Head markings

rump patch ____

lateral median crown-stripe crown-stripe

superci lium . eve-n ng --t_:::--.:~ eye-stripe

lore

median covert bar • •

lateral throat-stripe

pnmary tip

greater covert bar

• •

secondary panel

primary-base patch

forehead crown

ear-coverts

Main feather tracts

nape (hindneck) mantle

..

scapulars

"'- ........,

back uppertail-coverts

chin ,....______ throat

tertials

tail (rectrices)

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.

----/·

breast lesser coverts median coverts greater coverts alula (bastard-wing) primary-coverts

undertail-coverts secondaries

. . pnmanes emargination

•

flanks

'thigh' (tibia) tarsus

Upperwing ~--

lesser coverts

:~~- median coverts

secondary coverts

greater coverts -ftr- alula (bastard-wing)

--7~l-

(reduced) outer primary -:-tkt- primary-coverts 1 •

10 9 primaries _ _8'~__,._, 7 .

.

pnmanes numbered ascendently from outermost ' inwards, 1- 10

JA-,'1---

I)

4 3

2

emargination (narrowing of outer web)

Bird ~topography' Some useful terms for main feather tracts and common plumage markings when describing a songbird (passerine). See also . p. 133 for topography of a wader, and p. 178 for topography of a gull. KM

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COLLINS •

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SECOND EDITION TEXT & MAPS BY LARS SV.ENSSON I L LU STRATIO N S & CAPT IONS BY KILLIAN MULLARNEY & DAN ZETTERSTROM 0

WITH A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION BY PETER J.GRANT

TRANSLATED BY DAVID CHRISTLE &LARS SVENSSON

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HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77- 85 Fulham Palace Road London W6 8JB www.harpercolli ns.co.uk Collins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Originally published in 1999 in Swedish, Fagelguiden. Europas och Medelhavsomradets.faglar i.fiilt, by Bonniers, Stockholm 2nd revised and enlarged edition published in 2009 by Bonnier Fakta, Stockholm First published in the UK as a hardback edition in 1999 First published in the UK as a paperback edition in 200 I 2nd revised and enlarged edition © 2009 HarperCollins Publishers, London © 1999, 2009 Lars Svensson (text and maps), Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstri:im (illustrations and captions) Translation and English adaptation: David A. Christie & Lars Svensson Typography: Lars Svensson Cover: Arctic Tern by Dan Zetterstri:im

09 11 13 15 14 12 10 1357910 86 4 2 ISBN 978 0 00 726726 2 (Hardback) ISBN 978 0 00 726814 6 (Paperback)

The authors hereby assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work and the publisher undertakes to observe such assertion and to impose the same condition on its licensees. Reproduction: Faith & Hassler, Varnamo, Sweden 2009 Printing: Printer,Trento, Italy 2009 Printed in Italy

Contents Preface

7

Introduction

8

SJ>ecies accounts 14---409 Swans Cygnus 14 Geese Anser. Brama 16 Dabbling ducks Anatini 24 Diving ducks Ayti~J'a , Somateria et al. 30 Wildfowl hybrids 34 Sawbills Me,xusct al. 42 Grouse Tetraoninae 48 Partridges and pheasa nts Phasiani11ae 52 Loons Gariidae 60 Grebes Podinimlidae 64 Watching seabirds 67 Shearwaters, petrels et al. Procellari((ormes 68 Gannets Sulidae 76 Pelicans Pelecanidae 76 Cormorants Plwlacrocoracidae 78 Herons, storks and ibises Ciconi(/iJrmes 80 Flamingos Plwen icopter((ormes 86 Birds of prey Accipitri(ormes 88 Vultures G_lpal'tus, Neoplmm, G_rps et al. 89 Eagles Aquila. Cirmetus et al. 94 Kitcs and harriers Milrus, Circus I02 Buzzards Butm, Pemis I06 Hawks Accipiter 11 2 Falcons Fa/conidae 116 Rai ls, crakes and coots Rallidae 124 Cranes Gmidae 128 Bustarcls Otididae 130 Waders Clwradri{/(mnes 132 Plovers and lapwings Plul'ialis, Vane/Ius 138 Sandpipers, stints, curlews, snipes et al. 148 Vagrant waders 162 Skuas Stercorariidae 174 Gulls Laridae 178 Terns Stemidae 198 Marsh terns Ch/idonias 206 Auks Alcidae 208 Sandgrousc Pteroclididae 212 Pigeons and doves Co/umbidae 214

Cuckoos Cuculidae 220 Owls Strig(/(mne.\' 222 Nigh tjars Caprimu/gidae 234 Swifts Apodidae 236 Hoopoc, kingfishers Upupa, Alcedinidae 238 Bee-eaters, Roller Meropidae. Coracias 240 Woodpeckers Picidae 242 Larks Alaudidae 248 Swallows and martins Hinmdinidae 258 Pipits and wagtails Motacillidae 262 Dipper. Waxwing, Hypocolius 272 Accentors Pnmellidae 274 Thrushes Ttmlidae 276 Warblers Syh'iidae 302 Crests. Wren Regulus, Tt-ogfnt(rtes 336 Flyca tchers Muscicapidae 338 Tits Paridaeetal. 342 Nuthatches Sillidae 348 Wallcreeper Tichodromidae 350 Treecrcepers Certhiidae 350 Shrikes Laniidae 352 Bulbuls, sunbirds Pymonotidae, Nectariniidae 358 Babblers Timaliidae 360 Crows Corl'idae 360 Starlings Sturnidae 368 Orioles Oriolidae 370 Sparrows Passeridae 372 Finches Fringillidae 376 Crossbills Loxia 386 Buntings Emberi::idae 392 orth American passerines 404

Vagrants 408 Accidenta ls 418 Introduced breeding species and SJ>ecies recorded only as escaJ>es References 427 Index

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422

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Acknowledgements As with the firgt edition, a book like this cannot be produced without the help of many, both by direct input and indirectly through new and ground~b reaking work made available to us in the orni thologicall iterature and on the net. Our gratitude to a circle of close friends as detailed in the first edition remains, and readers are referred to this for a full list. Here we wou ld like to mention particularly those who have helped us generously while producing the revised edition. L. S. is indebted to Jose Luis Copete, Andrew Lassey and Hadoram Shirihai, who all three were not only good company on various trips but also gave freely of their imposing knowledge and experience. Many thanks also to Per Alstrom, Vladimir Arkhipov, Oleg Belyalov, Martin Collinson, Pierre-Andre Crochet, Alan Dean, Pete Dunn, David Erterius, Andrew Grieve, Marcel Haas, Magnus Hellstrom, Guy Kirwan, Hans Larsson, Norbert Lefranc, Klaus Mailing Olsen, Urban Olsson, Eugeny Panov, David Parkin, Mike Pearson, George Sangster, Jevgeni Shergalin and Mike Wilson for help, advice and support in various ways. Again, Richard Ranft and the British Library Sound Archive generously provided access to recordings of some of the rarer species. The staff at visited museums have always been welcoming and helpful, for which I am grateful. K. M. is especially grateful to Mark Constantine for his solid support, invaluable advice and greatfriendship over so many years. Similarly, friends Paul Archer, Arnoud van den Berg, Richard Crossley, Dick Forsman, Hannu Jannes, Lars Jonsson, Ian Lewington, Pat Lonergan, Aidan Kelly, Dave

McAdams, Richard Millington, Colm Moore, Rene Pop, Magnus Robb, Cornelia Sakali, Alyn Walsh and Pim Wolf have helped greatly in a variety of ways, as well as provide the best of company in the field. Many thanks also to Per Alstrom, Derek Charles, Jose Luis Copete, Andrea Corso. Michael Davis, Paul Doherty, Annika Forsten, Magnus Hellstrom, Paul Holt, Hans Larsson, Antero Lindholm, Bruce Mactavish and Frank Zino for their thoughtful suggestions and/or provision of very useful photographic material. The extraordinary dedication of a number of keen 'larophiles' to elucidating the complexities of large gull ageing and identification for the benefit of all has been of enormous help in the preparation of the new treatments presented here. It is impossible, in the space available, to do any real justice to their work but the assistance of Ruud Altenburg, Chris Gibbins, Hannu Koskinen, Bert-Jan Luijendijk, les Meulmeester, Mars Muusse, Theodoor Muusse. RudyOffere.ins and especially Visa Rauste, is greatlyappreciated. D. Z. wants to express his gratitude to Ian Andrews, Stefan Asker, Arnoud van den Berg, Christer Brostam, Jose Luil> Copete, Andrea Corso, Go ran Ekstrom, David Fisher, Annika Forsten, Fares Khoury, Markus Lagerqvist, Lars Larsson, Dan Mangsbo, Bill Zetterstrom and Frank Zino for their kind support. Last but not least, we thank our severely tried relatives and friends, as weJI as our publishers, for patience and support. L. S., K. M., D. Z.

Preface The Collins Bird Guide has, to our joy and satisfaction, bad tremendous success since it came out in 1999. It has been published in no fewer than 131anguages and sold a staggering combined 700,000 copies, with nearly a third of these sold in the UK alone. lt has been gratifying for us to see it being used so much in the field wherever we travel in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The full background and leading principles for the layout of the book can be found in the first edition and will not be repeated here, but the positive reviews and personal feedback indicate that the principles we chose were the right ones, corresponding well to what birders want from a field guide in the 21st century. This said, there are no grounds for complacency. Shortly after publication of the first edition it was evident that it was already in need of a revision. The reasons for this were twofold. First, the gestation ofthefirstedition took a long time, and with the plan for the book having been laid out in the early and mid 1980s, many things were bound to change or develop in the 15 or so years it took to reach publication, not all of which could be compensated for along the way. New methods to separate similar-looking birds are being developed all the time, and a good field guide needs to be as up to date as possible. Some of tllis required more space than allocated and had to be left for later inclusion. The second reason, which was difficult to foresee when we set out to create the book, was that the development of avian taxonomy would take a big leap- after a long period of relative stability- just prior to 1999, and especially after. New research and a partly new approach to taxonomic issues involving genetic methods led to a re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of many taxa formerly regarded as subspecies. These advances in knowledge have had the effect that a number of species formerly regarded as polytypic, comprising several rather distinct subspecies, have now been split into two or more species. These 'new' species are, for very natural reasons, often quite similar to their closest relatives. But they constitute interesting populations with their own life histories, and they deserve their own species accounts in the book, with advice on identification, in both words and pictures. To accommodate all new species and new information we have had to increase the number of pages by some I0%, but we feel that the book is still a lightweight one so that no-one should be tempted to leave it at home when travelling. One change will strike the reader familiar with the first edition immediately: the new order of families in the beginning. Ne~ly published genetic research has shown that the two oldest groups of birds are the wildfowl Anseriformes and the grouse and their relatives Galliformes, these two collectively called Galloanserae. Since the arrangement of families in this book is basically the traditional systematic one, with the oldest groups placed first, the book now starts with swans, geese and ducks followed by grouse, pbea~ants, etc. Only then come the loons (divers), grebes, seabuds, etc., formerly placed first.

Areas ~vhere much taxonomic change has taken place lately, and wllich have affected this revised edition, are the wildfowl, sh~arwaters, large gulls, tluushes, warblers, flycatchers, shnkes and finches. The revised edition treats no less than 41 new species, 33 of which are the result of the taxonomic changes, and several more subspecies have received better treatment. Tllis has been achieved by the addition of 24 new spreads, and by a redesign of numerous plates and the incorporation of new illustrations. Obviously, taxonomy is not a static science. New research constantly reveals new relationships and better arrangements. Some proposed changes which have been discussed in recent years have not been adopted in this edition because we have decided to await further research and more universal acceptance. Still, they might well be adopted in future editions. Tills is particularly true for the passerines, where clearly in a possible future edition readers will have to get used to a profoundly changed sequence. By the look of it now, the natural sequence starting with the oldest families would begin with shrikes and orioles, then group together tits, warblers, bulbuls, larks, reedlings and swallows; thrushes and flycatchers would come close together, while pipits & wagtails would be fitted in between sparrows and finches. Well, let us not cross that bridge until we come to it! Changes which have been incorporated are aimed to improve both text and plates to facilitate identification, even when there is no underlying taxonomic change. With continued travel and through the advances achieved both by others and ourselves, we are keen to let our book mirror the most recent developments in identification. For some groups which were a bit crammed in the previous edition (pigeons & doves, thrushes, warblers, shrikes) we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to afford them more adequate treatment. All the maps have been revised. AI though small, our ambition is that they should be accurate and up to date. New atlases and checklists have been published in recent years, and new references made available, for important countries such as Algeria, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Morocco, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and for the Ural region, and these have all been used to full advantage. Ushould be noted that very local, rare or recent breeding records are deliberately not always shown on the maps, which aim to show more common and established patterns rather than every recent new breeding site. For several species restricted to a smaller part of the covered range we have introduced maps at a larger scale. Peter J. Grant was deeply involved in the planning of and preparations for the first edition. His untimely death prevented him from participating fully in the creation of the finished book. We dedicate the second edition to him as a tribute to his many achievements in the field of bird identification, and to his memory. Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterstrom August 2009

Introduction This book treats all bird species which breed or regularly occur in Europe, orth Africa north of ~o· . and _Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria. Turkey. Annem~. Georgta and Azerbaijan that is in a large part of the Mtddle East. ~Is~ included a;e the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Smat peninsula. (Excluded are the Azore~, the CapeVerde 1_slands. Iraq and Iran.) Europe is borde~·ed mtheeast by t_he ndgeof the Ural mountains, the Ural nvcr and thc_Casptan S~a. 713 species are described. in the ~l.ain sect ton. There IS al.so brief mention of 59 occasiOna l vtsttors. Another 32 sp~c.tes are treated which arc ei ther probable escapes ~rom cap tiVIty or origina llyintroductions to thearea and wht cl~ t~ow breed in a feral state without human support. An addttiOna~ 11 8 very rare stragglers from other continents are merely ltsted.

Taxonomy and names

relationships and best arrangement, mean in~ that in possible future editions of this bo?k a rather radtcal change of sequence will in parts be rcqutrcd.

Abundance symbols for easy assessment of whether a certain species o.cc~rs commonly in Great Britain and Ireland, or whether It tS ~erely a rare vagrant to the isles, abundancy symbols are gtven to the right of the species name ..If Y?U have seen a flock ?f unknown birds in your garden, tt mtght be a waste of t1~e to read in depth about species which do not even occur 111 the region. The sytnbols are explained below. Status in Great Britain and Ireland

rB Resident breeding species. With prevailing disagreement both on best taxonomy and mB Migratory breeding species. . on English bird names, resulting in more than one standard r+mB Breeder·, some arc residents, others mtgratory. available, the solution has been to follow 'author's prefer. . r(m)B Breeding species; mainly resident but a mmonty ence'. Compared to the first edition a few changes have been are migrants. made to conform bellcr with the list of recommended English names initiated by IOC (Gill & Wright 2006). StandardTo these a qualifier is at/ached: ized vernacular names arc of course practical and help 1 Very abundant (estimated> l million p~irs) communication. But just as taxonomy is continuously dev~l­ 2 Abundant (estimated> I00,000 patrs) oping, so is nomenclature, and asking for total conformity 3 Fairly abundant (estimated> I0,000 pairs) and discipline is unrealistic. . . . . 4 Scarce or local (estimated> 100 pairs) The scientific name of a species is wntten tn Latm (or 111 5 Rare (estimateds iOOpairs) latinized form) and consists of two words, the ge~eric t~ame (written with an initial capital leiter) and the spectes ep~thet (all lowercase letters); these two words together c~nstttute W Winter visitor (common; many immigrants). the species name. The scientific name of e.g. the Whtte WagP Passage visitor (common). tail is thus Motacillaalba. To indicate geographical variation within a species, disHere, too, a qua/(fier may be added (as under breedi~g, tinct populations- so-ca lled subspecies or races- are desabove); !l so. estimates rf:lerto number of birds, not patrs. ignated with a third word, a subspecies epithet (e.g.· Pied Wagta il Motacilla alba yarrellii of NW Europe, as opposed V Vagrant. to Motacilla alba alba of the rest of Europe). In this book space permits only the most distinct subspecies to be named To this, again, aqual(fier is au ached: and treated. The reader interested in more detail should * Annual vagrant in some numbers. consult any of the more comprehensive handbooks, such as ** Only one or a few records a year, or in most. BWP (Cramp eta/. 1977- 94) or Vaurie ( 1959, 1965). *** Only one or a very few records per decade. English names nowadays exist both in short form for every('Three-star rarity.') day use at home, and in a longer form for international use (with added modifiers). Away of conveniently showing both [V] No record considered a result of genuine and these English names for the same species is practised: at the unassisted vagrancy, or all records thought to head of each species entry, bold face is used for the ordinary involve escapes from captivity; records which are names and normal type within brackets for the extra modiopen to question for other reasons. fiers; '(Western) Jackdaw' serves as an example. No record in Great Bri tain or Ireland. Although the sequence is mainly based on the so-called natural one, placing themost primitive (old) groups first, we have made a few minor adjustments within genera and, at times, families. The sole purpose of these deviations is to Distribution maps bring together those species which show the greatest resemblance and thereby to facilitate comparisons. We are also Besides the abundancy symbols, distribution maps are inaware that recent molecular research has cast new light on cluded for most species and should help establish quicldy whether it is reasonable or not to expect a certain species at~

I NTR ODUCTION Breeding range, abandoned in winter. Present all year around. including when breeding.

~~-"'::__,

--+1'"

Range where the species can be seen on migra tion.

~L-"":=_--=:-:...-:::.....~~:=::=k~J Winter range. Main migration direction (not necessarily exact route}.

certain site and a given season. Although it was necessary to make the maps small, they should still give a useful summary of the normal occurrence. Unlike in many other books, the maps also show where the birds usually occur during autumn and spring migrations, so far as this is known. As before, an effort has been made to present as up-to-date and clear maps as possible. All national checklists and atlas surveys published in the last decade covering the treated area have been consulted. Still, modern mapping of the bird fauna is still missing for such important areas as Britain. Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland. Libya, Norway and for most of the states which were formerly a part of the Soviet Union.

Size of birds Each species account opens with the size of the bird, expressed as the length in centimetres from tip of bill to tip of tail measured on the stretched bird (L). For most species which are often seen in flight the wingspan is added (WS). To indicate the normal size variation within any one species, a size range is always given instead of a single average figure. Many birdwatchers are unaware of the magnitude of this normal size variation, and it is all too easy then to arrive at the wrong conclusion if an identification is based too heavily on a size evaluation. The length measurements have been taken largely from series of well-prepared skins and in some cases from freshly killed or live birds. (Hardly any have been obtained from the current larger handbooks.) The wingspans are meant to indicate the largest possible extents which the birds themselves can achieve in Hight. (Slightly larger values can be reached if, on a live bird, the wings are stretched tightly by pulling the primaries, but such artificial measurements have been avoided.) Quite a few measurements in the current literature are misleading. Those presented in this book are based to a large extent on original measurements taken on live birds. They have been supplemented by measurements on skins and photographs.

Terminology and symbols In order to make the book easily accessible to a large public interested in birds and natural history, the specialist jargon has been kept to a minimum. Afew technical terms, however, are very useful to know and use, such as the precise terms for different plumages and ages, and these are explained below. It should be noted that most of the terms relating to feather tracts and body parts, the topography of the bird, are also explained separately on the inside of the covers.

9

PLUMAGES AND AGES

juvenile Uuv. )- young, fledged bird wearing its first set of true feathers (the juvenile plumage), but which has not yet moulted any of these feathers. post~ju ve!·1ile - ~II plumages or ages following the juvenile. young- •_mprwse term usually referring to juvenile and/or Jst-wmter without distinguishing between these two. immature (ilnm.) - a bird wearing any plumage other than adult, generally corresponding to the word 'young'. I sf-autumn - bird in its first autumn , 2- 5 months old. The term refers to the age, not a particular plumage. 1st-willter (I st-Ill.) - age category usually referring to the plumage following that of the juvenile, usually gained through a partial (in some species complete) moult in late summer/autumn of 1st calendar-year, and worn until next moult in the spring of 2nd calendar-year. 1st-summer(/ st-s.) - age category usually referring to the plumage worn at the approximate age of one year and attained in late winter/spring through partial (in some species complete) moult from 1st-winter plumage, or through abrasion of this plumage; worn until next moult, usually in late summer/autumn in the same year, when replaced by 2nd-winter plumage. 2nd-winter (2/1{1-11'.) - age category usually referring to the plumage following I st-summer, usuallygained through a complete (in some species partial) moult in late summer/autumn of 2nd calendar-year, and worn until next moult in the spring of 3rd calendar-year. 2nd-summer (2nd-s. ) - age category usually referring to the plumage worn at the approximate age of two years. It follows the 2nd-winter plumage and is worn until next moult; see also under lst-summer. subadu!t (subad. ) - nearly adult, not quite in definitive plumage; imprecise term, often used when exact age is difficult to establish, e.g. among larger gulls or rap tors. adult (ad.) - old, mature bird in definitive plumage. Some species have the same appearance in both summer and winter; others have separate plumages, adult summer (ad. sum. or ad. s.) and adult winter (ad. wint. or ad.w.). breeding plumage- usually more colourful set of feathers gained by many birds, primarily males, through abrasion or in a spring moult (autumn moult for ducks). 11011-breeding plumage- usually equivalent to adult winter plumage, a more cryptic plumage appearing among species with seasonal plumage changes; the term is often used when this plumage isacquired early, even in summer. eclipse plumage- cryptic, female-lil