Memorandum to:                     The Director of Birds Australia

 

 

From:                                       Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)

 

 

Date:                                        16th February 2007

 

 

Voting Members:                     Tony Palliser                 Glenn Holmes

Jamie Matthew              Danny Rogers

                                                John Hatch                    Andrew Silcocks

                                                David Bishop                 Niven McCrie

 

cc:                                            Ron Johnstone, Walter Boles

 

Submission No 494: Large Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx sparverioides; Christmas Island, 15th December 2005. Submitted by: Ian McAllan & David James.

Verdict: Accepted

This case concerns the sighting of a Large Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx sparverioides on the 15th of December 2005 at the refuge tip on Christmas Island. It was observed over a 15 minute period late in the afternoon.

 

The bird was described as a large cuckoo with distinctive Accipiter-like structure, posture and flight, long broad banded tail, rounded wings, dark brown upperparts and buff streaked & barred underparts. The size was estimated to be slightly larger than a Koel, with a heavier build; the tail was long & wide and about 40% of the total length of the bird. The bill was relatively short and roughly straight. The upperparts were cryptically patterened, generally dark brown with lighter brown streaks, and rusty or buff fringes to the wing coverts. The primaries were slightly darker than the coverts, though the contrast was not great. The head featured a dark brown cap with light brown streaks and a pale partial hind collar again with streaks. Two obscure dark brown ‘tear-drops’ - one through and below eye and the other behind the eye, reminiscent of some falcons Falco sp were noted. Front on views revealed bright buff colouring below with bold barring on the flanks. The tail featured two broad buff-grey bands and a fine pale tip. The bird was not heard calling and there was no sign of moult.

 

The observers have gone to considerable length to rule out all other cuckoos and established the bird as one of the hawk-cuckoos, now separated in the genus Hierococcyx. Up to ten forms have been separated in Hierococcyx, previously part of the genus Cuculus (see Sorensen & Payne in Payne 2005 for details of a recent molecular treatment).  The large size was the main feature used to help eliminate species such as: H. vagans, bocki, varius, hyperythrus, Pectoralis, fugax, nisicolor and others. The following features were used to clench the identity

 

·         Large size, consistent with published accounts;

·         Large bold bars on the long tail;

·         Barring on flanks with buff ground colour;

·         Flight consistent with Hawk Cuckoo.

 

The committee voted in favour of acceptance commenting that the buff edges to the wing coverts and streaking on the head indicate the bird was not an adult. The date of observation (mid December) suggests it was a first winter bird most likely of the nominate race sparverioides. None of the Hawk Cuckoos have previously been recorded in Australia, H.s. sparverioides breeds from the Himalayas through Yunnan east to near Beijing in China, and south to northern Burma, Thailand and Indochina (Payne 2005). It winters south to the Greater and Lesser Sunda islands in Indonesia and is said to be an uncommon winter (i.e. Austral summer) visitor to Java (MacKinnon & Phillipps 1994; Payne 2005), which is some 360 km to the north of Christmas Island.

 

This is the first record for Christmas Island and therefore the first record for Australia.

 

Selected Bibliography:

·         Ali, S. & Ripley,  S. D. 1983. Handbook to the birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. OUP, New Delhi.

·         Coates, B.J. & Bishop, K.D. 1997. A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea. Dove Publications, Brisbane.

·         del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. 1997. Handbook to the Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

·         Fleming, R.L. Sr., Fleming, R.L. Jr., & Singh Bangdel, L. 1976. Birds of Nepal with reference to Kashmir and Sikkim. Fleming & Fleming, Kathmandu.

·         Kazmeirczac, K. 2000. A Field Guide to the Birds of India. Pica Press, Sussex.

·         Kennedy, R.S., Gonzales, P.C., Dickinson, E.C., Miranda, H.C. Jr, & Fisher, T.H. 2000. A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. OUP, Oxford.

·         King, B.F. 2002. The Hierococcyx fugax, Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo complex. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club 122: 74-80.

·         MacKinnon, J. & Phillipps, K. 1994. A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. OUP, Oxford.

·         MacKinnon, J. & Phillipps, K. 2000. A Field Guide to the Birds of China. OUP, Oxford.

·         Payne, R.B. 2005. The Cuckoos. Bird Families of the World. OUP, Oxford.

·         Rasmussen, P.C. & Anderton, J.C. 2005. Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. 2 Vols. Smithsonian Institution, Washington & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

·         Robson, C. 2000. A Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

 

 

 

Tony Palliser

Chairman, Birds Australia Rarities Committee