HBW Alive Newsletter-No.58

The new Blog on the Lynx Edicions website

Most HBW Alive subscribers will be familiar with our Lynx Edicions website, which we’ve recently revamped. One of our favourite aspects of the site is the incorporation of a new platform—the Blog— to give readers a more personal look at what goes on behind our projects.

For our first interview, we talked to James Eaton, co-founder and guide for Birdtour Asia and co-author of Lynx’s field guide Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago, who explained to us how he began his career as an Asian birder and his adventures around Indonesia. Ilian Velikov, main illustrator of the upcoming Volume 9: Bats of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World, talked to us about his drawing techniques, the complexities of painting bats and how he began as a wildlife artist. We’ve also posted interviews with Eduardo de Juana (in Spanish), author of a botanical guide to Madrid, as well as with Richard Craik and Lê Quý Minh, of Vietnam Birding and authors of Birds of Vietnam, who shared insights on preparing the field guide and their views on conservation in Vietnam. And there are a number of new interviews currently in preparation, so look out for future posts.

In addition to interviews with authors and artists, we plan to talk to members of our dynamic team working behind the scenes at Lynx, and we have lots of other ideas for content that we think people will find interesting.

The Blog is also a place to compile book reviews appearing in publications and for readers to add their own reviews, and to show the results of polls asking readers which field guides they would like to see us publish next. We like receiving feedback directly from our readers, as this helps us see which titles are in the greatest demand. In this way, the Blog creates a space to connect with both collaborators and readers.

If you haven’t checked out the Blog yet, we think you’ll enjoy it, as we’ve created it with all of you in mind.

Work is ongoing to update the passerine splits derived from Volume 2 of the Illustrated Checklist, both the original "mother" species and the resulting "daughter" species. Last month we completed all "new species" (resulting from splits) of Ploceidae (Weavers) and Estrildidae (Waxbills).

At the same time, we are adding multimedia links to the completed "new species", with the families Phylloscopidae (Leaf-warblers) and Muscicapidae (Old World Flycatchers and Chats) completed and Sylviidae (Old World Warblers and Parrotbills) and Turdidae (Thrushes) under way.

Here are six examples to browse:

The authors re‐evaluated the taxonomy of the Striated Prinia Prinia crinigera and Brown Prinia P. polychroa complex using molecular, morphological and vocal analyses. Prinia polychroa cooki (Myanmar) and P. p. rocki (southern Vietnam) are each morphologically, vocally and genetically distinct. Thai, Cambodian and Laotian populations formerly ascribed to P. p. cooki are morphologically and vocally most similar to and most closely related to Javan P. p. polychroa, and required a new name. They recommend the recognition of five species in the complex, with the following suggestions for new English names: Himalayan Prinia P. crinigera sensu stricto (with subspecies striatula, crinigera, yunnanensis and bangsi); Chinese Prinia P. striata (subspecies catharia, parumstriata and striata); Burmese Prinia P. cooki (monotypic); Annam Prinia P. rocki (monotypic); and Deignan's Prinia P. polychroa s.s. (subspecies Javan polychroa and the new Southeast Asian taxon).

Whistling Long-tailed Cuckoo Cercococcyx lemaireae

Taxonomically undifferentiated western and eastern populations of Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo (Cercococcyx mechowi) are known to have very different voices. This species has two song types, a melodious three-note whistle and a plaintive whinnying in West Africa west of the Bakossi Mountains in Cameroon, and a much less melodious, higher-pitched three-note whistle and a much faster whinnying in Central Africa east of the Bakossi Mountains. The western population is indistinguishable in morphology from C. mechowi, albeit with a tendency to slightly shorter wings and tail; but highly divergent in voice, with a short song consisting of a leisurely rich whistled tiuu-wip-wip (notes longer, at a much lower frequency and with a much narrower frequency band) rather than the faster, higher, far less melodious swiitwiitwiit of C. mechowi, and a long call delivered half as fast as that of C. mechowi; both vocalisations are presumably used in self-advertisement. The authors consider the western population a new species, naming it for Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire.

Western Yellow-spotted Barbet Buccanodon dowsetti

Taxonomically undifferentiated western and eastern populations of Yellow-spotted Barbet (Buccanodon duchaillui) are known to have very different voices. This species has an accelerating song of some 6‒11 hoots west of the Dahomey Gap and a rapid rolling purr to the east. Indistinguishable in morphology from B. duchaillui, albeit with a tendency to a slightly longer bill, wings and tail, and on average fractionally smaller red crown patch; but highly divergent in voice, the self-advertising song being a simple, accelerating series of typically 6–11 soft rich uup hoots, uup uup-uup-uup-uupuupuup, as opposed to a rapid rolling guttural purr, rrrrrrrrrrru, in B. duchaillui, thus involving many fewer but much longer notes delivered far more slowly but accelerando. The authors consider the western group a new species, naming it for Robert Dowsett.

Eyre Peninsula White-eared Honeyeater Nesoptilotis leucotis schoddei

White-eared Honeyeater (Nesoptilotis leucotis) ranges broadly across southern Australia, where it is a constituent of eucalypt forest and woodland communities. A recent phylogeographic study recovered deep divergence between western and eastern populations. Within the western phylogroup are two allopatric populations that are differentiated by morphometrics, plumage coloration and voice. The eastern of the two, which occupies mallee woodland on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, is described as a new subspecies named in honour of Richard (Dick) Schodde.

* The validity and rank of new taxa for treatment on HBW Alive is considered "under review" within the framework of the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World.

Click the Share button below!