OSME - Black Bush Robins in Jordan

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The first Black Bush Robins Cercotrichas podobe in Jordan;—a prelude to colonisation?

ANDREW GRIEVE, FARES KHOURY AND KHALED NASSAR

SEVERAL BIRD SPECIES are apparently expanding their ranges northwards in the Levant, mainly via the Rift Valley. These include Namaqua Dove Oena capensis, which is now regularly recorded in parts of Jordan during the breeding season, and the resident Little Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis, which was previously restricted to Wadi Araba but has now reached the northern Dead Sea. Black Bush Robin Cercotrichas podobe is the most recent example of this phenomenon and may be in the process of colonising Wadi Araba. Here we report the first two records in Jordan.

During a Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni survey performed by AG and Osama Fageer, on behalf of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, in Dana Biosphere Reserve, on 7 May 2002 a group of migrant passerines was flushed by a passing herd of sheep and goats from a narrow gorge in upper Wadi Nawatif (c. 1200 metres elevation). The group included a larger, black long-tailed passerine, which perched at the base of a nearby bush with its tail cocked. It was immediately identified by AG as a Black Bush Robin, the first record in Jordan.

During field work in Wadi Araba, on 30 May 2003, FK and KN observed a dark bird with a long cocked tail in an Acacia shrub 20 metres from the road, 14 km north of Aqaba. They were able to get within 10 metres of the bird, upon which it was identified as a Black Bush Robin. Both records have been accepted by the Jordan Bird Records Committee.

Description

First record. Slightly larger than Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes and size accentuated by long tail. Small body with long graduated tail gave it unique shape, similar to a small Magpie Pica pica. Long legs added to distinctive appearance, with body held higher above ground. Head, upperparts and underparts black. Bare parts and iris blackish. Long graduated tail, rounded at tip and completely black on upper tail. Undertail had broad, round, white oval spots to ends of feathers, and undertail-coverts tipped white but less broadly and more broken than large spots at end of graduated outer tail feathers. Flight quite floppy with tail held straight behind. Perched in lower branches of bushes with cocked tail. Fed on ground whilst hopping below shrub or bush.

Second record. As first record, except body appeared similar size to Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes. Additionally, primaries rufous-brownish apparently with dark grey-blackish tips.

The wing pattern of the second bird was typical of the nominate subspecies, which is resident in Africa south of the Sahara and along its southern fringes east to the Red Sea coast, in arid to semi-arid savannas. The black-winged subspecies of Arabia, C. p. melanoptera, occurs in arid lowland savannas, montane wadis and in gardens (Snow & Perrins 1998). However, according to Shirihai (1996) and Cramp (1988), as many as 25% of Arabian birds possess the same characteristics as those in Africa (i.e. the rufous primaries). This suggests that either both subspecies (possibly as mixed/intermediate populations) occur in parts of western Arabia or that some birds of the melanoptera form also possess this feature, although the extent is usually less than in nominate podobe (Shirihai & Svensson in prep.). Thus, it is unclear if those recorded in Jordan (and southern Israel) originate from north-east African or Arabian populations, although the latter appears to more likely, given that there is some evidence of recent range expansion in the peninsula (Jennings 1995).

Discussion

The species first occurred in Israel in 1981 and nested for the first time, at Eilat, in 1994. Subsequently, it has colonised several areas on the Israeli side of Wadi Araba and has been recorded during spring and summer in areas with Acacia, Tamarisk and Suaeda shrubs, as well as at the edge of plantations (Shirihai 1996). Hence, the second record mentioned above, which was in a small Acacia stand on the Jordanian side of Wadi Araba, around 14 km north of Aqaba/Eilat was not unexpected. The first, however, was at high altitude in atypical habitat (rocky mountains with Juniperus shrubs and desert broom) and c. 15 km east of the northern part of Wadi Araba. This record indicates dispersal abilities, which increase the probability of colonisation of suitable habitats on the Jordanian side, of Wadi Araba, as well as other parts of southern Jordan in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AG is grateful to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the invitation to undertake a Lesser Kestrel survey in the Dana Biosphere Reserve. Special thanks also to Mr Mohammad Yousef (Research & Survey Section Manager) and Mr Mohammad Qawabah (Dana Biosphere Reserve Manager) for assistance and encouragement with the survey.

REFERENCES

CRAMP, S. (ED.) (1988) The birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 5. Oxford University Press
JENNINGS, M. C. (1995) An interim atlas of the breeding birds of Arabia. National Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development, Riyadh.
SHIRIHAI, H. (1996) The birds of Israel. Academic Press, London.
SHIRIHAI, H. AND SVENSSON, L. (in prep.) Photographic handbook to the birds of the Western Palearctic. A. & C. Black, London.
SNOW, D. W. & PERRINS, C. M. (EDS.) (1998) The birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise edition. Oxford University Press.

Andrew Grieve, 3 Miriam Close, Second Avenue, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR30 5PH, U.K.
Dr Fares Khoury, Department of Biological Sciences, Hashemite University, P. O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan. E-mail: avijordan2000@yahoo.com
Khaled Nassar, Jordanian Society for Sustainable Development, P. O. Box 9341, Amman 11191, Jordan.

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	SEVERAL BIRD SPECIES are apparently expanding their ranges northwards in the Levant, mainly via the Rift Valley. These include Namaqua Dove Oena capensis, which is now regularly recorded in parts of Jordan during the breeding season, and the resident Little Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis, which was previously restricted to Wadi Araba but has now reached the northern Dead Sea. Black Bush Robin Cercotrichas podobe is the most recent example of this phenomenon and may be in the process of colonising Wadi Araba. Here we report the first two records in Jordan. During a Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni survey performed by AG and Osama Fageer, on behalf of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, in Dana Biosphere Reserve, on 7 May 2002 a group of migrant passerines was flushed by a passing herd of sheep and goats from a narrow gorge in upper Wadi Nawatif (c. 1200 metres elevation). The group included a larger, black long-tailed passerine, which perched at the base of a nearby bush with its tail cocked. It was immediately identified by AG as a Black Bush Robin, the first record in Jordan. During field work in Wadi Araba, on 30 May 2003, FK and KN observed a dark bird with a long cocked tail in an Acacia shrub 20 metres from the road, 14 km north of Aqaba. They were able to get within 10 metres of the bird, upon which it was identified as a Black Bush Robin. Both records have been accepted by the Jordan Bird Records Committee.
Description
	First record. Slightly larger than Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes and size accentuated by long tail. Small body with long graduated tail gave it unique shape, similar to a small Magpie Pica pica. Long legs added to distinctive appearance, with body held higher above ground. Head, upperparts and underparts black. Bare parts and iris blackish. Long graduated tail, rounded at tip and completely black on upper tail. Undertail had broad, round, white oval spots to ends of feathers, and undertail-coverts tipped white but less broadly and more broken than large spots at end of graduated outer tail feathers. Flight quite floppy with tail held straight behind. Perched in lower branches of bushes with cocked tail. Fed on ground whilst hopping below shrub or bush. Second record. As first record, except body appeared similar size to Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes. Additionally, primaries rufous-brownish apparently with dark grey-blackish tips. The wing pattern of the second bird was typical of the nominate subspecies, which is resident in Africa south of the Sahara and along its southern fringes east to the Red Sea coast, in arid to semi-arid savannas. The black-winged subspecies of Arabia, C. p. melanoptera, occurs in arid lowland savannas, montane wadis and in gardens (Snow & Perrins 1998). However, according to Shirihai (1996) and Cramp (1988), as many as 25% of Arabian birds possess the same characteristics as those in Africa (i.e. the rufous primaries). This suggests that either both subspecies (possibly as mixed/intermediate populations) occur in parts of western Arabia or that some birds of the melanoptera form also possess this feature, although the extent is usually less than in nominate podobe (Shirihai & Svensson in prep.). Thus, it is unclear if those recorded in Jordan (and southern Israel) originate from north-east African or Arabian populations, although the latter appears to more likely, given that there is some evidence of recent range expansion in the peninsula (Jennings 1995).
Discussion
	The species first occurred in Israel in 1981 and nested for the first time, at Eilat, in 1994. Subsequently, it has colonised several areas on the Israeli side of Wadi Araba and has been recorded during spring and summer in areas with Acacia, Tamarisk and Suaeda shrubs, as well as at the edge of plantations (Shirihai 1996). Hence, the second record mentioned above, which was in a small Acacia stand on the Jordanian side of Wadi Araba, around 14 km north of Aqaba/Eilat was not unexpected. The first, however, was at high altitude in atypical habitat (rocky mountains with Juniperus shrubs and desert broom) and c. 15 km east of the northern part of Wadi Araba. This record indicates dispersal abilities, which increase the probability of colonisation of suitable habitats on the Jordanian side, of Wadi Araba, as well as other parts of southern Jordan in the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
	AG is grateful to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the invitation to undertake a Lesser Kestrel survey in the Dana Biosphere Reserve. Special thanks also to Mr Mohammad Yousef (Research & Survey Section Manager) and Mr Mohammad Qawabah (Dana Biosphere Reserve Manager) for assistance and encouragement with the survey.
REFERENCES
	CRAMP, S. (ED.) (1988) The birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 5. Oxford University Press JENNINGS, M. C. (1995) An interim atlas of the breeding birds of Arabia. National Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development, Riyadh. SHIRIHAI, H. (1996) The birds of Israel. Academic Press, London. SHIRIHAI, H. AND SVENSSON, L. (in prep.) Photographic handbook to the birds of the Western Palearctic. A. & C. Black, London. SNOW, D. W. & PERRINS, C. M. (EDS.) (1998) The birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise edition. Oxford University Press. Andrew Grieve, 3 Miriam Close, Second Avenue, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR30 5PH, U.K. Dr Fares Khoury, Department of Biological Sciences, Hashemite University, P. O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan. E-mail: avijordan2000@yahoo.com Khaled Nassar, Jordanian Society for Sustainable Development, P. O. Box 9341, Amman 11191, Jordan.