Upcher’s Warbler Identification – Al Ali Farm (Bahrain)

Whilst ringing at Al Ali Farm in Bahrain at the weekend we caught an Upcher’s Warbler. It was caught in a mist net set between a long stand of trees and was a new ringing species for Nicole so she ringed the bird. The species breeds from Turkey eastwards to Kazakhstan and winters in Eastern Africa from Eritrea to Tanzania. I took a few photos and looked at it closely in the hand as it was nice to see clearly the main identification pointers separating it from Eastern Olivaceous Warbler.

Upcher's Warbler

When you have seen them a few times they become reasonably obvious but when seeing one for the first time, or out of range, they are slightly confusing. The main identification points are that Upcher’s Warbler is generally bigger and has a more stocky appearance although this can be difficult to judge on a lone bird if unfamiliar with them. Wings, legs, tail and bill are all longer on Upcher’s Warbler than on Eastern Olivaceous Warbler with the legs and bill being thicker on Upcher’s Warbler. I photographed a number of features that are useful in identification of the species and these are shown below. The tail on Upcher’s Warbler is long and ‘full’ and darkens towards the tip, which is not the case in Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. This darkening of the tail can be seen clearly in the below photograph. The tail is also moved in a rather lazy swinging motion often sideways and also upwards and is also fanned, which is not often if ever shown by Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. The exaggerated tail movements of Upcher’s Warbler are often the first thing that draws attention to the species, especially if they are deep in cover.

Upcher's Warbler

The wing is fairly dark and contrasts with the mantle and also has quite a long primary projection and the wing has a pale whitish secondary panel in Upcher’s Warbler, with Eastern Olivaceous Warbler having a paler less contrasting wing with shorter primary projection and a pale buffish secondary panel which is much less obvious and more difficult to see than the panel in Upcher’s Warbler. These points can also be seen in the below photos but the secondary panel is not as clear as in some. It was more obvious in the hand than is shown in the photos but can still be seen quite clearly.

Upcher's Warbler

Another quite obvious difference is the spacing on the tertial feathers, with the tip of the middle terital closer to the outermost tertial than it is to the innermost one on Upcher’s Warbler and these being evenly spaced on Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. This is obvious from the below photograph and is surprising easy to see in the field, and if photos are taken of the bird can be even easier to tell, although care has to be taken with photos due to angle of bird, displaced feathers etc.

Upcher's Warbler tertial patern

The general plumage of Upcher’s Warbler is quite greyish, rather than the brownish and yellowish tone of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and the lores appear quite bare on Upcher’s Warbler. Lastly the bill is relatively stout looking and has a pale pinkish base on Upcher’s Warbler, see photograph below, and is less stout with a yellowish base on Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. Below are two photographs with the top one an Upcher's Warbler and the bottom one an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler for comparison.

Upcher's Warbler

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Great Reed Warbler & Clamorous Reed Warbler Identification – Alba Marsh & Al Ali Farm (Bahrain)

The Clamorous Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus) and the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) are closely related warblers that are similar in morphology and behaviour, and have partly overlapping breeding ranges in the Middle East and southern Central Asia. The Clamorous Reed Warbler is mainly sedentary although some perform a short distance migrations and the Great Reed Warbler is a long-distance migrant throughout its range. The trouble we have in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia as well as Bahrain is the fact we have Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens as the race that occurs and most field guides show pictures and details of Acrocephalus stentoreus stentoreus. A. s. brunnescens has a longer primary projection and shorter thicker bill than A. s. stentoreus making it look more like a Great Reed Warbler than many people think. Singing males are easily distinguished, with Great Reed Warblers having a variable and high-pitched song, whereas the Clamorous Reed Warbler has a monotone low frequency song. Below are a number of photographs of both Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus and Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens. The Clamorous Reed Warbler photographs show the bill shape and size of an adult and a fresh juvenile not long out of the nest. All photographs were taken in Bahrain in April 2012.

Great Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus



Clamorous Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens



Clamorous Reed Warbler (juvenile) - Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens



Great Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus



Clamorous Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens



Clamorous Reed Warbler (juvenile) - Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens


Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus is a wide-ranging species, extending from the Red Sea region to China and New Guinea with ten subspecies recognised. The only birds identified at subspecies level in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been A. s. brunnescens, which is known from specimens collected in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. The species is largely a breeding resident in Arabia, but some northern A. s. stentoreus may occur in Arabia as a winter visitor. Some small scale movements occur between breeding sites and presumably close by wintering areas. It is common in suitable habitat with many breeding birds in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia & Bahrain preferring phragmites reed beds to mangroves which is their preferred habitat in the United Arab Emirates.

Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens occurs from north-east Sudan, north-west Somalia, Arabian Peninsula and from south central Kazakhstan south to southern Iraq and Iran and east to northern Indian sub-continent. Non breeding birds seen in peninsula India.
Acrocephalus stentoreus stentoreus occurs in Egypt including Sinai and Levant.

A. s. brunnescens has a longer and more pointed wing, longer tail and shorter bill than nominate. They are less rufous above and are uniformly olive-brown or greyish olive instead of the light to deep warm brownish-olive colouration with rufous mainly on the rump in A. s. stentoreus. They are paler and whiter below with a paler and smaller area of greyish-olive buff on body sides and under-tail coverts whereas A. s. stentoreus has darker/warmer and more buff colouration over most of the under-parts with a very restricted whitish area on the mid-belly, throat and chin, which is sometimes absent.

Clamorous Reed Warbler  - Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens

 

Clamorous Reed Warbler  - Acrocephalus stentoreus brunnescens


The Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) is a wide ranging species extending from Europe to north-west China. It is mainly a passage migrant where it is uncommon from mid-March to mid-May, and again from mid-August to November with the majority of birds occurring in the spring. A few birds breed in Saudi Arabia but it has not been proved to breed in Bahrain. Many migrants are found in scrubby areas with bushes or trees rather than in phagmites reed-beds, although birds do occur in this habitat as well. Both sub-species occur in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with the majority being Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus.

Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus breeds in Europe, except the north-west & north, north-west Africa and Turkey east to the Volga Basin, Caucusus and Caspian Sea. Noon breeding sub-Saharan Africa
Acrocephalus arundinaceus zarudnyi breeds northern Iraq and northern Iran and from River Volga and Caspian Sea eastwards to north-west Mongolia and south to Tajikistan and north-west China. Non breeding sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-specific diffrences are slight and clinal, but typical individuals can be distinguished. Acrocephalus arundinaceus zarudnyi is paler and less rufous with olive-green upper-parts and browner rump and upper-tail coverts. They also have much whiter pale parts including a more distinct supercillium, throat, upper chest, belly, flanks and under-tail coverts. Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus is warmer rufous-brown, particularly on the rump and has warmer buff flanks and under-tail coverts.



The best way to identify the two species are the wing shape and primary length with Clamorous Reed Warbler A. s. brunnescens having a short primary projection about two thirds the tertial length (half the tertial length on A. s. stentoreus) and Great Reed Warbler A. a. arundinaceus having a longer primary projection as long as the exposed tertail length. The supercillium of A. a. arundinaceus is more obvious being broad and pale and continuing behind the eye, whereas A. s. brunnescens has a distinct but narrow supercillium stopping at the rear of the eye. The lores and eye-stripe of A. a. arundinaceus are dark and more prominent than on A. s. brunnescens. Bill size and shape is also a good point for identification with A. s. brunnescens having a long and narrow bill and A. a. arundinaceus having a shorter and thicker ‘thrush like’ bill. Care should be exercised with young A. s. brunnescens just out of the nest as these have shorter and thicker bills but they seldom if ever reach the ‘thrush like’ nature of A. a. arundinaceus. Tail shape can be help if the birds are not moulting their tail feathers with A. s. brunnescens having a longer more rounded tail and A. a. arundinaceus having a shorter and only moderately rounded tail. If very good views are obtained then leg colour can also be a guide with A. a. arundinaceus having a pinkish brown to greyish brown leg colour and A. s. brunnescens being greyish. Care has to be taken that the legs are not dirty to accurately judge the colour.

Great Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus arundinaceus arundinaceus

Ringing at Al Ali Farm – Bahrain

We went ringing at Al Ali Farm in the afternoon last weekend. I had only been ringing at this site once before and it looks like a great site. There are plenty of tall trees, shrubs and open fields and a lot of birds where about. In the trees we set three nets hoping to catch Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin and Common Redstart which were seen in good numbers as we were setting up the nets. We also hoped we could catch a few Ortolan buntings in the grass field as Brendan and Nicole had caught 21 birds there the weekend before in one attempt. As it turned out most of the Ortolan Buntings had moved on and plenty of House Sparrows were in the fields along with a number of Daurian Shrikes and Turkestan Shrikes. Abdulla came for an hour and hoped to catch a Lesser Grey Shrike that he had seen but it evaded the trap and was not caught. We did manage to catch a few Daurian and Turkestan Shrikes in the mist nets, where they were mostly caught chasing other birds.

Common Redstart - male



Common Redstart - male (left) & female (right)



Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin - tail pattern



Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin


We caught a number of species that I had not ringed before and Nicole also ringed a few new species. The new ones for me were Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Common Redstart, Thrush Nightingale, Whinchat, Great Reed Warbler and Crested Lark. Nicoles new species were Great Reed Warbler, Upher’s Warbler and Red-backed Shrike. It was a really good afternoons ringing and there were plenty of birds to extract from the nets, with me getting almost all the shrikes to extract one of which was particularly aggressive, but no blood was drawn. We only caught two Ortolan Buntings but managed about 100 House Sparrows all of which we released without ringing.

Red-backed Shrike - male



Red-backed Shrike - male



Thrush Nightingale



Ortolan Bunting


We caught 41 birds of which I ringed 21 and Nicole ringed 20. These include fifteen different species, 18 Willow Warblers, four Common Redstarts, three Turkestan Shrikes, two Great Reed Warblers, two Chiffchaffs, two Ortolan Buntings, two Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins, one Graceful Prinia, one Upcher’s Warbler, one Daurian Shrike, one Whinchat, one Red-backed Shrike, one Thrush Nightingale, one Crested Lark and one Barred Warbler. We ringed from 14:15 hrs until 19:30 hrs when it was completely dark.

Southern Grey Shrike Ringing at A'Ali Farm - Bahrain

Whilst ringing at A'Ali Farm Abdulla had a single worm left for the spring trap, left over from the previous weeks ringing and as we had seen a nice male Desert Wheatear in the short cut areas of the farm we tried at first to catch this bird. It was not being very co-operative and the farm is a place where we cannot leave the trap for very long without moving it as there are a lot of ants about that kill the worm if they find it. We then moved the trap to a spray field area where there was a dark breasted Daurian Shrike and again this did not want to be co-operative and kept flying over the trap and never landing on the spray head under which the trap was positioned. There were quite a lot of Pied Wheatear about but as we were driving about we saw a Southern Grey Shrike sitting on some twigs as well as an Isabelline Wheatear. We put the trap under a nice metal post where the Isabelline Wheatear had been sitting and hoped for the best. To my delight the Southern Grey Shrike then landed on the metal post, saw the worm and promptly trapped itself. This was a new ringing species for me. I did not put these photos with the other ringing photos as I was making sure this bird was a Southern Grey Shrike rather than a Steppe grey Shrike as in first winter plumage they can look very similar. I would like to thank Major Abdulla, Brendan Kavenagh and AbdulRahman Al-Shiran from Kuwait for their help with the identification of this bird. Abdulla knew all along it was a Southern Grey Shrike but I wanted to make sure from my point of view. The two outer tail feathers of this bird were all white similar to Steppe Grey Shrike but also fitting elegeans Southern Grey Shrike, although the subspecies we are meant to get in Bahrain and Eastern Saudi Arabia is aucheri. This is a complex and often confusing group of birds whose taxonomic status is still being worked out. One thing is certain and that is we will document any birds we catch to see if we can work things out a bit better.

Daurian Shrike (Re-trap) - A'Ali Farm Bahrain

Further to my post below on the Daurian Shrike Abdulla and I caught on Friday 14th October at A'Ali Farm, I have found out from Brendan that he caught and ringed the bird in the same place on 2nd October 2009 (almost two years to the day). This shows that the bird is site faithful, although we do not know if the bird winters in the area or just uses it for migration.

Daurian Shrike (Re-trap - adult female)

Bahrain – Ringing at A’Ali Farm

Abdulla and I went ringing at A’Ali Farm on Friday and although we did not catch many birds we did catch a couple of good ones. We set up two 18 metre mist nets in the trees in the hope of catching a few birds as there were a lot of birds in the area although most were keeping high in the tree tops. Graceful Prinia and White-cheeked Bulbul were the most common along with various doves. The mist nets and had caught a Daurian Shrike and a (Caspian) Reed Warbler with the Daurian Shrike being a re-trap which had a BTO ring on its leg and was almost certainly ringed by Brendan or his team, but we are awaiting details from Brendan on this when he gets back from Qatar. Once I know the details I will put them on the website. The second mist net failed to catch any birds unfortunately.

 Caspian Reed Warbler

 Caspian Reed Warbler

 Daurian Shrike (adult female)

 Daurian Shrike (adult female)

Daurian Shrike (adult female)