Search

The droppings of three Black Redstarts Phoenicurus ochruros wintering at Mdina, Malta, were investigated in order to determine the components of the birds' diet. Visual observations of the birds' behaviour were also made. The droppings of an adult male were collected from beneath one of its habitual perches, while the droppings oftwo different females were collected from beneath their common roost. The male's droppings represent food taken at various times of day during daylight, whereas the females' droppings represent food taken in the early morning and late afternoon. The droppings were placed in alcohol and dissected under a binocular microscope (x 15). The contents of each (numbered) dropping were noted separately. Droppings were collected during the birds' wintering period between late October and early March of the 1996-97 wi.nter. 21 male and 106 female droppings were examined. The two females roosted in close proximity to one another and, as their droppings could not be distinguished, they were analysed together., N/A

The Rufous Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos is a common passage migrant in Malta from mid-March to midMay, with a few birds until late May and from mid-August to mid-October. Occasional single birds have also been recorded in June at Buskett (Sultana & Gauci 1982). There are no documented breeding records of the Rufous Nightingale in Malta. Ardoino ( 1928) and Despott ( 1932) stated that it bred but did not mention any breeding records., N/A

The Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata is a common passage migrant from mid-April to early June and in smaller numbers from mid-August to mid-November. Up to 5 pairs have been recorded breeding irregularly at Buskett from 1971 to 1995; a pair probably bred at Wied il-Kbir in 1971, where 4 and 3 birds seen together on 30 June and 11 July respectively probably constituted a family party (Sultana & Gauci 1982, Galea 1987, 1991)., N/A

The Red-breasted Flycatcher Ficedula parva has always been recorded in autumn in Malta, as a scarce migrant, from early September to late November., N/A

The Black Redstart teeds principally on invertebrates but also takes fruit, particularly in late summer and autumn. Honeysuckle (Lonicera) figures among the plant genera whose fruit is taken (Cramp 1988). The Japanese Honeysuckle is widely cultivated, a perennial climber which produces small black berries in early winter. The berries measure from 5-7mm in diameter. They have a sweet grapelike taste initially, but after being masticated for a second or two, a distinctly bitter taste develops. This taste might induce birds to swallow the berries whole rather than masticate them to crack the seeds, or peck at them in situ. The crushed berries release an intense deep purple pigment. The berries are not conspicuous on the bush and are probably not intended to attract bird species which feed by local enhancement (e.g. Starling), but rather they seem to be designed for use by small passerines which are familiar with the bush and its fruits., N/A

Op negen praktijkbedrijven en op de Varkensproefbedrijven in Raalte en Rosmalen wordt onderzoek uitgevoerd naar vliegenbestrijding in stallen.

The 1824 expedition to Lebanon by Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Ehrenberg resulted in the description of at least 28 bird species new for science. Despite its importance, however, this collection has never been fully studied or published. We used manuscripts, catalogues, and specimens archived at the Museum fur Naturkunde (ZMB), Berlin, to identify the type specimens, revise nomenclatural and (where appropriate) taxonomic status of species described on the basis of Hemprich and Ehrenberg’s material, and determine type localities and collection dates of these taxa.

A nomenclatural revision of two flycatcher names first introduced into the literature by Blyth (1870) and other relevant names showed the following: (1) Cyornis cyanopolia should be attributed to Blyth (1870) and is a valid name for the flycatcher Cyornis unicolor cyanopolia Blyth. (2) Muscicapa infuscata should be attributed to Blyth (1870) and is a junior subjective synonym of Rhinomyias umbratilis (Strickland, 1849). (3) Cyornis infuscata Hartert, 1902, never existed as a zoological name. (4) Cyornis harterti Robinson & Kinnear, 1928, is not available for nomenclatural purposes.

On 19th December 1990, there was a moderately long rain shower (about 3/4 hour) during which rain was moderately heavy, about 1cm of rain falling during this interval. Two birds were seen taking shelter in parts of a building in the Upper Lyceum complex at Msida, about a quarter of an hour after the shower started., N/A

The Bluethroat Luscinia svecica is a very scarce but annual passage migrant from March to May and again from September to November. Some birds also over winter in Malta. There have been no records of the bird singing on migration through Malta or while overwintering., N/A

We describe a new species of forest robin from the Gamba Complex in southwest Gabon. This common bird, Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus sp. nov., inhabits primary lowland forest and forages on or near the ground like the other members of the genus Stiphrornis of central and western Africa. Unique phenotypic features of the new species include the male’s bright orange chin, throat, and breast, creamy yellow belly, olive green back and rump, and gray flanks. Mitochondrial sequence divergence corroborates our assessment based on its distinct physical characteristics that this is a new species, and suggest that Stiphrornis erythrothorax is likely the most closely related congener.

Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-27T08:41:46Z No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2014-05-27T14:38:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 2-s2.0-0025272263.pdf: 6204149 bytes, checksum: 88adc7855986344220ab0ee639566fcc (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-27T08:41:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 1990-05-03

Op negen praktijkbedrijven en op de Varkensproefbedrijven in Raalte en Rosmalen wordt onderzoek uitgevoerd naar vliegenbestrijding in stallen.

flycatcher, common name for various members of the Old World family Muscicapidae, insectivorous songbirds including the kingbirds, phoebes, and pewees. Flycatchers vary in color from drab to brilliant, as in […]

Professor Rudolph Drost was the first to devote full attention to this theme. in the numerous male Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca on sprinq migration on Heliqoland the upper-parts showed considerable variation in colour. While in some males the upper-part was black throughout, others lacked black almost completely. Drost examined 237 skins from North and Central Europe, and worked out 7 colour-categories for classification. At the same time he was aware of the fact that more or different categories might be chosen. However, in the meantime these 7 categories have been generally accepted and proved to be practical., N/A

Records of breeding Spotted flycatchers Muscicapa striata from 1971 to 1982 have alreadt been documented by Sultana and Gauci . Following are some notes and records for the years 1983 to 1986., N/A

The manner in which Picedula and Muscicapa spp. and some Phylloscopus spp. catch their insect prey in the air is well documented in various works. Other species, however, though having a totally different feeding behaviour, are sometimes observed to resort to this 'flycatcher method' when provided with the occasion., N/A

Se presenta información sobre la importancia de los frutos carnosos en la alimentación de 11 especies de Muscicapidae (géneros Phoenicurus, Ficedula, Muscicapa, Luscinia, Saxicola, Phylloscopus, Regulus, Hippolais y Acrocephalus) que habitualmente son considerados como insectívoros estrictos. El consumo de frutos varía entre 0.0 y 48.2 % del volumen de la dieta. En el área de estudio, con matorral esclerófilo mediterráneo, la utilización de los frutos fue mayor en un año en que su abundancia aumentó 10 veces, y la de artrópodos disminuyó sensiblemente respecto al ano anterior. Todo ello sugiere una utilización esporádica y oportunista de los frutos como alimento. Las variables morfológicas que explican una mayor varianza entre especies del consumo de frutos son la longitud del ala, un factor de tamaño relacionado positivamente y la longitud del culmen, correlacionada negativamente. Las cinco especies más frugivoras tienen los picos relativamente cortos y anchos en la base, lo que permite la ingestión de un mayor rango de tamaños (especies) de frutos y una mayor facilidad de manipulación del fruto antes de ingerirlo. Casi todas las especies consideradas consumen frutos, pero la posibilidad de utilizarlos como alimento base de la dieta parece limitada también por factores fisiológicos que determinan velocidades de digestión mucho menores que las de otras más frugivoras como Sylvia spp. y Turdus spp.

On 4th July 1982 we visited Ta' Zuta to check a report by Joe Grima, who had seen a pair of Oenanthe sp. there on 26th June., N/A

While showing a transparency of some stuffed and mounted birds held at the National Museum of Natural History, doubts were raised as to the proper identification of one of the specimens labelled Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka which was taken on 28 February 1974 at Marscascala., N/A

For the past 15-20 years, Comino was visited annually in spring, mostly by members of the Malta Ornithological Society. Records of birds seen were always kept and the Blue rock thrush Monticola solitarius was always listed. Estimates of the breeding population were always based on the number of birds seen. Five to ten pairs was the usual estimate. The authors of this paper tried to monitor the exact number of Blue rock thrushes breeding on the island in 1988. The Blue rock thrush is a fairly common breeding resident in the Maltese Islands. It is mainly found breeding along sea cliffs, but some pairs are still to be found inland along hills, rocky valleys as well as in some fortifications. The nest is mostly built in crags in cliff faces. (Sultana & Gauci 1982)., N/A

Although large influxes (with up to 800+) of the Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata have been recorded occasionally in autumn, only up to 100+ had been previously recorded for any one locality in any single day in spring. An unusually large influx occurred on 15th May 1977. The fall was mainly concentrated on the south south-east of Malta where 200+ were counted at Wied Znuber (Hal Far) and 200+ further inland at Marsa, both in the morning. During the same period only 30 + were counted at Xemxija while in Gozo no unusually larger numbers were noted., N/A

The known breeding records of the Scotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata from 1971 to 1976 have already been documented by the present writers. Following are further breeding attempts, this time unsuccessful, by a female in 1977 and 1978 at Buskett using the same nest-site which was described in Il-Merill (17:29-30). On 22nd May 1977 a bird was seen twice carrying nesting material., N/A

A male Blue rock thrush Monticola solitarius was noted wintering for 2 consecutive years in a disused quarry at tas-Sghajtar, l/o Naxxar. The following method of feeding was observed., N/A