Black-winged Kites on Texel in March 1998 and in Bargerveen in June-August 2000

On 29-31 March 1998, a Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus stayed at the northern tip of Texel, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands. From 4 June to 23 August 2000, a Black-winged Kite stayed at Bargerveen, Drenthe, the Netherlands. These records constitute the second and third for the Netherlands. The first was photographed on 31 May 1971 at Flevoland. Remarkably, also on 29 March 1998, a Black-winged Kite was discovered at Skagen, Nordjylland, Denmark, constituting the first for Denmark and the northernmost for Europe.

Both Dutch birds were identified as adult, and as belonging to the nominate subspecies, based on their grey forehead and whitish underparts and underwing primaries. Other Elanus species could be excluded on basis of the underwing and head markings.

Marco Witte, Rijperwaard 141, 1824 JR Alkmaar, Nederland
mc.witte@wxs.nl
Enno B Ebels, Joseph Haydnlaan 4, 3533 AE Utrecht, Nederland
ebels@wxs.nl

Moltoni's Baardgrasmus te Heist, België, in mei 2001

Op 20-21 mei 2001 verbleef een mannetje Moltoni's Baardgrasmus Sylvia cantillans moltonii in Sashulle, een natuurreservaat te Heist, West-Vlaanderen, België. De waarneming is aanvaard door het Belgisch Avifaunistisch Homologatiecomité (BAHC) en betreft het eerste geval van deze ondersoort voor België. Het is mogelijk het derde geval van moltonii voor West-Europa. Mogelijke eerdere gevallen van deze ondersoort zijn die op Portland, Dorset, Engeland, van 15 april tot 7 mei 1975, en die te \'t Wed in het NP Zuid-Kennemerland, Bloemendaal, Noord-Holland, Nederland, van 23 tot 26 mei 1987. De meest bruikbare veldkenmerken van moltonii zijn de ratelende Winterkoning Troglodytes troglodytes-achtige roep en de zalmroze onderdelen (zonder bijmenging van oranje). Ook de rui verschilt van die van de andere ondersoorten van Baardgrasmus. Verse handpennen vormen in het voorjaar een aanwijzing voor moltonii. De ondersoort broedt, behalve op eilanden in de westelijke Middellandse Zee, ook op het Italiaanse vasteland. In juni 2001 werd hier met zekerheid een broedgeval van moltonii vastgesteld.

Gunter De Smet, Edmond Blockstraat 11, 9050 Gentbrugge, Belgium
gunter.de.smet@pandora.be
Tom Goossens, Azalealaan 4, 2275 Lille, Belgium
goossenstom@netscape.net

Moltoni's Warbler breeding in mainland Italy

Moltoni's Warbler Sylvia cantillans moltonii is a breeding bird of the Balearic Islands (ie, Cabrera and Mallorca; Spain), Corsica (France) and Sardinia (Italy). Although Shirihai et al (2001) list some specimens and records of singing male moltonii in late spring and early summer from northern Italy, they assign all Subalpine Warblers breeding in mainland Italy to the subspecies S c cantillans. In this note, we describe the first breeding record of moltonii established in continental Italy (and Europe) and briefly review the possible summer range of this subspecies in mainland Italy.

Igor Festari, via Matteotti 5, 15057 Tortona, AL, Italy
igorfest@libero.it
Ottavio Janni, via Monte Muto 29, 81016 Piedimonte Matese, CE, Italy
coeligena@hotmail.com
Diego Rubolini, via Vespri Siciliani 5, 20146 Milano, Italy
diego.rubolini@unipv.it

White-winged Tern at Den Oever in December 2000 killed bij Common Magpie

November-December 2000, up to three White-winged Terns Chlidonias leucopterus were wintering together with some Black Terns C niger at Den Oever, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands; the late stay of White-winged Terns (the last reported sighting was on 1 January 2001) is exceptional for the Netherlands. On 27 December 2000, one of the starving/weakened White-winged Terns was observed being killed by a Common Magpie Pica pica. The tern was collected and identified as a juvenile male moulting to first-winter plumage (now at Zoological Museum of Amsterdam, ZMA). Although Common Magpies are known to eat and/or kill many bird species, especially smaller passerines, predation of a White-winged Tern has probably not been documented before.

Harvey van Diek, Piet Heinstraat 21, 6512 GR Nijmegen, Nederland
harvey.vandiek@sovon.nl

Female mystery eider at IJmuiden in January 1987

The identification of an adult female Common Eider Somateria mollissima photographed at IJmuiden, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands, on 20 January 1987 is discussed. The bird showed a number of King Eider S spectabilis features like a rounded point to the feathering on the lores, frontal processes not coming close to the eyes (possibly explaining a rather hooked forehead profile) and possibly a dark bill-tip. However, unlike a typical female King Eider, the bird did not show an upturned gape, lacked a contrasting pale loral area and eye-ring, and had a closely barred plumage pattern without King Eider\'s open U-shaped flank-barring. Nevertheless, the bird seemed to be at variance with European Eider S m mollissima (the only subspecies recorded in the Netherlands). Some features, like the round loral feathering shape, apparent short frontal processes, pale plumage and possibly dark bill colour, may suggest Pacific Eider S m v-nigra which breeds, isolated from other subspecies, from north-eastern Siberia east to north-western Canada, and winters in the Bering Sea. Vagrancy records of Pacific are from as far afield as Greenland and Newfoundland, Canada, but there is no European record. Boreal (\'East Arctic\') Eider S m borealis seems to be a more likely candidate to occur as a vagrant in the Netherlands (there is one record for Britain) but, on average, that taxon should have a less rounded, deeper loral feathering and darker plumage. Unfortunately, the shape of the frontal processes (narrow and pointed in Pacific) is hard to judge from the photographs. Because of bill shape and general colour, a hybrid Eider x King Eider has also been considered. In Iceland, for instance, such hybrids are known for males (37 records) but there are no records for females (although occasionally female birds are seen that are suspected to be hybrids). It is concluded that, at least for the time being, it remains uncertain whether the IJmuiden bird was a European Eider with an aberrant bill, a vagrant subspecies or a hybrid Eider x King Eider.

Arnoud B van den Berg, Duinlustparkweg 98, 2082 EG Santpoort-Zuid, Nederland
arnoud.vandenberg@inter.nl.net

Claw length and origin of Pine Grosbeak at Melissant in March 1996

On 24 March 1996, an adult male Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator was photographed at Melissant, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands (de Zoete & Meininger 1998). One of the photographs was also published in van den Berg & Bosman (1999, 2001). This record was rejected by the Dutch rarities committee (CDNA) because the claws were considered too long for a wild bird (Wiegant et al 1998). Schaftenaar (1999) questioned this decision with reference to the frequent loss of red plumage coloration in captive seed-eating birds (which was not the case in the Melissant bird) but, after reconsideration by the CDNA, the bird was still regarded as an escape (see editorial comment in Schaftenaar 1999).

In December 2000, we (Rob Bouwman and Justin Jansen) observed several Pine Grosbeaks at Nymölla, Skåne, Sweden, together with several other birders. These birds were part of a large invasion into southern Fenno-Scandinavia in late autumn and early winter of 2000. We noticed that a first-year male that could be studied at close range had long claws. Remembering the discussion provoked by the Melissant bird from 1996, we asked Pierre Unge and Martin Helin to put a message on the Swedish and Finnish birdnets, respectively, for more information on this subject. As a result, we received several reactions, including photographs of Pine Grosbeaks with long claws. Probably the most striking photograph was sent by Jouni Riihimäki who informed us that he was (also) considering a note for Dutch Birding discussing the origin of the Melissant bird. This photograph and the photographs taken by RB at Nymölla show that there are birds - of undisputed wild origin - with even longer claws than the Melissant bird. Another example is presented by a photograph of an adult male taken by Jari Peltomäki at Oulu, Finland, in January 2000 (see Alula 7 (1), 2001, back cover). We also received a reaction from Jörgen Palmgren of the Zoological Museum of the University of Helsinki, Finland. He measured several Pine Grosbeaks and noted a variation in claw length between 7.9 and 11.3 mm. In 12 birds, the mean length of the middle claw was 9.4 mm and of the back claw 8.5 mm. The variation in claw length can be considerable, even between the toes of one foot. An adult male found dead at Tampere, Finland, in February 1984 had, on one foot, a claw of 6.9 mm on the left toe and of 11.3 mm on the middle toe.

As indicated in de Zoete & Meininger (1998), the claw length of the Melissant bird was estimated to be twice as long as normal. There was, however, no indication of what was used as a reference for a \'normal\' claw length in Pine Grosbeak and there was no reference to sample size. Because the Melissant bird was not caught, the estimated claw length could only be based on photographs and the statement that it was \'twice as long as normal\' is thus poorly substantiated. Therefore, we think the Melissant record refers to a Pine Grosbeak with a claw length within the normal variation; the claw length alone would then be insufficient reason to reject this record as a presumed escape.

Justin J F J Jansen, Blitterswijckseweg 3, 5871 CD Broekhuizenvorst, Netherlands
justin.jansen@de-aa.nl
Rob G Bouwman, Herdersveld 52, 5665 JS Geldrop, Netherlands
robbouwman@hetnet.nl

The information collected by Rob Bouwman and Justin Jansen was sent to the CDNA in early 2001 and, as a result, the record was reconsidered based on this new information. The CDNA decided that there was sufficient reason to accept the record as referring to a presumed wild bird. Since the claw length was the main reason to reject the bird previously and since there were no (strong) indications of captive origin in plumage (coloration and/or wear), bill shape, behaviour, date of occurrence and locality, the bird received the benefit of the doubt and has now been accepted as the fourth Pine Grosbeak for the Netherlands; previous records were in December 1909 (2) and November 1928, all three at Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland (van den Berg & Bosman 2001). The fact that the largest invasion of Pine Grosbeaks in Denmark since 1954 occurred in November 1995, a few months prior to the Melissant record (cf van den Berg & Bosman 2001), adds credibility to a presumed wild origin of the Dutch bird (but is considered no more than \'circumstancial evidence\') (Jan van der Laan in litt). EDITORS