Hi all - coming into this discussion very late as I've had a ton on the past week -- we know Mangrove Kingfishers as very much migrant birds that arrive in April / early May (in 2008 we had a record on 9th March - but no more until mid April) and depart late November (with one or two years with records from early December). We have ringed 33 individuals since 1999 and have had 8 birds retrapped - only 2 were retrapped just once, the others were retrapped 2,3,4 or 6 times with one bird B2050 being retrapped 13 times (originally ringed in July 2002 and retrapped the last time in Oct 2007) - many of the retraps have been in subsequent years indicating a definite site fidelity in the non-breeding season - and probably route fidelity for migrants passing through (I'll need to do a bit more analysis on this...).
I was very intrigued to read of Don's record of a definite breeding record feeding young in a nest - this is not something I have every observed nor had any of our guides report (though I will ask around more closely since the topic has been raised!). Having said that, about 6 weeks ago I saw two birds displaying on the edge of Brachystegia along the fenceline of Arabuko-Sokoke while I was atlassing. I took it to be territorial display for a non-breeding territory which would not be unusual. Might it have been related to breeding, however?!
Talking of atlassing, I am working with David Clarance to produce a plot of reporting rate for Mangrove Kingfishers from the Kenya Bird Map data - this will show very clearly indeed the migratory status of the species and indicate its main arrival and departure dates. We'll share this as soon as we've got it done. This is the beauty and value of the atlas (actually, just one of many!)... All we need is to have as many Full Protocol cards as possible submitted so that we can produce these sorts of outputs.
Hope to have the plot for you very soon. But this is a very interesting discussion! African Pygmy Kingfishers are of course of a similar elk regarding their migration status - on the coast they are basically all migrant following a similar arrival / departure date as the Mangrove...
Best,
Colin
On 30/08/2019 17:53, Brian Finch birdfinch@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet] wrote:
Hi Fleur,
Thanks for this, we are all learning something. Although your records
fall into the normal window for the species, Boni-Dodori might even
have a separate population as is suggested for southern Somalia, or
both the Kingfisher and the Robin-Chats were all southerners and left
shortly after you did!
Best for now
Brian
On 8/30/19, Fleur Ng'weno <fleur@africaonline.co.ke> wrote:
> Coming into this discussion a bit late….
>
> Museum researchers and ringers caught a Mangrove Kingfisher in early
> November 2013 near Mangai in the Boni-Dodori area. What a bird to see up
> close! The same ringing session caught a netful of Red-capped Robin Chats.
> Mangrove Kingfishers were also recorded in riparian forest in the
> Boni-Dodori area in the first half of April 2014.
>
> Mangrove Kingfishers are often seen in Dakatcha Woodland, a good distance
> from the sea. (There are fresh-water crabs, but only obvious in the rainy
> season.) I did not realize these kingfishers were migrants from the south
> and wondered why sometimes we do not see them in Dakatcha forests. Now I
> understand.
>
> Good birding to all, Fleur
>
>
>> On Aug 30, 2019, at 3:43 PM, Nate Dias offshorebirder@gmail.com
>> [kenyabirdsnet] <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Fascinating conversation everyone.
>>
>> I did a species search for Mangrove Kingfisher records in eBird and zoomed
>> in to look at Kenya reports. There are many reports (some with photos)
>> besides those mentioned thus far.
>>
>> To view them, visit this web link to a Mangrove Kingfisher search on eBird
>> - check the "Show Points Sooner" box on the right of the screen to display
>> better:
>> https://ebird.org/map/mankin2?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2019
>> <https://ebird.org/map/mankin2?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2019>
>>
>> One can alter the search for specific months by clicking the "Date"
>> pull-down in the menu near the top of the page. For what it's worth,
>> changing the search to only the months from March-April still yields quite
>> a few results in coastal Kenya.
>>
>> Since Don's breeding record at Gede was in August, I looked for eBird
>> reports from late July-September. There are quite a few:
>>
>> Sunday August 10, 2008 Brad Bergstrom photographed a Mangrove Kingfisher
>> on the Lower Tana River Delta between Anasa and Kibokoni:
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S37155792
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S37155792>
>>
>> Other eBird reports of Mangrove Kingfishers at the Lower Tana River Delta
>> Hotspot are:
>> February 3rd and 4th 2017 - Doris Schaule
>> April 9th 2019 - Mustafa Amanjee
>>
>> Tuesday September 20, 2011 Fiona Reid observed a Mangrove Kingfisher at
>> Che Shale (Kenya Birdfinder historical record entered into eBird).
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39111039
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39111039>
>>
>> There are several eBird checklists reporting this species from the Sabaki
>> River mouth, including:
>>
>> August 15, 1989 - David Holyoak. Notes say "S. shore of estuary"
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S19612770
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S19612770>
>>
>> August 1, 1986 - Per Smith. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S28007306
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S28007306>
>>
>> July 20, 1989 - Steve Lister. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49966029
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49966029>
>>
>>
>> Friday, September 12 Jesse Ham observed a Mangrove Kingfisher at Lake Chem
>> Chem west of Malindi. (Kenya Birdfinder historical record entered into
>> eBird) https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39110990
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39110990>
>>
>>
>> Monday September 7, 2009 Doug Macaulay observed one at Lake Jilore's north
>> edge
>>
>> Monday September 7, 2009 Doug Macaulay also observed one in the northern
>> Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Mouth-watering checklist with Mangrove Kingfisher
>> photo: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S7299010
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S7299010>
>>
>> There are multiple other eBird reports of Mangrove Kingfisher in
>> August-September from the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. A sample:
>>
>> August 10, 2004 Sue Talbot. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S35472521
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S35472521>
>> August 10, 2015 - Noah Stryker.
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S24567192
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S24567192>
>> August 23, 2000. Steve Aversa.
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S21084063
>> <https://ebird..org/view/checklist/S21084063>
>> September 19, 2011 - Byron Swift.
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46274412
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46274412>
>> September 25, 2001 - Carol MAsterson.
>> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S20359559
>> <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S20359559>
>>
>> Saturday October 6, 2018 Albert Baya observed one at Lake Jilore
>>
>> There are multiple September-October eBird reports from Gede Ruins..
>>
>> There are multiple reports from multiple sites around Watamu and further
>> inland on Mida Creek from August-October.
>>
>> Also a couple of October reports from Kalifi, a couple of August reports
>> from Vipino Ridge, and numbers of reports from the Mombasa area (Mamba
>> Vilage Crocodile Farm, Haller Park, Bamburi, etc)
>>
>> There are also numbers of eBird reports from Shimba Hills in late July,
>> August and September.
>>
>> Plus various other reports from coastal areas.
>>
>> Good birding,
>>
>> Nate
>> --
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/offshorebirder2/
>> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/offshorebirder2/>
>>
>> "These days I prefer to hunt with a camera. A good photograph demands
>> more skill from the hunter, better nerves and more patience than the rifle
>> shot." -- Bror Blixen
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 7:23 AM Don Turner don@originsafaris.info
>> <mailto:don@originsafaris.info> [kenyabirdsnet]
>> <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com
>> <mailto:kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Brian. The Ngulia bird I think was caught in the early morning (no
>> doubt arriving in the night).
>>
>> Other dated records that we have are:
>>
>> Historical specimens from Mombasa area Sept-October 1900.
>>
>> 50+ in mangroves around Vanga (Lunga Lunga) 29 April 1990. Certainly
>> suggestive of a movement ( returning north maybe ??)
>>
>> Malindi August 1984; Sabaki early November 1989.
>> My breeding record at Gede was in August.
>> Very vocal around Witu and the Kipini conservancy during October 2006, but
>> gone by late November onwards.
>>
>> Mombasa area: present June-August. Also a single November record.
>>
>> There are NO RECORDS from Sunbird Tours to the north Kenya coast during
>> January and February which would point to it being absent from the coast
>> late November - March /April.
>>
>> So it seems to be largely present on our coast from April - mid November.
>>
>> Reportedly resident all year at Dar-es-Salaam and on Pemba, but on
>> Zanzibar largely October - February only.
>>
>> Only a couple of nest records cards that I know of, one of which was is
>> unreliable. The other points to an early October breeding (Kenya coast).
>>
>> Hope this helps. It certainly points to it being a migrant to our coasts
>> April-October.
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Don
>>
>> > On 30 Aug 2019, at 13:01, Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com
>> > <mailto:birdfinch@gmail.com>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Thanks for this Don,
>> > That Ngulia bird was certainly a migrant, can you remember if it was
>> > caught at night because it's likely that's when they move but if late
>> > November it's getting pretty late. It also begs the question why it
>> > would be so off course if it were going south, if coming north it has
>> > plenty of space in which to deviate, but going south it can't have
>> > started moving from very far north of Ngulia anyway! Ngulia is 180km
>> > from the nearest piece of coast which is strangely equidistant all the
>> > way from Kilifi to Mombasa! In Horn of Africa it states it occurs in
>> > Somalia north to the Jubba and Shabeelle Rivers where it is "a
>> > presumed resident."
>> > Do you know of any completed nest record cards for Kenya?
>> > Two interesting kingfishers in succession!
>> > Best for now
>> > Brian
>> >
>> > On 8/30/19, Don Turner don@originsafaris.info
>> > <mailto:don@originsafaris.info> [kenyabirdsnet]
>> > <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com
>> > <mailto:kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com>> wrote:
>> >> Dear Brian. All very interesting. All I can offer is one year I recall
>> >> finding a Mangrove Kingfisher nesting in the hole of a tree in the
>> >> middle of
>> >> Gede Forest. It was going to the edge of the forest (thick bush) and
>> >> taking
>> >> food back to the young. Certainly not crabs !!
>> >>
>> >> Remember the one ringed at Ngulia on 01 December 2003. Long way from
>> >> any
>> >> crabs for sure.
>> >>
>> >> Worth calculating in a straight line how far that was from the nearest
>> >> known
>> >> locality at the coast.
>> >>
>> >> Best wishes
>> >> Don
>>
>>
>>
>
>
-- ----------------------- Colin Jackson A Rocha Kenya e: colin.jackson@arocha.org t: +254 (0)722 842366
<colin_jackson.vcf>