Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2020 | 12(4): 15493–15494
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5045.12.4.15493-15494
#5045 | Received 10 May 2019 | Final received
03 February 2020 | Finally accepted 28 February 2020
New to Myanmar: the Rosy Starling
Pastor roseus (Aves: Passeriformes: Sturnidae)
in the Hkakabo Razi Landscape
Sai Sein Lin Oo
¹, Myint Kyaw ², Nay Myo Hlaing 3 & Swen
C. Renner 4
1,3 Department
of Zoology, University of Mandalay, 05032 Maha Aung Myay Township, Mandalay, Myanmar.
² Popa Mountain Park, Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Region, Myanmar.
4 Ornithology,
Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010
Vienna, Austria.
Current address: 1 Department of Zoology, Kyaing Tong University, 06231 SHan
State, Mayanmar.
1 seinlinu@gmail.com, 2 myintkyawpopa116@gmail.com,
3 nmhlaing01@gmail.com,
4 swen.renner@nhm-wien.ac.at (corresponding author)
Editor: Grant Connette, Smithsonian
Institution, Front Royal, Virginia, USA. Date
of publication: 26 March 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Oo, S.S.L., M. Kyaw, N.M. Hlaing & S.C. Renner (2020). New to
Myanmar: the Rosy Starling Pastor roseus in the Hkakabo Razi Landscape. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(4): 15493–15494. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5045.12.4.15493-15494
Copyright: © Oo et al. 2020. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Self funded.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank the JoTT team for
the possibility to publish our work and the support during the entire process.
Phil Round we thank for the reviewing of the paper and improving our manuscript
considerably.
Rosy Starlings Pastor roseus primarily breed in
Europe and central Asia (Diniarsih et al. 2016) and
winter mainly in India and Sri Lanka (BirdLife
International 2019), but small numbers regularly reach the Thai-Malay Peninsula
(Wells 2010), mainly between October and February (Diniarsih
et al. 2016). Additionally, reports show
single records from Java and Bali (Diniarsih et al.
2016), but not yet from Myanmar. The
species is also a rare, but more or less annual, non-breeding visitor to
Thailand (Treesucon & Limparungpatthanakij
2018).
On 20 September 2018, we observed a distinct looking
starling (Image 1) in the afternoon in Naung Mung,
Kachin State, Myanmar. Although the crest
of this bird is not prominent in the picture, its head, hood, wings, and tail
are black and the remaining plumage is pale pink. The eye is black while the bill is thick,
pale orange with a pale yellow base and a grey culmen. We identified it as a Rosy Starling
individual with adult plumage (Image 1) and recorded the species, probably the
same individual, two more times at the same place until 26 September 2018
(Figure 1). We recorded an individual of
the same species in February 2017, but were unable to take a photographic
record during this previous observation.
The place where we observed the Rosy Starling is on the outskirts of Naung Mung Village, an open and flat area with bushes and a
few trees in the riparian area along a small creek (elevation is approximately
540m). The climatic condition of Naung Mung is tropical to subtropical and the average
temperature is around 15°C (6–35 °C) while the annual rainfall is 1,700mm (Du
Sar No pers. com). The bird rested on a
power cable in Naung Mung and foraged in Taw Gway (Hog Plum, Spondias
pinnata) and Minbaw
trees (Fish Tail Palm, Caryota sp.). The Rosy Starling accompanied a mixed-species
flock of Vinous-breasted Myna Acridotheres
burmannicus and Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer.
Our observation is the first record of P. roseus
for Myanmar and confirms that this species occurs in the Hkakabo Razi Landscape, Myanmar (Figure 1). Although many ornithological expeditions were
conducted previously by us and others to the Hkakabo Razi
Landscape since 2001, and the occurrence of this species has been postulated,
Rosy Starlings were not mentioned or recorded so far (Dumbacher
et al. 2011; Rappole et al. 2011; Rasmussen et al.
2011; Renner & Rappole 2011; Renner et al. 2015,
2018; Suarez-Rubio et al. 2016). Rosy
Starlings typically move in flocks or large aggregations, but we have only
observed individuals of this species twice in the Hkakabo Razi
Landscape. We therefore, suggest that P.
roseus be added as a passage or vagrant species to Myanmar’s bird species
list.
For
figure & image - - click here
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