Dutch Birding volume 24 (2002) no 4

White-crowned Wheatear in Algarve, Portugal, in March 2001

On Sunday 25 March 2001 at 13:00, a group of staff and volunteers returned to Cruzinha, the A Rocha bird observatory at Mexilhoeira Grande, Algarve, Portugal (37:08 N, 08:36 W), from a morning in the field. One of the party, Isobel Soares, noticed and pointed out an unusual bird that was under the porch of the observatory building. Victoria Beale and Simon Mahood were next to see the bird, which had perched on a gate only 8 m away, and were amazed to be looking at a striking black and white wheatear Oenanthe. Within seconds, however, it flew away and could not immediately be relocated. Meanwhile, SM had suggested it was probably a White-crowned Wheatear O leucopyga and a review of the literature by VB and SM quickly confirmed this identification. After a search, the bird was rediscovered about half an hour later on the observatory roof. The bird was extremely confiding, feeding on the ground in the garden and perching on the building roofs and guttering. Throughout the late afternoon, the bird spent much of its time in the immediate vicinity of, or actually on, the observatory building, although on several occasions it disappeared for periods of 10 min or more. At 17:30, with the bird having been absent for some 15 min, a search of the grounds was conducted but failed to locate it. It was assumed that the wheatear had gone to roost and VB and RT made plans for the following morning as RT was anticipating that better light conditions for photography would present themselves on the morrow. In the event, however, much to everybody's surprise, the bird failed to appear the next day.
The observation at Mexilhoeira Grande constitutes the first record of White-crowned Wheatear for Portugal. It has been submitted to the Portuguese rarities committee. In western Europe there have been just three previous records involving four individuals: Germany (13-15 May 1986; now placed in category D), England (4-5 June 1982) and Spain (28 May 1977, two). Outside western Europe but within the Western Palearctic, this largely resident bird from northern Africa and the Middle East has been recorded in Cyprus (5), Greece, Kuwayt, Malta (1) and Turkey (1).

Ray Tipper, Apartado 278, 8800 Tavira, Portugal
tippermail.telepac.pt
Victoria Beale, 37 Aitken Street, Dennistoun, Glasgow G31 3ND, UK
victoria-and-colinbeale1.fslife.co.uk