Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, Ghana (1 Viewer)

[Andy Adcock]

Lyre-tailed Honeyguide Melichneutes robustus

In prep for a forthcoming trip and noticed that this bird is not in the Helm, fieldguide at all either 1st or 2nd ed whilst it is given as being 'regular' in Ghana in other resources.

Anyone suggest why, am I just being dim?

 

[01101001]

Not recorded in Ghana in eBird and hardly recorded anywhere at all:

https://ebird.org/species/lython1

 

[foresttwitcher]

Don't know the answer but if it helps:

• 'Birds of the World' describes the range as Sierra Leone to Cameroon, DRC & West Uganda;
• 'All the Birds of the World' range maps do not show it present in Ghana - Ivory Coast being the closest;
• ebird agrees with the above - south west Ivory Coast being as close to Ghana as it gets.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Not recorded in Ghana in eBird and hardly recorded anywhere at all:

https://ebird.org/species/lython1

Scythebill has it as 'regular' in fact, it's on the spreadsheet that they produced for Ghana which is where I got the impression that it was there and wiki lists it in Ghana too?

Lyre-tailed honeyguide - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[01101001]

Not even Avibase has it; maybe some people assume it should/could be found in Ghana:

Melichneutes robustus (Lyre-tailed Honeyguide) - Avibase

avibase.bsc-eoc.org

 

[Andy Adcock]

Don't know the answer but if it helps:

• 'Birds of the World' describes the range as Sierra Leone to Cameroon, DRC & West Uganda;
• 'All the Birds of the World' range maps do not show it present in Ghana - Ivory Coast being the closest;
• ebird agrees with the above - south west Ivory Coast being as close to Ghana as it gets.

This includes Ghana.

 

[foresttwitcher]

Not even Avibase has it; maybe some people assume it should/could be found in Ghana:

Melichneutes robustus (Lyre-tailed Honeyguide) - Avibase

avibase.bsc-eoc.org

Was just going to edit my post to include that...

 

[foresttwitcher]

This includes Ghana.

Indeed, but the other sources don't.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Thanks folks, looks like some clarification needed here.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Don't know the answer but if it helps:

• 'Birds of the World' describes the range as Sierra Leone to Cameroon, DRC & West Uganda;
• 'All the Birds of the World' range maps do not show it present in Ghana - Ivory Coast being the closest;
• ebird agrees with the above - south west Ivory Coast being as close to Ghana as it gets.

So ignoring Ghana, what is the given range SE of there because if it is given in Ivory Coast and many points SE of there, it would be really strange if it skipped Ghana?

 

[foresttwitcher]

Two separate populations:
1. Guinea-Bissau / Guinea / Liberia border & into SW Ivory Coast;
2. much larger area encompassing S Cameroon / Gabon / Congo / N & C DRC / extreme S Chad.

ebird sort of agrees, but more limited with clusters in:
W Liberia / E Liberia & SW Ivory Coast / SW & SE Cameroon / NW Gabon / W Congo & a few spots in DRC - presumably reflecting where reports come in from.

Birdlife range maps also agree with the disjunct populations & none close to Ghana.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Many thanks for this.

 

[01101001]

The XC map (upgraded Birdlife map) shows a tiny isolated polulation in SW Ghana. Newly discovered?

Lyre-tailed Honeyguide (Melichneutes robustus) :: xeno-canto

xeno-canto.org

 

[awiner]

Best text I've been able to find just now is https://web.archive.org/web/20220225150227id_/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/309854 ("The avifauna of Ghana: additions and corrections Robert J. Dowsett , Frangoise Dowsett-Lemaire and Andrew Hester"):

"One was reportedly seen at Nkwanta, Ankasa and "the distinctive trumpeting display" heard once at Boin-Tano, presumably in August 1989 (Dutson
& Branscombe 1990). G. Dutson (in litt. 2007) informs us that this was not his record (we have been unable to contact J. Branscombe). NtiamoaBaidu et al. (2000a) list it as present at one forest site, without giving details. No-one else has reported this pecies, and so we believe the records remain to be confirmed."

So looks like its presence there should be considered hypothetical, and I'll remove it from the Scythebill checklists. Thanks!

 

[Mark Lew1s]

It would be easy enough to contact the observer now. He’s on twitter…

 

[THE_FERN]

Xeno canto map shows an outlying population in SW Ghana. Birdlife map does not (they are largely based on the same underlying data)

 

[Andy Adcock]

Xeno canto map shows an outlying population in SW Ghana. Birdlife map does not (they are largely based on the same underlying data)

I suspect this refers to the same information that Adam provided for us.

 

[THE_FERN]

I suspect this refers to the same information that Adam provided for us.

Birdlife and xeno canto maps derive from natureserve data. However, they've since diverged. Xeno canto maps get updated by (expert) users I think. I find xeno canto a good quick general range check, quicker and easier to use than alternatives