First record of the thick-billed Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri) from the Czech Republic

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1 Mlíkovský J. / Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri First record of the thick-billed Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri) from the Czech Republic První doklad tlustozobé formy strnada rákosního (Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri) z České republiky Jiří Mlíkovský Department of Zoology, National Museum, Václavské náměstí 68, CZ Praha 1; jiri.mlikovsky@nm.cz Mlíkovský J. 2009: First record of the thick-billed Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri) from the Czech Republic. Sylvia 45: A specimen of the Reed Bunting collected near Dukovany, southern Moravia on 8 November 1943 and deposited in the Moravian Museum, was identified as belonging to the thick-billed subspecies-group, in particular to Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri. This is the first record of this subspecies from the Czech Republic and Central Europe. Strnada rákosního, uloveného dne 8. listopadu 1943 u Dukovan na jižní Moravě a uloženého v Moravském zemském muzeu, jsem určil jako zástupce tlustozobé skupiny poddruhů tohoto strnada, konkrétně poddruhu Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri. Jedná se o první doklad výskytu tohoto poddruhu z území České republiky a celé střední Evropy. Keywords: Czech Republic, Emberiza schoeniclus, Emberizidae, first record, Mediterranean Introduction Reed Buntings are common breeders in, common migrants through and uncommon winter visitors to the Czech Republic (Hudec 1983, Bejček et al. 1995, Šťastný et al. 2006, Musilová 2008). So far, all Reed Buntings recorded in the Czech Republic were assigned to the slender-billed ( schoeniclus ) subspeciesgroup sensu C. S. Roselaar (in Cramp & Perrins 1994, Snow & Perrins 1998) according to few available studies (Jirsík 1951, 1955, Hachler 1952, Hudec 1983, Hudec et al. 1995). The thick-billed ( pyrrhuloides ) subspecies-group (sensu Roselaar), which inhabits the southern Palearctic from the Mediterranean to eastern China, is a rare visitor to Central Europe (Bauer & Haffer 1997) and has not yet been reported from the Czech Republic. Here I describe the first record of a thick-billed Reed Bunting from the Czech Republic. Material and methods I studied Reed Buntings in the collections of the National Museum, Praha, and Moravian Museum, Brno (Budišov depository). Wing length (maximum chord Svensson 1992) was measured to the nearest 1 mm; bill depth (at the limit of 242

2 Sylvia 45 / 2009 feathering of the upper and lower mandibles) was measured using dial caliper to the nearest 0.1 mm. Only males originating from the Czech Republic, southwestern Slovakia and northeastern Austria were measured. Age classes were pooled together and no distinction was made between locally breeding and migrating birds for the purposes of this study. Bill length, bill width, tail length and tarsus length are less variable among subspecies (Vaurie 1956, 1958, Matoušek 1968, 1969, 1970, Matoušek & Jablonski 1970, Roselaar in Cramp & Perrins 1994) and were thus not considered in this study. Taxonomy of Reed Buntings follows Dickinson (2003). The Record During a study of Reed Buntings deposited in the Moravian Museum (MZMB; Budišov depository) in July 2009, in a material of ca. 130 Central European specimens, I found a conspicuously large-bodied and distinctly thick-billed bird (MZMB 8356), labeled simply as Emberiza schoeniculus [sic!] and without any comment on its subspecific identity. The specimen is an adult (over one year old) male in winter plumage. It was collected near Dukovany, southern Moravia (ca N, E) on 8 November 1943 by Jaroslav Hála ( ), an Fig. 1. Lateral view of the Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri (MZMB 8356, collected near Dukovany, southern Moravia on 8 November 1943) in comparison with a juvenile male from the schoeniclus subspecies-group (MZMB 5926, collected at Rebešovice, southern Moravia on 20 October 1906). Obr. 1. Boční pohled na strnada rákosního poddruhu Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri (MZMB 8356, uloven 8. listopadu 1943 u Dukovan na jižní Moravě,) ve srovnání s mladým samcem ze skupiny poddruhů schoeniclus (MZMB 5926, uloven 20. října 1906 u Rebešovic na jižní Moravě). 243

3 Mlíkovský J. / Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri ornithologist and taxidermist then domiciled in Dukovany (label data; see Sutorová & Hanák 1997 and Hanák 2003 for the collector s biography). The Dukovany specimen differs from European slender-billed Reed Buntings in having a much deeper and bulky bill, and in being larger-bodied, although this is not reflected in wing length (Fig. 1). General plumage coloration is dark, although fringes on outer primaries are whitish, not rufous or buff. Wing length is 79 mm in the Dukovany bird and mm (mean = 79.3 mm, SD = 2.52, n = 91) in slenderbilled males from Czechia, southwestern Slovakia and northeastern Austria. Bill depth is 7.8 mm in the Dukovany bird and (mean = 6.29, SD = 0.35, n = 80) in slender-billed males from this region. See Figs. 2 3 for biometrical comparison. Discussion Morphological data presented above are sufficient to be able to assign the Dukovany bird to the thick-billed subspecies-group of Reed Buntings (sensu Roselaar in Cramp & Perrins 1994). However, its closer identification within the latter group is more difficult, since systematics of this group have not yet been resolved and are still under discussion (cf. Hartert 1904, 1921, Zarudnyj 1917, Domaniewski 1918, Portenko 1929, Steinbacher 1930, Hartert & Steinbacher , Spangenberg & Sudilovskaâ 1954, Vaurie 1956, 1958, 1959, Matoušek 1968, Cramp & Perrins 1994, Bauer & Haffer 1997, Byers et al. 1997, Grapputo et al. 1998, Matessi et al. 2001, Meyrom et al., Zink et al. 2008). 8,0 7,5 bill depth (mm) hloubka zobáku (mm) 6,5 6,0 5,5 5,0 4,5 4, wing length (mm) délka křídla (mm) Fig. 2. Relation between wing length and bill depth in male schoeniclus Reed Buntings from Czechia, southwestern Slovakia and northeastern Austria ( ; n = 80) and in the Dukovany specimen (n; n = 1). Obr. 2. Vztah mezi délkou křídla a hloubkou zobáku u samců strnada rákosního skupiny schoeniclus z Česka, jihozápadního Slovenska a severovýchodního Rakouska ( ; n = 80) a u jedince z Dukovan (n; n = 1). 244

4 Sylvia 45 / E. s. schoeniclus group Dukovany 10 number of specimens počet jedinců ,0 4,5 5,0 5,5 6,0 6,5 7,0 7,5 8,0 bill depth (mm) hloubka zobáku (mm) Fig. 3. Bill depth in male schoeniclus Reed Buntings from Czechia, southwestern Slovakia and northeastern Austria (gray columns; n = 80) and in the Dukovany specimen (black column; n = 1). Obr. 3. Hloubka zobáku u samců strnada rákosního skupiny schoeniclus z Česka, jihozápadního Slovenska a severovýchodnícho Rakouska (šedé sloupce; n = 80) a u jedince z Dukovan (černý sloupec; n = 1). Nevertheless, the combination of a massive and bulky bill and dark plumage allows me to identify the Dukovany bird as belonging to the subspecies reiseri Hartert, This subspecies, inhabiting the southern Balkans and western Turkey (Vaurie 1958, 1959, Cramp & Perrins 1994, Roselaar 1995, Kirwan et al. 2008), has a very deep and bulky bill resembling the bills of the Middle Asian (sensu Cowan 2006, 2007) pyrrhuloides Pallas, 1811, but differs from the latter subspecies in being much darker. On the other hand, it differs from dark Reed Buntings of the southwestern Palearctic (intermedia Degland, 1849, s. l.) in having much deeper and bulky bill (see Vaurie 1958, 1959, C. S. Roselaar in Cramp & Perrins 1994, Bauer & Haffer 1997). Thick-billed Reed Buntings are chiefly sedentary (Cramp & Simmons 1994, Snow & Simmons 1998), which may explain their rarity north of their breeding range. In Central Europe, intermedia is a rare but possibly regular winter visitor to the southernmost parts of the region (Bauer & Haffer 1997), however, it has not been recorded in the Czech Republic (Hudec 1983, Hudec et al. 1995). The subspecies tschusii Reiser & Almásy, 1898, from the steppes of southeastern Europe, has a few winter records from Hungary (Debrecen 1934, Szeged 1959 and 1960 Beretzk 1962, Keve 1984, Bauer & Haffer 1997), and an exceptional record from Germany (island of Helgoland, N, E, male, collected on 24 April 1879 Gätke 1891, Stresemann 1925, Bauer & 245

5 Mlíkovský J. / Emberiza schoeniclus reiseri Haffer 1997). The Dukovany bird thus represents the first record of reiseri for the Czech Republic and the whole Central Europe. AcknowledgEments I am obliged to Karel Hudec (Brno), Branislav Matoušek (Trnava) and an anonymous referee for comments on the manuscript. I am obliged to Helena Sutorová (MZMB) for permission to study specimens under her care. The preparation of this paper was supported by grants MK and MK 06P04OMG008 from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. References Bauer K. & Haffer J. 1997: Emberiza schoeniclus (Linnaeus 1758) Rohrammer. In: Glutz von Blotzheim U. N. (ed): Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Vol. 14. Aula Verlag, Wiesbaden: Bejček V., Šťastný K. & Hudec K. 1995: Atlas zimního rozšíření ptáků v České republice H & H, Jinočany. Beretzk P. 1962: Jahreszeitliche Veränderung im Bestand der Rohrammer-Population in Ungarn. Acta Zool. Acad. Sci. Hungar. 8: Byers C., Curson J. & Olsson U. 1997: Sparrows and buntings. A guide to the sparrows and buntings of North America and the world. Houghton Mifflin, New York. Cowan P. J. 2006: Middle Asia versus Central Asia in OSME usage. Sandgrouse 28: Cowan P. J. 2007: Geographic usage of the terms Middle Asia and Central Asia. J. Arid Environ. 69: Cramp S. & Perrins C. M. (eds) 1994: The birds of the western Palearctic. Vol. 9. Buntings to New World warblers. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Dickinson E. C. (ed) 2003: The Howard and Moore Complete checklist of the birds of the world. 3 rd rev. ed. Christopher Helm, London. Domaniewski J. 1918: Nowe i mało znane formy Cynchramus schoeniclus Linn. C. R. Soc. Sci. Varsovie 11: Gätke H. 1891: Die Vogelwarte Helgoland. Joh. Heinr. Meyer, Braunschweig. Grapputo A., Pilastro A. & Marin G. 1998: Genetic variation and bill size dimorphism in a passerine bird, the reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus. Mol. Ecol. 7: Hachler E. 1952: Nová rasa strnada rákosního z Moravy. Stráž Myslivosti 30: 178. Hanák F. 2003: Katalog cizokrajných ptáků v moravskoslezských ornitologických sbírkách. Muzeum Komenského v Přerově, Přerov. Hartert E. 1904: Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna. Vol. 1 (Heft 2). R. Friedländer & Sohn, Berlin. Hartert E. 1921: Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna. Vol. 3 (Heft 17). R. Friedländer & Sohn, Berlin. Hartert E. & Steinbacher F : Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna. Ergänzungsband (Heft 1 2). R. Friedländer & Sohn, Berlin. Hudec K. (ed) 1983: Fauna ČSSR. Vol. 28. Ptáci Aves. Díl III. Academia, Praha. Hudec K., Chytil J., Šťastný K. & Bejček V. 1995: Ptáci České republiky. Sylvia 31: Jirsík J. 1951: K otázce ras strnada rákosního (Emberiza schoeniclus) v ČSR. Sylvia 13: Jirsík J. 1955: Naši pěvci. Vol. 1. Nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, Praha. Keve A. 1984: Nomenclator Avium Hungariae. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. Kirwan G. M., Boyla K. A., Castell P., Demirci B., Özen M., Welch H. & Marlow T. 2008: The birds of Turkey. Christopher Helm, London. Matessi G., Pilastro A. & Marin G. 2001: Population memetic analysis of song, geographical distribution and bill morphology of the Reed Bunting. Selection 2: Matoušek B. 1968: Vzťah medzi Emberiza schoeniclus ukrainae (Zar.), Emberiza schoeniclus stresemanni Steinb. a Emberiza schoeniclus intermedia (Degl.). Zb. Slov. nár. múz., Prír. vedy 14:

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