Wim Wiegant
 ·  9 juli 2026  17:42, gewijzigd 9 juli 2026  21:24

There are really billions of people who had no contribution or whatsoever to this Rarities Recap. However, two people, beside the authors, did have significant contributions. The authors wish to thank Garry Bakker for the textual and factual corrections, and Toy Janssen for the ICT work....!

Lukasz Lawicki
 ·  9 juli 2026  18:05, gewijzigd 9 juli 2026  18:05

The Black Drongo bred at this site in the UAE also in 2021-23 (article in Sandgrouse 45: 183-191, 2023).

Eduard Sangster
 ·  9 juli 2026  22:47, gewijzigd 9 juli 2026  22:47

@Ruben, ik heb denk ik aangenomen dat het twee verschillende ondersoorten waren, de Atlantische Oceaan populatie en de Indische Oceaan populatie, maar de soort is monotypisch. Op het kaartje hier (ff scrollen naar beneden) zie je naar welke data ik refereer.

@Lukasz, this was the first time the actual nest was found. Previously breeding was not only suspected, what I understood, but was proven in 2021-2023.

@ Ruben and Lukasz, thank you for your feedback. I will make the appropriate adjustments to the text.

Wim Wiegant
 ·  9 juli 2026  23:13, gewijzigd 9 juli 2026  23:13

The adjustments have been made...

Justin Jansen
 ·  10 juli 2026  05:10, gewijzigd 10 juli 2026  05:11

The recent observations of two presumed Steppe Whimbrels at Lake Sorkol are certainly intriguing, but they also highlight an important point that deserves emphasis. Although alboaxillaris has long been treated as a distinct taxon on the basis of plumage characters and perceived range separation, recent genetic work (e.g. the Scientific Reports study by Tan et al. 2019) found no genomic differentiation between alboaxillaris and nominate phaeopus.

In addition, ongoing morphological work—including my own current analysis (in prep.)—has so far failed to identify any plumage or structural character that is 100% diagnostic for alboaxillaris in comparison with the variation present within nominate Whimbrel. Traits traditionally used in the field, such as paler upperwings, whiter axillaries or rump, and slightly larger size, all fall within the known range of variation of phaeopus populations.

Given this combination of genetic uniformity and overlapping morphological variation, the validity of alboaxillaris as a distinct taxon remains highly uncertain. While the birds observed in Kazakhstan may well represent the pale end of Whimbrel variation, assigning them to alboaxillaris requires caution until clear, diagnosable criteria—genetic or morphological—can be demonstrated.