Wildlife Science
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Browsing Wildlife Science by Author "East African Agricultural Research Institute Amani"
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Item Aspects of Evolution in the Parrot Genus Agapornis(1948) Moreau, R.E.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniAgapornis, an African genus of parrots allied to Loriculus of Asia, has usually been classified in nine species. Their geographical, attitudinal and ecological ranges are described and their temperature relations are worked out. There is a general agreement with Bergmann's rule. Only two of the Agapornids appear to be in any respect ecologically specialized: to A. swinderniana, the only one confined to tropical evergreen forest, the seeds of figs may be an essential food; and A. pullaria is more or less completely dependent on the nests of arboreal insects for nesting-sites. The other seven Agapornids are birds of dry country with a wide range of food and are indiscriminate hole-nesters. All nine birds are practically allopatric. The four closely allied birds in East Africa, which produce fertile hybrids very freely in captvity, seem nowhere actually to meet in nature. Certain vegetation types, especially Brachysregia-Isoberlinia woodland, appear to be an effective barrier, for reasons not clear.Item The Breeding Biology of Certain East African Horn Bills (Bucerotidae).(1932-1936) Moreau, R.E.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniAlthough the habits of hornbills have long been recognised as exceptionally interesting, little in the way of connected observations on their behaviour at the nest has been published for any species. The first concern of anyone finding a nest has nearly always been to cut down the tree or at least break open the hole. Chapin's notes on Bycanistes albotibialis (1931) and Hoesch's on Lophoceros fiavirostris lcucomelas (1934) are exceptional; but there still appear to be no records through all the stages of a hornbill's nesting without interference, conclusive if not fatal, by man. Of the three species for which I am able to put forward original observations in this paper, two of them, Bycanistes cristatus and Lophoceros deckeni, have,' so far as I can discover, not had their nesting described in any way before.Item Contributions to the Ornithology of the East African Islands(1940) Moreau, R.E.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniThe sea-bird breeding stations in East African waters are enumerated. Between the Lamu archipelago, where many species nest, and the Rovuma the most important station is Latham Island with its Booby colony (S. dactylatra melanops), which existed at least 115 years ago. Less than half a dozen terneries (mainly S. dougallii and S. fuscata) are known, and no gallery. Reef-Herons, the only sea-birds to breed on bushcovered islets or in mangroves, are more widespread than the other species. The Terns lay about July, the Reef-Herons a month earlier, and the Gannets about four months later in most years.Item The Half-Collared Kingfisher (Alcedo Semitorquata) at the Nest(1944) Moreau, R.E.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniThis is a widely distributed kingfisher, from the Eastern Cape Province to Angola and Abyssinia. about which little has been written. Everywhere it is a bird of streams rather than rivers and. at any rate in tropical Africa. only those of which the banks are thickly wooded. Exceptionally it occurs as low as 1.000 ft. above; sea-level even close to the Equator-I have seen i· ton a side branch of the lower Pangani River-but from 3,000'ft. upwards in the neighbouring Usambara Mountains it is resident on the small streams in the forest. These waters are remarkably deficient in native fish and. since these kingfishers, unlike Halcyon albiventris and lepidine picte, do not feed on dry land. they probably as a rule depend in part on the abundant crab and amphibian fauna for their food. One at Amani was seen to catch and eat a white butterfly, As others have remarked. the general habits of the Half-collared Kingfisher closely resemble those of the European bird: it has a similar swift direct: flight, high-pitched uninflected squeak and preference for nesting in holes close to water. In appearance it is an even more attractive bird. for the black bill accord! delightfully with the large silvery-white ear-patches and the exquisite blue of the upper parts. The alarm note is a loud.. spip-ip-ip-ip-peep". At Amani (aLt. 3,000 ft. as 1.. lat. 5· 30'S.) a pair of these kingfishers Is always present on a piece of water in the shape of a triangle, about 300 yards long and 100 yards in greatest width. formed by damming a small forest stream. At the upstream end, the pond fades into the swamp and there areItem The Land Vertebrates of Pemba, Zanzibar and Mafia: a Zoo‐geographical Study.(1941) Moreau, R.E.; Pakenham, R.H.W.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniRecent advances in the insular ornithology, with which we have been especially concerned, made it possible for US to compare for the first time approximately complete avifaunal lists for the three big East African islands, Pemba, Zanzibar, and Mafia. We were struck by the curious distributional problems thereby raised, which, in view of the relatively easy dispersal of birds, could not adequately be considered without broadening the basis of discussion to include also terrestrial animals. Since our own special study had been the birds, it is due entirely to the assistance we have received from workers at the British Museum, especially Mr. HW Parker and Mr. R. W. Hayman, that we have been able to deal with the herpetological and the mammal faunas; for such assistance we desire to record our thanks. Lists of the vertebrates of each island were provided by Voeltzkow (1923); but he attempted no comparative study, and for the present purpose check-lists have had to be compiled practically de novo. On the one hand, we found that Voeltzkow’s lists were uncritical, especially in that the early records for ‘r Zanzibar’’were evidently not sifted to exclude those which referred to the madand. Prior to about 1887 a strip along the coasts of what are now Kenya and Tanganyika Territory was more or less subject to the Sultan of Zanzibar. It was often referred to vaguely as “Zanzibar” or “Zanzibar coast,” so that there has been a constant danger of mainland specimens being attributed to the island. After reference to the original records and, wherever possible, labels and museum entries, we have on these grounds excluded from the Zanzibar list many species that were admitted by Voeltzkow. On the other hand, the collecting that has taken place since he compiled his lists has provided many additions to the faunae, especially for Mafia. A number of them, authenticated at the British Museum, have not previously been reported. No claim can be made that the fauna has been completely worked out for any one of the classes or islands.Item On the Bateleur, Especially at the Nest(1945) Moreau, R.E.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniAn account is given of one hundred hours of observations at a Bateleur'a nest in north‐eastern Tanganyika Territory. The adults were a white‐backed bird and a chestnut‐backed, with a sub‐adult; probably over three years old, in association with them. The youngster took 130 dap to fledge. During at least part of the time all its food was brought by the white‐backed adult. When the fledgling was about one month old its feeds averaged about one in eight hours; during its last week in the nest feeds were nearly three times as frequent.
