• Species in family   1
• Species observed [DR]  1 (100%)
• Species photo'd [DR]  0

That is the way one feels standing beneath the facade of the great multi-million dollar Al Shati Hotel, north of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (right or above). On the day of this photo it stood abandoned, sinking into the sand and structurally unsound. The lone and level sands of the Arabian desert stretch far way in front; the blue Persian Gulf stretches limpid and calm behind. Yet just to the right of this photo is a small orchard of mature Salvadora persicus trees, fruit-bearing in winter & spring and attractive to a wide assortment of birds. One of those birds is the much sought-after Hypocolius. Our mission in March 2001 was to find a Hypocolius, and this is the spot where we had success thanks to Colin Richardson, the premier birder in the U.A.E. That's our group (plus me) in the photo; left to right: Dan Singer, Steve Bailey, Colin Richardson, and Rita Carratello. Dan, Rita & I drove to this lonely plantation three different times before we were rewarded with good views of a perched male (we had a quick fly-over our first afternoon). Alas, there was a guard there on our final visit who prevented me from carrying my camera, but I did draw this field sketch (below right) later that day (and have washed it with a tiny bit of color in PhotoShop).

Of all the bird families in the world, perhaps the hardest to add to one's life experience are the rockfowl in Africa [two species in the Picathartidae], the Kagu [Rhynochetidae] of New Caledonia, and these monotypic families of the Old World: Shoebill [Balaenicipididae], Ibisbill [Ibidorhynchidae],  Plains-Wanderer [Pedionomidae], Bornean Bristlehead [Pityriaseidae], and the Hypocolius. One might argue that surely the cassowaries [Casuariidae] and scrub-birds [Atrichornithidae] of Australasia, the kiwis of New Zealand [Apterygidae], and the trumpeters [Psophiidae] and gnateaters [Conopophagidae] of the New World tropics are in the running. All are unique and specialized birds, many of uncertain origin, and each is scarce and generally elusive. What makes the Hypocolius doubly difficult is political. Its breeding range is centered in Iraq & Iran (east into Pakistan) and its primary wintering location is in Saudi Arabia, all nations that have been very difficult or impossible to visit as western tourists. Birders searching for Hypocolius have been essentially restricted to looking for a few spring migrants in Bahrain or the U.A.E. (a few occasionally winter there as well). The height of this bird's spring migration is March, so our visit to the U.A.E. was timed at their supposed peak. There had been only one known Hypocolius to winter in all of U.A.E. in 2001, and we probably saw it in the plantation described above. We ended up seeing three others in that orchard, so we must have had the first few spring migrants as well.

Our experience with Hypocolius is that it is a very unobtrusive and skittish species, often best located by its soft mellow mewing call. On our visits to the Al Shati plantation in concert with small groups of other birders, the Hypocolius always flushed before it could be spotted perched or feeding on the ground (it is a fruit eater) and then flew substantial distances to disappear into the foliage. It was only when the three of us (Dan, Rita & I) were alone and moving oh-so-quietly that Dan spotted the perched male sketched. Then we had leisurely views for as long as we like, as the bird moved very slowly inside the canopy of the small fruiting trees. I was particularly impressed with its oversized feet (which I tried to capture in my poor way in the sketch) and the strikingly angular shape of the black facial mask.

There are some words in the account by Cramp (1988) that mirror our experiences: "Apparently becomes tame in close association with human habitat, sitting amazingly tight in dense cover, but birds in natural habitat shy, flying off when disturbed." The description of feeding behavior is also apt: "Searches for food among trees, rarely descending to ground. Noticeably deliberate in feeding movements when perched on bush, stretching and balancing ot reach berries with, at times, tail angled well downwards... Will also fly down from perch like shrike Lanius, apparently to take insects on ground, and recorded flying up to 3-4 m to catch insect, then returning to perch."  We didn't see the latter behaviors but the deliberate movements within the tree were as described.

The Hypocolius is a very mysterious bird taxonomically. Lowe (1947) pointed to Old World chat-like characters and thought it was a thrush. From the 1950s through 1980s, however, it was usually considered either a subfamily in the Waxwing [Bombycillidae] group, along with silky-flycatchers and the Palmchat (e.g., Cramp 1988), or a monotypic family that was closely related to those taxa. Recent work grounded in biochemical evidence, however, hasn't yet helped much since no DNA-DNA hybridization data were available when Sibley & Ahlquist (1990) & Sibley & Monroe (1990) were published. They, however, suggested it was closer to the Bulbuls [Pycnonotidae] although "affinities uncertain." In his 4th ed. checklist, Clements (1991) didn't seem to know quite what to do. He put Hypocolius near bulbuls but had them separated the White-eyes [Zosteropidae]. From our brief field experience, this bird reminds me of a bulbul. Like many bulbuls it is primarily a fruit eater, and structurally it reminds me of that group. I will not be surprised to learn that biochemical evidence eventually shows it closely related to bulbuls. I do not think it is at all like a waxwing, or a silky-flycatcher, or the Palmchat. It does not seem to belong to that loose grouping.

Whatever the true relationships of the Hypocolius are, it is a prized and elusive species. To have our observations in such an unworldly spot was an added bonus. The full poem follows:

For more on our visit to the United Arab Emirates in March 2001, see the on-line U.A. E. trip report.

UPDATE: Colin Richardson now tells me that Al Shati Hotel was demolished in summer 2001. Just "two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert".... [ahem]

Vladimir Dinets tells me of another spot for Hypocolius that can be reached in a friendly country to western tourists: "Hypocolius can be reliably seen in May-June in Badkhyz Zapovednik (Nature Preserve) in SE Turkmenistan. The place is
remote and in a sensitive border area, but a trip can be arranged through Preserve administration. There are many other nice birds and many large mammals in Badkhyz. I also think it is a bulbul, but its Russian name means 'waxwing shrike'. The local Iomud Turkmen call it 'catbird'. This trip can be combined with a visit to nearby Repetek for ground-jays and other desert birds."

And Martin Reid graciously forwarded some shots of the actual birds in Bahrain in March 1999 (below: left is a male, right is a female)

My thanks to Colin, Vladimir, and Martin for these updates & pics.

Photos: The sketch of Hypocolius  Hypocolius ampelinus portrays a bird at Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates, on 10 Mar 2001. It was in the orchard adjacent to the abandoned Al Shati Hotel which forms the backdrop of the photo. Martin Reid photographed the Hypocolius in Bahrain: the male was 6 March 1999 at the now-destroyed traditional roost at Magabah; the female was 4 March 1999 at the BDF Wadi, near Hamad Town. Scenic photo & sketch © 2001 Don Roberson, bird photos © 2001 Martin Reid, used with permission; all rights reserved.

Bibliographic note

There is no family book, and the Handbook of the Birds of the World series has not yet reached this family. Perhaps the best summary of its biology is in the BWP edited by Cramp (1988).

Other literature cited:

Clements, J. F. 1991. Birds of the World: A Check-List. 4th ed. Ibis Publishing, Vista, CA.

Cramp, S., ed. 1988. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. V: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford & New York.

Lowe, P. R. 1947. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 117: 109-114.

Sibley, C. G., and J. E. Alquist. 1990. Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.

Sibley, C. G., and B. L. Monroe, Jr. 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.

Page created 30 Sep 2001, updated 20 Oct 2001