Dunlin Calidris alpina has been recorded as breeding in China based on a pullus collected on 7 May 1927 at Tsingtao, Shandong province; a remarkably early date for a nearly fledged young. The record appears highly unlikely to be an example of deliberate fraud, and there is no obvious evidence of mislabelling. We have been unable to determine the validity of the claimed breeding record, however, based on a review of available information, it appears certain that the species does not currently breed in China.

The only known museum specimen of Tahiti Sandpiper Prosobonia leucoptera, held at Naturalis, Leiden, until now has been considered to be the type collected by J. R. Forster during the second voyage of Captain James Cook (1772–75). However, using archival and published sources, we were able to trace the specimen only back to 1848. Nevertheless, based on a comparison of its taxidermy with material of known provenance, we conclude that it is likely that Anders Sparrman, a member of Cook's second voyage, was involved in mounting the specimen.

Two extinct taxa, Moorea Sandpiper Prosobonia ellisi and Tahiti Sandpiper P. leucoptera, once occurred on Moorea and Tahiti, respectively. Four illustrations of Prosobonia from the second and third Cook expeditions (1772–75 and 1776–80) exist, of which one was the model for P. ellisi, whilst two others depict P. leucoptera and one Kiritimati Sandpiper P. cancellata. Considerable confusion exists as to whether P. ellisi is a valid species or an intraspecific variant of P. leucoptera. We examined the Tahiti / Moorea illustrations and original notes by crew of the Cook expeditions. We conclude that P. ellisi should be regarded as a junior synonym of P. leucoptera, as the differences between them may represent age-related, sexual, seasonal or even inter-island variation.

We update knowledge of the status of seven hirundines in southern Africa, with special focus on Mozambique. Records in Mozambique of the globally threatened Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea have not previously been fully collated, but it is estimated that c.50 pairs breed, or 4–10% of the global breeding population, with key sites at Serra Choa, ‘Penhalonga’ farm near Manica and, probably, around Chimanimani. Further surveys of this species are urgently required to evaluate its status more fully. The first documented record of Pearl-breasted Swallow and details of a recent record of Greater Striped Swallow in Mozambique are presented (both species have been reported previously). The status of White-throated H. albigularis and Red-breasted Swallows Cecropis semirufa, both of which are poorly known in Mozambique, are updated and recent records discussed. The first documented record of Eastern Saw-wing Psalidoprocne orientalis in South Africa and a recent sighting in southern Mozambique are presented. The status of Mascarene Martin Phedina borbonica in southern Africa is also reviewed and details of a record in South Africa presented.

Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja has been documented only recently (2004) in the Lake Maracaibo basin of western Venezuela, specifically in the central Sierra de Perijá, at 1,100 m. Observations in the southern plains of the basin are reported from heretofore neglected sources published in 1599, 1889 and 1893. Two overlooked photographs of dead birds dating from 1947–51 (Perijá Mountains) and 1959 (Santa Bárbara del Zulia) are reproduced. Several other records are established (in 1974, the 1980s, 1994/95, 2002 and 2006), based on empirical observations and material evidence collected by anthropologists who have visited the still heavily forested area inhabited by the Barí people since the early 1960s. Circumstantial evidence of the use of Harpy Eagle bones and feathers by the indigenous Barí provides additional ethno-ornithological information. Although Harpy Eagle is currently categorised as Vulnerable in Venezuela, the cumulative historical evidence coupled with Species Distribution Modelling analysis predictions of suitable habitat locally available to the species suggests it might still be frequent in the western and southern Lake Maracaibo basin, where considerable expanses of tropical forest are conserved within four major protected areas and an indigenous reserve.

We present new reproductive information for the Rufous Casiornis Casiornis rufus, based on studies undertaken during 1991–99 and in 2018, in the municipality of Arcos, Minas Gerais, south-east Brazil. We found eight nests, all sited in cavities of dead trees or wooden fence posts, on average 62.8 cm above ground. Clutch size was usually three eggs, pale beige overlain with complex markings throughout, similar to those of the genus Myiarchus. Eggs measured on average 22.8 × 16.96 mm, mass c.3 g. Incubation lasted c.15 days, and nestlings remained in the nest 15–17 days, being fed by both adults, mainly with orthopterans. Three of the eight nests produced young that fledged. One nest was predated by both a Black-striped Capuchin Sapajus libidinosus and a Crane Hawk Geranospiza caerulescens, and another by a Black-tufted Marmoset Callithrix cf. penicillata. Nests were constructed in August, and the last nestlings fledged in late October. Most aspects of the breeding ecology of Casiornis are identical to those of other members of the Myiarchini.

We present an updated bird checklist for the oceanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea. Their avifauna comprises 146 confirmed species, an increase of 19% in 15 years. Of these, 66 are resident landbird species (32 on Príncipe, 50 on São Tomé and 11 on Annobón), including 29 endemic species, 17 endemic subspecies and 17 possibly non-native species. The remaining avifauna consists of six breeding seabird species, four non-breeding migrants, 62 vagrants and eight species of uncertain status. An additional 51 species have been reported but lack confirmation. Most recent changes reflect increases in observer activity and involve vagrant and unconfirmed species, but a few result from previously overlooked historical records and taxonomic changes. Of the three islands, most changes affected the avifauna of Príncipe, whereas little new information has come from Annobón. Future changes are predicted to arise from new reports and confirmation of vagrants, but also from further taxonomic revision of residents.

The Western Palearctic endemic Dunnock Prunella modularis was recently revealed to comprise three distinct genetic lineages, each distributed in different Pleistocene refugia. Specifically, one is isolated in the Iberian refugium, another is confined to the Caucasus refugium, and the third is distributed in both the Italian and Balkan refugia, as well as across broader Europe. There is a probable absence of gene flow between the refugia. Analysis of plumage and song characteristics reveals robust differences between the Iberian subspecies P. m. mabbotti, Caucasian P. m. obscura and nominate P. m. modularis. Our assessments, in conjunction with genetic isolation, support species recognition under the Phylogenetic, Biological and Comprehensive Biological Species Concepts, via qualitative and quantitative criteria, and diagnosability. We thus propose the elevation of Iberian Dunnock P. mabbotti and Caucasian Dunnock P. obscura to species level.

The original scientific name of the Black Crake Rallus niger J. F. Gmelin, 1788, a diurnal species of African rail, was supplanted in the mid-19th century by William Swainson, who claimed the original description was unidentifiable. Swainson published two replacement names: Rallus carinatusSwainson, 1836, and Gallinula flavirostraSwainson, 1837, the latter of which is in prevailing usage. Here, I use historical and modern study skins to show that Swainson was confused by post-mortem colour changes and that the original description of R. niger J. F. Gmelin is not ambiguous as claimed. Therefore, according to the principle of priority, the oldest available name for the species is Amaurornis niger (J. F. Gmelin). To resolve this issue, a petition will be filed with the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, to request that the senior synonym be suppressed in the interest of nomenclatural stability.

We present the results of a bird survey undertaken in the Aiope (Sarime) River basin in the Kunua District of north-west Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, during October–November 2019. Birds were surveyed across an elevational gradient of nearly 1,800 m, from the coast at the mouth of the Aiope River to the catchment headwaters in the north-west Emperor Range. Seventy-nine bird species were recorded, including three-quarters of Bougainville's resident land and freshwater avifauna (76/102 species) and a high proportion of its island-endemic and Solomons-endemic taxa (genera, species and subspecies). Resident avifauna include three species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List—Sanford's Sea Eagle Haliaeetus sanfordi, Fearful Owl Nesasio solomonensis and (provisionally) Yellow-legged Pigeon Columba pallidiceps—nine Near Threatened species and two species that are protected under Papua New Guinean law. Forest supports 84% of the recorded resident bird species, most of which are forest-dependent, including all island-endemic taxa and all species of conservation concern apart from the Near Threatened Woodford's Rail Nesoclopeus woodfordi. Forest extent and condition improved with increasing elevation along the surveyed route; upper hill zone forest provides a narrow band of suitable habitat for a suite of lowland and hill forest species that were locally formerly more common across a broader altitudinal range. Elevational range extensions are reported for six species, and the vocalisations of Solomons Frogmouth Rigidipenna inexpectata are described from Bougainville for the first time.

A letter by Allan Octavian Hume and three by Bertram Bevan-Petman, all written between 1904 and 1911 to Ernst Hartert, bird curator of Rothschild's Tring Museum, are present in the Rothschild Tring archive, now held by the Natural History Museum. These shed light on both the probable cause of the early death in 1872 of Colonel Robert C. Tytler, British army officer and naturalist in colonial India, and on the somewhat convoluted fate of his collection subsequently.