Yellow wagtails Motacilla sp. observed in Sri Lanka in November 2019 had the ‘rasping’ voice characteristic of Eastern Yellow Wagtail M. tschutschensis. DNA confirmed two individuals as M. t. tschutschensis / plexa, whilst plumage characters suggested one was M. t. plexa and the other M. t. tschutschensis, the first records of the species in Sri Lanka. Field observations in Colombo, during November 2019–January 2020 yielded 106 yellow wagtail records. Vocalisations of 57 were recorded; all had ‘rasping’ calls, and none had vocal or plumage features diagnostic of Western Yellow Wagtail M. flava. A review of material in Colombo and Tring museums yielded no specimens of Eastern Yellow Wagtail from Sri Lanka, and the species’ status in South Asia is unclear. Seventy-one photographic records of yellow wagtails in Sri Lanka from varied sources revealed seven records of M. f. lutea based on plumage characters. The rest could not be assigned to either Eastern Yellow or Western Yellow Wagtails. Eastern Yellow Wagtail is probably a common winter visitor to Sri Lanka and presumably also numerous on passage further north in South Asia. Birds in this region not identified to species using at least voice should be recorded as the species pair. Further research is required to clarify any previous specimen records of Eastern Yellow Wagtail in Sri Lanka, the status of the subspecies, the migratory routes involved, and the status of both species across South Asia.

We report pelagic observations from around Rapa Island and Marotiri Rocks, in the Austral Islands, French Polynesia, made during the first dedicated at-sea survey of birds in the region, during October–December 2019. We recommend that the regional occurrence of several seabird species be modified and that the list of avifauna for Rapa and Marotiri, the Austral Islands, and East Polynesia variously be amended to include Juan Fernández Petrel Pterodroma externa, Mottled Petrel P. inexpectata, Gould's Petrel P. leucoptera, Stejneger's Petrel P. longirostris, Buller's Shearwater Ardenna bulleri and Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus. Two Gould's Petrels were behaving as if breeding, and the timing of egg laying by Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis is apparently somewhat earlier than the species' other populations. We found Polynesian Storm Petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa foraging in large numbers around Marotiri suggesting a hitherto unrecognised and perhaps significant breeding population; we also found large numbers around Rapa. Titan Storm Petrel foraged off Rapa in substantial numbers and c.5% appeared to be a variant, raising the possibility of two distinctive phenotypes. We include at-sea images and a field description of ‘classic’ Rapa Shearwater Puffinus myrtae, and report an unidentified small Puffinus seen at Marotiri. Our survey adds significant new information to knowledge of seabirds in this region, and in combination with previous work argues strongly for the conservation of Rapa, Marotiri and the surrounding ocean’s pelagic birds.

The Neotropical genus Nemosia comprises just two species, Hooded N. pileata and Cherry-throated Tanagers N. rourei, and their breeding biology is poorly known. Here we provide new information based on five nests of N. pileata and review existing data in the literature. When an active nest was found, it was visited every 3–4 days, or every second day near hatching or fledging. Monitoring was conducted by direct observation from hides sited 4–8 m from the nest. We estimated nest height above ground by eye to the nearest 0.5 m. Nestling period was estimated from hatching of the last chick to fledging of the first chick. Three nests had two eggs each, one nest had two nestlings, and one nest had one egg and two nestlings when found. Eggs were pointed, ovoid, and greenish with purplish-black spots all over. Eggs from four nests measured 20.5 ± 0.6 × 15.4 ± 0.3 mm and had mass 2.17 ± 0.22 g (n = 7). Five nestling from two nests were monitored. They hatched with a little white down covering the brown-orangey skin, a salmoncoloured bill, a red mouth, and orangey-brown legs and feet. A pair brought six food items (three each) in 100 minutes (to a nest with two nestlings). Of three of the five nests monitored, one fledged two young and the other two were predated. The nesting period (October–April) overlaps the dates of other published records, but differs between regions and shows a complex relation to rainfall. Our data on nests, eggs and nestlings of N. pileata improves our understanding of its reproductive biology and could assist in conservation measures for the Critically Endangered N. rourei.

Migration encompasses a persistent, directed, often seasonal, redistribution of individuals beyond or between their home ranges, but is often incorrectly used to describe a wide range of other movement behaviours in several animal groups, including birds. Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) are birds that are frequently, but not universally, classified as migratory. Nevertheless, movements performed by flamingos do not seem to match the scientific and ecological concept of migration sensu stricto. We discuss different bird movements and their correct typology. Based on available information concerning flamingo movements, we recommend that they be considered irruptive or nomadic species, and that correct classification is important to avoid wrongly interpreting these birds' ecology in the media and scientific works. Despite that they are not truly migratory, conservation action plans for flamingos still need to take into account their movement behaviour.

Red-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus pusillus (Dumont, 1816) presently comprises three recognised subspecies, of which two are found in East Africa and one occurs disjunctly in southern Africa. Based on their respective distributions and phenotypic differences, a taxonomic reassessment of the species is warranted. We performed a phylogenetic reconstruction using the mitochondrial genes ATPase 6/8 based on 33 samples from across the distribution of Red-fronted Tinkerbird and four outgroup samples, and then determined correspondence between genetic distances and differences in song and morphology among clades using the Tobias et al. criteria. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed 4.4% sequence divergence in mtDNA between northern and southern populations, with plumage, morphometric and song differences of a similar magnitude to those between P. pusillus and Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird P. chrysoconus, and above species-level thresholds according to the Tobias et al. criteria. Furthermore, the molecular phylogeny supports recognition of a synonymised taxon (P. p. eupterus) as a distinct, but phenotypically cryptic, subspecies in East Africa, with c.1.5% sequence divergence from P. p. affinis and P. p. uropygialis, which in turn differ less (1%) from each other. We propose that northern and southern Red-fronted Tinkerbirds are treated as separate species, and that the subspecies eupterus is resurrected. Our findings suggest that P. chrysoconus as presently constituted may also merit taxonomic revision.

During a 1938 visit to what was Petsamo in northern Finland (today Pechenga, north-west Russia), Richard Meinertzhagen claimed to have observed several individuals of Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri, a species that had previously been observed just once in Europe, in northern Norway in 1933. Due to the insufficient documentation, and inconsistencies regarding the number of birds seen, it is recommended that this sight record be treated henceforth with suspicion.

We describe results of the first ornithological exploration of the uplands of the Van Rees Mts., the lowest of New Guinea's ten outlying mountain ranges. The narrow Mamberamo River gorge separates them from the higher and more species-rich Foja Mts. The known avifauna of Van Rees comprises 223 species, of which 17 are winter visitors from Australia or the Palearctic (occurring overwhelmingly in open non-forest habitats), and 37 are upland species. Whilst most of the Van Rees upland species occur in the Foja Mts., conversely most Foja upland species are unrecorded from Van Rees. Of course, upland species whose Foja elevational floors lie above the Van Rees summit are predictably absent from the latter. However, there are also many ‘flagrant absentees’ from Van Rees—i.e., conspicuous or abundant Foja species that could or ‘should’ occur in Van Rees because their Foja floors lie well below the Van Rees summit. The percentage of Foja upland species occurring in Van Rees increases with decreasing Foja floor elevation. That is, availability of elevationally suitable habitat does not provide an all-or-nothing explanation, but only increases the probability, of upland species success in colonising Van Rees. Our Van Rees records of non-forest species at natural clearings in forest—landslides, mud volcanoes, streams and lakes—illustrate how the region’s endemic non-forest bird species may have evolved, despite forest being the climax vegetation over most of New Guinea. The lake Danau Bira and its surrounding marsh, created by a mud volcano damming a stream, support at least 23 water and marsh species. An appendix summarises records and elevational ranges of all 223 species recorded in the Van Rees Mts.

The claims of an array of specimens to be considered part of the type series of Pitta gurneyi are clarified. The plate of P. gurneyi that is commonly linked to the type description in Stray Feathers was based on two specimens Hume gave to Gurney and was published considerably after the type description itself.