Harmaata vain - Too many shades of grey - a Steppe Grey Shrike in Arava in 26th Oct 2017

PÄIVITYS 4.2.2019 

Isolepinkäisryhmän lajien tilanne on suomalaisen lintuharrastajan kannalta mielenkiintoinen. Kotimaassa noudatetaan AERC:n taksonomiaa, jossa muoto pallidirostris luetaan etelänisolepinkäisen Lanius meridionalis alalajiksi, kuten kaikki muutkin eteläiset isolepinkäistaksonit. IOC on aiemmin pitänyt pallidirostrista omana lajinaan, "aroisolepinkäinen" Steppe Grey Shrike Lanius pallidirostris. Kunnes 20.1.2019 IOC julkaisi päivityksen 9.1 jossa muodosta tuli jälleen lapinharakan alalaji, Steppe Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor pallidirostris. Lajia ei siis voi laskea maailmanpinnaksi (jos on nähnyt isolepinkäisen), mutta Suomen listalle sen saa yhä laskea! IOC toteaa lyhyesti näin:

"Lanius pallidirostris is split from Lanius excubitor (King 1997, Hernández et al. 2004, Panov 2011) but not by HBW, Clements, H&M4.  Restore to status as subspecies of excubitor pending full resolution of this complex"

Viimeistä sanaa ei vieläkään ole sanottu isolepinkäisten osalta. IOC:n taksonomian mukaan WP:llä voi siis tavata seuraavat kolme lajia:

Northern Shrike Lanius borealis (raitaisolepinkäinen)
Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor (isolepinkäinen), sisältää useimmat eteläiset muodot ml. pallidirostris
Iberian Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis ("iberianisolepinkäinen")

Suomessa harrastajan kannattaa keskittyä ensinmainitun havaitsemiseen: Meillä on tavattu puolentusinaa lepinkäistä, jotka päällisin puolin enemmän tai vähemmän muistuttivat raitaisolepinkäistä. Nuoren raitaisolepinkäisen hyviä tuntomerkkejä ovat mm. alapuolen poikkijuovitus, selkäpuolen ruskea sävy, vaalea nokantyvi ja ohjas, leveälti vaaleat kärjet tertiaaleissa sekä kokonaan tummat kyynärsulat. Lisäksi tarvitaan vielä mtDNA näyte...

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Pitkästä aikaa lyhyt päivitys ei harmaiden päivien, vaan harmaiden lanttujen inspiroimana :)

Finally had some time to sort out a few pics. Birding in Eilat and Arava area is absolutely fun, even in October, when migration is perhaps not the most intense and many wintering birds are still on their way to south. Some birds are around in good numbers, and the best of all, one can stumble upon a good one practically anywhere, anytime!

This stunner, a first-winter Steppe Grey Shrike, was perching on a traffic sign near Arava junction, exactly here: 30.8555556,35.2611111

Steppe Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor pallidirostris, 1st winter

Steppe Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor pallidirostris, 1st winter

Steppe Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor pallidirostris, 1st winter

Compared to local Great Shrikes, namely "Desert Grey Shrike" Lanius excubitor elegans, this pale steppe form is very different in many respects. Of course it is a young bird, with the most striking of all plumages. Pale sandy-cream overall, isolated dark patch on ear-coverts, pale lores, stubby pale bill, longish primary projection and a large white wing patch restricted to primaries only are classic field marks.

Lanius excubitor elegans, or whatever, from Nizzana, Israel
The taxonomy of Great Grey Shrike complex is a rapidly evolving one, as is their field identification.

For example, the IOC gives Steppe Grey Shrike a specific status, Lanius pallidirostris, split from Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis; the HBW/BirdLife treats it (as well as other forms) a subspecies of Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor pallidirostris, while Dutch committee for avian systematics CSNA places it under name Steppe Grey Shrike Lanius lahtora pallidirostris. Compared to other bodies, the CSNA is not applying Biological Species Concept, but uses phylogenetic approach, thus recognising species in relation to their evolutionary history.

Local Finnish early winter specimen of Northern Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor
Rise and fall of extraliminal records of ssp. homeyeri

The Nordic rarities committees cooperated and made an extensive study reviewing variation of nominate and homeyeri -type Great Grey Shrikes in 2016. The dire conclusion was that all classical field marks of homeyeri can be found on specimens within breeding range of nominate excubitor. It is not possible to ID homeyeri on a vagrant context, and conclusively, all previously accepted records of homeyeri were rejected.

Well, borealis/sibiricus is still there...





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