BirdingASIA 30

3 Chairman’s letter

4 BirdingASIA briefings

6 OBC in action – Conservation Fund & Bertram Smythies Fund
8 Letters to the Editors

12 CONSERVATION ALERT
The Critically Endangered Straw-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus zeylanicus lacks full legal protection in Indonesia—the main source of its problems BOYD T. C. LEUPEN & CHRIS R. SHEPHERD

16 CONSERVATION ALERT
Ongoing slaughter of Eye-browed Thrush Turdus obscurus in Sumatra: another species heading for oblivion? 
MUHAMMAD IQBAL, INDRA YUSTIAN, ARUM SETIAWAN & DONI SETIAWAN

21 CONSERVATION UPDATE
Good progress in 2018 for Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea conservation despite some setbacks
 CHRISTOPH ZÖCKLER, SAYAM U. CHOWDHURY, PYAE PHYO AUNG, JING LI, BAZ HUGHES, NIGEL CLARK, GUY ANDERSON & EVGENY SYROECHKOVSKIY

26 CONSERVATION UPDATE
Securing safe havens for the Helmeted Hornbill Rhinoplax vigil ANUJ JAIN, YEAP CHIN AIK, ADAM MILLER, RAVINDER KAUR, DING LI YONG, THATTATA BIDAYABHA, FERRY HASUDUNGAN SIMBOLON, THIRI DA WEI AUNG, LAY WIN, HASLINA RAZALI & JESSICA G. H. LEE

33 TAXONOMIC UPDATE
Notable proposals for the taxonomic revision of Asian birds in 2017 N. J. COLLAR

48 TAXONOMIC REVIEW
Notes on the taxonomy of Cream-throated White-eye Zosterops atriceps and the biogeography of the Northern Moluccas
 FRANK E. RHEINDT & JAMES A. EATON

54 TAXONOMIC REVIEW
Is the subspecies of Mountain Serin Chrysocorythus estherae from Lore Lindu National Park, northern Central Sulawesi province, Indonesia, an undescribed taxon?
 MICHEL OTTAVIANI

60 LITTLE-KNOWN ASIAN BIRD
Sulawesi endemic in the spotlight: first images and sound recordings of the Snoring Rail Aramidopsis plateni
 ERIC R. GULSON-CASTILLO, PANTIATI, TERESA M. PEGAN, NURUL L. WINARNI & ANDRIANSYAH

65 LITTLE-KNOWN ASIAN BIRD
First record of Chocolate Boobook Ninox randi from Bohol, Central Visayas, Philippines
 IRENE C. DY

68 ID FORUM
Identification of Hierococcyx hawk cuckoos, and the first record of Northern Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx hyperythrus for continental South-East Asia JAMES A. EATON

74 WHERE TO SEE
Finding the Cambodian Tailorbird Orthotomus chaktomuk around Phnom Penh, Cambodia
 SIMON P. MAHOOD

76 BREEDING RECORD
First record of nesting by Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes in Kanger Valley National Park, Bastar division, Chhattisgarh, India
 A. M. K. BHAROS, AMEET MANDAVIA & FAIZ BUX

81 PHOTOSPOT

82 NOTEBOOK
Display by the Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore
 GEOFF LIM

86 NOTEBOOK
White-winged Duck Asarcornis scutulata recorded in the Hkakabo Razi Landscape, Kachin State, Myanmar
 SAI SEIN LIN OO, MYINT KYAW, KOEN MEYERS & SWEN C. RENNER

88 NOTEBOOK
A note on progressive greying in Ashy Prinia Prinia socialis in Vadodara city, Gujarat, India TAPAS K. SHAH, SIDDHARTH M. AMIN & HIREN J. PATEL

90 NOTEBOOK
Fourth record of Yellow-rumped Flycatcher Ficedula zanthopgia from the Lake Baikal area, eastern Siberia, Russia
 LÁSZLÓ BOZÓ, JESUS B. NOTARIO SIMON & VALENTINA ANISIMOVA

92 NOTEBOOK
Competitive activity by a pair of Little Pied Flycatcher Ficedula westermanni at a Long-tailed Broadbill Psarisomus dalhousiae nest, Fraser’s Hill, Pahang, West Malaysia 
ALFRED CHIA, KIM KEANG LIM, JU LIN TAN & BEE LAN TAN

95 NOTEBOOK
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons: first record from Phewa Lake, Pokhara Valley; the third record for Nepal
 RISHI BARAL & RAMJI GAUTAM

96 NOTEBOOK
Review of Black-necked Crane Grus nigricollis in Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India, including a new wintering site
 DANIEL MIZE, TAPAK TAMIR, TALO BIJU, JACOB NGUKIR, ABPREZ T. KIMSING & RIPIN TABA

99 FIELD STUDY
Newly discovered breeding colonies of Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis in the middle Ganges, India 
DKUMAR ANKIT, VIVEK RANJAN, MUJAHID AHAMAD, SANJAY KUMAR, SYED AINUL HUSSAIN & GOVINDAN VEERASWAMI GOPI

100 ASIAN ENIGMA
First image of Solitary Snipe Gallinago solitaria from the Sikkim Himalaya, India, with notes on the status of the species in Sikkim
 PREM K. CHHETRI & KUSAL GURUNG

104 PHOTOSPOT EXTRA

COUNTRY FIRSTS
105  Plumed Whistling Duck Dendrocygna eytoni, Rote Island, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia: a new bird for Asia
 JONATHAN NEWMAN

106  First records of Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo Chalcites basalis, Zappey’s Flycatcher Cyanoptila cumatilis and Javan Pond Heron Ardeola speciosa from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India 
G. GOKULAKRISHNAN, C. SIVAPERUMAN, P. C. RASMUSSEN, MINAKSHI DASH & D. SEKHAR 

109  Spotted Crake Porzana porzana: a first record from the northern floodplain in Bangladesh 
TOWKIR HASAN HRIDOY, MD. TOUHIDUR RAHMAN, ANIK SAHA, MD. KAMRUL HASAN & MOHAMMED 
MOSTAFA FEEROZ 

110  Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida: first record for Bhutan SANGAY NIDUP 

111  Sakhalin Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus borealoides: first record for Cambodia SIMON P. MAHOOD & ASHISH JOSIAH INGTY JOHN 

112  Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes: a new species for Myanmar CHRISTOPH ZÖCKLER & SHANE THU LWIN


115  Caught on camera 

116  From the field 

127 Obituary: Yotin Meekaeo

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