Mlíkovský J. & Sládeček M. / Nálezy racka polárního v Česku
Records of the Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides (Aves: Laridae) from Czechia Nálezy racka polárního Larus glaucoides (Aves: Laridae) v Česku Jiří Mlíkovský 1 & Martin Sládeček 2 Department of Zoology, National Museum, Václavské náměstí 68, CZ-115 79 Praha 1; e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-182 44 Praha 2; e-mail:
[email protected]
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Mlíkovský J. & Sládeček M. 2014: Records of the Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides (Aves: Laridae) from Czechia. Sylvia 50: 94–98. The Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) is a year-round inhabitant of the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Only two records of this species were known from the Czech Republic thus far (2012–2013). Collections of the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic, contain a specimen collected in Central Bohemia in January 1866, which was incorrectly registered in literature as a Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus. This specimen, first mentioned by Frič (1872), is thus the first historical record of the Iceland Gull from the Czech Republic. Another specimen deposited in the National Museum, Prague, was obtained with Woborzil’s collection and was probably collected in Bohemia before 1865, but clear evidence for this is lacking. Thus, we consider this specimen only as a possible record. Racek polární (Larus glaucoides) je celoročním obyvatelem severní části Atlantického oceánu. Z Česka byly doposud známy pouze dva nálezy z let 2012–2013. Sbírky Národního muzea v Praze však obsahují jedince, který byl uloven u Berouna ve středních Čechách v lednu 1866 a který byl v literatuře doposud nesprávně uváděn jako racek šedý (Larus hyperboreus). Tento nález, poprvé zmíněný Fričem (1872), je tedy historicky prvním doloženým nálezem racka polárního z Česka. Rovněž jedinec ve sbírkách Národního muzea v Praze, pocházející z Woborzilovy sbírky, byl pravděpodobně uloven v Čechách před rokem 1865, avšak jasné doklady o tom chybí, takže tohoto jedince považujeme pouze za možný výskyt. Dále jsou uvedena recentní pozorování racka polárního z území České republiky. Keywords: avifauna, Larus glaucoides, Czechia, vagrants, historical ornithology
INTRODUCTION The Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides Meyer, 1822) is a year-round inhabitant of the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. It migrates within this range and may be rarely encountered beyond its borders (Malling Olsen & Larsson 2004, del Hoyo & Collar 2014). It is a rare vagrant to central Europe (Glutz 94
& Bauer 1982). Here we review the records of this species from Czechia, showing that the first record is from the 19th century. RECORDS <1865: Čechy (Bohemia) The collection of Johann Wilhelm von Woborzil (1784–1865) contains an adult
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Fig. 1. Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) presumably collected in Bohemia before 1865 (NMP P6V-003483). Photo by Pavel Kameník. Obr. 1. Racek polární (Larus glaucoides) pravděpodobně ulovený před rokem 1865 v Čechách (NMP P6V-003483). Foto Pavel Kameník.
specimen of Larus glaucoides (Fig. 1). The specimen was obtained by the National Museum in Prague (NMP) in 1880 (Anonymous 1881; see also Matějková 1943) and it is still deposited there under the inventory number NMP P6V-004383. Frič (1872: 89) said that this specimen originated from “Čechy” (Bohemia), but no other details are known. Frič (1872: 89) listed this specimen as Larus glaucus, but subsequent authors did not include Woborzil’s specimen in their books (e.g. Kněžourek 1912, Hudec & Černý 1977, Hudec & Šťastný 2005). Antonín Frič (1832–1913) personally knew Woborzil, and it is thus probable that the specimen indeed originated from Bohemia. However, Woborzil’s collection contained also many exotic bird species and his original labels have been lost. We thus consider the Woborzil’s specimen as a possible record from Bohemia, noting that its exact date and place of collection are unknown.
1866: Beroun An adult bird was caught by an unknown person at Beroun (ca. 49.96°N, 14.07°E), Central Bohemia, in January 1866, given alive to Antonín Frič (see Frič 1872: 89) and subsequently purchased by the National Museum in Prague (NMP) after May 1866, but before March 1868 according to a record in the old Catalogue of Birds in the NMP, handwritten by Antonín Frič. The specimen is still deposited in the NMP under the inventory number NMP P6V-000168. This specimen was first listed as Larus glaucus by Frič (in the above-mentioned Catalogue, and 1872: 89) and some subsequent authors (e.g. Šír 1890: 155, Kněžourek 1912: 562) at a time when the taxonomy of the Larus glaucoides/ hyperboreus complex was far from being understood. Later, the Beroun specimen was accepted, without explanation, as the earliest record of Larus hyperboreus 95
Mlíkovský J. & Sládeček M. / Nálezy racka polárního v Česku
Fig. 2. Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) collected at Beroun, Central Bohemia, in January 1866 (NMP P6V-000168). Photo by Pavel Kameník. Obr. 2. Racek polární (Larus glaucoides) ulovený v lednu 1866 u Berouna ve středních Čechách (NMP P6V-000168). Foto Pavel Kameník.
in Czechia (Hudec & Černý 1977: 720, Hudec et al. 1995: 118, Vavřík 1999: 51, Hudec & Šťastný 2005: 807). Our restudy of the specimen showed that it clearly is a Larus glaucoides, being shorter- and slender-billed, shorterwinged and shorther-legged than Larus hyperboreus, and also differing from this species in having wingtips extending far beyond the tail (Fig. 2); the identity was confirmed by the Czech Faunistic Committee (FK 2014: FK 27/2014). Šedý (1893) mentioned that a “Larus glaucus” collected in the Beroun region was deposited in the Fürstenberg Museum at Krušovice, and Kněžourek (1912: 562) assumed that this specimen might be identical with that reported by Frič (1872). However, as Frič’s specimen was present in the NMP, the specimen seen by Šedý at Krušovice must have been another specimen, whose taxonomic identity and fate remain unknown. 96
1990: Lutová At the Meeting of the Czechoslovak Ornithological Society held in Prague on 14 March 1992, Mr. Tichý presented a stuffed gull, reportedly a Larus glaucoides, allegedly shot at the Žofinka pond near Lutová (48.98°N, 14.88°E), southern Bohemia, on 7 July 1990 (Žďárek 1992: 39, Hudec et al. 1995: 118). This record was accepted as the first record of Larus glaucoides in Czechia by Hudec et al. (1995: 118) and Hudec & Šťastný (2005: 804). Current whereabouts of the specimen is unknown and the date of collection (July!) is highly improbable; the record was rejected by the Czech Faunistic Committee (Vavřík & FK ČSO 2013: FKR0041). 2012: Kyjice An immature (2K) individual was repeatedly observed by V. Beran and others near Kyjice Kyjice (50.50°N, 13.48°E), north-western Bo he mia, on
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22 February – 4 March 2012 (Beran 2012). The individual was photographed and the record was accepted by the Czech Faunistic Committee (Vavřík & FK ČSO 2013: FK 09/2012). The Kyjice record from 2012 was listed as the first one for Czechia by Beran (2012), Vavřík & FK ČSO (2013) and Šafránek (2013). 2013: Ostrava An immature (2K) individual was observed by O. Mazurek & B. Mazurek on the Ostravice river in Ostrava-Přívoz Přívoz (49.87°N, 18.28°E) on 28 March 2013 (Šafránek 2013). Šafránek (2013) suggested that it might have been the same individual as that observed at Gliwice, southern Poland, on 6 January – 22 February 2013 (see KF 2013 for this record). The Ostrava record was accepted by the Czech Faunistic Committee (FK 2014: FK 100/2013). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The Iceland Gull is a rare visitor to Czechia with only three confirmed records (1866, 2012 and 2013). Recent records from 2012–2013 correspond with the records of several individuals in southern Poland (KF 2012, 2013) and elsewhere in the eastern Atlantic (Fray et al. 2012), while the 1866 record roughly corresponds with the single Austrian record from 1857 (Glutz & Bauer 1982: 500; see also Finger 1857: 566, Pelzeln 1876: 162). These scanty records indicate that Iceland Gulls occur irregularly in Central Europe, with possible peaks in the mid-19th century and in the early 2010s. Similar, though differently dated peaks of the occurrence of marine vagrants to Czechia were described by Mlíkovský (2012) for petrels and allies. Seasonally, all three records of the Iceland Gull in Czechia fall in winter months (January–March), which cor
responds with the time of winter wanderings of this species, whose breeding grounds are situated in Greenland (Malling Olsen & Larsson 2004). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS JM was supported in part by the grant no. DKRVO 2014/15 of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
LITERATURE Anonymous 1881: Přednešení jednatele ve valném shromáždění společnosti Musea král. Českého dne 25 června 1881. Časopis Musea Království Českého 55: 329–352. Beran V. 2012: První pozorování racka polárního (Larus glaucoides) v České republice. Sylvia 48: 162–166. Finger L. 1857: Ornis Austriaca. Verzeichniss der Vögel des österreichischen Kaiser staates. Verhandlungen des Zoolo gischBotanischen Vereins in Wien, Abhan dlungen 7: 555–566. FK [Faunistic Committee, Czechia] 2014: http://fkcso.sweb.cz/largla.htm (Viewed on 21 August 2014) and personal communication. Fray R., Pennington M., Riddington R., Meek E., Higson P., Forsyth A., Leitch A., Scott M., Marr T., ap Rheinallt T. & Olofson S. 2012: An unprecedented influx of Iceland Gulls in the northeastern Atlantic in January/ February 2012. British Birds 105: 263–272. Frič A. 1872: Obratlovci země české. Práce zoologického oddělení přírodovědeckého proskoumání Čech (4) 2: 1–148. Glutz von Blotzheim U.N. & Bauer K.M. (eds) 1982: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Vol. 8/1. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Wiesbaden. Hoyo J. del & Collar N.J. 2014: HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated checklist of the birds of the world. Vol. 1. Nonpasserines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Hudec K. & Černý W. (eds) 1977: Fauna ČSSR. Ptáci 2. Academia, Praha. Hudec K. & Šťastný K. (eds) 2005: Fauna ČR. Ptáci 2/2. Academia, Praha.
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Hudec K., Chytil J., Šťastný K. & Bejček V. 1995: Ptáci České republiky. Sylvia 31: 97–149. KF [Faunistic Committee, Poland] 2012: Orzeczenia pozytywne wydane w roku 2013. http://komisjafaunistyczna.pl/?page_ id=67 (Viewed on 21 August 2014) KF [Faunistic Committee, Poland] 2013: Orzeczenia pozytywne wydane w roku 2013. http://komisjafaunistyczna.pl/?page _id=1050 (Viewed on 21 August 2014) Kněžourek K. 1912: Velký přírodopis ptáků 2. I. L. Kober, Praha. Malling Olsen K. & Larsson H. 2004: Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. Christopher Helm, London. Matějková V. 1943: Jan Vilém Woborzil. Věda Přírodní 21: 161–166, 198–202. Mlíkovský J. 2012: Records of petrels and allies (Aves: Procellariiformes) from Czechia. Sylvia 48: 137–148. Pelzeln A. von 1876: Verzeichniss der von Herrn Julius Finger dem kaiserlichen Museum als Geschenk übergebenen Sammlung einheimischer Vögel. Verhandlungen des Zoologisch-Botanischen Vereins in Wien, Abhandlungen 26: 153–162. Šafránek J. 2013: Na Ostravsku se objevil racek polární, který pochází z Grónska.
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http://www.mos-cso.cz/cz/tiskove-zpravy/2013/na-ostravsku-se-objevil-racekpolarni (Viewed on 21 August 2014) Šedý E. 1893: Zprávy ornithologické z Křivoklátska. Vesmír 22: 122–123. Šír V. 1890: Ptactvo české. Vol. 4. M. Knapp, Praha. Vavřík M. 1999: Racek šedý (Larus hyperboreus) – nová pozorování v České republice s poznámkami k určování a výskytu v Evropě. Sylvia 35: 49–55. Vavřík M. & FK ČSO 2013: Zpráva Faunistické komise ČSO za rok 2012. Sylvia 49: 165– 189. Žďárek P. 1992: Zápis z výroční členské schůze České společnosti ornitologické konané dne 14. března 1992 ve velkém sále Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Vyšehrad na Karlově náměstí v Praze. Zprávy ČSO 35: 38–41.
Došlo 6. října 2014, přijato 24. října 2014. Received 6 October 2014, accepted 24 October 2014. Editor: P. Adamík
