al ferof ( 30 march 2005 ) is a retired french-bred british-based national hunt horse owned by john hales .

he was initially trained by barry murphy in wexford for martin timothy murphy .

he was then trained by paul nicholls and won the 2011 supreme novices ’ hurdle at the cheltenham festival before progressing to chasing the following season , where he won several top races including the paddy power gold cup .

he moved to the stable of dan skelton in 2015 and won the peterborough chase for his new trainer .

al ferof was retired from racing in october 2016 .

al ferof

this year , cue card , al ferof , menorah , grands crus , al ferof , and flemenstar could all be targeted at this middle distance .
al ferof has been ruled out for the next few months , trainer paul nicholls has confirmed .
at the recent entry stage along with al ferof , hinterland and dodging bullets - and vibrato .
nicholls can continue his king george vi chase domination when he sends out al ferof on boxing day .
al ferof clears the ditch at huntingdon on his way to winning the peterborough chase . photograph : urltoken
paul nicholls can continue his king george vi chase domination when he sends out al ferof on boxing day .
faugheen , the new one , al ferof and siliviniaco conti did their cheltenham credentials no harm on saturday .
anyway , everyone – including ferdy – has been delighted to see how al ferof has showcased what we do here .
“today was a sad day as the popular yard star al ferof has been retired , ” skelton’s facebook page reported .
paul nicholls said of al ferof : ' daryl ( jacob ) said he travelled very well but ran out of stamina .
in all , al ferof won 11 of his 28 starts , amassing over £510 , 000 in win and place prize money .
hales’s daughter lisa will look after al ferof while he recovers and then a decision about his long - term future will be made .
the first race at newbury went ahead following the incident with harry skelton riding al ferof to victory . photograph : alan crowhurst / getty images
silviniaco conti goes into this year’s race as favourite , up against champagne fever , al ferof and menorah . for full entries see below .
al ferof could make his eagerly - awaited return to action after injury in the king george vi chase at kempton park on boxing day .
but this is all about unfulfilled potential and having only his 12th start over fences , i fancy al ferof to come of age at kempton .
i should expect both cue card and al ferof to benefit from the step up in trip - and grands crus from dropping back in distance .
in the grade 1 arkle novice chase , the talented al ferof and cue card took on the sprinter . but the pace told on al ferof who made a dreadful blunder and it was left to cue card to chase sprinter sacre home , a respectable 7 lengths the margin in march 2012 .
al ferof is to get an entry in the timico cheltenham gold cup after his valiant effort in defeat in the king george vi chase at kempton .
al ferof had been fifth favourite for the queen mother champion chase at cheltenham , and had the ryanair chase at the meeting as a potential alternative .
al ferof could make his eagerly - awaited return to action after injury in the king george vi chase at kempton park on boxing day . read more
al ferof is quoted for all three festival races , but is shortest for the champion chase – shorter , incomprehensibly , than champagne fever , who has far more basic pace and still might not be quick enough for this task . al ferof is covered more fully in the ryanair and gold cup sections .
then there were three picks from racing post ' s pricewise judge , tom segal , as follows : al ferof , jessies dream and the real article .
while champagne fever ’s gold cup ambitions are dead , al ferof ’s rest on what risks becoming an annual wrangle between nicholls and owner , john hales .
i thought al ferof’s jumping got sloppy when the pace increased and when you consider peddler’s will go flying off , the grey will need to brush his jumping off . peddlers and al ferof have the best hurdles ratings and i agree , an antepost bet on both of those will see you in a good position .
he compared dodging bullets favourably with his previous supreme winners al ferof and noland , while ptit zig is one of a few in the running for the fred winter .
ruby walsh on al ferof , left , clears the last fence before striding on to win the paddy power gold cup at cheltenham . photograph : alan crowhurst / getty images
all horses who competed in the first race were inspected by veterinary officers at the start . al ferof , ridden by harry skelton , came home a very easy winner .
freshened up and a year stronger , al ferof made a triumphant return to cheltenham in november 2012 , winning the paddy power gold cup by 3 lengths from walk on off top weight . all roads appeared to lead to a crack at the king george vi chase , but paul nicholls suffered a blow when al ferof injured a tendon and missed a year .
al ferof’s first trip to the track for skelton could not have gone much better , as he came home clear in the peterborough chase at huntingdon , after nicholls’s ptit zig was a faller at the last . the gelding’s new trainer was generous in his praise for nicholls afterwards , stressing that his former boss had been involved in the decision to move al ferof .
opting for the oldest horse in the race mightn’t be an obvious ‘play’ with other irish hopes like smashing and gilgamboa involved but there is still plenty to like about al ferof’s chance .
skelton was preparing al ferof for a probably swan song in this year’s peterborough chase , but that plan was abandoned after the 11 - year - old sustained an injury on wednesday .
slviniaco conti ( 3 . 10 ) has repeatedly beaten his rivals . in last year’s king george he had cue card in second place , al ferof third and dynaste back in fifth .
for now ladbrokes offer sprinter sacre at 5 - 2 , with peddlers cross 6 - 1 – his trainer being adamant he was not himself at kempton – and al ferof 7 - 1 .
village vic is progressive but needs to find more , al ferof is dependable but vulnerable to an improver , and josses hill talented but not a duck - to - water jumper of fences .
no , it was the king george that unexpectedly threw up two potential new contenders in this division : champagne fever and al ferof , respectively fourth and third in the big boxing day chase .
in bizarre circumstances for champion trainer paul nicholls , al ferof , another of his great talents , was also found to have a similar injury during the routine night inspection . al ferof was expected to next step out in the king george vi chase at kempton park on boxing day and he looked to be in sensational form coming off a first - up win in the paddy power gold cup at cheltenham recently .
paul nicholls has high hopes of retaining the king george vi chase trophy at kempton on boxing day with silviniaco conti or al ferof , while the champion trainer also feels wonderful charm could run well at a big price .
thankfully al ferof survived and just a month later landed surely one of the greatest ever novice hurdles races at cheltenham , when he beat spirit son , sprinter sacre and cue card in the 2011 stan james supreme novices’ hurdle .
after a fine novice hurdle campaign ended with third place behind al ferof in the 2011 supreme novices’ hurdle , sprinter sacre made a tremendous impression on his chasing debut at doncaster in december 2011 , winning by 24 imperious lengths .
al ferof ( winner of the grade 2 amlin chase at ascot ) and the evergreen 13 - year - old sizing europe ( winner of the grade 2 champion chase at punchestown ) were next best with ratings of 165 .
however , it’s not all new equine faces . the yard still houses king george winner silvinico conti and familiar names al ferof , dodging bullets , rocky creek , rolling aces and saphir du rheu to name but a few .
the novice hurdler crown is shared between the paul nicholls and nicky henderson yards . it seemed that al ferof had sealed the accolade for nicholls when his thrilling late surge under ruby walsh in the stan james supreme novices’ earned him a rating of 154 . however , this was matched by spirit son , beaten two lengths into second by al ferof at cheltenham , when he routed the field by twelve lengths in the john smith’s mersey novices’ hurdle at aintree .
winner of the supreme hurdle all of five years ago , the ryanair actually appears a perfect fit in terms of trip and ground for al ferof who has bounced back to something like his best after transferring to dan skelton’s yard .
al ferof and silviniaco conti have big boots to fill but they are going the right way . the horses are in great form and every weekend there seems to be a big winner . it makes for short weeks !
2 bobs worth , 7 - 2 silviniaco conti , 8 cue card , first lieutenant , 16 al ferof , 20 the giant bolster , 25 boston bob , long run , lord windermere , harry topper ( from 50 ) .
i really , really confused about al ferof now . trainer mentioned champion chase , and owner earlier was adamant about gold cup . regarding the latter , the horse did actually stay on again at the end of the king george .
last year ' s winner silviniaco conti heads the list for paul nicholls at 3 - 1 , with the willie mullins - trained champagne fever next at 4 - 1 sandwiched between another nicholls representative in 8 - 1 hope al ferof .
as the gale blew itself out , however , the champion trainer quietly introduced fresh impetus to a division that seems to contain several of its own whirlwinds . in what was no more than a footnote to his betfair column , nicholls revealed that he intends to run his best novice chaser , al ferof , in open company for his next start . though he has only had two races over fences , al ferof is being targeted at the victor chandler chase at ascot a fortnight on saturday .
al ferof’s class is not in doubt . he won the supreme novice hurdle at cheltenham in 2011 and finished fourth behind the brilliant sprinter sacre in the arkle trophy a year later . he has also finished third behind nicholls’s silviniaco conti in the king george for the last two seasons . but the fact that al ferof raced 21 times for nicholls before joining skelton less than three months ago would add particular significance if the former assistant could unseat his mentor in one of the season’s most prestigious events .
ascot staged the victor chandler chase , a two mile one furlong grade one , as the feature on their card . finian ' s rainbow had been favoured all week , but had to share market leadership with classy novice , al ferof , come post time .
dan skelton , assistant to trainer paul nicholls , who trained the eventual winner al ferof , said it was as if the horses were having a fit . i ' ve seen horses have heart attacks before , but this was different . they seemed petrified .
after a successful reappearance in the charlie hall chase at wetherby , harry topper ' s jumping had deteriorated in two further outings but he simply coped with the ground far better than 5 - 4 favourite al ferof in the denman chase and trampled him by 25 lengths .
bookmaker bet365 quote al ferof at a best - priced 16 / 1 for the 2013 king george vi chase , with his old rival sprinter sacre the 5 / 2 favourite if nicky henderson decides to step up his superstar to the currently untried distance of three miles .
unsurprisingly , al ferof has been cut for that two mile novice event , and i ' d now make him favourite personally . that he is available at 13 / 2 with coral is a pleasant surprise , and i ' ve had some this morning . if you read my arkle 2012 preview , you ' ll know i ' m not a fan of sprinter sacre , and i think being double handed with al ferof ( 13 / 2 ) and peddlers cross ( 5 / 1 ) is a very strong wagering position in the race .
dan skelton , the assistant to trainer paul nicholls , who trained the eventual winner al ferof , said it was as if the horses were having a fit .
i ' ve seen horses have heart attacks before , but this was different . they seemed petrified .
while nicholls advocates al ferof being ridden positively in the champion chase , if those tactics are to be adopted on him then i’d prefer them in the scenario of this race , in which he chased leaders before losing his position and then staying on for fifth last year .
when you sell horses for big money , they have to do well – that ' s the bottom line . after al ferof won a good bumper for me at fairyhouse this time three years ago , let ' s just say he was sold for a sum that reflected his potential .
paul nicholls had a quiet start to the month , but a double at taunton on thursday signalled a return to normal service and al ferof can provide the champion trainer with a fourth successive victory in the 25th anniversary of the victor chandler chase ( 3 . 10 ) at ascot today .
al ferof ran a blinder . i was surprised he was joint favourite , on the basis of two novice wins , and to my eye he should have been at best third or fourth choice on form . ( obviously , he had more improvement capacity than most of his rivals ) .
al ferof ran well at aintree last april when finishing 2 ¾ lengths second of 6 to god’s own in the grade 1 jlt melling chase , but was a well beaten 6 th behind un de sceaux on his final start in the grade 2 prix la barka at auteuil in may .
al ferof’s final victory came in the peterborough chase at huntingdon last december , by which time he had moved to trainer dan skelton’s yard . he later ran third yet again in the king george , but was no match for vautour , when running fourth in the ryanair chase at the cheltenham festival .
al ferof ' s season tailed off last spring , but horses can take a bit of figuring out – even if you are paul nicholls . on saturday , the soft ground was especially key , and horses by his sire dom alco seem best fresh . who knows how far he will go now ?
of the remainder , al ferof would seem to lack the scope and doubtless needs to step up in trip ; and the consistent cue card will always give of his best , but it is hard to see him reversing form with sprinter sacre - and he also may well step up to 20 furlongs .
a horse who has hitherto not seemed to have an optimum trip , somersby battled on well to pass finian ' s rainbow on the run in and score by a length and a quarter . just five lengths back from the winner was al ferof , having only his third start over fences , and coming under pressure before the other two .
paul talks about last season ' s paddy power gold cup winner al ferof who , after missing most of last term through injury , will be aimed this season at the king george before a possible crack at the cheltenham gold cup . exciting second - season chasers rocky creek , rolling aces , and sire collonges are also mentioned amongst others .
through nearly a decade of dominance in national hunt racing , paul nicholls had tried and failed to win the paddy power gold cup , but his string has started the winter campaign in exceptional form and that oversight too has now been rectified after al ferof ' s four - length success in the season ' s first big handicap chase here on saturday .
the king george is a race that nicholls has never struggled to win , thanks mainly to kauto star ' s five victories over the past six seasons , but following the retirement of his stable star a few weeks ago , he has now found two credible candidates for this year ' s renewal in al ferof and silviniaco conti , the charlie hall chase winner .
the o ' doherty ' s audio & video ( pro / am ) flat race was a one horse race if the market was to be believed with willie mullins ' arvika ligeonniere going off at 2 / 5 . however out on the track al ferof , the second favourite totally took over from the quarter mile pole to prevail by all of ten lengths .
al ferof , a former irish point - to - point winner who then showed top - class form in bumpers , failed to win on his first two starts over hurdles but has not looked back since . he signed off last season with three successes over hurdles , culminating with a two - length defeat of spirit son in the supreme novices’ hurdle at cheltenham .
both fenix two and marching song mysteriously fell to the ground and died , with speculation that they may have been electrocuted . some horses had already got to the start but there were reports that other runners had
wobbled
on entering the paddock . the first race was run with al ferof running home the winner , but the stewards then met to review the situation .
there was no point through the final mile when al ferof was not going like the winner . he won the supreme novices hurdle over two miles here 2011 , but had no trouble staying on strongly up the hill over an extra five furlongs and is now the second - favourite , behind long run , for the king george vi chase over three miles at kempton park on boxing day .
spirit son , officially rated 154 , has been beaten once in a career limited to five races . at the 2011 cheltenham festival he was second to al ferof in the supreme novices ' hurdle and the following month he beat cue card by 13 lengths in aintree ' s john smith ' s mersey novices ' hurdle , in which subsequent champion hurdle hero rock on ruby was back in third .
with the start of the 2013 - 14 national hunt season
proper
fast approaching , paul nicholls gives the betfair blog an insight into how his string has progressed through the summer , updates on last season ' s high - profile horses such as big bucks and al ferof , as well as some of the new recruits paul hopes will make their mark over the winter months and beyond .
- weird al has been cut to 12 / 1 ( from 14 / 1 ) by the sponsors for next friday ' s betfred cheltenham gold cup as support continues to come for . . .
nicholls has also entered kauto stone in the victor chandler , but the idea is that kauto star ' s brother will instead step back up in trip for the betfair ascot chase , also at ascot , the following month . nicholls added that sonofvic , who never remotely approached al ferof ' s fluency at cheltenham on new year ' s day , will be returned to hurdles for the rest of the season .
the step up in trip ought to suit al ferof but he is a horse i rarely get right and he will have to have improved to give 2lbs to both grands crus and hunt ball . course specialist quantitativeeasing rarely runs a bad race over this course and distance and , though he looks plenty high enough in the weights , he could be of some interest in the place market for those looking for a bit more value .
the supreme novices’ hurdle is a national hunt hurdle race . the festival opener is usually greeted by the ‘cheltenham roar’ by punters . it’s been going since 1946 and has had numerous sponsors and the current sponsor is sky bet . the leading jockey since 1972 is ruby walsh with 5 wins – douvan ( 2015 ) , vautour ( 2014 ) , champagne fever ( 2013 ) , al ferof ( 2011 ) & noland ( 2006 ) .
ferdy actually looked at al ferof at the brightwells sale after he won his point - to - point . he was interested but felt he was a bit small – which he was at the time – so the horse was led out unsold at £62 , 000 . martin had a reserve of about £70 , 000 on him then , and i ' m sure it ' s a day ferdy regrets not handing a few quid to his brother !
trainer nicky henderson was quick to pull out his runner kid cassidy , but the novice hurdle race went ahead , more than 20 minutes late , and with three of the original 10 runners missing . it was won by paul nicholls ' al ferof . racegoers saw no further racing , and organisers announced later in the day that they would be fully reimbursed . the british horseracing authority is investigating as is the southern electric power distribution and the police .
but the fact remains that al ferof did beat sprinter sacre over hurdles at last year ' s festival , and while the latter was always considered likely to prove better again over hurdles , nicholls plainly holds corresponding views of his own charge . after all , he sent him to cheltenham for his first steeplechase , in the prestigious race sponsored by this newspaper at the november meeting , and thence to a grade one over the notoriously tricky fences at sandown .
long run , who will be saddled by nicky henderson , the man most likely to deprive nicholls of an eighth consecutive trainers ' title , remains favourite for the king george , but nicholls ' s strong run of form has seen him cut to 5 - 4 ( from 6 - 4 ) by coral for the championship , while henderson is 4 - 7 from 1 - 2 .
that was a stunning performance ,
nicholls said of al ferof .
the sun are also of the opinion that long run is up against it this afternoon with weird al the headline selection of templegate ( steve jones ) who points out that donald mccain ' s chaser has never been beaten on his seasonal return .
all that is really missing from skelton’s record at this stage is a grade one success and a winner at cheltenham in march . it can be only a matter of time before he crosses off both and his juvenile hurdler kasakh noir , a likely runner at kempton on sunday , is among the favourites for the triumph hurdle next spring . there could be no better way to announce his arrival among the sport’s biggest players , however , than victory with al ferof in saturday’s king george vi chase .
that effort - conceding seven pounds as well to the winner - marks the runner up down as the one to be on in the ryanair , a race whose extra three furlongs in trip plays strongly in favour of the prince . as with al ferof , connections must have been mightily chuffed with this effort , and he ' s worthy of more than a second glance in the ryanair wagering . currently a best priced 15 / 2 with sportingbet , and that appeals considerably more than the 7 / 1 about somersby in the same contest .
“al ferof is fine . he was doing up to three hours a day on the walker at paul ' s before he came back to us for the summer , ” said hales . “he ' s out in the field now and will head back to ditcheat before paul ' s open day . “his target is the king george and paul nicholls will decide whether or not he has a run before that . “if paul thinks he needs a prep he ' ll have one , but given the way he won the paddy power he ' s very exciting . ”
this £165 , 000 purchase is a gelded son of the high class sire flemensfirth ( progeny include imperial commander , tidal bay and flemenstar ) who formerly easily won a point to point by 8l . the 6 year old was bought from the saunderscourt stud in wexford , the same stud from which al ferof was bought , as well as champion bumper winner cheltenian . connections have taken their time with him and he only managed the one start last season when down the field when he was well beaten in a maiden hurdle at ludlow . will surely prove better than that performance and entirely possible he is a different horse this season with another summer on his back .
the field is headed by al ferof who won the 2012 paddy power gold cup by 3 lengths from walkon but injured a tendon whilst being prepared for a crack at the king george a month later and was off until winning the amlin 1965 chase in november 2013 . he took part in lthat year’s king george and galloped on but was a well beaten 14 ½ lengths third to silviniaco conti , perhaps on account of several rivals falling to pieces in the latter stages . there remained a doubt as to whether he truly stayed 3 miles and that seemed to be the case as he was trounced by 25 lengths by harry topper in the denman chase at newbury in february 2014 . consequently paul nicholls dropped his 10 year old down in trip for the ryanair chase at cheltenham but he was a little disappointing when finishing 7 ¾ lengths fifth to dynaste . al ferof returned to action and won his second amlin 1965 chase in fine style by 7 lengths from somersby last november and ran 9 ½ lengths third to silviniaco conti in this season’s king george , after which nicholls wanted to run him over a shorter trip . he suffered a setback which prevented him from running in either the queen mother champion chase or the ryanair chase and he returned in the grade 1 melling chase at aintree a couple of weeks ago , finishing 36 lengths fifth of 10 to don cossack . he should strip fitter for that run but will need big improvement .
the aforementioned silviniaco conti failed to bounce back from his gold cup fall at aintree , but can be forgiven that run and , though he doesn’t appeal as an obvious gold cup contender , the charlie hall and betfair chase again appeal as obvious early season targets for paul nicholls’ flat track specialist . along with returning stable - mate al ferof , the king george could well come under consideration , though we await an update on the latter’s wellbeing ( should hear something any day now , in light of the stable’s open day on 1 st september ) . the grey was , of course , last seen winning the paddy power off 159 last november and he gives the impression as if 3m around kempton shouldn’t be a problem .
2010 / 2011 : novice hurdles in november , sprinter sacre contested his first jump race , a novice hurdle over two and a half miles at ascot . he started 6 / 5 favourite and finished second to the six - year - old frascati park . after a break of three months he reappeared in a two mile novices ' hurdle at ffos las and won easily by ten lengths . two weeks later he won a hurdle race at ascot by seven lengths
on the bridle
and was then sent to the cheltenham festival for the supreme novices ' hurdle . ridden by tony mccoy , sprinter sacre took the lead three hurdles from the finish , but hit the last obstacle and faded to finish third to al ferof and spirit son .
a son of top class national hunt sire dom alco , who has produced the likes of grands crus and notably has sired grand national winner neptune collonges and cheltenham festival winner al ferof for this trainer and owner combination . nicholls also has silviniaco conti and sire collonges from this sire and knows his offspring well . he is a half brother to my will who was previously with this yard and had a high class career winning at grade 3 level and finishing 3rd in the grand national . unioniste has winning hurdle and chase form in france where he won by 12l on his final start there . bred to stay well so no surprise to see him over staying novice trips this season and should prove to be very useful whenever he takes to fences where we will likely see the best of him
dom alco has sired some of the leading national hunt stars in recent years with his progeny including the likes of neptune collonges , al ferof , grands crus and silviniaco conti . paul nicholls has had plenty of success with his offspring and he will be hoping this gelding can be the next success story . a half - brother to grade 2 placed hurdler porto rico and three time winner rhum , his dam was a chase winner in france and is from a family of jumping winners including maurice and lettiland . on his only start to date he finished 2nd behind a winner who went on to win again , the two of them pulling miles clear of the rest . a fair start to his career and likely to progress this season for a trainer with experience of handling similar types in recent years .
peddlers was a top class hurdler with only the excellent hurricane fly proving to be better than him at cheltenham , he was the only horse to mount a serious challenger to the willie mullins horse and is clearly a class act . he is expected to take to the fences with ease and that coupled with his class makes him an obvious early favourite for the 2012 arkle chase and that is exactly the case at the moment . the arkle is one of the highlights of any cheltenham festival and as well as peddlers cross there are a number of other potential novice chasers for punters to look forward to . another one of them being backed at this ante - post stage is al ferof who of course won the supreme novices hurdle at the 2011 festival , and he may go straight over fences in 2011 / 12 for champion trainer paul nicholls .
paul nicholls : has been the festivals top handler six times before , and although he’s second favourite in the betting many feel he will struggle this year to add a seventh title . yes , the dicheat team will have plenty of ammo to go to war with , but they only really have big buck’s as banker material in the world hurdle – and oscar whisky might have something to say about that ! that said , al ferof’s task against sprinter sacre in the arkle has been made easier with peddlers cross now missing the race in favour of the jewson novices’ chase , while the unbeaten zarkandar could lower the hurricane fly colours in the champion hurdle . kauto star should still line up for the gold cup , but even if he does all the pre - race doubts will make it a tough ask for him to land the race for a third time .
market for 2012 king george 26th december kempton park . long run 7 - 2 al ferof 5 - 1 cue card 6 - 1 sizing europe 7 - 1 riverside theatre 7 - 1 bobs worth 9 - 1 silviniaco conti 9 - 1 captain chris 10 - 1 finian ' s rainbow 10 - 1 grands crus 10 - 1 sir des champs 10 - 1 kauto stone 11 - 1 cristal bonus 25 - 1 for non stop 25–1 the giant bolster 25 - 1 champion court 25 - 1 hunt ball1 27 - 1 first lieutenant 27 - 1 imperial commander 27 - 1 albertas run 33–1 wishfull thinking 33 - 1 menorah 40 - 1 nacarat 50 - 1 bold sir brian 50 - 1 calgary 66 - 1 gauvain 66 - 1 poquelin 66 - 1 wayward prince 66 - 1 foildubh 100 - 1 saint are 100 - 1 diamond harry 100 - 1 these prices are made up by taking an average price across all the local uk bookies pre post pricings . would love to see $ 10 about silviniaco conti on our local markets on raceday , i seriously doubt we will , but it ' d be nice .
the likely challenge to hurricane fly is more likely to come in the shape of last year’s crop of novice and juvenile hurdlers . of the first four home in the supreme novices , only the second spirit son is staying over hurdles . spirit son went to the festival on the back of two minor victories at huntingdon and exeter . both these wins were achieved on soft / heavy ground and so there was a question mark about his ability to handle the much quicker ground on day one of the festival . he was beaten 2 lengths by al ferof but comes out of the race with the most credit as he paid the penalty for taking on cue card and his stable mate sprinter sacre too far from home . he made amends on his final start at aintree over an extra 4f , with an emphatic 13 length success over cue card . nicky henderson is adamant that we have not seen the best of spirit son yet . this may well be true , but i suspect that he is very much like his stablemate oscar whisky and will prove better over a longer trip than two miles . at 12 - 1 , he does represent value .
paul nicholls said : “i think he is almost the forgotten horse of the festival . he runs in the supreme novices’ hurdle and is a second - season novice . he was fourth in the triumph hurdle at the festival last year . he won his first two starts this season at cheltenham . he gave 7lb and beat river maigue on the second of them . we were then a little bit ambitious to run him in the christmas hurdle . i wanted to give him a run over christmas and have him really fresh for the festival . he came third to darlan and finished ahead of countrywide flame who was fourth . that is not bad form . i think he has a mark of 157 and he would compare favourably with al ferof and noland who won the supreme for us . he goes well fresh and has not really had his ground which is not worse than good to soft . he is really well . he wants a fast - run race so he can come from behind . i think he has a great chance and is a big price for the supreme – we have trained him just for that race and everything is going to plan . it looks a hot race this year but always does . ”
the king george went back to yesteryear in 2011 in that it attracted the interest of horses campaigned over shorter , much like the famous edredon bleu days . somersby , captain chris , and master minded all took their chances but came up short against an inspired kauto star . this year there is grands crus , a spectacular kempton winner on boxing day , who ought to stay the flat 3 miles at kempton with his speed , and the promising silviniano conti of paul nicholls ' . one horse i will open up with as my first consideration for ante - post is al ferof for this race also . ruby walsh was very happy with him when running an excellent 3rd to somersby at ascot over 2m and he said he felt he would make a cracking ride in a king george next season . he was disappointing later on but he has loads of potential still and looked a quite raw chaser . you have finians rainbow a likely candidate with ryanair hero riverside theatre , and don ' t rule out a crack at a king george from the aforementioned sizing europe , who at his age might be campaigned fully at the longer trips . he ' d be very interesting if he did see it out and kempton would be the one race where i see it possible for him to go close over 3m .
somersby remains in good heart and would prove another emotional winner of this race , but has often found one or two too good at this level in the past . the popular 11 year old had a fantastic season last time around , which saw him narrowly beat module in the haldon gold cup on his seasonal debut . either side of unseating at ascot , somersby ran belters to twice finish second to sire de grugy ; beaten 4 lengths in the tingle creek chase and 6 lengths in the queen mother champion chase , before disappointing behind sizing europe at punchestown . those efforts were top class form but somersby did disappoint on his return in the haldon gold cup , making a serious blunder which ended any chance and eventually finishing 46 lengths sixth to god’s own last november . he ran a lot better next time out in mid - november , when 7 lengths second of six to al ferof at ascot . he then headed to sandown park for the tingle creek chase and ran another belter to finish second , for the second consecutive year , beaten 2 ½ lengths on the flat by dodging bullets . he then contested the clarence house chase and was well beaten when 15 lengths fourth to dodging bullets and sprinter sacre in mid - january . however , in the queen mother champion chase in march , he ran another absolute belter to finish 1 ¼ lengths second to dodging bullets and has had a nice break since then .
this £150 , 000 purchase is a full brother to stable star grands crus , grade 1 chase winner , and his sire dom alco has sired a number of top class horses such as al ferof , neptune collonges and silviniaco conti . he has just had the 2 starts in bumpers so far and in comparison to his brother has actually arguably looked a lot more straightforward , and certainly has shown greater promise in bumpers than grands crus did . he made his debut in heavy ground at ffos las where he travelled well at the head of the field before drawing well clear with ease eventually finishing 30l clear . he was getting almost at stone off the field that day due to him being a 3 year old , but it was a very impressive performance from such a young horse nonetheless . for his other outing he was stepped up to listed class where he again led for a long way . when pressured he hung left and ran a little green but battled on gamely and if not for being hampered when fading a little towards the end of the race he would have finished a lot closer than the 4l 4th that he did . again this performance showed huge promise and he looks like keeping the family tradition intact . grands crus wasnâ€™t set particularly high targets on his first hurdling season and was kept to novice races and will be interesting to see how far they push gevrey chambertin this season , given like his brother his real future will be over fences in years to come .
this french bred gelding is a son of al namix , a three time listed winner on the flat in france , who has sired several smart performers in recent years most notably grade 1 winning hurdler grandouet . his dam was a three time chase winner in france and he is a half - brother to grade 3 chaser centaure du rheu . he finished 3rd in a listed contest at auteuil before moving across to the nicholls yard and he improved markedly from his first run at newbury when he bolted up in heavy ground at taunton . he was fancied to run a big race at the cheltenham festival but that failed to materialise as he failed to fire in the fred winter . however , a big strong horse he was always likely to make his mark once jumping fences and he appeals as the type to reach a high level in that sphere .
earlier on the card paul nicholls will bid for a third successive success in the jcb triumph hurdle trial , after the victories of sam winner and hinterland , with chepstow winner far west . he did it really nicely on debut and pulled 12 lengths clear of alan king’s handazan , who came out and won at aintree next time . the son of poliglote has raced exclusively on soft ground to date , so it will be interesting to see how he handles these quicker conditions . dual winner mcvicar may find life tough under a double penalty and the main threat is likely to come from nicky henderson’s vasco du ronceray who beat nothing of note at hereford on his british debut , but pulled 32 - lengths clear of the 109 - rated cool hand luke in taking fashion . he has already proven he handles better ground than far west and the son of al namix stayed on strongly to land an aqps contest at chateaubriant in august on his final start in france . clearly well thought of , he can put himself right in the triumph hurdle picture with success here . of the remainder shelford was smart on the flat in ireland and is one to note , but this would be a very tall order on his debut over hurdles .
a few months later , he finished second in the champion bumper at cheltenham , he won the supreme novices ' hurdle a year later , and on saturday he won the paddy power gold cup .
they can ' t all do that , but it is so vital that they train on if an owner has put their neck on the line .
after cheltenian left my yard two years ago , he won on his first start for philip hobbs and then won the champion bumper next time out – he kept improving .
if they don ' t , not only does it not advertise that you produced the horse , it can have a negative effect . buyers need to know that you have left something to work on .
if an agent has success with a horse you nurtured , they will come back for more but , if they haven ' t been lucky , they won ' t put their hand up at the sales for one of yours . they would rather buy off someone else – it can be as simple and as silly as that .
when i had him , he was owned by martin murphy , an uncle of my other half , barry , who is a son of ferdy murphy . he was the first horse that martin ever owned .
michael , another murphy brother , has a nursery with about 60 babies 25 minutes away from where i am based in crossabeg , co wexford .
he sources horses in ireland and france , where the former jockey guy petit , who is married to ferdy ' s daughter caroline , does all the buying , mainly of foals and yearlings . they are raised at michael ' s , and then i get a lot of them to train and sell .
martin ' s current horse is thekingofconnemara , which was meant to run at cork on sunday . we pulled him out because of all the rain that fell , but it was nice to meet up and have a drink and a chat about the previous afternoon ' s events .
thekingofconnemara was second on his debut at cork last month , and should go close wherever he goes next . when people give you horses like that to develop , you must fulfil your brief with each individual , because you are running a business .
on the other hand , the competitive side of you wants to participate at the top level , and the hope would be that an organic consequence of our produce doing well will be that more owners leave horses here . of the 30 we have now , half are here to stay .
penny ' s bill , which gave us our biggest win in the urltoken hurdle in 2009 , is still on the go , and kauto grand mogol is one of the younger brigade that is not for sale .
a half - brother to kauto star , he won a bumper at limerick in march and is one we are really looking forward to running over hurdles in the next few weeks .
if gowran park beats the weather tomorrow , reality dose should go close for us in the irish racing yearbook chase , but the horse of ours to watch out for is a beautiful three - year - old by martaline . take note if he turns up in a bumper in the new year .
thomas kelly mendelssohn finished third on his return to action in the grade three dwyer stakes over a mile on the dirt in belmont .
urltoken sportsdesk multiple classic - winning trainer john dunlop has died at the age of 78 . dunlop saddled two winners of the derby in shirley heights ( 1978 ) and erhaab ( 1994 ) . he also won the st leger three times , the 1000 guineas three times and the oaks twice , with the 2000 guineas the only british classic to elude him .
graham clark roaring lion battled on bravely to beat his old rival saxon warrior in the coral - eclipse at sandown . the two classy three - year - olds had the 10 - furlong group one to themselves and no quarter was given in the closing stages .
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an in - depth preview ahead of the france v belgium world cup semi - final in russia on . . .


the brown songlark ( megalurus cruralis ) , also australian songlark , is a small passerine bird found throughout much of australia .

a member of the family locustellidae , this species is notable for sexual size dimorphism , among the most pronounced in any bird .

it is a moderate-sized bird of nondescript plumage ; the female brownish above and paler below , the larger male a darker brown .

brown songlark

like the rufous songlark , the brown songlark includes farm paddocks in its territory . birds are occasionally killed by vehicles on roads .
no specific conservation measures are currently known to be in place for the brown songlark .
the female brown songlark could be mistaken for the rufous songlark , female white - winged triller , skylark , or richard ' s pipit . brown songlarks are much larger than the rufous songlark and lack the rufous rump .
the female brown songlark could be mistaken for the rufous songlark , female white - winged triller , skylark , or richard ' s pipit . brown songlarks are much larger than the rufous songlark and lack the rufous rump .
the brown songlark is found in open country , including pastures , short crops , and grassy scrub .
the brown songlark is very nomadic , moving from drought - affected areas to areas of recent rainfall .
the ranges are shown for brown songlark ( cincloramphus cruralis ) and . . . | download scientific diagram
the brown songlark is classified as least concern ( lc ) on the iucn red list ( 1 ) .
the brown songlark is remarkable for the male being much larger ( 23 - 25 cm ) than the female ( 18 - 19 cm ) . in breeding plumage the male is dark cinnamon - brown with black bill and black eyes . otherwise the male and female both have a dusky brown back , pale brownish - white underparts , with the centre of the belly dark brown . the brown songlark is also known as the australian songlark .
the difference in size between the male and female brown songlark initially led scientists to believe they were different species .
the song of the male brown songlark has been likened to the squeaking of a wheel in a rusty axle .
the brown songlark is notable for the huge size difference between the sexes , with males being significantly larger than females .
egg size and laying order in relation to offspring sex in the extreme sexually size dimorphic brown songlark , cinclorhamphus cruralis .
the breeding male brown songlark is largely a rich dark brown , with a slightly paler brown crown , a black beak , dark brown to black eyes ( 2 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) and brownish legs ( 2 ) . in contrast , the female brown songlark is sandy brown above with dark streaks on the crown and a pale line above the eye . the female’s throat is whitish and the underparts are pale grey to brownish , with dark streaks on the breast and flanks , and dark spots on the lower abdomen ( 2 ) . the female brown songlark also has a paler grey - brown beak than the male , as well as paler brown legs ( 2 ) ( 3 ) .
j . greaves reports spotting a female brown songlark 50 km north of leinster , northern goldfields , wa , in december 2014 .
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outside of the breeding season , the male brown songlark resembles the female , but may have dark blotches on the face and breast and is also easily distinguished by its larger size . juvenile brown songlarks resemble the adult female ( 2 ) . the brown songlark has a long tail ( 2 ) ( 6 ) and a relatively small , fine beak ( 2 ) .
. . . brorn songlark nest is cup - shaped and built into the ground .
the brown songlark is found all over mainland australia except for parts of the far north . it is more abundant in the south , but numbers fluctuate locally depending on rainfall .
the nest of the brown songlark is in a small depression in the ground , often in a clump of grass or other cover . the female incubates the eggs and rears the young .
brown songlark - video footage captured by our team of bird watchers at www . ej - birdwatching . com . learn from the pro ' s and start ticking off that list of lifers .
an inhabitant of open country , the brown songlark is typically found in open grassy plains , pastures and grassland with shrubs and a few scattered trees ( 2 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) .
description : male pale eyebrow ; black bill . streaked brown upperparts ; brownish - black underparts . longish , pointed tail , often raised when perched female / juv . much smaller ; paler . pinkish - brown bill . pale throat . breast light buff , faintly streaked . black - brown belly .
< p > the nest of the brown songlark is in a small depression in the ground , often in a clump of grass or other cover . the female incubates the eggs and rears the young . < / p >
the brown songlark forages on the ground , walking , running and hopping as it searches for food ( 2 ) . its diet includes a range of small invertebrates and their larvae , and this species also eats small seeds ( 2 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) ( 6 ) . if disturbed , the brown songlark typically flies low before diving into cover with its tail raised , and it usually roosts on the ground under cover ( 2 ) .
male brown songlarks engage in ' song flights ' ; singing continuously as they fly up above their territories .
brown honeyeater ( lichmera ( lichmera ) indistincta ) occurrence records from continental australia suitable for species distribution modelling .
( slightly unsharp ) lateral view of a moulting female brown songlark on a sealed road - this behaviour is more often observed in australasian pipits ( photo courtesy of m . eaton ) [ near goondiwindi , qld , march 2018 ]
this female brown songlark was found with its foot stuck in sticky bitumen and had to be rescued by the photographer ( photo courtesy of j . greaves ) [ 50 km n of leinster , northern goldfields , wa , december 2014 ]
all year round both male and female brown songlarks retain a dark - brown central patch on their belly , which distinguishes them from rufous songlarks , even in non - breeding plumage . apart from that they are also larger .
the male brown songlark is the singer . the continuous song is musical and metallic , produced from perches and when rising steeply above breeding territory , then fluttering in slow downward display flights between trees , ending with a whip - crack sound .
the brown songlark is a common and widespread species , and is not currently considered to be at risk of extinction ( 7 ) . this species is not known to be facing any major threats at present ( 7 ) , and it has adapted well to the clearance of woodlands for extensive crop farming in southern australia ( 2 ) . however , the brown songlark’s nesting success may potentially be reduced in some areas by predation by the red fox ( vulpes vulpes ) , an introduced species ( 3 ) .
if the nest is predated , for example by a fox or snake , the female brown songlark can lay a replacement clutch of eggs . some females also go on to lay a second clutch after successfully raising an earlier brood of chicks ( 2 ) ( 3 ) .
plain - brown woodcreeper dendrocincla fuliginosa is split into two species , each with two subspecies groups . plain - winged woodcreeper is endemic to brazil , orthern argentina , and paraguay , while plain - brown woodcreeper occupies most of the rest of the range north to mexico .
magrath , m . j . l . , brouwer , l . & komdeur , j . ( 2003 ) egg size and laying order in relation to offspring sex in the extreme sexually size dimorphic brown songlark , cinclorhamphus cruralis . behavioral ecology and sociobiology , 54 , 240 - 248 .
a long - legged australian warbler ( 2 ) , the brown songlark ( cincloramphus cruralis ) is notable for the large difference in size between the male and female ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) . this species shows the greatest sexual size difference of any passerine , with the male being nearly twice the length and two to three times the weight of the female ( 2 ) ( 3 ) . the difference is so great that when early specimens of the brown songlark arrived in europe , the two sexes were thought to belong to separate species ( 6 ) .
the brown songlark is endemic to australia , where it occurs over most of the continent except for parts of the far north ( 2 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) ( 7 ) . a nomadic species , it tends to move around in response to rainfall ( 2 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) .
a medium - sized , day - flying moth ( about 30mm wingspread ) . sooty brown wings have silvery circles . hind wings of the male are a coppery brown while the female¬ís are metallic gold . antennae are clubbed like a butterfly¬ís rather than feathery or whip - like as in other moths .
magrath , m . j . l . , brouwer , l . , van petersen , a . , berg , m . l . and komdeur , j . ( 2003 ) breeding behaviour and ecology of the sexually size - dimorphic brown songlark , cinclorhamphus cruralis . australian journal of zoology , 52 : 429 - 441 .
magrath , m . j . l . , brouwer , l . , van petersen , a . , berg , m . l . & komdeur , j . ( 2003 ) breeding behaviour and ecology of the sexually size - dimorphic brown songlark , cinclorhamphus cruralis . australian journal of zoology , 51 , 429 - 441 .
we first spotted a pair of brown songlarks on a fenceline in march 2008 , on a trip through outback western nsw , 50 km west of burren juction , nsw .
male and female brown songlarks are very different from one another . the plumage of the male is rich chocolate brown , and during breeding season he performs spectacular song - flights , taking off from a prominent feature , such as a stump , overhead wires or a fence post , fluttering high above the grasslands with his legs dangling below , and singing a discordant , metallic tune , before dropping into the grass . they like to be noticed . this contrasts with female brown songlarks , which are drabber , and spend much time hiding in the grass .
the breeding season of the brown songlark runs from around august or september to february ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 6 ) . outside of the breeding season this species is either solitary or occurs in scattered flocks ( 2 ) , but when breeding the males become highly territorial , performing conspicuous song - flights or singing from a prominent perch with the tail held high and the wings drooping ( 2 ) ( 3 ) . the female brown songlarks nest within the males’ territories ( 3 ) , and each male may mate with several females ( 2 ) ( 3 ) .
madge , s . ( 2018 ) . brown songlark ( cincloramphus cruralis ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
the male birds are about the size of the introduced blackbird and during the breeding period have sooty brown upperparts and blackish underparts . in spring the male performs bold flights into the air , making a loud metallic song and dangling its legs below . females are almost half the size of the males and are streaked and marked similar to other grassland birds such as the australian pipit or european songlark .
brown songlarks can be found in open grassland ( also crops ) . the males will use fenceposts or bushes as demarcations of their territories , while the females nest somewhere in the open grassland .
brown songlarks can regularly be found in open farm country in the narrabri area . for example , they are always found on a broadacre farm 5 km south - east of bellata , nsw .
the ranges are shown for brown songlark ( cincloramphus cruralis ) and the red - chested button - quail ( turnix pyrrhothorax ) . for illustration purposes , the weather model was projected onto 3 consecutive months to illustrate the changes in the distribution of suitable area depending on the weather conditions for a particular month . the probability distribution is shown for each particular month , with grey unsuitable , and increasing suitability shown from yellow to orange ( most suitable ) .
all the pipit and songlark images were taken from the car window very hurriedly before the birds few away . in the air , with a distinctive style of hawking and calling loudly with an even more distinctive call , the songlark is easy to identify . on a fence post in the midday sun as the car is rolling it is a little difficult to tell whether you are photographing pipits or or songlarks . songlarks being another first has something to do with this too of course .
brown - throated treecreeper certhia discolor is split into two species , each of which assumes a new name ; hume’s treecreeper is a bird of the himalayas while sikkim treecreeper occurs from ne india through much of southeast asia .
the male brown songlark performs conspicuous song - flights all day long during the breeding season , taking off from a perch and fluttering into the air while singing a rather metallic tune , before dropping back down to the ground ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 5 ) . the song consists of a short , repeated phrase ( 3 ) and has been likened to the squeaking of a wheel in a rusty axle ( 2 ) . outside of the breeding season the male becomes silent and unobtrusive ( 2 ) .
the female brown songlark constructs the nest , which is built in a small depression in the ground and consists of fine dry grasses . the nest is usually well hidden at the base of a grass tussock or small shrub , and is lined with fine grass or hair . two to five eggs are laid , and are incubated by the female alone . the eggs hatch after 11 to 13 days and the chicks leave the nest at 10 to 14 days old . the female is mainly responsible for feeding the chicks , but the male may occasionally assist ( 2 ) ( 3 ) .
vanderwal , j . ( 2013 ) . brown honeyeater ( lichmera ( lichmera ) indistincta ) - occurrence records filtered for species distribution modelling . centre for tropical biodiversity & climate change , james cook university . [ data files ] urltoken honeyeater ( lichmera ( lichmera ) indistincta ) / occurrences
this dataset includes observations of brown honeyeater ( lichmera ( lichmera ) indistincta ) that are sourced from the atlas of living australia ( ala ) database . rather than raw observations , these have been filtered such that they are assumed to be suitable for species distribution modelling exercises . the cleaning process included :
a small , sparrow - sized button quail ( 11 - 15cm ) with a buff coloured breast and streaked upperparts . this species is superficially similar to plains wanderer , ¬ëtrue¬í quails and to other button quail species . most views of button quail and ¬ëtrue¬í quails ( brown and stubble ) are of birds flying away . brown and stubble quail are considerably larger than this species and fly with a loud , vigorous whirring of wings . in contrast red - chested button quail , along with the very similar little buttonquail flutter low over the grasses before dropping to the ground ( they are sometimes called ¬ëbutterfly quail¬í ) . the back of the red - chested buttonquail is yellowish - grey in contrast to the distinctly reddish little buttonquail . in the buttonquails the female is larger and more brightly coloured than the male .
brown songlarks are endemic to australia . they breed in the south - western corner and the south - east of the continent and disperse northwards in winter . their breeding range in the south - west encompasses a roughly semi - circular area around kalgoorlie , wa , with perth on its north - western fringe . in the south - east the breeding range extends from about the south - eastern half of sa through vic and nsw into southern qld , up to about the geographic latitude of the sa / nt border . they are rarely found in the southern alps south of canberra , act , and along the south - eastern tip of the nsw / vic coast between sydney , nsw , and lakes entrance , vic . they also rarely venture onto the coastal fringe of southern qld and central qld . outside the breeding season their range encompasses the entire australian continent , except the far north ( kimberley beyond eighty mile beach , top end of the nt and cape york peninsula ) .
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september to february in the south ; at any time after good rain in the north and centre .
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hbw alive contains information on descriptive notes , voice , habitat , food and feeding , breeding , movements , status and conservation plus a list of bibliographical references for this species account .
no flash player has been set up . please select a player to play flash videos .
male on a fence calling a couple of times . others can be heard in the background .
nick talbot , josep del hoyo , keith and lynn youngs , pieter de groot boersma , stephen wallace , aviceda .
nick talbot , les george , michael retter , jennifer spry , marco valentini , frédéric pelsy , paul van giersbergen , josep del hoyo , lindsay hansch , bleedingheart .
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mathews , g . m . 1912 ,
a reference - list to the birds of australia
, novitates zoologicae , vol . 18 , pp . 171 - 455
gould , j . 1843 ,
in proceedings of meeting of zoological society of london , oct . 11 , 1842
, proceedings of the zoological society of london , vol . 1842 , no . 10 , pp . 131 - 140
vigors , n . a . & horsfield , t . 1827 ,
a description of the australian birds in the collection of the linnean society ; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities
, transactions of the linnean society of london , vol . 15 , pp . 170 - 331
urn : lsid : biodiversity . org . au : afd . taxon : 311fc722 - c55b - 42aa - 9be0 - 5ac0a90d8f47
urn : lsid : biodiversity . org . au : afd . taxon : cf8a988b - e007 - 4ec4 - aa85 - 1b1a55df7489
urn : lsid : biodiversity . org . au : afd . taxon : ed500163 - ac59 - 491e - b738 - 3aafdbcb7031
urn : lsid : biodiversity . org . au : afd . name : 468600
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natural vocalization ; songs from a bird perched on a low bush at the edge of a flat , desolate plain .
sonogram images © xeno - canto foundation . sonogram images share the same license terms as the recording they depict .
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the overall distribution of this species can be assessed based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to urltoken .
in december 2008 a male bird was seen 20 km south - west of narrabri , first calling from a spot in the tall grass of a paddock , later also in its characteristic display flight .
seen at goran lake , an ephemeral lake about 30 km south of gunnedah , nsw , in october 2011 and again in october 2013 .
for this species we have recorded the following call ( s ) / song . the interpretation of their meaning is our own ; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome .
these pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors . the structure of these bird pages is explained here . for more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide .
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thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the iucn red list of threatened species website , we are grateful for your input .
christidis , l . and boles , w . e . 2008 . systematics and taxonomy of australian birds . csiro publishing , collingwood , australia .
justification : this species has an extremely large range , and hence does not approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the range size criterion ( extent of occurrence < 20 , 000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size , habitat extent / quality , or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation ) . the population trend appears to be stable , and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the population trend criterion ( > 30 % decline over ten years or three generations ) . the population size has not been quantified , but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the population size criterion ( < 10 , 000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be > 10 % in ten years or three generations , or with a specified population structure ) . for these reasons the species is evaluated as least concern .
the global population size has not been quantified , but the species is reported to be generally quite common ( morcombe 2000 ) . trend justification : the population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats .
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australia , breeding almost entirely s of tropic of capricorn ; non - breeding across much of interior .
male 24–26 cm , 70–84 g ; female 18–20 cm , 25–30 g . a relatively long - legged terrestrial warbler exhibiting strong sexual dimorphism in both size and . . .
song , delivered in flight or from a perch , all day long in breeding season , an almost metallic . . .
bulk of diet small invertebrates , notably small grasshoppers ( orthoptera ) and beetles ( coleoptera ) and their larvae ; variety of small seeds . . .
season sept–feb ; sometimes two broods . male mates with several females . in song flight , male rises into sky with tremulous wingbeats . . .
strongly migratory and nomadic ; after breeding , disperses n and follows a nomadic existence , moving . . .
not globally threatened . locally quite common , but more abundant in some years than in others owing to somewhat nomadic existence . presence in many areas depends on local . . .
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recently erected family # r # r ; constituents previously placed in a broad family sylviidae , typically in subfamilies megalurinae and acrocephalinae , as well as a few species previously listed in a broad version of timaliidae . internal structure , including addition and removal of various taxa , has steadily been clarified in recent years by series of genetic studies # r # r # r # r ; several elements yet to be tested genetically , so some further changes expected . previously listed as megaluridae , but ( as currently constituted ) name locustellidae has priority # r .
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this map displays aggregated data from ibc and my birding ( anonymously ) ; markers do not indicate precise localities .
the full taxonomy can be downloaded . also , we have a version of the full taxonomy with changes in common name , scientific name , and new additions highlighted ; download that here . for those proficient with spreadsheets , this may be the easiest way to review the changes .
a full summary of the taxonomic changes is below . since this is a long article , here is a short index :
when the taxonomy is updated in ebird , many of the changes are fairly simple to implement . when a common name changes , a scientific name changes , or when the taxonomic sequence is revised , those changes roll through and start appearing in ebird output fairly quickly . keeping track of name changes is a challenge , and avibase is one of the best ways to do so . just type any bird name in avibase and avibase will show you what the history of that name is , and–if it differs from ebird–it will show what the ebird equivalent is for that name . try it for louisiana heron , for example .
when species are lumped , ebird usually retains the former species as an identifiable group . in these cases , your records may shift to the lumped form and your totals may ( or may not ) drop by one . the actual entity that you observed and reported has not changed in any way other than being “demoted” from species to subspecies .
when splits occur , however , the process is more complicated . in many cases , we have had subspecies options available for reporting in anticipation of the split . all these records update automatically to the new species . but when a bird is reported at the species level , and then that species is split , we update the records in ebird to one of the “child” species whenever possible . we try to be very conservative with this . when two species do not overlap in range ( i . e . , they are allopatric ) we go ahead and make the change . when the species do overlap ( i . e . , are sympatric ) , and do not have clear seasonal or habitat differences , we usually do not make the change . this results in your records being left as the more conservative “slash” option .
as an example , this year sage sparrow ( artimisiospiza belli ) was split into sagebrush sparrow ( artimisiospiza nevadensis ) and bell’s sparrow ( artimisiospiza belli ) . the two species are largely allopatric and most great basin and northwestern states ( and all provinces ) that had sage sparrows have only recorded sagebrush sparrow . bell’s sparrow is largely restricted to coastal california , with one desert population breeding into western nevada and wintering south to arizona and southeastern california . in this area , they overlap in winter with sagebrush sparrow . so for ebird we changed all the records from the areas of no overlap , but records from winter from areas of known overlap remain as the slash option “bell’s / sagebrush sparrow ( sage sparrow ) ” . if you know which one you saw , we encourage you to update your records . if you are not sure ( and this is one of the toughest identification issues in north america , so don’t feel bad ! ) , then your data is best listed as the slash option .
one issue with ebird is that reviewing your records of “bell’s / sagebrush sparrow ( sage sparrow ) ” or of “short - billed / long - billed dowitcher” is not currently easy using the my ebird tools . if you know the checklist it is on , you can find the list in “manage my observations” and edit it as needed . if you can find your checklist on the range map of “bell’s / sagebrush sparrow ( sage sparrow ) ” here then you can just click on the stickpin for your list and open it from there . but the best option to review your records is to go to my ebird and then click “download my data” from the right side . this downloads your entire ebird database as a csv file that can be opened in excel or a similar spreadsheet program . from there , you should easily be able to sort by name or search for “bell’s / sagebrush sparrow ( sage sparrow ) ” to find your records . then you can scroll to the correct date or just replace the submission id in the url for a checklist view . not the easiest way to review your old sage sparrow records , but it does work !
the below species were all split in ebird . to see a map of the new species , click “map” . to see you personal lists in my ebird , just make sure you are logged in and click “my records” . if you have seen the species but don’t have any records shown , then please enter your sightings ! below are the splits for this update :
changeable hawk - eagle nisaetus limnaeetus is split into two species ; crested hawk - eagle occurs in peninsular india and sri lanka , while changeable occurs throughout the rest of the range including much of southeast asia .
mountain hawk - eagle nisaetus nipalensis is split into two species ; legge’s hawk - eagle occurs in peninsular india and sri lanka , while mountain hawk - eagle occurs throughout the rest of the range .
the ninox boobooks of the philippines are substantially revised , with several splits and newly described species . the former philippine hawk - owl ninox philippensis is split into five species . note hat cebu boobook ninox rumseyi and camiguin boobook ninox leventisi are also newly described ( see new species ) below :
barred owlet - nightjar aegotheles bennettii is split into two species , with both occurring on the island of new guinea . vogelkop owlet - nightjar occurs in the west of the island ( country of indonesia ) and barred owlet - nightjar in the east ( country of papua new guinea ) :
blue - headed bee - eater merops muelleri is split into two species , with blue - headed occupying the eastern part of the species’ range and blue - moustached in the west . the two species almost come into contact in cameroon , so please do check your records carefully if you have observed either species there :
immaculate antbird myrmeciza immaculata is split into two species , with zeledon’s occurring in central america and western colombia and blue - lored occurring east of the andes . each species has two identifiable subspecies groups as well :
azure - winged magpie cyanopica cyanus is split into two species , with highly disjunct ranges : iberian magpie is restricted to spain and portugal while azure - winged magpie occurs in east asia . azure - winged magpie has two distinct subspecies groups as well , which are new options with this update :
silver - throated tit aegithalos glaucogularis , endemic to northeastern china , is split from the widespread species long - tailed tit . if you had reported long - tailed tit in china please double - check your records in ebird . the two species apparently overlap slightly in winter , so those records should be checked extra carefully :
hodgson’s treecreeper certhia hodgsoni is split from the widespread eurasian treecreeper certhia familiaris ; hodgson’s treecreeper occurs in the himalayas and adjacent foothills .
cobb’s wren troglodytes cobbi is split from the widespread house wren . cobb’s wren is endemic to the falkland islands :
yellowish - bellied bush - warbler horornis acanthizoides is split into two species ; hume’s bush - warbler occurs in the himalayas while yellowish - bellied occurs in two disjunct areas of china as wel las the island of taiwan .
there were a number of revisions to nightingale - warblers from the south pacific , all discussed in full on the clements updates and corrections . these included recognition of sapian reed - warbler , mangarava reed - warbler , pagan reed - warbler , and aguiguan reed - warbler as distinct from nightingale reed - warbler ( the latter three are all extinct ) , split of marquesan reed - warbler into northern marquesan reed - warbler and southern marquesan reed - warbler .
rufous - rumped grassbird graminicola bengalensis is split into two species , with indian grassbird occurring from india to n myanmar and chinese grassbird occurring in china and southeast asia ; several populations of chinese grassbird are near extinction .
the former species gray - breasted laughingthrush garrulax jerdoni the subspecies garrulax jerdoni jerdoni is transferred to garrulax cachinnans ( formerly rufous - breasted laughingthrush , now black - chinned laughingthrush ) . the two remaining subspecies of gray - breasted laughingthrush , fairbank i and meridionalis , are split as a separate species kerala laughingthrush and thus gray - breasted laughingthrush is no longer available as a species :
metallic - winged sunbird aethopyga pulcherrima is split into three monotypic species : metallic - winged sunbird , mountain sunbird , and bohol sunbird .
sage sparrow artemisiospiza belli is split into two species . although the ranges do not overlap in the breeding season they do come into contact near mono lake , california . in migration and winter they do overlap extensively . the result was that we were unable to convert records to one or the other species if reported from southeastern california , southern nevada , or southwestern arizona between 1 april and 15 september . we strongly recommend downloading your records ( go to my ebird > download my data ) and reviewing your records of bell’s sparrow , sagebrush sparrow and bell’s / sagebrush sparrow . please do edit your checklists if you know which species you observed .
and a slash option is also retained , so that birds not identified to species can be reported . we encourage conservative reporting , especially in winter from areas of known overlap ( e . g . , southeastern california and southwestern arizona ) .
sagebrush sparrow ( artemesiospiza nevadensis ) at southeast farallon island , ca , where it is a vagrant . the streaked back , washed out colors , and narrow malar stripe eliminate the closely related bell’s sparrow . photo by tony leukering .
black - crested tit periparus melanolophus is lumped with coal tit periparus ater [ map ] [ my records ] ; see also the new coal subspecies groups under additions below . coal tit ( black - crested ) periparus ater melanolophus [ map ] is retained as a group .
turkestan tit parus bokharensis is lumped with great tit par us major [ map ] [ my records ] . see also the three - way split of great tit in splits above . great tit ( turkestan ) parus major [ bokharensis group ] [ map ] is retained as a subspecies group .
yellow - breasted tit c yanistes cyanus [ flavipectus group ] is lumped with azure tit cya nistes cyanus [ flavipectus group ] . the two former species are retained as subspecies groups
these subspecies groups are all new options in the ebird taxonomy . the ranges of all of these are available from the clements taxonomy , which also lists the subspecies that comprise each group . many represent potential future splits ; we encourage reporting of any of these if you are confident that you understand this subspecies option and how to identify it . several species with have specific notes to minimize confusion .
house wren ( dominica ) troglodytes aedon rufescens note : house wren ( caribbean ) is deleted and replaced with the below island - specific options . note that several are extinct .
the below all refer to newly available spuhs ( e . g . , scoter sp . ) and slash ( e . g . , short - billed / long - billed dowitcher ) options . please use these options whenever you see a bird but are uncertain of its specific identity . spuhs and slashes are unique to the ebird taxonomy ; they are not found in the clements checklist .
haemorhous sp . haemorhous sp . note : carpodacus sp . should not be used in north america
ebird has a long list of field identifiable hybrids . these are always listed in taxonomic order ( the species that comes first sequentially is listed first ) and are always followed by “hybrid” . if you identified a hybrid , especially any of the below , please do report it to ebird ( hopefully with photos ) ! the below list has one new intergrade ( a hybrid between subspecies groups ) under dark - eyed junco . hybrids and intergrades are unique to the ebird taxonomy ; they are not found in the clements checklist .
within ebird , we also have forms for taxa that field identifiable and worth tracking , but are not formally described . these include undescribed species ( noted with “undescribed form” ) , undescribed subspecies groups , and miscellaneous other options .
ebird has certain domesticated species that are regularly seen in a feral or wild state .
dove sp . — > pigeon / dove sp . note : usage should apply to both doves and pigeons
myiopagis sp . — > elaenia sp . ( genus myiopagis ) note : please review your elainia sp . records to make sure they apply to the correct genus .
elaenia sp . — > elaenia sp . ( genus elaenia ) note : please review your elainia sp . records to make sure they apply to the correct genus .
western yellow wagtail ( green - headed ) — > eastern yellow wagtail ( green - headed ) note : this subspecies was previously assigned to the wrong species .
western yellow wagtail ( manchurian ) — > eastern yellow wagtail ( manchurian ) note : this subspecies was previously assigned to the wrong species .
common bush - tanager — > common chlorospingus note : all bush - tanagers in the genus chlorispingus now use the common name chlorospingus .
black - and - white shearwater sp . : puffinus sp . — > puffinus sp . ( black - and - white shearwater sp . )
glossy / white - faced ibis : plegadis sp . — > plegadis falcinellus / chihi
warbling - antbird sp . : hypocnemis sp . — > hypocnemis sp . ( warbling - antbird sp . )
download full 2013 taxonomy ( version 1 . 54 ) with changes from 2012 annotated – click here
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cheke & hume 2008 , bli . conspecific with the extinct reunion form whose scientific name has priority .
manchurian bush warbler is restricted to borealis ; ssp canturians is treated here as a subspecies of h . diphone . an alternative treatment would be to lump borealis with diphone until relationships of the members of this complex are sorted out genetically ( alström et al . 2011b ) . see rasmussen & anderton 2005 , bli re original split of cettia canturians , including borealis from c . diphone .
iczn opinion 2215 . bulletin of zoological nomenclature 65 : 327 - 328 , 2008 .
correct gender agreement ; original specific epithet albicapillus is invariable . ( n david , h & m corrigenda 2 . 1 )
genetically embedded in monticola ; move before m . rupestris ( zuccon & ericson 2010a )
frith and frith 1998 , christidis and boles 2008 , slikas unpub . , t . pratt comm .
frith and frith 1998 , christidis and boles 2008 , slikas unpub . , t . pratt comm .
restore inland plover to peltohyas ; relative of wrybill and red - kneed dotterel ; resequence following lapwings , their sister group ( baker et al . 2007 ; fjeldsa comm )
fuchs et al 2008 ; correct error in v2 . 5 ; correct gender agreement
correct gender agreement ; “we are speaking here of hydrornis blyth 1843 in jasb 12 ( 2 ) : 960 , indeed masculine . in turdus guajanus by statius müller , guajanus is adjectival ( much [ too ] long to explain ) ; thus hydrornis guayanus is ok . ” ( n . david 7 / 9 / 2010 )
chlorophoneus viridis , c . dohertyi , c . quadricolor form a separate clade with telophorus , rhodophoneus , all merged into telophorus ( fuchs et al 2004 , fjeldsa comm )
malcorus belongs with hypergerus and eminia in cisticolidae ( johansson et al . 2008 , tif , fjeldsa comm )
“ lopesi ” is an unjustified emmendation . fide alan peterson , peter ryan ( hbw 11 )
pnoepyga wren - babblers are not babblers and elevated to their own family ( gelang et al . 2009 )
correct spreadsheet re 2 . 0 change of genus ( p . kovalik 7 / 2010 )
new family includes melocichla , sphenoeacus , achaetops , macrosphenus , sylvietta , cryptillas , and possibly graueria and hemitesia ( johansson et al . 2007 , 2008 , tif ) . move up in sequence as old branch of sylvioid passerines .
move dohm’s thrush - babbler to sylviidae as sister to pseudoalcippe [ abyssinica ] ( voelker et al . 2009 )
bush blackcap is a member of the sylviidae closer to pseudoalcippe than to sylvia ( johansson et al . 2008 , tif )
separate fulvetta species from alcippe fulvettas and move to sylviidae ( pasquet et al . 2006 , collar & robson 2007 , gelang et al . 2009 )
move yuhina species to zosteropidae from timaliidae ( cibois et al 2003 , moyle et al 2009 ) ; recognition of subclades under review .
richmond ( 1917 ) , fide alan peterson . ichthyophaga is an unjustified emendation of original spelling .
this information is awaiting authentication by a species expert , and will be updated as soon as possible . if you are able to help please contact : arkive @ urltoken
del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . and christie , d . ( 2006 ) handbook of the birds of the world . volume 11 : old world flycatchers to old world warblers . lynx edicions , barcelona .
birdlife international ( 2011 ) the illustrated encyclopedia of birds . dorling kindersley limited , london .
auscape international po box 1024 , bowral nsw 25a76 australia tel : ( + 61 ) 2 4885 2245 fax : ( + 61 ) 2 4885 2715 sales @ urltoken http : / / www . urltoken
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this species is found in barrow island . visit our barrow island topic page to find out more .
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discover the natural environment of the kooyoora and loddon regions of central victoria as recorded by robert scholes and friends .
habitat : grasslands , crops – across the whole of the australian mainland except the very far north and tas .