Shortcommunications 47 northern tip of the island. They were also photographed and the record has beenacceptedbytheEastAfricanRaritiesCommitteeasthefirstdocumented for Tanzania. Swift Tern Sterna bergii. There was an active colony on the western edge ofthe plateau thatwe estimated at c. 600-1000 birds. Sooty Tern Sternafuscata. Known to breed on Latham in large colonies (Baker & Baker 2002) there were very few present during our visit. Only c. 50-100 birds were seen at the southern tip ofthe island. Brown Noddy Anous stoUdus. There was a small colony of c. 1000 birds on the north-western edge of the plateau and a larger one of c. 3000 birds on the southern tip of the island. References Baker, N.E. & Baker, E.M. 2002. Important Bird Areas in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: Wildlife ConservationSociety ofTanzania. Richmond, M.D. (ed.) 1997. A Guide to the Seashores ofEastern Africa and the western Indian Ocean Islands. Sida/DepartmentforResearch Cooperation, SAREC. Matthew D. Richmond Samaki Consultants, P.O. Box 77143, Dares Salaam, Tanzania OlofLinden WorldMaritime University, P.O. Box500, Malmo, Sweden. Email: [email protected] Scopus26:46-47,January2007 Received5March2004 Yellow-billed Stork breeding in eastern Uganda There have beenno definite breeding records ofYellow-billed StorkMycteria ibis in Uganda despite immature birds being sighted at Kajjansi in 1982 (Carswell 1986) and reports in Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1957). Between 30 April and 26 June 2004, I found Yellow-billed Stork breeding at three waterbird colonies ineasternUganda. Onecolonywaslocatedby therailway quarters in Mbale town (01°N, 34°E), one in the hospital grounds at Busolwe (00°N, 33°E) and one near the trading centre at Nampologoma (00°N, 34°E). A The number ofbreeding pairs ofYellow-billed Stork varied at each colony. maximumof129pairswererecordedatBusolwe,26pairsattheMbalecolony and 4 pairs at Nampologoma. Five other bird species, African Spoonbill Platalea alba, Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala, Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis, Pink-backed Pelican Pelecanus rufescens and Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus were also found breeding at these colonies (Table 1). Nests w^ere 48 Short communications located in medium-sized, live trees of Ficus sp.. Cassia leptophylla, Mango Mangifera sp. and 'Mvule' Milicia excelsea. Colony location and the size of the breeding population were probably related tobothnestsitecharacteristics (thenumber oftrees atthecolony) and proximitytosuitableforagingareas(includingricefields).TheNampologoma colony is located less than 5 km from the Doho rice scheme, the Busolwe colony is located within 5 km of the Nakwiga swamp that has had extensive drainage for rice growing, and the Mbale colony is located within 10 km of the Mbale sewage works and the Napwoli and Nambale wetlands that have been converted to small-scale rice and vegetable farming. Table 1. Species and numbers ofbreedingpairs oflargewaferbirds atthree colonies holdingYellow-billedStorks inUganda. Species Mbale Busolwe Nampologoma AfricanSpoonbill 8 94 38 Black-headed Heron 64 109 4 CattleEgret 91 210 30 Pink-backed Pelican 30 70 0 Sacred Ibis 0 67 14 References Carswell, M. 1986. Birds ofthe Kampala area. Scopus, Special supplementNo. 2. Mackworth-Praed,C.W. &Grant,C.H.B. 1957.Africanhandbookofbirds. Birdsofeastern andnorth-easternAfrica Series 1, volume 1-2. London: Longmans. Sarah Nachuha EdwardGreyInstitute, DepartmentofZoology, UniversityofOxford, OxfordOXl 3PS,UK, and Islamic University in Uganda, Faculty ofScience, Department ofBiological Sciences, P.O Box2555, Mbale, Uganda. Email: [email protected] Scopus26: 47-48,January2007 Received15February2006 First record of White-crowned Plover Vanellus albiceps in Uganda Ontheafternoonof10July2003 1was onthetop deckoftheUgandaNational ParkslaunchsailingtowardsthefamousfallsintheMurchisonFallsNational Park. The river Nile was very high which meant that there were none of the usual sandbanks available for birds such as plovers and skimmers. We were