Hi Lorna -
At 10:27 AM 5/11/00 +1100, you wrote:
>Pizzey's field guide says that there are 329 endemic bird species in
>Australia, but how many endemic bird FAMILIES are there?
A quick look at the trusty Christidis & Boles (The Taxonomy and Species of
Birds of Australia and its Territories. 1994) suggests only four endemic
families, containing a total of seven species:
Pedionomidae - Plains-wanderer
Menuridae - lyrebirds
Atrichornithidae - scrub-birds
Corcoracidae - White-winged Chough and Apostlebird
Many families have representatives in New Guinea, so making them
non-endemic to Australia. If you asked how many families are endemic to
Australia, New Guinea and adjacent islands as a region the number in the
answer would be much higher.
Cheers,
Hugo
Hugo Phillipps
Communications Coordinator
Birds Australia
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HAWTHORN EAST 3123, Australia
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