Some questions from a confused UK birder:
1) How do you pronounce it - is it Boo Bock? Or Booo Boook?
2) My versions of Slater and Pizzey and Knight consider Southern Boobook to
occur all over Australia in many different races and to be called Ninox
Novaseelandiae (the first specimen being named in 1788 in New Zealand
apparently). Unfortunately being strictly Australian in their coverage they do
not mention the New Zealand bird.
We don't at the moment have a Heather and Robinson (waiting for delivery - they
seem to be in short supply), though I believe it is probably not very
up-to-date.
However, Birds of the World considers the Australian species to be Ninox
Boobook, occurring all over Australia and islands to the north, but NOT
Tasmania. The species in Tasmania and New Zealand is Ninox Novaseelandiae,
known as the Morepork in NZ.
Birds of the World is not a particularly violent splitter, and they quote
recent scientific papers to support this treatment.
So what does C & B think about it?? In particular do they split the Oz and NZ
species?
Just curious, as we are going to New Zealand this year (I know, sorry) and
would just be interested to know whether to spend a lot of time getting a good
view of a Morepork for the purposes of ticking it!! (Having of course spent two
excellent trips in Oz and having seen Boobook) (And don't worry we have more Oz
trips planned for the future)
Rosemary Royle
Wales, UK
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
=============================
|
