Hi
Good thing that the friarbirds are made to wear their helmets in these
races. There have been a lot of fatalities on NT roads.
Cheers
On 10/12/2011, at 7:14 PM, martin cachard wrote:
Hi Russ & others The sandstone bird (ammitophila) is fairly easy to
see atop of Gunlom in Kakdu NP & I also had them in nearby Koolpin
Gorge. I didn't see them at Nourlangie Rock to the north, but did see
some at nearny Gubara. So I guess you could say that it is fairly
widespread on the escarpment areas. The coastal/mangrove bird
(gordoni) I found to be quite common around Darwin at a great deal of
sites. However, I wouldn't say that this bird is anywhere near as
common as the Hornbill Friarbird (yorki) is around Cairns where I
live. I have a question though - why is it that the NE Qld bird yorki
has been split as a full species, especially from the coastal NT
gordoni? I am no taxonomist, but I would have thought that the
escarpment frequenting ammitophila was more distinct when compared to
both gordoni & the newly split yorki, which at least structurally to
my eye, appear more closely related to one another... Any thoughts
anyone ...?? Cheers Martin Cachard,Cairns, 0428 782
808
From:
To: ;
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:37:18 +1000
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Helmeted Friarbird races in NT
David & birding-ausers,
Wanting to be absolutely clear
about
what races of Helmeted Friarbird are believed to occur in the NT
under the
IOC classification.
Am I right in thinking that Philemon
buceroides
gordoni ( Matthew's Melville Island friarbird) is the more
widespread across
the coastal Top End, and that P.b. ammitophila (? Sandstone
Friarbird?) is
confined to sandstone escarpments? Are they the only two races in
the NT? Am
I right in believing that the nominate race P. buceroides buceroides
does
not appear on the Australian mainland.
Would be interested in peoples' views as to the relative
abundance of
these two races in the NT. A thorough search of my records for two
visits to
the Territory shows I've missed Helmeted Friarbird both times (along
with
White-lined H/E, but at least I was actively looking for that and
knew I
didn't have it!!)
Don't you just hate it when you've missed an airchair tick.
Russ Lamb, Maleny, SEQ
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