birding-aus

Masked Lapwing

To:
Subject: Masked Lapwing
From: Chris Corben <>
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:55:02 -0500
Makes sense to me. I always assumed a lot of the story is that human alterations to habitat have favoured expansion of both species, breaking down their boundaries.

I have seen miles in the Brisbane Valley and also somewhere out in southwestern Queensland - perhaps Thargomindah or maybe Windorah. But in both cases, it seemed exceptional. Certainly in southeast Qld, miles is extremely rare. My assumption was that the case in the southwest was similar - lots of Spur-wings.

I seem to remember thinking their calls are different also.

Cheers, Chris.


On 06/06/2012 08:21 PM, John Penhallurick wrote:
HI friends,

I have been getting more and more suspicious that the lumping of Masked
Plover Vanellus miles and Spur-winged Plover Vanellus novaehollandiae is
unjustified.  Even Peters (1934), that super-lumper kept them separate.
They were merged on the basis of supposed interbreeding around Cairns and in
the Lake Eyre Basin. Now the thinking about the significance of
hybridisation has changed radically of late. Whereas in the past, even a few
hybirds were taken as evidence of conspecificity, now limited or very local
hybridisation is taken as evdidence that we are dealing with two distinct
species.  I had an email from a birder in Cairns who told me that the common
Vanellus there was miles. Novaehollandiae is rare, as are hybrids.  I
haven't been able to get any reliable data from the Lake Eyre Basin.
Birders rarely go there and none of the landholders knows anything about
birds.  But given the situation around Cairns, I would be very surprised if
it was very different around Lake  Eyre.  I know that an ornithologist from
the SA Museum, I think it was Shane Parker, brought back a set of hybrids
from that reason, but if he set out to collect just hybrids, this means
nothing.

What do you thinK?

Thanks







Dr John Penhallurick

86 Bingley Cres

Fraser A.C.T. 2615

Australia

email:

Phone: Home (612) 62585428

Mobile:0408585426

sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt Aeneid Book 1,line 462  "The
world is a world of tears, and the burdens of mortality touch the heart."

Magna est veritas et praevalebit Vulgate, Book of Edras

The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people
whatever they need to have done, but can not do at all, or can not so well
do, for themselves-in their separate, and individual capacities. Abraham
Lincoln

Please visit my website: http://www.worldbirdinfo.net
<http://www.worldbirdinfo.net/>

Please visit my blog:
http://jpenhall.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/why-i-remain-a-climate-sceptic-in-r
elation-to-human-emissions-of-co2/



===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================



--

Chris Corben.


Anti-spam measures!

Never:
Use a "Send This To A Friend" type link. Puts you both at risk.
Expose any undisguised address on the internet (even in email).
Reply to spam in any form, eg to get off their list.
Buy anything from a spammer.

You can disguise an address like this:
John is at  but exclude the digits.

Don't feed the parasites, and don't betray your friends!


===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU