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Australian Raven may be a candidate for splitting.

To: Graeme Chapman <>
Subject: Australian Raven may be a candidate for splitting.
From: Stewart Ford <>
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2012 13:24:32 +0800
Hi Graeme et al.

A quick update on the availability of Schodde and Mason's Directory - like many 
CSIRO publications it is available in eBook form from:

http://www.ebooks.com/616516/directory-of-australian-birds-passerines/schodde-r-mason-ij/

At $195 it might be considered a tad steep though!

Cheers,

Stewart

On 22/06/2012, at 9:26 AM, Graeme Chapman wrote:

> Hello Steve,
> 
> Thanks for showing an interest in ravens in W.A. etc.
> 
> It's a while since I lived there (left WA in 1984) so my memory for the 
> details is not perfect.
> 
> So far as I (and anybody) know, nominate coronoides doesn't occur in W.A., 
> but the Nullarbor is the key. Along with mellori, c. coronoides  occurs as 
> far as the cleared farming country in S.A. that is somewhere about Penong.
> 
> The common corvid across the Nullarbor Plain is bennetti  but ravens do occur 
> closer to the coast, about as far east as Eucla. - which ones is an 
> interesting point, there are few specimens. The differences in specimens of 
> perplexus  and coronoides  are not great, and when you take sexes and 
> juveniles into account, it would need a good sample from the Nullarbor region 
> and western S.A.  to sort out what is the case.
> 
> I wouldn't pay too much notice to the "data" in the BA Atlas - Corvids are 
> probably the most mis-identified group in Australia - even the latest article 
> in Australian Birdlife (Wingspan) has a few errors.
> 
> I feel confident that as soon as you reach Kalgoorlie, all the ravens would 
> be perplexus. Heading north from Perth, ravens are replaced by Torresian 
> Crows at the mulga/eucalypt line, on the coast road about 150 km north of 
> Geraldton.
> 
> I assume you don't have access to Schodde and Mason's DIRECTORY (few people 
> do, mores the pity - they only printed 1000 copies) so I am attaching copies 
> of the relevant pages for coronoides.
> Whether the Western Raven merits specific status is far from settled, 
> otherwise it would have been done already. DNA is not the final word.
> 
> I hope this has been more help than hindrance.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Graeme
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 22/06/2012, at 9:38 AM, Steve Clark wrote:
> 
>> G'day Graeme
>> 
>> Thanks for your thoughts and reference to your site with calls.
>> 
>> Are you suggesting that the 'Western' Raven is confined to the
>> south-west corner and the birds elsewhere in WA are nominate
>> coronoides?  Looking at the BA atlas data in Birdata there doesn't
>> seem to be a gap along Highway 1 across the Nullabor.  Corvids are
>> tricky however so how many of the dots are C. coronoides and how many
>> are C. bennetti?  I must check my own records from our trip across in
>> 1999 when I get home tonight.  From memory we allocated many to C.
>> bennetti (but I've learned to put less trust in my memory these days).
>> 
>> So, as you drive west and head into sw WA where do you think the
>> 'Western' Raven first appears?  What about heading north from Perth?
>> 
>> Cheers
>> Steve
> 
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