Australian Painted-snipe gender - and bobbing

[Harvey Perkins <>]

Philip,

 

I may be pre-empting a bit but Painted-snipe is the proposed spelling for IOC v2.10 (not yet released). You can find this at  http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-en.html

 

"Painted Snipe,

Rostratulidae; (2 genera, 3 species);

Painted-snipe;

Not "snipe" (Scolopacidae); hyphen better than one word"

 

As you know from what you wrote, the Australian species has been split from benghalensis, hence the Australian epithet, and painted-snipe are not snipe, hence the hyphenated name. I don't think nomenclatural priority comes in to common names does it?

 

Harvey

On 28 September 2011 00:34, Philip Veerman <> wrote:

I am curious to see it written here as Australian Painted-snipe rather than Painted Snipe. HANZAB says Australian is not necessary, although I understand that since then, there is thought to separate it from other members of the "species" outside Australia as another species. Maybe another allopatric example of where it is hard to define a species.  I also understand that they are separate from the other group of birds also called Snipe. I don't know which group was named first as Snipe and so which "deserves" to be called "true" snipe. HANZAB says that the Painted Snipe was named by Linnaeus in 1758 so it certainly was early.  If the other group was named later isn't the Painted Snipe then the true Snipe.

 

Either way calling it Australian Painted-snipe would require it to be indexed in books under P, rather than S and I don't see that this is being followed.

 

I had not noticed that they were bobbing, I noticed that most walking whilst feeding was very slow, although beak movements was quick. When they flew they are very  unlike the Latham's Snipe: light and airy with fairly slow flaps and silent.

 

I think I agree that the smaller duller one does not look like an adult male.  

 

Philip