Gil,
I quote the following from 'Rare Birds in Britain - 1800 - 1990, by
L.G.R.Evans'
which may (or may not) be of some help. ' Green Warbler - P. nitidus - it is
considered by some authorities (eg. Ticehurst 1938, Lewington et al 1991 and
Svensson 1992 ) to be a race of Greenish Warbler P. trochiloides but can be
separated by its greener upperparts, lemon yellow ear coverts and supercilium
and yellowish - white underparts. It also has one fairly prominent wing-bar
which is yellowish rather than white.......there are no confirmed cases of
intergradation and there is a wide gap in distribution between the two
forms........'
The problem is further increased by P. plumbeitarsus - Two - barred
Greenish Warbler - also considered a race of Greenish Warbler. Lars Svensson
(1992) follows Ticehurst in lumping the two taxa plumbeitarsus and nitidus with
Greenish Warbler P.trochiloides . Many of the top U.K. birders consider them as
3 separate species. So it really depends whether you are a lumper or a splitter
!
I am not familiar with your database - I have Birdrecorder for Windows
by
Jack Levine which is available in the U.K. - I don't know about Aus. He uses
various sources for his World list database - particularly Sibley and Monroe
1991 and Clements 1991 who rely on DNA in taxonomy . My database shows the
following:-
Greenish Warbler - Phylloscopus trochiloides
Two-barred Greenish Warbler- P. trochiloides plumbeitarsus
Green Warbler- P.trochiloides nitidus
Hope this is of some help.
I would be interested in hearing about other programs that birders in Aus. use
to record sightings!
Best wishes,
Chris Padley
P.S. For anyone interested we have recently had the third record in the U.K. of
Two-barred Greenish - also Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and the 2nd.record of Great
Knot.
Chris Padley,
The Old Bakehouse,
Little Walsingham,
Norfolk,
England.
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