Good Day All,
I've been trying to do a little prep work for our upcoming trip to OZ in
Dec./Jan. and I have a few questions about some of the birds I've been
studying:
1. Lg.-billed vs. Atherton Scrubwren: As with a lot of species, this
pair looks totally different in Simpson & Day than in Pizzey & Doyle (don't
have the new Pizzey, YET). According to the descriptions in both, S & D is
the better illustration--is that right? Are contrast between head & face
and darkness of the undersides the best field marks. What about eye color?
tail color? Do they usually sort out by habitat or foraging height?
2. Brown, Mangrove, Lg.-billed Gerygone: While the eyebrow on Brown
Gerygone (vs. LB) is certainly distinctive, S & D also state that Brown G.
has white tail tips whereas Lg-b. G. does not. This seems to be nicely
illustrated in P & D but the illustrations in S & D show pretty similar
tail patterns between the two. Is the P & D illustration accurate? (By
the way, how in the h... do you pronounce "gerygone"???)
3. Quail/Button-quail: S & D have several illustrations of quail &
Button-quail flying away--is that how you typically see them?
4. Lyrebirds: The illustrations of Albert's & Superb Lyrebirds are much
more different in P & D than in S & D. Which illustrations are better?
Any differences in vocal repertoires?
5. Richard's Pipit: S & D claim that R. Pipit has unstreaked flanks but
the illustration shows streaked flanks. What's up?
6. Golden Whistlers: What are the best ways for distinguishing between
G. Whistler and Mangrove G. Whistler? Larger bill, broader yellow-orange
band on the back, darker tail of M. G. whistler? Do their habitat
preferences overlap?
7. Bower's Shrike-thrush: This is rather picky, but S & D say that it
has a cinnamon breast and is paler on the abdomen but the illustration
shows otherwise. Which illus. do you like better--S & D or P & D?
8. Northern Fantail: This may be a semantic thing, but S & D describe
the upperparts on No. Fantail as "pale grey." From the illus., the
upperparts are not pale gray, but rather quite dark gray.
9. Spotted Quail-thrush: S & D say that the contact calls are "very
difficult to tune the human ear to." Does that mean that they're high
frequency and difficult to hear or that they're ventriloqual and difficult
to localize (or both)? I'm starting to lose my
high-frequency hearing--is it likely that I won't be able to hear Sp.
Quail-thrush?
10. White-br. Scrubwren: Although S & D don't explicitly say so, I
assume the subspecies found throughout Victoria and NSW is the nominate
*frontalis*?
11. White-naped/White-throated Honeyeaters: S & D claim that on the
White-thr. H., the white nape line extends to the eye, but in the illus.,
the nape line does NOT reach the eye and looks, in fact, very much like
that on the White-n. H. Are the P & D illustrations more accurate in this
regard?
12. Black corvids: Help!!!! How do you begin to get a handle on
distinguishing among Aust. Raven, Forest Raven, Relict Raven, Little Crow
and Torresian Crow. Size differences seem to be pretty minimal. Are there
differences in vocalizations?
13. Psittacids: My experience with New World psittacids is that they can
be very difficult--screeching blurs that don't afford very good views. Any
good strategies for approaching the Aust. psittacids? Learning shapes, for
example? Is the learning of vocalizations indispensable?
14. Eucalypts: It seems as if the finding of flowering Eucalypts is a
good strategy for finding many OZ birds. Is there a pattern to the
flowering phenology? Are there likely to be at least SOME species
flowering year-round?
More questions later.
Thank you for any responses.....Jim
----------------------
James D. Hengeveld Biology Dept.
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 Indiana University
812: 855-5353
|
