birding-aus RFI:Races of Zosterops chloris

[John Penhallurick <>]

Howard & Moore, 2nd ed.,Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, give
the following subspecies for Zosterops chloris:

Z.c.maxi                Lombok
Z.c.mentoris            ncSulawesi
Z.c.flavissimus Tukangbesi
Z.c.solombensis Solombo Besar I.
Z.c.zachlorus           Kalambau I.
Z.c.chloris             Aru Is,Kai Is,Seram,Halmahera, Misol Is.

>From The Birds of Borneo, Sumatra and Java,and The Birds of Wallacea, plus
the account in Peters, vol.12,: it looks like Z chloris has the following
distribution

Borneo:
Karimata_Is   (Race??)
Indonesia:
small islands off Belitung, off Sumatra (Race??)
small islands in the Java Sea
Peters gives Sepelan,Salembu,Karimata,Thousand Is and Karimundjawa (maxi)
with maxi also in Lombok, Nusa Penida off Bali
with Z.solombensis Oberholser 1917 (Solombo Besar Island, Java Sea)
and Z.solombensis zachlora Oberholser 1917 (Kalambau,Laurot Island,Java Sea)
as synonyms.   Howard and Moore treat solombensis and zachlora as good
subspecies.

ncSulawesi [?subsp.] mentoris

neSulawesi [?subsp],Dodepo [?subsp.] e&s Sulawesi.Tanahjampea and nearby
islands, Sumbawa to Flores      intermedius

Tukangbesi Is           flavissimus

Mayu,Banda Is, Seram Laut,Tayundu Is,Kai Is and Aru Is      chloris

Peters gives
Gunung Api,Wetar,Roma,Damar,Kisser,Letti,Moa,Luang,Sermata,Babar, Tanimbar
Is(Molu.Larat.Selaru plus Islands in Torres Strait and along the Great
Barrier reef as Z.c.albiventris Reichenbach,1852

also Schildpad I. in the Western Papuan Islands      Race?????  Is this
chloris???

Can anyone cast any light on a) the most recent thinking on races overall?
eg should solombensis and zachlorus be recognized?

b) what races are on Karimata_Is,  small islands off Belitung, off Sumatra
and Schildpad I, none of which are mentioned in either Peters or Howard &
Moore?

Thanks.

John Penhallurick               
John Penhallurick
Associate Professor John M. Penhallurick<>
Canberra, Australia
Phone BH( 61 2) 6201 2346   AH (61 2) 62585428
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