Hi Jill and Aus-birders
I have also seen very dark birds occasionally over the years. I have to
admit that I didn't take too much notice on the assumptiuon that it would
not be too suprising if the "black" phenotype persists or re-occurs at very
low frequency on the big island, where as, it is dominant on the small
islands. This assumes that there is a selective advantage operating upon
male colour as a function of location.
On all the occasions that I have seen "black" WWFW it has been in areas
where the species has been abundant which sits with my do-it-yourself
explanation. Perhaps the genetics of this interesting phenomenon are
worthy of study. Any benefactors?
cheers
Milburn
Dr.P.J. Milburn
Biomolecular Resource Facility
The Australian National University
GPO Box 334 Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA
Phone No. <61> <2> 6249 4326
Fax No. <61> <2> 6249 4326
E-mail Address
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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