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Following my trip to Brisbane when I heard
Sivereyes in a Spring Hill street, Michael asked when and where the Zosterops
were split. David in his 9 June posting asked the following:
>Greetings. Grateful for advice on current
thinking about the taxonomy of
>Silvereyes/White-eyes on Lord Howe Island.
Ian Hutton's book refers to
>the Lord Howe White-eye Zosterops
tephropleura, and Simpson & Day agree.
>Christidis & Boles do not
mention this species. Should we list it as Z.
>tephropleura or as Z.
lateralis, the Silvereye?
>David
The Action Plan for Australian Birds, released last
year has the following: referenced
from Scodde & Mason 1999.
Sivereye (Lord Howe Island)
Zosterops lateralis tephropleurus, listed as vulverable.
Z. l. vegetus (Cape York)
Z. l. cornwalli (Eastern Australia)
Z. l. chlorocephalus (southern GB Reef Islands)
Z. l. westernensis (SE Australia)
Z. l. lateralis (Tasmania)
Z. l. ochrochrous (King Island)
Z. l. pinarochrous (S. Australia & W.
Victoria)
Z. l. chloronotus (SW Australia)
Michael Morcombe's Field Guide brackets
the old names after the new, hence:
cornwalli
= familiaris (SE Qld to S. Vic)
pinarochrous = halmaturina (SW Vic to Eyre Peninsula)
vegetus = ramsayi (mid Qld coast N to Cape York)
chloronotus = gouldi (southern SW to SW SA)
unchanged are:
lateralis, chlorocephalus & tephropleurus
new additions: ochrochrous (King
Island) & westernensis replacing
cornwalli in S & SE Vic.
I admit to being as confused as the next birder,
particularly as 'East Australia' is a nebulous
description of
geography at best. I live at latitude 19*
south, approx 500 kms south of Cape York and 1400 kms north of
Brisbane and the only Silvereyes I normally see are
in the foothills of the
ranges to the north of the city,
though a bird was sighted in Townsville (along
the river) earlier this year. What race would the ones I saw
when I lived in Canberra (1990-1) be, or the
ones displacing the White-eyes on Norfolk Island?
Can anyone shed any light on the name changes and
ranges?
Cheers
Alex Appleman
Townsville, NQ
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