Lord Howe Island birds ARE included in Simpson & Day. Not illustrated or
in the main texts but at the rear of the book under "Australian island
territories' checklists". I up-date these for each edition. The 7th edition
is due out on 7 June.
Birds which may be counted on your Australian SPECIES list for purposes
of comparison with other birders, see Tony Palliser's web page, are those
which are listed in 'The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its
Territories' by Les Christidis & Walter Boles plus species added following
BARC endorsement. Even changes to taxonomy as may appear in HANZAB should
not be counted until that
checklist is revised even though it is long overdue. When it does appear,
we'll all get a lot of armchair ticks, and maybe lose a few. The 'offshore'
Territories named in that document are Lord Howe, Norfolk, Macquarie, Heard,
Christmas, Cocos-Keeling and Torres Strait islands. It is taken for granted
that less remote islands such as Raine and Ashmore Reef are included. The
Australian Antarctic territory is not included.
Contra Hutton (1990) and early editions of Clements' Checklist, Lord
Howe Island White-eye is NOT a full species. It is the subspecies or race
tephropleurus of Silvereye, Zosterops lateralis. That is how Dick Schodde,
normally a splitter, treated it in his book, and how the taxonomic committee
have advised it should be treated in the coming volume of HANZAB. And why
should we take any notice of Clements' when he says its on 'Lord Howe Island
off NEW ZEALAND'?!
So, sorry Michael, you should take it off your list. By all means, count
it as an endemic subspecies. Woodhen counts of course.
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mt Eliza VIC 3930
Ph: (03) 9787 7136
Email:
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