Attention sea-bird savants/savantes,
I have now and then seen sighting-reports referring to particular albatrosses
by names (both
common-English and scientific) which I have not been able to track-down in my
reference books.
As most of these sightings appear to have been made in Australian waters this
has been doubly
frustrating.
The latest such source of frustration has come from the latest contributions to
Tom Tarrant's
wonderful web-project: "The Australian Bird Image Database."
See: http://www.aviceda.org/abid/index.php
Photographer Inger Vandyke has contributed excellent images of:
- Campbell Albatross, Thalassarche impavida
- Gibson's Albatross, Diomedea gibsoni
I have just spent a frustrating period of time trying to track these species
down in my reference
books.
I have finally come to the conclusion that Campbell Albatross is a not a
species but is a race of
the Black-browed Albatross which now is Diomedea melanophris.
This should mean that Campbell Albatross is Diomedea melanophris impavida.
Am I correct in believing that Black-browed Albatross used to be Thalassarche
melanophris?
Similarly, Gibson's Albatross appears to be a race of Wandering Albatross,
Diomedea exulans, and is
therefore Diomedea exulans gibsoni.
Have I identified these birds correctly?
It was fortunate that I recently purchased the 7th edition of the Simpson & Day
bird field guide as
this appears to be the only Australian field guide with this information.
This exercise once again shows why it is beneficial to posses the latest
versions of the bird field
guides.
Queries:
Do the 'pelagic boys and girls' use field guides?
If so, which ones?
If not, what do they use to keep 'up to date' with names and classifications?
Am I correct in assuming that the Genus name "Thalassarche" has not been used
for some time now?
Has there been a vaccine against sea-sickness developed yet? (That's a
rhetorical joke so no
response is expected or required.)
Please note: I don't really give a b..... how anyone spells anything other than
my name.
However, I would request that people use the correct and current names in
'formal' or 'semi-formal'
reports or presentations.
The examples above show clearly why.
(Use whatever names you like in informal conversation amongst your local clique
members.)
I know that it is hard to keep up to date at times but the names used in the
most recent field
guides will satisfy me.
Is that too much to expect?
Surely, anyone interested enough in wanting others to know about their birding
experiences and the
existence/location of particular birds of interest would be keen to 'keep up to
date' on names etc?
Cheers
Bob Inglis
Woody Point
Queensland
Australia
P.S.: My latest hobby obviously is Social Preaching. I learnt if from our
esteemed PM.
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