Not sure if this has been mentioned on birding-aus before; couldn't find it in
the archives. I have just been reading an article by Janette Norman, Frank
Rheindt, Diane Rowe and Les Christidis entitled "Speciation dynamics in the
Australo-Papuan Meliphaga honeyeaters". The part that would probably interest
Australian birders the most is the suggestion that the White lined Honeyeater
actually comprises two species - the White lined Honeyeater from the top end
and the Kimberley Honeyeater from WA. This conclusion is reached on the basis
that the genetic differences between the two forms exceed those between other
forms that are clearly separate species.
{Frank if you're reading this and that one sentence misrepresents things please
correct me - must admit that as usual with these sorts of papers the Methods
and a fair chunk of the Results sections are lost on me!}
Following Terry's suggestion on how to provide long links, you can download the
paper from http://tinyurl.com/wghx3
Having looked at HANZAB and some other books, it's interesting to note that the
plumage differences between the two forms are - to put it mildly - pretty
trivial. In fact as recently as 1978 Julian Ford didn't even consider them to
be worthy of being considered different subspecies. To quote Schodde and
Mason's Directory:
"upper surface of remiges and rectrices edged finely citrine; under-wing
coverts ochreish-buff; belly greyish white" (White lined)
"upper surface of remiges and rectrices without citrine edging; under-wing
coverts pale creamy-buff; belly milky white" (Kimberley)
Given that Les Christidis was one of the authors, I guess we can assume there's
a decent chance the next RAOU checklist will give this proposal some
consideration!
Murray Lord
Sydney
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