Previously.........
Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow wrote:
"We are a little confused though - According to Pizzey & Knight (including
the Eighth Edition) there are two species of Ringneck - The Eastern or
Mallee Ringneck and the Western Ringneck or Port Lincoln Parrot. According
to The New Atlas of Australian Birds there is just one species - The
Australian Ringneck. Does anyone know which is correct? Presumably if there
is only one species, then our sighting of a "Western" Ringneck is less
interesting - although the bird definitely has the Western Ringneck plumage
(according to the image in Pizzey & Knight)."
The Eight Edition of "(Menkhorst) Pizzey and Knight" does not describe two
species of Ringneck.
That edition of the field guide has combined the previously described two species into one species
with four subspecies/races. Each of the races is given a common name with the nominate race being
"Port Lincoln Parrot" or "Ringneck". P & K does not name any of the races as "Western Ringneck"
however HANZAB ascribes that appellation to the nominate race (Port Lincoln Parrot).
Since the publication of "The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories" by the
RAOU in 1994 the 'official' view has been that there is only one species of (Australian) Ringneck
with four subspecies. It will be interesting to see if that remains the case when the next version
of that publication is published later this year.
Assuming that the "Sunbury" referred to by Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow is the one in Victoria,
Australia (the posters' email address could indicate otherwise), the sighting is undoubtedly of an
escapee or the descendant of an escapee.
Determining the degree of interest engendered by such a sighting would be a somewhat subjective
process. Personally, I would be saddened to think that a bird which was possibly bred in an aviary
had been released or had escaped into the wild. However, that sadness would be lessened to a degree
to if it appeared that the bird was surviving well in the "wild".
It would appear from the maps and notes in the first Atlas of Australian Birds (1984) and the Atlas
of Victorian Birds (1987) that populations of Port Lincoln Parrots (Barnardius zonarius zonarius)
have been established from aviary escapes.
Cheers
Bob Inglis
Sandstone Point
Qld
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