on 13 August Grant Brosie asked several questions relating to taxonomy used in
the new edition of Pizzey and Knight.
As stated in the Introduction, thanks to the generosity and collaboration of
Les Christidis and Walter Boles I had access to a draft of their forthcoming
'checklist' and have included all new names in that draft. Unfortunately, a
couple of late changes by Les and Walter caught me out, resulting in a few
discrepencies, notably my splitting of the Paperbark Flycatcher from the
Restless, which Les and Walter subsequently changed their mind on and kept as a
single species. I also missed the split in great egrets [ours is now Eastern
Great Egret Ardea modesta] and osprey [Pandion cristatus rather than P.
haliaetus].
Answers to Grant's specific questions are:
1. Pale-vented Bush-hen is used because there are 8 species in the genus
Amaurornis and 'bush-hen' is being increasingly adopted as the group name for
the genus. Hence the desirability of having a descriptor in the name.
2. Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo is lumped with Little B-C.
3. There is only one species of Shrike-tit.
4. Why aren't Christmas Island birds included? - read the Introduction. I take
a biogeographic view of Australia rather than a political one. Secondly, the
book is frequently criticised for being too big and heavy for a field guide. If
we were to include Christmas Is., then why not Cocos-Keeling, Macquarie, Heard,
Antarctic territories? We would end up with a significant increase in pages and
weight. David James has produced a neat guide to Christmas Island birds that
is available in the tourist information centre on the island.
thanks to all for their kind and constructive words about the new edition.
Peter Menkhorst
Melbourne
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