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Yellow Wagtails Western Treatment Plant, Vic

To: "Tim Dolby" <>, "Birding Australia" <>, <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtails Western Treatment Plant, Vic
From: <>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:39:18 +1100
Hi All,
It is certainly a nice looking wagtail and we don't get them in Victoria that often at all. Not quite as convinced on the tschutschensis vs simillima separation. While I agree tschutschensis appears the more likely of the two given the 'necklace' and coloration I don't think one can be definitive. Alstrom and Mild (2003) reckon there was significant overlap in all characters when they lined the specimens up and they acknowledge the putative simillima can have a necklace (presumably rarely). At any rate they synonymised simillima with tschutschensis so according to them it doesn't exist.

Tony, wondering why you'd come over for a tschutschensis but not a simillima - or were you thinking of taivana (Green-headed Yellow Wagtail split from Eastern Yellow Wagtail in Christidis and Boles)?

Cheers,
Rohan

Rohan Clarke
www.wildlifeimages.com.au

Recent update:
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