An irresistible question. Reaching 700 species in Australia is little
challenge in the internet age, provided you've got the time and resources to
travel, and if you are including the external territories it should be a
snap.
So I resolved some time ago to reach 700 without including any birds from
external territories - not even Lord Howe Island, which is politically part
of New South Wales! Even so, there are inconsistencies in my approach. I
don't include what I've seen in Australian Antarctic territory, but I have
made the jaunt to Ashmore Reef, and include birds from that expedition, but
I am under the impression that Ashmore counts as part of continental
Australia, as much as Tasmania does. Someone smarter than me may have a
different view and wish to correct me. In Simpson & Day, birds from the
Torres Strait Islands are included mostly in the supplementary list along
with those from Christmas Island et al, yet the Torres Strait Islands seem
biogeographically far more "Australian" (just a fancy way of saying they're
a lot closer, really).
Anyway, I'm up to 693 now, and my main aspirations are to reach 700 on
continental Australian soil (or within the 200 NM pelagic zone), and to see
all the breeding Australian species doing it (still 17 to go). Once I've
done that, I might knock all the introduced species off my Australian list
and try to get to 700 again. Mad, I know. But it's more fun to me that way.
Andrew
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