I also found it rather puzzling that an attempt was made to change the
direction of the debate, the original direction of which was clearly the
adding of those accidental Asian birds from the distant island
territories to the Australian list.
It seems that two things are responsible for the change in direction in
regard to the Australian list – firstly Christidis & Boles changing the
name from “The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its
Territories” (1994) to “Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds”
(2008) both of which in turn were adopted by Birds Australia as the
official list of Australian birds. Secondly the apparent acceptance it
seems of everything that is accepted by BARC onto the Australian list no
matter where it is from.
In the recent visit to those islands, some birders added up to 10 new
birds for their “Australian” list – all Asian etc accidentals or
vagrants to islands a huge distance out from the Australia mainland and
well away from the continental shelf. That’s fine! Whatever people do
with their own personal lists, how they keep them and what they regard
as “Australian” is their business – but the official Australian list is
everyone’s business. If this direction continues, where is it going to
stop? With 10 or more Asian accidentals added to the Australian list
every year, the situation will be mind boggling in a few years and the
end product will be little more than worthless and a joke into the
bargain. Would it happen in any other country or region? I would bet not.
I am not saying don’t stop visiting the island territories – what is
coming out of those islands is fascinating and important stuff. What I
am saying is let’s get our listing right. Perhaps Birds Australia has to
take the initiative? And please – no red herrings (e.g. tourism) in the
debate!
The only practical and sensible thing (officially) and to get some
science (and sanity) back into our listing seems to be the creation of
supplementary lists for the Australian political territories. If not it
will entice authors to create their own lists as is already happening.
Finally, to David’s comment about Australian Field guides i.e. “If you
don’t like field guides illustrating vagrant birds…. just don’t read
them”. Field guides are not there to be “read” but are tools for the
identification of our birds - which can be rather difficult and
frustrating, especially for people who are new or casual to birding when
the guide is overloaded with birds from other regions.
Lloyd Nielsen
Mt Molloy, Nth Qld
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