I flagged Yellow-rumped Pardalote as a possibility but I don't know how much
intergradation occurs, I seem to recall this is why it got subsumed.
The Bronze-Cuckoos are a problem, I note that the subspecies russatus (
Gould's) was subsumed into poecilurus by Payne. Interestingly the new and
generally excellent Cuckoos of the World by Errotzoe et al again splits them.
The problem for me is that in New Guinea I can't see anything that looks like
Gould's of Far N Queensland, they all look much like Little and I've seen them
in the Sepik, the far west of PNG and around Port Moresby. I also can't
distinguish the trill songs or the alarm call, so I am not aware of vocal
differences personally.
There do seem to be a lot of intermediate type things up around Cairns and the
Tableands, though here at Black Mt Road i only see Gould's, as you might expect
in the rainforest proper. I know they are meant to parasitize different hosts,
but I have no records of host species from New Guinea which might help clarify
things. The Cuckoos book gives Little as a migrant to NG and Gould's as the
resident, but I am unable to distinguish them from my own observations up
there thus far. I basically just ducked it and went with the IOC and Clements
decision to lump them into Little. I'm happy to be proven wrong. The latest
findings again suggest using Chalcites for our Chrysococcyx and confining that
genus to the African ones.
Cheers
Phil
Email:
Website 1: Http://www.sicklebillsafaris.com
Website 2: Http://www.cassowary-house.com.au
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