George Swann reports that there are three Edible-nest-type Swiftlets currently at the Broome sewage ponds. I noticed on the weather map tonight a monsoonal cloud band lying across the northern Kimberley. The Lesser Black-backed Gull has gone. Frank O’Connor advises that still there are the Wigeon at Carnarvon and the Franklin’s Gull at Cervantes. Mike … Read more
thanks Colin, that’s an interesting paper. I do like to see molecules and morphology working together, though it seems that not all the P. erythrogaster problems are clearly sorted.
I should have highlighted this section: “However, based on all available evidence, we propose that E. erythrogaster complex is composed of 17 species figure 5; see also the electronic supplementary material for evaluation of species status in cases of conflicting data): Philippine pitta E. erythrogaster, with subspecies erythrogaster and propinqua (the latter including ‘thompsoni’); (ii) … Read more
Many birds treat Barn Owls with aggression, they will also attack and /or display alarm at stuffed specimens, even though they are not mainly a bird eater. Is this “mobbed by crows, sometimes fatally” associated with predation? As in are the owls eaten by crows? Philip
Irestedt, M, Fabre, P-H, Batalha-Filho, H, Jønsson, KA, Roselaar, CS, Sangster, G & Ericson, PGP 2013. The spatio-temporal colonization and diversification across the Indo-Pacific by a ‘great speciator’ (Aves, Erythropitta erythrogaster). Proc. R. Soc. London B 280: 20130309 (in press).http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130309.full.pdf The Indo-Pacific region has arguably been the most important area for the formulation of theories … Read more