I can off hand think of 2 others that should be looked at. Bearing in mind that I don’t consider myself as any kind of taxonomist, but it’s always good to have things looked at. A lot of what is below is from some notes, memory & also photos.
Firstly the so-called Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla of Tasmania (as opposed to the Tasmanian Thornbill Acanthiza ewingi, which is more obviously a good species), I do believe shows some genetic similarities with the Inland Thornbill, rather than the SE subspecies of Brown Thornbill. I did detect some differences between Tas Brown Thonbills and those of the mainland when I was there last there in 2010. This included: a stouter, larger bill; paler freckling on the forehead with less of a rufous tinge than the mainland ssp; more greyish brown tinge overall on the upperparts, less richly olive-brown upperparts; also perhaps less buffy on the flanks & undertail (not so certain of this one). It would be also useful to investigate things like undertail pattern. Many of these characters sound more on the Inland Thornbill side, rather than Brown. If the Tas A. pusilla is more closely related genetically to Inland Thornbills, then either all 3 should be split into distinct species, or all lumped (since Brown Thornbill & Inland almost certainly interbreed in some areas, for example I’ve seen some possible hybrids in the Kamarooka mallee region of Bendigo & perhaps the Little Desert). I definitely think this one deserves a good look.
The other is the Tas Grey Fantail. Given the great variation within Grey Fantails in Aust., this one is probably a bit more tenuous, but it shares something with the Boobook Owls. The Tas ssp albiscapa (which migrates to the Aust mainland in large numbers in Autumn, Winter & Spring is darker almost sooty grey compared to the mainland birds (subspecies alisteri), which are more medium grey. Sometimes because of wear & age this is difficult to see in the field, but these 2 subspecies can nearly always be separated by their undertail patterns. Tas birds have only the very fringes of the outer tail feather edged white, whereas mainland birds have white extending further into the feather, about a centimetre. The reason this bird has something in common with Boobooks is that in NZ they have a fantail (now regarded as a full species) which is darker, although the very white tail pattern suggests that this bird is probably correctly regarded as a full species now. Also in the mountai ns of NE Qld there is a similar resident subspecies of Grey Fantail, which is dark above (even darker than Tas birds!) & has narrow white fringes to the outer tail feathers. In many ways this bird is similar to Tas albiscapa. Also Boobooks have a small dark representative in NE Qld, which is the Red Boobook. Whether this is all convergence, or relict populations needs to be tested with genetics. But it is interesting from a taxanomic point of view, that there are these similarities between Tas, NZ & SE Qld, in both Grey Fantail & Boobooks & it needs to be ascertained whether they all have a common ancestor, or have become as they are in isolation. Certainly worth questioning.
Look forward to the feedback-Kevin Bartram
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