Yellow-rumped Pardalote

A few years ago I initiated a discussion on BA as to whether the
Yellow-rumped Pardalote (aka Spotted Pardalote ssp xanthopyge) was a
separate sp.

I pointed out that it looks different, sounds different and lives in
different habitat to the Spotted Pardalote and asked whether it interbred
with Spotted Pardalotes where it met with them. BA respondents reported
that there were no reports, either in the literature or personally known to
them, of this.

It occurs to me there is one further question to answer. In biogeographical
theory it would be neater if the WA Spotted Pardalotes were also a separate
sp. You could get around this by saying that in a dry period in the
Pleistocene Spotted Pardalotes’ continuous range broke down into an eastern
refuge, a central refuge and a SW refuge and the pops at either end didn’t
change much and are still the same sp, but the central pop (perhaps because
it was in smaller numbers and more stressed) changed markedly and deserves
species status.

But it would be neater if the WA pop of Spotted Pardalote is also different
from the eastern populations… is there any evidence for this?

—
John Leonard
Canberra