Western Golden Whistler

Hi Patrick et al I haven’t read the Joseph paper but the original Jonsson paper that sparked it is available here from a link on birdforum: http://192.38.112.111/pdf-reprints/J%F8nsson_PRS_2014.pdf From this paper you can get a sense of the tree – note ‘pectoralis fuliginosa’ are less closely related to the other Golden Whistler subspecies than the latter are to Mangrove Golden Whistler, making the whole complex paraphyletic. My understanding is in subsequent papers they resampled eastern/SA fuliginosa and clarified that they lump with other eastern birds (youngi and pectoralis). This split came out of the blue since WA and SA birds have been lumped under the same subspecies (fuliginosa) for some time, though Schodde & Mason do note WA birds can be distinguished as ‘regional form’ occidentalis. Not much distinguishes these two so its probably fair to call this a cryptic species, but the males have a more lemon-yellow breast and greyer tail with a smaller back tip. The females are paler and plainer, with a paler back (no contrast with the crown) and paler buff on the belly. The separation occurs at the Nullarbor proper so a quick check of atlas data suggests this will not be a WA endemic as there a few records on the SA side of the WA/SA border that should be this new species. So an ‘almost endemic’! Cheers Martin