ML610597565
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - 1
Observation details
Adult with black back at shore of salt lake north of Stirling Range. Comment on taxonomy: Birds in southwest Australia have been named C. c. tregellasi (Mathews 1912a, type at Ellen's Brook) and C. c. torbayi (Mathews 1912b, type at Torbay), both synonymized under nominate in Peters 1934 (page 247 under Charadrius rubricollis; see Olson 1998 for reason species epithet should be cucullatus of Vieillot 1818) and Whittel and Serventy 1948 (see page 24). The species is generally regarded as monotypic (Marchant and Higgins 1993 [HANZAB], Howard and Moore 4th ed. 2013, IOC v. 13.2, and Clements v. 2023). But Birdlife Australia has listed the Western Hooded Plover as C. c. tregellasi (see here and 2014 assessment here). Black-backed forms are illustrated in Menkhorst et al. 2017 and there ascribed to "tregallasi" [sic] for birds in the southwest. But Mathews's original description of tregellasi states that it differs from nominate in being "paler above and with black band on nape much narrower" (see page 218). Subsequently, Mathews published torbayi and said it "Differs from C. c. tregellasi in having the back and scapulars black" (see page 30). Thus, torbayi would appear to be the name that applies to black-backed birds, if any subspecies are to be recognized. If torbayi was later shown invalid, I have not found that, e.g. in a review of literature on the Charadriiformes by Low 1924. A cursory review of photos in eBird does suggest that extensive black on the back and scapulars is typical on southwestern Australian birds and perhaps not or rarely present on birds in southeast mainland Australia and Tasmania. This distinction is noted in HANZAB: Here is what HANZAB says: [pg 903, Description Adult] "...Upperparts, pale brownish-grey, occasionally with some blackish scapulars..."; [pg 909, Plumages, Adult, Upperparts] "...In some individuals, black covers all of mantle and can extend onto some shorter scapulars..."; [pg 911, Geographical Variation] "...Slight; no subspecies recognized. Birds from s. WA have longer bill and tarsus than birds from se. mainland Aust. (see Measurements); differences are slight but statistically significant (t-test for samples of adults with sexes combined, P<0.05). Adults from sw. Aust. also tend to have larger areas of black on mantle, often extending on to shorter scapulars; median area of black on mantle of nine adult males from s. WA was significantly greater than that of nine adult skins from Vic. and se. SA (Mann-Whiney U-test, U=5, P<0.05). Tas. birds apparently similar in size to those from se. mainland Aust. (see Measurements); extent of black on mantle also seems similar to se. mainland birds but only six Tas. adults were available for comparison of plumage." Literature Cited: Low, George C. 1924. The literature of the Charadriiformes 1894-1924 with a classification of the order, and lists of the genera, species and subspecies. H. F. & G. Witherby. Marchant S & PJ Higgins (Eds). 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. 2. Raptors to Lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Mathews, G. M. 1912a. A reference-list to the birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 171-455. Mathews, G. M. 1912b. Additions and corrections to my reference list to the birds of Australia. The Austral Avian Record vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 25-52. Menkhorst, P., D. Rogers, R. Clarke, J. Davies, P. Marsack, K. Franklin. 2017. The Australian Bird Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford. Olson SL. 1998. Lectotypification of Charadrius rubricollis Gmelin, 1789. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 118: 256–259. Peters, J. L. 1934. Check-list of birds of the world. Vol. 2. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Whittell, H. M., and D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1-126.
Technical information
- Camera
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 136.44 MB