Class AVES

Aves

© Copyright F. Knight.

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Introduction

This section of the Australian Faunal Directory is a checklist to those species and subspecies of birds known to occur in Australia. Also included are the available names for most taxa; species common names; the Census of Australian Vertebrate Species (CAVS) code numbers; a catalogue level treatment to 14 of the families (Columbidae to Coraciidae) taken directly from Schodde & Mason (1997); and slightly less detailed treatments of the Passeriformes and Charadriiformes, prepared by N.W. Longmore in 2006 and 2008, respectively.

The valid names and classification applied in this checklist follow Christidis and Boles (2008).

Details are not available at present for some of the bird groups, but will be added to the AFD as they become available. For detailed introductory remarks on families covered by Schodde and Mason (1997), the user is referred to that publication.

Location of museum collections are detailed in Joseph (2011).

Geographic Scope
The geographic scope of this avian checklist, as throughout the Zoological Catalogue of Australia Vol. 37.2, extends to Australia's overseas territories of Antarctica, Macquarie Is., Heard Is., Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Ils, Ashmore Reef, and Torres Strait, Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. The distribution of terminal taxa, originally summarised according to the standardised list of computer search terms mostly describing drainage basins on mainland Australia, have now been converted to IBRA regions. The conversion has probably introduced some errors and it is hoped that these can be corrected in time.

Distribution records, if any, outside areas under Australian jurisdiction are listed as extralimital. The distribution descriptors for each species are collated to genus level. Users are advised that extralimital distribution for some taxa may not be complete.

Synonymies.
Synonymies are limited generally to names applied in the Australian fauna, in their original combinations; new combinations based on the same types are excluded as redundant. For clarification or to avert confusion as to their status, published nomenclatural inaccuracies may be included even though they have no formal standing in nomenclature.

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

APODIDAE: Aerodramus francicus (Gmelin, 1789) — Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp.

APODIDAE: Aerodramus fuciphagus (Thunberg, 1812)

ALCEDINIDAE: Alcyone assimilis Diggles, 1878 — Shaw, G. 1796. Museum Leverianum, containing select specimens from the Museum of the late Sir Ashton Lever, Kt. with descriptions in Latin and English. London : J. Parkinson 248 + 48 pp. [publication dated as 1792-1796, Pt 5 published Feb. 1793] [29 and pl. opposite; Pt 6, 1796]

ARDEIDAE: Ardea rectirostris Gould, 1843 — Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp. [44, 45]

PHALACROCORACIDAE: Carbo ater Lesson, 1831 — Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pts 1-6 xix 516 pp. pls 275-324. [Date published June 1917: publication dated as 1916–1917]

COLUMBIDAE: Carpophaga lepida Cassin, 1855 — Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp. (as Cyanoramphus erythnotus (Kuhl, 1820) (=Cyanoramphus zealandicus (Latham, 1790)), see Peters (loc. cit.))

COLUMBIDAE: Columba chrysochlora Wagler, 1827 — Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. (as Cyanoramphus auriceps (Kuhl, 1820))

COLUMBIDAE: Globicera pacifica queenslandica Mathews, 1914 — Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp. [331]

CAMPEPHAGIDAE: Graucalus choucari Laugier, 1838 — Mathews, G.M. 1915. Diggles' Ornithology of Australia and other works. Austral Avian Records 2: 137-153; Mathews, G.M. 1918. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 1 pp. 1-112 pls 325-336. [Date published 4 Mar. 1918] [103]

ARDEIDAE: Herodias pannosus Gould, 1848 — Shelley, G.E. 1891. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae-Cuculidae. London : British Museum Vol. 19 xii 484 pp. 13 pls. [358]; Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385-499 + xii pls 363-370 Appendixes A & B. [Date published 12 June 1919: publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] [390-391]

SYLVIIDAE: Malurus galactotes Temminck, 1821

MELIPHAGIDAE: Philemon diemenensis (Lesson)

CENTROPODIDAE: Polophilus leucogaster Leach, 1814 — Mathews, G.M. 1916. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 1. pp. 1-104 pls 275-282. [Date published 22 Nov. 1916: publication dated as 1916–1917] [18]

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus auriceps (Kuhl) — Bonaparte, C.L. 1850. Conspectus Generum Avium. Tom. I. Lugduni, Batavorum : E.J. Brill 543 pp. [Date published 24 Jun 1850] [6] (=Geoffroyus g. geoffroyi (Bechstein, 1811))

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus erythronotus (Kuhl, 1820) — Finsch, O. 1868. Die Papageien, monographisch bearbeitet. Leiden : E.J. Brill Vol. 2 vii 996 pp., 5 pls. [381] (=Geoffroyus geoffroyi rhodops (Schlegel, 1864))

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus fieldii Swainson, 1825

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus geoffroyi Kuhl, 1820

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus jonquillaceus Vieillot, 1818

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus personatus Shaw, 1812

PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus tabuanus Shaw, 1796 — Bonaparte, C.L. 1850. Conspectus Generum Avium. Tom. I. Lugduni, Batavorum : E.J. Brill 543 pp. [Date published 24 Jun 1850] [6] (=Psittacus g. geoffroyi Bechstein, 1811)

PHALACROCORACIDAE: Stictocarbo magellanicus (Gmelin, 1789) — Abbott, I. 1972. Birds of Bass Strait. Evolution and ecology of the avifaunas of some Bass Strait islands, and comparisons with those of Tasmania and Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 85: 197-223

ALCEDINIDAE: Tanysiptera galatea G.R. Gray, 1859 — Schodde, R. in Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp. [25] (see under Chalcophaps indica rogersi Mathews, 1912)

PSITTACIDAE: Trichoglossus haematodus capistratus (Bechstein, 1811)

Vagrant Species

CAVS:8083
UPUPIDAE: Upupa epops Linnaeus, 1758 [Eurasian Hoopoe, vagrant to Broome, WA and Elcho Island, NT]

Notes

Acknowledgements
During the period 2010 to late 2014, Wayne Longmore, now retired from Museum Victoria, built on the basic names list supplied to ABRS by Richard (Dick) Schodde, by adding a vast body of information, especially on authorities, dates and types for names in the Australian avifauna. In carrying out this task, he was assisted with information and advice by so many bird workers, museum curators and librarians worldwide.

The following are acknowledged for their assistance and support:
Berg, Hans-Martin – Natural History Museum, Austria
Boles, Walter – Australian Museum, New South Wales
Davies, Greg - Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, South Africa
Dean, Richard - University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dekker, Rene- National Museum of Natural History Naturalis, The Netherlands
Dowsett, Robert - France
Fisher, Clemency - National Museums, Liverpool, England
Fuchs, Jérôme - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, France
Gill, Brian – Auckland Museum and At Gallery, New Zealand
Graves, Gary – United States National Museum, USA
Hagemann, Molly – Bishop Museum, USA
Horton, Philippa, South Australian Museum, South Australia
Johnstone, Ron, Western Australian Museum, Western Australia
Joseph, Leo – Australian National Wildlife Collection, Australian Capital Territory
LeCroy, Mary – American Museum of Natural History, USA
Loskot, Vladimir – Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
Olson, Storrs – United States National Museum, USA
Palmer, Robert - Australian National Wildlife Collection, Australian Capital Territory
Pethers, Hellen - Natural History Museum, England
Prys-Jones, Robert - - Natural History Museum, England
Schmidt, Brian - United States National Museum, USA
Schodde, Richard – Australian Capital Territory
Schofield, Paul – Canterbury Museum, New Zealand
Sladek, Jaynia – Australian Museum, New South Wales
Sweet, Paul – American Museum of Natural History, USA
Tennyson, Alan – Te Papa Museum, New Zealand
Tomkovich, Pavel - Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, Russia
Violani, Carlo - Dipartimento Biologia Animale, Università di Pavia, Italy
Wilson, Renee – National Library of Australia, Australian Capital Territory
and finally, the Librarians at the Australian Museum, New South Wales.

General References

Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 288 pp.

Joseph, L. 2011. Museum collections in ornithology: today's record of avian biodiversity for tomorrow's world. Emu 111: i–xii

Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp.

History of changes