Family CORACIIDAE
Compiler and date details
R. Schodde & I.J. Mason, CSIRO Australian National Wildlife Collection, Canberra, Australia
Introduction
Coraciidae (true rollers) comprise about 11–13 species in two genera; one species occurs in Australia. There is as yet no fossil record for Australia. Like Meropidae, rollers are centred in the Palaeotropics, from Africa through southern Eurasia to Indonesia.
Rollers are perching birds that are usually rather solitary and fly acrobatically from high exposed perches in wide sweeps and convolutions both in display and to capture insects and other small animals on wing (Eurystomus Vieillot, 1816) or often from ground (Coracias Linnaeus, 1758). Nests are in unlined holes in trees and banks; eggs are plain-white and ovoid; and young are altricial, nidicolous, and become spiny because developing feathers long retain their horny sheaths; nidificational duties are shared by both sexes.
Family-group Systematics
Although at times combined with the closely allied ground rollers, Brachyteraciidae Bonaparte, 1854, and Madagascan cuckoo-roller, Leptosomidae Blyth, 1838 (e.g. Sharpe 1892; Peters 1945; Mayr & Amadon 1951), the true rollers (Coraciidae Rafinesque, 1815) are separated at family level here, following Cracraft (1971). This arrangement is supported by Stresemann (1927–1934), Wetmore (1960), Wolters (1975–1982), Maurer & Raikow (1981), Burton (1984), Sibley et al. (1988) and Sibley & Ahlquist (1990). Even so, the status of these groups does not appear to be well settled.
Genus-group Systematics
Eurystomus Vieillot, 1816—Circumscription of aerial-feeding Eurystomus Vieillot, 1816, with three or four species, has been settled since Sharpe (1892). The validity and value of subgenera in so small and compact a group is uncertain, cf. Wolters (1975–1982); they are not used here.
Species-group Systematics
Eurystomus orientalis (Linnaeus, 1766)—Specific limits have been clarified by the revisions of Stresemann (1913), Boetticher (1936), Ripley (1942), Mees (1965) and Scholtes in White & Bruce (1986); but the status of subspecies in the Indonesian archipelagos is not so settled. Australian E. o. pacificus (Latham, 1802), nevertheless, is distinct in its pallid toning, disproportionally short tail and rather more pointed wings adapted for migration.
Excluded Taxa
- Vagrant Species
CAVS:8082
CORACIIDAE: Coracias garrulus Linnaeus, 1758 [European Roller]
Diagnosis
Stout, medium-sized, blue-, green- and sometimes chestnut-tinted birds with broad heads, tapering to blunt tails, and thick slightly hooked bills with slit-like nostrils; body feathering rather coarse, in defined tracts; aftershafts moderately developed; uropygial gland naked, flattened. Feet small, anisodactylous; short tarsi coarsely scutellate on acrotarsia, and all three forward toes basally syndactylous to first joint. Sexes alike. Wings rounded but long: 10 primaries plus remicle, moulting in unconfirmed sequence, and 12 diastataxic secondaries; tail short: 12 rectrices, moulting in unconfirmed sequence. Nares holorhinal/amphirhinal, impervious, nasal septum imperforate; desmognathous palate heavily braced for crushing, with very narrow vomer, long broadly round-winged palatines, and lachrymals greatly expanded to reach small spur-like ectethmoids and jugal bars; basipterygoid processes rudimentary or absent; cervical vertebrae 13–14; sternum deeply two-notched on each side, only spina externa present, furcula without hypocleideum. Musculus expansor secundariorum fully developed but no biceps slip; pelvic muscle formula AXY, no M. ambiens, deep plantar tendons Type V and complexly fused. Carotid arteries paired. Syrinx tracheo-bronchial with one pair of intrinsic muscles. Tongue narrow without fringe at base; no crop; caeca present, elongated. Diploid karyotype of 70–90 chromosomes, with three to six pairs of macrochromosomes.
General References
Boetticher, H. von 1936. Rolliers et Eurystomes. Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie 6: 422-434
Burton, P.J.K. 1984. Anatomy and evolution of the feeding apparatus in the avian orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 47: 331-443
Cracraft, J. 1971. The relationships and evolution of the rollers: families Coraciidae, Brachypteraciidae, and Leptosomatidae. Auk 88: 723-752
Lowe, P.R. 1948. What are the Coraciiformes? Ibis 90: 572-582
Maurer, D.R. & Raikow, R.J. 1981. Appendicular myology, phylogeny, and classification of the avian order Coraciiformes (including Trogoniformes). Annals of the Carnegie Museum 50: 417-434
Mayr, E. & Amadon, D. 1951. A classification of recent birds. American Museum Novitates 1496: 1-42
Mees, G.F. 1965. The avifauna of Misool. Nova Guinea (Zoologie) 31: 139-203
Ripley, S.D. 1942. The species Eurystomus orientalis. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 55: 169-176
Sharpe, R.B. 1871. On the Coraciidae of the Ethiopian region. Ibis 3 1: 184-203, 270-289
Sibley, C.G., Ahlquist, J.E. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1988. A classification of living birds of the world based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies. Auk 105: 409-423
Streseman, E. 1927. Sauropsida: Aves. pp. in Kükenthal, W. & Krumbach, Th. (eds). Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tiereiches. Berlin : W. de Gruyter Bd 7, Hft 2 xi 899 pp. [Date published 1927–1934]
Stresemann, E. 1913. Ornithologische Miszellen aus dem indo-australischen Gebiet. II Teil. Novitates Zoologicae 20: 289-324
Thiollay, J.-M. 1971. Les guêpiers et rolliers d'une zone de contact savane-forêt en Côte d'Ivoire. Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie 41: 148-162
Wetmore, A. 1960. A classification for the birds of the world. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 139(11): 1-37
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | AVES | 10-Nov-2020 | MODIFIED | |
10-Nov-2015 | CORACIIDAE | 28-Feb-2020 | MODIFIED | |
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
- Eurystomus Vieillot, L.P. 1816. Analyse d'une nouvelle ornithologie élémentaire. Paris : Déterville 70 pp. [Date published 14 Apr 1816] [37] [based on the Rolle des Indes of Buffon (=Le Rollier des Indes of Brisson), for reference to which see Coracias orientalis Linnaeus, 1766 under Eurystomus orientalis (Linnaeus, 1766), q.v.].
Type species:
Coracias orientalis Linnaeus, 1766 by monotypy. - Colaris Cuvier, G.L. 1816. Le Régne Animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. L'Introduction, les Mammiéres et les Oiseaux. Paris : Déterville Vol. 1 xxxvii 540 pp. [401] [based on three nominal species: Coracias orientalis Linnaeus, 1766 (=Eurystomus orientalis (Linnaeus, 1766)), Coracias madagascariensis Hermann, 1783 (=Eurystomus glaucurus glaucurus (P.L.S. Müller, 1776)), and Coracias afra Latham, 1790 (=Eurystomus glaucurus afer (Latham, 1790)); also as incorrect subsequent spelling, Collaris by Selby, P.J. 1840. A Catalogue of the Generic and Sub-generic Types of the Class Aves, Birds, arranged according to the Natural System. Newcastle : T. & J. Hodgson 70 pp. (35)].
Type species:
Coracias orientalis Linnaeus, 1766 by subsequent designation, see Salvadori, T. 1880. Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle Molucche. Parte Prima. Torino : G.B. Paravia & Co. xii 573 pp. [503]. - Hirundolanius Buller, W.L. 1882. Manual of the Birds of New Zealand. Wellington : Govt. Printer xii 107 pp. 38 pls. [7] [nom. nud. in ms of F.E. Clarke, cited by Buller as synonym of Eurystomus Vieillot, 1816 and unavailable under ICZN Art. 11(d) & (e), cf. Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1921. Notes of interest. Austral Avian Records 4: 139–164].
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
Distribution
States
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Southern Palaearctic and palaeotropics, from Africa and India to Manchuria and Korea, the Greater and Lesser Sundas, and all Papuasia; accidental in New Zealand.
IBRA
ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders (FLI), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)
Other Regions
Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Western Australia: N coastal
Oriental Region
- Christmas Island (Aust. Terr.)
Distribution References
- Buller, W.L. 1882. Manual of the Birds of New Zealand. Wellington : Govt. Printer xii 107 pp. 38 pls.
- Sibley, C.G. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiv 1111 pp.
- Thomson, A.L. 1964. Roller. pp. 707-708 in Thomson, A.L. (ed.). A New Dictionary of Birds. London : Nelson.
- Wolters, H.E. 1976. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey pp. Lief. 2, 81-160.
General References
Wolters, H.E. 1976. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey pp. Lief. 2, 81-160. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement proposing subgenera)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
15-Feb-2011 | MODIFIED |
Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement
- 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. [386] (based on Scholtes, C.J.L. 1980. Revisie van Eurystomus orientalis (L.). Leiden : Rijksmuseum van Nauturlijke Historie unpublished ms 20 pp., and adopted by White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp. [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1913. Notes on Billberg's Synopsis Faunae Scandinaviae. Austral Avian Records 2: 33–48])
Distribution
States
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia
IBRA
ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders (FLI), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)
Other Regions
Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Western Australia: N coastal
Oriental Region
- Christmas Island (Aust. Terr.)
Details of nominate subspecies, not present in Australia
Coracias orientalis Linnaeus, C. 1766. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio duodecima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 1327 & 36 pp. [159] [based on Le Rollier des Indes Galgulus indicus in Brisson, M.-J. 1760. Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la Division des oiseaux en Ordres, Sectiones, Genres, Espèces & leurs Variétés. Paris : J.-B. Bauche Vol. V 298-310 pp. (75); holotype figured on pl. VII, fig. 2 in Brisson, M.-J. 1760. Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la Division des oiseaux en Ordres, Sectiones, Genres, Espèces & leurs Variétés. Paris : J.-B. Bauche Vol. V 298-310 pp. and on pl. 619 of Daubenton, E.L. 1781. Planches Enluminées d'Histoire Naturelle. In Buffon, G.L. (1770–1786). Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Paris : l'Imprimerie Royale Vols I–X. [published between as 1765-1781 Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.] (Vol. III, p. 160), as Rolle des Indes ex W.G. Graaf Bentinck collection-but specimen since destroyed, see Stresemann, E. 1952. On the birds collected by Pierre Poivre in Canton, Manila, India and Madagascar (1751–1756). Ibis 94: 499–523 [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. Zimmer, J.T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Field Museum of Natural History Publications, Zoological Series 16: 1–364 (Pt 1, Publ. 239), 365–706 (Pt 2, Publ. 240) 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B]]; name applied to southeast Asian subspecies with type locality Java by most revisers following Stresemann, E. 1913. Ornithologische Miszellen aus dem indo-australischen Gebiet. II Teil. Novitates Zoologicae 20: 289–324, also Mees, G.F. 1965. The avifauna of Misool. Nova Guinea, Zoology 31: 139–203 [Fletcher, J.J. 1896. On the dates of publication of the early volumes of the Society's proceedings. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 10: 533–536], and White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp. [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1913. Notes on Billberg's Synopsis Faunae Scandinaviae. Austral Avian Records 2: 33–48], cf. Stresemann (1952 above), who concludes that the type locality is Ambon-type locality confirmed as Java by decision of the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature, International Ornithological Committee, Christchurch, NZ 1990].
Type data: holotype MNHP (ex W.G. Graaf Bentinck coll. per Réaumur Museum, destroyed, figured in Brisson, M.-J. 1760. Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la Division des oiseaux en Ordres, Sectiones, Genres, Espèces & leurs Variétés. Paris : J.-B. Bauche Vol. V 298-310 pp., figured on pl. 619 in Daubenton, E.L. 1781. Planches Enluminées d'Histoire Naturelle. In Buffon, G.L. (1770–1786). Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Paris : l'Imprimerie Royale Vols I–X. [published between as 1765-1781 Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.]).
Type locality: Java (as India orientali ex Brisson).
General References
Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement also subsequent revisions)
Mees, G.F. 1965. The avifauna of Misool. Nova Guinea (Zoologie) 31: 139-203 (subspecific arrangement and specific limits)
Peters, J.L. 1945. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 5 xi 306 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Ripley, S.D. 1942. The species Eurystomus orientalis. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 55: 169-176 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Sibley, C.G. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiv 1111 pp. (subspecific arrangement and specific limits)
Stresemann, E. 1913. Ornithologische Miszellen aus dem indo-australischen Gebiet. II Teil. Novitates Zoologicae 20: 289-324 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Wolters, H.E. 1976. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey pp. Lief. 2, 81-160. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
07-Oct-2015 | MODIFIED |
Subspecies Eurystomus orientalis calonyx Sharpe, 1980
Distribution
Extra Distribution Information
Sight record of itinerant individual in late January-early February 1963 by Pearson, A.J. 1966. The birds of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 86: 66–71 [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. 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 (Appendix B)]. Although both east Asian-breeding E. o. calonyx Sharpe, 1890 and Australian-breeding E. o. pacificus (Latham, 1802) might be expected to reach Christmas Is. on migration, the time of the record makes calonyx much more likely. Alternatively, the record could have been of a wind-blown individual of the resident Greater Sundan form, E. o. orientlais (Linnaeus, 1766), cf. Peters, J.L. 1945. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 5 xi 306 pp.; White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp. [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1913. Notes on Billberg's Synopsis Faunae Scandinaviae. Austral Avian Records 2: 33–48].
Other Regions
Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater
Original AFD Distribution Data
Oriental Region
- Christmas Island (Aust. Terr.)
Distribution References
- Pearson, A.J. 1966. The birds of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 86: 66-71 [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp. 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 (Appendix B)]
- Peters, J.L. 1945. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 5 xi 306 pp.
- White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp.
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
15-Feb-2011 | MODIFIED |
Subspecies Eurystomus orientalis pacificus (Latham, 1801)
- Coracias pacifica Latham, J. 1801. Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae. London : G. Leigh, J. & S. Sotheby 74 pp. [27] [based on the Pacific Roller in Latham, J. 1802. Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. pls CXX–CXL [publication dated as 1801] (371), in turn based on Thomas Watling drawing no. 64 in BMNH, see Sharpe, R.B. 1906. Birds. pp. 79–515 in, The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 2. (119–120); for identity of drawing, see Gray, G.R. 1843. Some rectification of the nomenclature of Australian birds. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1 11: 189–194, cf. Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls (36)].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (lost, figured on Thomas Watling drawing no. 64 in BMNH), region of Port Jackson, NSW (as Nova Hollandia).Type locality references:
Latham, J. 1801. Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. 120-140 pls. [publication dated as 1801 - see Schodde et al. (2010)] [372] (cf. Hindwood, K.A. 1970. The "Watling" drawings, with incidental notes on the "Lambert" and the "Latham" drawings. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1968–69: 16–32 pls IV–VII). - Eurystomus australis Swainson, W. 1837. Animals in Menageries. In, Lardner, D. (ed.). The Cabinet Cyclopaedia. London : Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman & John Taylor Vol. 6(98) 373 pp. [publication dated 13 Jan. 1838] [326] [as Australis; first published as nom. nud. by Swainson, W. 1837. On the Natural History and Classification of Birds. In, Lardner, D. (ed). The Cabinet Cyclopaedia, no. 92. London : Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman and John Taylor Vol. 2 vi 398 pp. [publication dated 1836-1837 Kluge, A.G. 1971. John Edward Gray and "The Zoological Miscellany". In Gray, J.E. (1831–1844). The Zoological Miscellany. [reprint]. U.S.A. Misc. Publ. of Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.] (333)].
Type data:
Holotype UMZC (institution uncertain), New South Wales (as New Holland), probably region of Port Jackson.Type locality references:
Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912]. - Eurystomus orientalis bravi Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [285].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 643304 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 1236), Trig Stream, Parry's Creek near Wyndham, north WA (as North-West Australia)
Comment: for identification of holotype and type locality, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- 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. [387]
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Throughout N and E Australia inland to northern fringes of Great Sandy Desert, WA, Barkly Tableland, NT, Selwyn Range, headwaters of the Diamantina, Thomson and Bulloo Rivers, QLD, and the Murray-Darling drainage at c. 144ºE as far S as N VIC inland of Great Dividing Range—also main offshore islands (including Melville-Bathurst, Groote Eylandt, all Torres Strait islands, islands of Great Barrier Reef, Fraser and Stradbroke)—accidental or erratic further south to the Pilbara, WA, and to Norfolk Is., Lord Howe Is., S VIC, TAS, the Mt Lofty-Flinders Ranges, SA, and Kangaroo Is.
IBRA
NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders (FLI), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf
- Victoria
- Western Australia: N coastal
Ecological Descriptors
Aerial, arboreal, arthropod-feeder, crepuscular, diurnal, low open woodland, low woodland, migratory, open forest, predator, volant, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
Randomly dispersed, seasonal breeder, aerial arthropod-feeder, flies in wide circling evolutions over tree tops, perches on high bare exposed branches, nests in shallow tree hollows, breeding summer migrant, winters north to New Guinea, Moluccas, Lesser Sundas and Sulawesi, and locally in NE QLD.
General References
Blackman, J.G. & Locke, D.K. 1978. Nocturnal flying height of a Dollarbird. The Emu 78: 163 (behaviour)
Christensen, V. 1954. Dates of arrival of three bird species. The Emu 54: 72-73 (movements)
Hyett, J. 1966. Dollar-birds nesting in southern Victoria. The Emu 66: 123-131 (nidification)
Lord, C.E. 1918. On the occurrence of the Australian Roller (Eurystomus pacificus) in Tasmania. The Emu 18: 136 (Tasmanian record)
Mees, G.F. 1982. Birds from the lowlands of southern New Guinea (Merauke and Koembe). Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 191: 1-188 4 pls (winter quarters)
North, A.J. 1909. Nests and Eggs of Birds Found Breeding in Australia and Tasmania. Sydney : Australian Museum Spec. Cat. 1 Vol. 2 vii 380 pp. [published between 1906–1909] (distribution, movements, behaviour, nidification)
Schodde, R., Van Tets, G.F., Champion, C.R. & Hope, G.S. 1975. Observations on birds at glacial altitudes on the Carstensz Massif, western New Guinea. The Emu 75: 65-72 [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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (winter quarters)
Van Tets, G.F. 1965. Parental feeding of fledgling Dollar-bird. The Emu 65: 79 (behaviour, nidification)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
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08-Jul-2014 | MODIFIED |