Subspecies Dacelo (Dacelo) leachii occidentalis Gould, 1870
- Dacelo occidentalis Gould, J. 1870. Description of a new species of Dacelo from north-western Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1869: 602 [publication dated as 1869] [602] [based on a pair (
and ) of specimens collected in northwest Australia by F.T. Gregory and passed to the British Museum by John Gould, see 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 (208), citing two males and a female, and Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp., citing only one syntype; type locality commonly assumed to be the Kimberley Division, e.g., Derby, following Mathews, G.M. 1913. A List of the Birds of Australia containing the names and synonyms connected with each genus, species, and subspecies of birds found in Australia, at present known to the author. London : Witherby xxvii 453 pp.—but F.T. Gregory's northwest Australian expeditions were limited to the Pilbara and extended no further north than the De Grey River, WA, see Gregory, A.C. & Gregory, F.T. 1884. Journals of Australian Explorations. Brisbane : Govt. Printer 210 pp., and Whittell, H.M. 1946. The ornithology of Francis Thomas Gregory (1821–1888). Emu 45: 289–297; syntypes, a male and female in BMNH and both examined, are of the Pilbara form—the latter is here chosen as lectotype]. Type data:
Lectotype BMNH 1881.5.1.3065 ♀, north Pilbara, WA (as North-west Australia).
Paralectotype(s) BMNH 1881.5.1.3064 adult unsexed (=♂). - Dacelo leachii cliftoni Mathews, G.M. 1912. Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 1(2): 25-52 [Date published 2 Apr 1912] [37] [published anonymously—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 637763 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 9887), Clifton Downs, upper Gascoyne River, WA (as Carnarvon, 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
- Keast, A. 1957. Variation in the Australian kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae). Records of the Australian Museum 24: 61-72 [64-66]
Distribution
States
Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Main valleys of Pilbara region, north to De Grey River system, south to Gascoyne and Wooramel River systems, and inland to Oakover, upper Ashburton, upper Fortescue and upper Gascoyne Rivers where restricted to riverine woodlands. Also outlier in extreme SW Kimberley Division where it intergrades with D. l. leachii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827.
IBRA
WA: Carnarvon (CAR), Gascoyne (GAS), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Murchison (MUR), Pilbara (PIL), Yalgoo (YAL)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- Western Australia: NW coastal
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, carnivorous, diurnal, sedentary, territorial, volant, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic, general carnivore, in communal groups, advertises territory by chorusing, feeds in pouncing sallies from arboreal perches, nests in tree hollows.
General References
Mees, G.F. 1961. An annotated catalogue of a collection of bird-skins from West Pilbara, Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 44: 97-143 (distribution, taxonomy)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |