Subspecies Dacelo (Dacelo) novaeguineae novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783)

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CAVS: 8970

Subspecies Dacelo (Dacelo) novaeguineae novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783)

Alcedo novaeguineae Hermann, J. 1783. Tabula Affinitatum Animalium, olim academico specimene edita nunc uberiore commentario illustrata cum annotationibus ad historiam naturalem animalium augendam facientibus. Argentorati : J.G. Treuttel 370 pp. [published before Nov. 5 or 15] [192] [as Alcedo novae Guineae; published without description but available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(1), being based by reference on le plus grand Martin Pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée on pl. 663 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. VIII, p. 59), in turn taken from the Grand Martin-Pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée on pp. 170–171 and pl. 106 in Sonnerat, P. 1776. Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, Dans lequel on trouve la description des Lieux, des Observations physiques & morales, & des détails relatifs à l'Histoire Naturelle dans le Regne Animal & le Regne Végétal. Paris : Ruault xii 206 pp. 120 pls; type material taken by Joseph Banks and his collectors on Captain James Cook's first voyage to Australasia and since lost, see Lysaght, A. 1956. Why did Sonnerat record the Kookaburra, Dacelo gigas (Boddaert) from New Guinea?. Emu 56: 224–225; Whitehead, P.J.P. 1969. Zoological specimens from Captain Cook's voyages. Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 5: 161–201 [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. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp.]; Mees, G.F. 1977. The scientific name of the Laughing Kookaburra: Dacelo gigas (Boddaert) v. Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann). Emu 77: 35–36 [publication date Mathews, G.M. 1920. Dates of ornithological works. Austral Avian Records 4: 1–27 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.]; provenance of type material uncertain, but Endeavour River, QLD as likely as not, in the range of the small northern subspecies, Dacelo novaeguineae minor Robinson, 1900, see Alexander, W.B. 1924. Sonnerat's voyage to New Guinea. Emu 23: 299–305; restriction of type locality to Endeavour River would switch senior names for subspecies—accordingly a neotype is designated here with the approval of the RAOU Taxonomic Advisory Committee to tie Alcedo novaeguineae Hermann, 1783 (=Alcedo gigas Boddaert, 1783, q.v.) to the region with which it has been associated by convention: Botany Bay, NSW].
Type data:
Neotype ANWC 38169 ♂ adult, 7 km north of Appin, County of Cumberland, NSW (as Nouvelle Guinée).
Subsequent designation references:
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. [356].
Type locality references:
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. [356].
Alcedo gigas Boddaert, P. 1783. Table des Planches Enluminéez d'Histoire Naturelle, de M. d'Aubenton. Avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precédé d'une Notice des Principaux Ouvrages Zoologiques enluminées. Utrecht : Boddaert xv 58 + 9 pp. [published Dec. 1783 International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature 1985. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Third edition adopted by the XX General Assembly of the International Union of Biological Sciences. London : International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature xx 338 pp. [Art. 3]] [40] [based on le plus grand Martin-Pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée on pl. 663 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.] (Vol. VIII, p. 59), and on the Great Brown Kingfisher in Latham, J. 1782. A General Synopsis of Birds. London : B. White Vol. 1 vi 788 pp. I–XXXV pls [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.] (609–610); for juniority of name, see Mathews, G.M. 1926. An important date. Emu 26: 148 [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.]; Lysaght, A. 1957. The first specimens of Dacelo novaeguineae and D. leachii in European collections. Emu 57: 209–210; Mees, G.F. 1977. The scientific name of the Laughing Kookaburra: Dacelo gigas (Boddaert) v. Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann). Emu 77: 35–36 [publication date Mathews, G.M. 1920. Dates of ornithological works. Austral Avian Records 4: 1–27 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 material taken by Joseph Banks and his collectors on Captain James Cook's first voyage to Australasia, and thus may have included two species of Dacelo Leach, 1815 from several localities, see Alexander, W.B. 1924. Sonnerat's voyage to New Guinea. Emu 23: 299–305; material of Lysaght, A. 1957. The first specimens of Dacelo novaeguineae and D. leachii in European collections. Emu 57: 209–210 since lost, see Whitehead, P.J.P. 1969. Zoological specimens from Captain Cook's voyages. Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 5: 161–201 [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. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp.]; accordingly, to maintain nomenclatural stability, the neotype of Alcedo novaeguineae Hermann, 1783 (q.v.) is designated here as neotype of Alcedo gigas Boddaert, 1783 with the approval of the RAOU Taxonomic Advisory Committee].
Type data:
Neotype ANWC 38169 ♂ adult, 7 km north of Appin, County of Cumberland, NSW (as Nouvelle Guinée and New Holland).
Subsequent designation references:
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. [356].
Type locality references:
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. [356].
Alcedo undulata Scopoli, G.A. 1786. Specimen Zoologicum exhibens Characteres genericos & specificos, nonnec Nomina trivialia novorum Animalium. pp. 84–96 in, Deliciae Florae et Faunae Insubricae; seu Novae, aut minus cognitae species plantarum et animalium, quas in Insubria austriaca tam spontaneas quam exoticas vidit, descripsit et aeri incidi curavit. Ticini : Monasterii S. Salvatoris. Pt II 115 pp. 25 pls [publication dated as 1786–1788] [90] [junior objective synonym of Alcedo novaeguineae Hermann, 1783 (q.v.), based on the Grand Martin-Pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée on pp. 170–171 and pl. 106 in Sonnerat, P. 1776. Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, Dans lequel on trouve la description des Lieux, des Observations physiques & morales, & des détails relatifs à l'Histoire Naturelle dans le Regne Animal & le Regne Végétal. Paris : Ruault xii 206 pp. 120 pls and thus typified by same neotype].
Type data:
Neotype ANWC 38619 ♂ adult, 7 km north of Appin, County of Cumberland, NSW (as Nouvelle Guinée).
Subsequent designation references:
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. [356].
Type locality references:
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. [356].
Alcedo fusca Gmelin, J.F. 1788. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Linné, editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. Regnum Animalium. Leipzig (Lipsiae) : G.E. Beer Vol. 1(1) 1-500 pp. [For publication date Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1833–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84] [454] [junior homonym of Alcedo fusca Boddaert, 1783 (=Halcyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758), Alcedinidae); based on le plus grand Martin-Pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée in Buffon, G.L. 1786. Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Paris : l'Imprimerie Royale Vol. I–X [published between 1770–1786] (Vol. VIII, p. 59, pl. 663), on the Grand Martin-Pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée in Sonnerat, P. 1776. Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, Dans lequel on trouve la description des Lieux, des Observations physiques & morales, & des détails relatifs à l'Histoire Naturelle dans le Regne Animal & le Regne Végétal. Paris : Ruault xii 206 pp. 120 pls (170–171), and on the Great Brown Kingfisher in Latham, J. 1782. A General Synopsis of Birds. London : B. White Vol. 1 vi 788 pp. I–XXXV pls [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.] (609–610), itself an apparent composite of two species: Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) and D. leachii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827, see Lysaght, A. 1957. The first specimens of Dacelo novaeguineae and D. leachii in European collections. Emu 57: 209–210—thus based on same material as Alcedo novaeguineae Hermann, 1783 and A. gigas Boddaert, 1783 (q.v.) and typified by same neotype].
Type data:
Neotype ANWC 38619 ♂ adult, 7 km north of Appin, County of Cumberland, NSW (as Nova Guinea).
Subsequent designation references:
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. [357].
Type locality references:
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. [357].
Alcedo gigantea Latham, J. 1790. Index ornithologicus, sive Systema Ornithologiae; complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates: adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c. London : Leigh & Sotheby Vol. 1 & 2 xviii 920 pp. [245] [based on both Alcedo fusca Gmelin, 1788 and nominal and material sources on which Alcedo fusca Gmelin, 1788 (q.v.) was itself based—thus an objective synonym of that name and typified by same neotype].
Type data:
Neotype ANWC 38619 ♂ adult, 7 km north of Appin, County of Cumberland, NSW (as Nouvelle Guinée).
Subsequent designation references:
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. [357].
Type locality references:
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. [357].
Alcedo cyanea Forster, J.R. 1791. Tagebuch einer Reise nach Neu Süd-Wallis von John White, Esq. Magazin von merkwürdigen neuen Reise Beschreibungen. Berlin : J.R. Forster Vol. 5. [126] [junior homonym of Alcedo cyanea Meuschen, 1787; based on the great Brown King's Fisher on pp. 137–138 and plate opposite in White, J. 1790. Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions. London : J. Debrett 299 pp. 65 pls [published before Aug.]; name later applied by the Forsters to Todiramphus vagans (Lesson, 1828), 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. (183); 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.; for further details, see Iredale, T. 1937. J.R. & G. Forster, naturalists. Emu 37: 95–99; Mathews, G.M. 1942. Additions to the list of Australian birds and other notes. Australian Zoologist 10(suppl.): 161–166].
Type data:
Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (probably lost figured on pl. opposite p. 137 in White, J. 1790. Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions. London : J. Debrett 299 pp. 65 pls [published before Aug.]), Manly Cove, Port Jackson, NSW (as New Holland).
Type locality references:
White, J. 1790. Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions. London : J. Debrett 299 pp. 65 pls. [published before Aug.] [136].
Dacelo fulvus Lesson, R.P. 1825. Observations générales d'histoire naturelle, faites pendant un voyage dans les Montagnes-Bleues de la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris 6: 241-266 [Date published Nov 1825] [250] [nom. nud., first referred to synonymy of Dacelo gigas (Boddaert, 1783) by Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pts 1–5 499 +xii pp. pls 325–370, where name unavailable under ICZN Art. 11(d) & (e)].
Alcedo onocrotalus Anon. In Field, B. (ed.) 1825. Geographical Memoirs on New South Wale; by various hands: containing … together with other papers on the aborigines, the geology, the timber, the astronomy, and the meteorology of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. London : John Murray xvi 504 pp. [440] [nom. nud.; published without description as synonym of Alcedo gigantea Leach (=Latham, 1790), and unavailable under ICZN Art. 11(d) & (e)].
Choucalcyon australe Lesson, R.P. 1830. Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau méthodique des ordres, sous-ordres, familles, tribus, genres, sous-genres et races d'oiseaux. Paris : F.G. Levrault livr. 4, 241-320 15 pls. [publication dated 1831] [248] [based, inter alia, indirectly on Alcedo novaeguineae Hermann, 1783 (q.v.), and directly on Alcedo fusca Gmelin, 1788 (q.v.) and Dacelo gigantea Leach (=Latham, 1790) (q.v.): their neotype is chosen here as lectotype of Choucalcyon australe Lesson, 1830 for nomenclatural stability].
Type data:
Lectotype ANWC 38619 ♂ adult, 7 km N of Appin, County of Cumberland, NSW (as Nouvelle-Galles du Sud).
Paralectotype(s) MNHP.
Subsequent designation references:
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. [358].
Type locality references:
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. [358].
Dacelo gigas tregellasi Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [287].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 637702 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 9039), Olinda, VIC (as Victoria)
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.
Type locality references:
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.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. [231-232]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

E Australia, north to Mossman-Daintree and upper Mitchell River, QLD—inland west to Atherton Tableland, E Newcastle Range, upper Burdekin River drainage, Barcoo and upper Bulloo Rivers and Cunnamulla, QLD, and all Paroo, Darling, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray River systems, NSW—and south-west to the South-East of SA, Mt Lofty-mid Flinders Ranges, adjacent plains, and S Eyre Peninsula, SA. Introduced and established in TAS, Flinders Is., Kangaroo Is., and SW Australia where now north to lower Murchison River, inland to middle wheatbelt, and south-east to Esperance. Intergrades abruptly with D. n. minor Robinson, 1900 across south-east foot of Cape York Peninsula, north from Mossman-Daintree, Chillagoe, Newcastle Range and Hughenden, QLD.

Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.

IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones (map not available)

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Plains (GUP), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Mallee (MAL), 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), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), 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), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Queensland
- South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal
- Tasmania
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Western Australia: SW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, carnivorous, diurnal, low open woodland, open forest, sedentary, tall forest, territorial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, general carnivore, in communal groups, advertises territory by chorusing, feeds in pouncing sallies from arboreal perches, nests in tree hollows, all members of commune assist in nidificational duties.