Species Phaps (Phaps) chalcoptera (Latham, 1790)

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CAVS: 0034

Species Phaps (Phaps) chalcoptera (Latham, 1790)

Common Bronzewing

Columba chalcoptera 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. [604] [based on the Bronze-winged Pigeon in Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls (162, pl. 26); later accounts by Latham, e.g., 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] (266), confuse this species with Phaps elegans (Temminck, 1809) and possibly Leucosarcia melanoleuca (Latham, 1802), see Frith, H.J. 1982. Pigeons and Doves of Australia. Adelaide : Rigby vii 304 pp. 32 pls (122)].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, figured in Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls), Sydney, NSW (as insula Norfolciae maris australis, in error).
Type locality references:
Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1921. A Manual of the Birds of Australia. Orders Casuarii to Columbae. London : H.F. & G. Witherby Vol. 1 xxiv 279 pp. 36 pls. [251] (cf. Mathews, G.M. 1911. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 1 pt 3 pp. 137–182 pls 34–45 [volume publication dated as 1910–1911; published 29 Apr. 1911] [146], 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. [18]).
Columba chrysoptera 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. [129] [published undescribed in narrative, but based by reference on the Golden-winged Pigeon 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.] (145, pl. 8) and available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(7); for details of Forster's publication, see Iredale, T. 1937. J.R. & G. Forster, naturalists. Emu 37: 95–99; and Mathews, G.M. 1942. Additions to the list of Australian birds and other notes. Australian Zoologist 10(suppl.): 161–166].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, figured 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.]), region of Port Jackson, NSW.
Phaps chalcoptera consobrina Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [188] [holotype figured on pl. 35 and described in detail but not named , on pp. 146–147 in Mathews, G.M. 1911. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 1 pt 3 pp. 137–182 pls 34–45 [volume publication dated as 1910–1911; published 29 Apr. 1911], as cited in original description].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 615905 ♂ adult (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 143), Parry's Creek, N WA
Comment: for identification of holotype, 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.
Phaps chalcoptera murchisoni Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [188].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 615875 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 3880), Milly Pool, c. 30 km NW of Wiluna, WA (as West Australia (East Murchison))
Comment: for identification of holotype, 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:
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. [46] (from itinerary of collector, see Whitlock, F.L. 1910. On the East Murchison. Four months collecting trip. Emu 9: 181–219).
Phaps chalcoptera riordani 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] [28] [published without author—authorship credited in Austral Avian Rec. 1: 65].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 615906 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 11376), Melville Is., NT
Comment: for identification of holotype, 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:
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

Frith, H.J. 1982. Pigeons and Doves of Australia. Adelaide : Rigby vii 304 pp., 32 pls. [223]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Throughout Australia except treeless deserts and upper Cape York Peninsula—also off-shore islands, for example, Melville-Bathurst Ils, Groote Eylandt, Fraser Is., islands in Moreton Bay, main Bass Strait islands, and Kangaroo Is. where also introduced.

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

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), 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), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Northern Territory: N Gulf
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, S Gulfs
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia: N coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, granivore, low open woodland, low woodland, nomadic, open forest, open shrub, resident, tall open shrubland, terrestrial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Randomly dispersed, seasonal breeder/opportunistic breeder, sexually dimorphic, feeds on ground on seeds in all wooded habitats with open understorey except dense forest, flies with even wing-beats and far to drink each evening, nests in trees and tall bushes to 15 m up, sedentary or wanders locally and sometimes regionally to seasonal food sources.