Erroneous Records of the Brown-Tailed Flycatcher from the Northern Territory by I

September J MASON, Brown-tailed Flycatcher 81 1977 Erroneous Records of the Brown-tailed Flycatcher from the Northern Territory By I. J. MASON. Officer (197 6), discussing the birds seen around Gove Penin sula, quotes two members of the party reporting a bird that they were convinced was a Brown-tailed Flycatcher Microeca brun neicauda, and not the Lemon-breasted Flycatcher M . fiavigaster nor the Grey Whistler Pachycephala simplex. They did not how ever eliminate the Jacky Winter M. leucophaea which was not observed by Officer and party during their stay but has been recorded in this area as an uncommon bird. I find it difficult to understand how some southern state bird watchers can persist in recording the Brown-tailed Flycatcher from the Northern Territory when both competent local amateur and professional ornithologists have demonstrated th at it does not exist there. It would be helpful if southern ornithologists visiting the Nor thern Territory on short trips would adopt a more critlcal attitude when publishing sight records in order not to mislead future ob:;ervers and compilers of handbooks and fi eld gu ides. The problem originated when Campbell (1902: 85) first des cribed the Brown-tailed Flycatcher from a damaged specimen which presumably was a Grey Whistler and Le Souef ( 1902: 89) descr ~ bed what he presumed were its nest and egg. Since then records of this spec ~ es from the Northern Territory have found their way into the literature time and time again. Church ( 1925) writing about the birds of the Burketown dis trict, North Queensland, noted that a cat had brought in a bird which he thought was a Brown-tailed Flycatcher. He goes on to say that he did not think that this species was very common in the district. Obviously, however he jumped to conclusions from the probably mutilated specimen, most likely a Jacky Winter which he recorded as abundant within the district. Humphries (194 7) recorded the Brown-tailed Flycatcher for Melville Bay but not the Jacky Winter which does occur there. It seems probable that Humphries saw and misidentified the latter species. Frith and Davies ( 1961) cite Le Souef's breeding record of the Brown-tailed Flycatcher, but it should be remembered that they were not aware of Campbell's original misrepresentation of the species. Lend on (1966) observed the Brown-tailed Flycatcher at Holmes Jungle and Ludmilla Creek in 1964. Rix (1970) records possible sightings of this bird at Mica Beach in 1967. He also refers to a previous visit in 1964 when a pair of birds of this species was observed feed!ng two young at Holmes Jungle. As well, Rix recorded subsequent sightings at Ludmilla Creek which were considered to be this species. The accounts are not con vincing and these records could very well refer to Grey Whistlers. 82 MASON Bird [ Watcher Officer ( 1969), after assessing past information, states that this species is not uncommon and that it occurs from Derby in the Kimberleys through the Northern Territory to north Queensland as far east as Burketown. Bristowe et al. (1971) record the Brown-tailed Flycatcher for Jasper Gorge and the South Alligator River, but, significantly, do not record the Jacky Winter from these localities. Seyfort (1974) who lived in Darwin from 1959-1961 did not find the bird during that period. Later however, after reading about the problems of its identity, with evidence both for and against its existence in the Northern Territory, he returned to Darwin and made a careful search for this species. He believed his search was successful at Cameron Beach on July 9, 1972. On his return south Seyfort claimed confirmation of his sightings after comparing his field notes with material in the H. L. White Col lection in the National Museum of Victoria. Seyfort, however, omitted to mention that the material in the museum was from the Kimberleys. There are a number of flaws in Seyfort's argument. First, he is incorrect about the distribution of certain species in relation to habitat in his discussion. The Lemon-breasted Flycatcher in fact occurs commonly in the coastal regions about Darwin in man groves, open coastal monsoon thickets and paperback swamps. The Jacky Winter is the species scattered throughout northern coastal areas in open eucalypt woodlands and forests, though it is not normally found in the immediate vicinity of Darwin. Second, Lemon-breasted Flycatchers in juvenile plumage are spotted and speckled with white dorsally, and with brown on the breast. They moult straight into adult plumage which is mid to bright yellow on the ventral surface and greenish brown on the dorsum. Third, in the field, the sizes of birds can be confusing at times, especially under closed forest canopies. This may have happened to Seyfort, because his description of the 'Brown-tailed Flycatcher' and its territorial behaviour fit those of the Grey Whistler far better than any Microeca. Moreover the description and behaviour of his 'Grey Whistler' in fact fit the north-western Australian form of the Rufous Shrike-thrush Colluricincla megarhyncha, formerly known as the Little Shrike-thrush. He may well have been comparing a Grey Whistler with a Rufous Shrike-thrush, both of which occur in the same habitat (i.e. mangroves, coastal thickets and monsoon pockets). It is significant that so many early competent ornithologists such as Hartert (1905), Hill (1913), Barnard (1914), McLennan ( 1917), and Deignan ( 1964), have never observed the Brown tailed Flycatcher or identified it in collections from the area. Storr (1967) discusses the question and the unreliable testimony of Le Souef (op. cit.) and refers to Vaurie (1953) and Keast (1958), stating that this problematic bird is certainly known only from the Kimberley Division, W.A. Crawford ( 1972) notes that he never observed this species during his period of about 5 years in Darwin and refers to Parker (in litt.), as to why. September ] 83 1977 Microeca leucophaea mid to light grey brown mid buff to grey Microeca tormenti Microeca flavigaster grey brown Pachycepha/a simplex white exposed lining 84 MASON Bird [ W atcher Parker (197 3), using information from Mathews (1908: 61), finally solved the misconception of the Brown-tailed Flycatcher in the Northern Territory by showing that the specimen, originally des:ribed by Campbell ( op. cit.) as M . brunneicauda was mis identified. Mathews ( 1916) described the Kimberley race of the Brown-tailed Flycatcher M.b. tormenti from authentic material. White (1915) himself redescr;bed the nest and egg from material. collected in north western Australia unaware that Le Souef ( op. cit.) had previously published on M. brunneicauda. Parker, how ever, points out that if H. L. White had known of Le Souef's original description, he might have drawn attention to the fact the colour of Le Souef's egg is most unlike that of any Microeca. Parker, on available evidence, suggests that M. brunneicauda, now correctly M. tormenti, is a brownish race of M. fiavigaster, with a recorded distribution east to Napier Broome Bay. Recent evidence den ~es the occurrence of the Brown-tailed Fly catcher in the Darwin-Arnhem Land region even more emphatic ally. Frith and Hitchcock (1974), neither observed nor collected this species in their study of the birds of Cobourg Peninsula during trips between 1961-1968. During 1971-1974, both Dr. R. Schodde and myself extensively surveyed the bird faunas of the coastal and subcoastal regions from Darwin to western Arnhem Land, concentrating much of our work in mangroves and monsoon forests. We have neither collected nor observed this species in the field. Other ornitholo gists, both amateur and professional who have and still are study ing the birds around D arwin, have never observed this species. Among these are Dr. C. M. Perrins during 1973-74, who made a study of birds breeding at Holmes Jungle and Mr. J. L. McKean, Mr. H . A F. Thompson, and others who conducted a regular census of birds at Buffalo Point. Also Leanyer Swamp, Holmes Jungle and Seyfort's local Cameron Beach were regularly visited by Crawford, McKean and myself. Boekel (1976), never found this species at Gove in a ten month stay. In the RAOU Interim List of Australian Songbirds (1975), Schodde, contrary to Parker ( op. cit.), and Galbraith (1974), treats the Brown-tailed Flycatcher, Microeca tormenti as a full species. Schodde emphasizes that the Brown-tailed Flycatcher differs consistently in its dull off-white ventral surface and greyish brown dorsum. Like Parker ( op. cit.) , he also discusses the dis tribution of these two species, stating, that because of possible continuous habitat, M. tormenti and M. fiavigaster probably meet along the western shores of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. The biological relationship between these two species is such that where they meet they can be expected either to interbreed or to competitively exclude and replace each other. Their extensive coexistence, as is implied in the sight records from Northern Territory, is biologic ally improbable. It is now, hopefully, obvious that the Brown-tailed Flycatcher M . tormenti, on information available, does not occur in the Nor- September J Brown-tailed Flycatcher 85 1977 thern Territory, being found instead in the north west sector of Western Australia, and so far has not been recorded east of Napier Broome Bay. It inhabits coastal mangrove areas as noted by Galbraith ( op. cit.), and Hill ( 1911). The common name of this species might also be advisedly changed to the "Kimberley Flycatcher", to avoid confusion among bird watchers in the future. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to Dr. R. Schodde, and Messrs. J. H . Calaby and J. L. McKean of the Division of Wildlife Research, CSIRO, for comments on the manuscript, but in no way are they respons;ble for the opinions expressed here.

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