fa Ms cZ FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY 1 OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY LIST OF NEW GUINEA BIRDS A SYSTEMATIC AND FAUNAL LIST OF THE BIRDS OF NEW GUINEA AND ADJACENT ISLANDS By ERNST MAYR ASSOCIATE CURATOR, WHITNEY-ROTHSCHILD COLLECTIONS THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NEW YORK, N. Y. 1941 12483 JUN 2 9 1956 C.SL LANCASTER PRESS, INC., LANCASTER, PA. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Xox-Passeres ARIIDAE . Cassowaries 1 Podicipipai: . Grebes 4 Procellariidak . Petrels and Shearwaters 4 Hydrobatidae . Storm-Petrels 5 Phaetoxtidae . Tropic-birds .... 5 Pelecaxidae .... 5 Sulidae . Boobies .... 6 Phalacrocoracidae . Cormorants 6 AxiIIXGIDAE . Snake-birds 7 Fregatidae . Frigate-birds .... 7 Ardeidae . Herons and Bitterns 7 ClCOXIIDAE . Storks . ... 10 Threskiorxithidae . Ibises . 10 AXATIDAE . Geese and Ducks . .. 11 ACCIPITRIDAE . Harriers, Hawks and Eagles .... ... 13 Falcoxidae . Falcons . ... 18 Megapodiidae . Megapodes . ... 19 Phasiaxidae . Quails and Pheasants .... 21 TURXICIDAE . Bustard-quails . ... 22 Gruidae . Cranes . 23 Rallidae . Rails and Coots . 23 Otidae . Bustards . ... 27 Jacaxidae . Jacanas . ... 27 H ae m atopodidae . Oyster-Catchers . ... 28 Charadriidae . Plovers . ... 28 SCOLOPACIDAE . Sandpipers, Curlew and Snipe . 30 Recurvirostridae . Stilts and Avocets ... 33 Phalaropodidae . Phalaropes .... 34 BURHIXIDAE . Thick-knees . 34 Glareolidae . Coursers ... 34 Laridae . Gulls and Terns ... 35 COLUMBIDAE . Pigeons and Doves ... 37 PSITTACIDAK . Lories, Parrots and Cockatoos . ... 52 CuCULIDAE . Cuckoos ... 70 Tvtoxid . Barn Owls ... 77 Strigidae . Owls ... 78 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page podargidae . Frog-mouths 79 Aegothelidae . Little Frog-mouths 80 Caprimulgidae . Goatsuckers 82 Apodidae . Swifts 83 Hemiprocnidae . Crested Swifts 85 Alcedinidae . Kingfishers 86 Meropidae . Bee-eaters 93 coraciidae . Rollers 94 bucerotidae . Hornbills 94 Passeres PlTTIDAE . Pittas 95 Alaudidae . Larks 96 Hirundinidae . Swallows 97 Campephagidae . Cuckoo-shrikes 98 Motacillidae . Wagtails and Pipits 104 Turdinae . Thrushes 106 Tim ALII NAE . Babblers 108 Malurinae . Wren Warblers 114 Sylviinae . Warblers 116 Muscicapinae . Flycatchers 127 Pachycephalinae . Whistlers or Thickheads 146 Falcunculinae . Shrike-Tits 160 Laniidae . Shrikes 160 Artamidae . Wood-swallows 161 Sturnidae . Starlings 161 Oriolidae . Orioles 163 Grallinidae . Magpie-Larks 164 Cracticidae . Bell Magpies 164 Dicruridae . Drongos 166 Corvidae . Crows 167 Paradisaeidae . Birds of Paradise 167 Ptilonorhynchidae . Bower Birds 183 Neosittidae . Australian Nuthatches 187 Certhiidae . Tree Creepers 188 Nectariniidae . Sunbirds 188 Meliphagidae . Honey-eaters 190 DlCAEIDAE . Flower-peckers 212 ZOSTEROPIDAE . White-eyes 217 Ploceidae . Weaver Finches 219 Index of Geographical Names 223 Index of Scientific Names 230 INTRODUCTION In 1930, on my return from New Guinea, I planned to write an ornithogeography of the Papuan Region. It soon became apparent to me that no such work was possible without a reliable list of the birds of the New Guinea region and that it would be my first task to prepare such a list. The last complete list (Salvadori, 1880-1882, Ornit. Pap. Mol.) was fifty years old and quite out-of-date. The manuscript of the first draft of my New Guinea list was completed in 1931, but it was nothing better than a compilation of information found in the literature and its shortcomings and inaccuracies were quite apparent to me. I, therefore, decided to undertake a critical revision of every genus of New Guinea birds so that my check-list would be a lasting and reliable basis for all future work. In connection with this program visits were made in the years 1930, 1932, 1934 and 1938 to the museums in London, Paris, Leiden, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Frankfurt and Genoa, and the majority of the doubtful types were examined. The acquisition of the Rothschild Collection by the American Museum, with its beautiful series of New Guinea birds, much facilitated my work. I believe it can be stated truthfully that I have examined nearly all the type specimens of birds described from the New Guinea area, in par- ticular all those about which there was any question. The most impor- tant exceptions to this are the De Vis types in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane. An effort also has been made to cover the literature as completely as possible. Every paper on New Guinea birds that was published between 1880 and 1940 has been checked against the manuscript of the present list in order to cover all the published locality records. The number of papers studied, arranged in ten year periods, is as follows : 42 ( 1880- 1889), 109 (1890-1899), 57 (1900-1909), 44 (1910-1919), 42 (1920- 1929) and 126 (1930-1940), a total of 420 publications. The last twelve years has seen an ornithological activity in the New Guinea area which has been unequalled in the history of that island ex- cept during the seventies of the last century. I collected in Dutch New Guinea, in the Huon Peninsula and the Herzog Mountains ; G. Stein collected on Waigeu, Numfor and in the Weyland Mountains Japen, ; Stevens worked in the Herzog Mountains ; Nevermann in the Merauke district ; Shaw Mayer in various districts, the Dennison-Crocket Expc- VI INTRODUCTION dition on Biak, the Vogelkop and the western Papuan Islands ; R. H. Beck in the Huon Peninsula and on Astrolabe Bay, and H. Hamlin (Whitney South Sea Expedition) in the Louisiade and D'Entrecasteaux Archipelagoes and in southeastern New Guinea. Junge reported on the important collection made some 25 years ago in the Snow Mountains of Dutch New Guinea, and a score of other workers studied and published on previously collected material. More important than all this is the systematic ornithological exploration of New Guinea inaugurated by Mr. Richard Archbold, with the cooperation of Dr. A. L. Rand (co- leader and ornithologist). In three expeditions, to southeastern, south- ern, central and northern New Guinea, an unexpectedly large number of new forms (including one new genus and about five new species) was discovered and a wealth of new data was collected on the ecology and geographical distribution of New Guinea species. In the present list only such of this information is utilized as has already been published. December 31, 1940 is to be considered as the closing date of the manuscript. The only exception is made in regard to a paper by Dr. Rand which contained the descriptions of new birds from New Guinea and which was published in February, 1941 (Amer. Mus. Novit., No. 1102). In all, four different drafts of this list have been made during the last ten years, each necessitated by the increased collecting and museum work of this period. But even though no effort has been spared to secure the utmost accuracy and reliability, I realize better than any one else that the list will soon again be out of date. No faunal list is ever final, but it will be useful until replaced by a better and more up-to-date list. GEOGRAPHY Borders.—The New Guinea Region is part of the Papuan Region, but it is such a natural unit that there is but little doubt where to draw its borders (see map). It includes the Western Papuan Islands (Ko- fiau, Misol, Waigeu, etc.) in the west; in the north the islands of Geel- vink Bay (Numfor, Biak, Japen, etc.) and also Vulcan (Manam) and Dampier (Karkar) Islands, but excludes Long and Rook Islands; in the east it includes the entire D'Entrecasteaux, Woodlark and Louisiade Archipelagoes as far east as Rossel Island ; in the south the border goes through Torres Straits and includes the Aru Islands but not the Kei Islands nor any of the outlying islands of the southern Moluccas. : INTRODUCTION Vll The Papuan Region is, so far as its bird life is concerned, as dis- tinctive a zoogeographical region as, for example, the Palearctic or the Oriental Regions. It is the exclusive home of entire families and the number and percentage of endemic genera are not reached anywhere else in the world within an area of similar size. As it is, the bird life of the small New Guinea area is, in many respects, richer than that of all of North America and almost as rich as that of the entire Australian continent. The total number of birds recorded from the New Guinea area is as follows Genera Breeding land and freshwater birds 260 Seabirds 12 Palearctic migrants 23 Australian and New Zealand migrants 8 303 genera Species Breeding land and freshwater birds 568 Seabirds 22 Palearctic migrants 37 Australian and New Zealand migrants 22 649 species Forms (Species and Subspecies) Breeding land and freshwater birds 1400 Seabirds 22 Palearctic migrants 42 Australian and New Zealand migrants 37 1501 forms This compares with 400 genera, about 800 species and 1420 forms listed for North America in the 1930 edition of the A. O. U. Check-List. A more detailed analysis of the bird life of New Guinea is reserved for a future paper. Geographical Names.—There is considerable uncertainty concern- ing many of the geographical names of the New Guinea area, and it is inevitable that some of the names accepted by me will be criticized by one or another student of the area. What was once known as the Arfak Peninsula was later changed to Berau Peninsula and is now known as the Vogelkop. The more westerly of the central ranges (west of the Fly River) were once known as Snow Mountains, but arc now generally divided into a western part, the Nassau Mountains, and an eastern part, the Oranje Mountains. Misori Island is now called Biak, Join has been Vlll INTRODUCTION changed to Japen. The English names of many islands off eastern New Guinea have recently been replaced by native names, e.g., St. Aignan by Misima, Sudest by Tagula, but in other cases (Woodlark, Rossel, Fer- gusson, etc.) the English name is still preferred to the native one. In many cases it is impossible for one who is not a government official or professional geographer to say what the best name is for a certain geo- graphical feature.