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For The Birds !


samuijimmy

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Took this woodpecker shot yesterday in the garden of my new house build near Phetchabun using my Canon SX 40. The bird was quite close and not disturbed by the building work.

Question for any SE Asia bird experts out there: is it a Fulvous-breasted or a Spot-breasted Woodpecker(or neither)?

I reckon it's a female by the black cap(more obvious in some other shots).

The "red" vent was not very strong. My Craig Robson birds of Thailand and SE Asia has me leaning towards the Spot-breasted bird.

Any thoughts please.

attachicon.gifFulvous breasted woodpecker.jpg

Its both actually, they are synonyms for the same species.

See : http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=240

Yes it is a female.

No I'm not an expert, just a learner.

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Took this woodpecker shot yesterday in the garden of my new house build near Phetchabun using my Canon SX 40. The bird was quite close and not disturbed by the building work.

Question for any SE Asia bird experts out there: is it a Fulvous-breasted or a Spot-breasted Woodpecker(or neither)?

I reckon it's a female by the black cap(more obvious in some other shots).

The "red" vent was not very strong. My Craig Robson birds of Thailand and SE Asia has me leaning towards the Spot-breasted bird.

Any thoughts please.

attachicon.gifFulvous breasted woodpecker.jpg

Its both actually, they are synonyms for the same species.

See : http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=240

Yes it is a female.

No I'm not an expert, just a learner.

Thanks for the explanation and link. Now I may well be thick and I am certainly no expert but I don't understand why the birds have different Latin names(second part) and Robson describes them differently for example he says the Spot-breasted is smaller than the Fulvous-breasted if they are infact one and the same.

Any ideas, or a simple explanation for me.

Many thanks.

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My "Robson" has them as the same bird. If they are a subspecies it would be the third Latin name that is different. Could also be a remote possibility that they were thought to be different sp. at one point but then re-classified. It does happen. Could be that my edition is a later revision. With all the common names for some sp. it shows why a Latin name can be so important for conclusive and common recognition.

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There is also the issue of "Lumpers" vs. "Splitters."

Perhaps someone here can be more articulate about this than I can, But as an example, take the Purple Swamphen now split the Black-backed. an Grey-headed. See an older copy of Robson as compared to the latest edition.

I spoke with one well-respected ornithologist about this some years ago and seem to remember him saying he didn't agree, but it was a lumper / splitter issue and he was clearly on the side of the lumpers. I may remember that not exactly clearly and again I don't know enough about the subject to be very articulate about it.

Of course there are some splits that all agree on, but it's my understanding that there are many splits that not all agree on.

I still call them Purple Swamphen.

Here's a wiki link that touches on the issue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpers_and_splitters

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There is also the issue of "Lumpers" vs. "Splitters."

Perhaps someone here can be more articulate about this than I can, But as an example, take the Purple Swamphen now split the Black-backed. an Grey-headed. See an older copy of Robson as compared to the latest edition.

I spoke with one well-respected ornithologist about this some years ago and seem to remember him saying he didn't agree, but it was a lumper / splitter issue and he was clearly on the side of the lumpers. I may remember that not exactly clearly and again I don't know enough about the subject to be very articulate about it.

Of course there are some splits that all agree on, but it's my understanding that there are many splits that not all agree on.

I still call them Purple Swamphen.

Here's a wiki link that touches on the issue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpers_and_splitters

Interesting you mention the Purple Swamphen for there is a common bird in NZ called the Pukeko (Maori name) which is a sub species.

It is much slimmer than the variety I see here and more vocal.

Given NZ's isolation and the fact that many of the terrestrial birds are unique it is strange how a bird that normally flies short distance got there.

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In the very distant past & waaay before i came to the LOS for very first time, for me Purple swamphen's were always Purple gallinule's (widely used name in UK & europe). They'e still "Purple gallinule's" . . but now i prefer them as "Purple swamphen's". wacko.png.pagespeed.ce.jGW10VtQsIER15eQL

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