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Distribution and Taxonomy of the White-Tailed and Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoos Calyptorhynchus Spp

1979; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 79; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1071/mu9790215

1448-5540

Denis A. Saunders,

Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior

SUMMARYSaunders, D. A. 1979. Distribution and taxonomy of the white-tailed and yellow-tailed black-cockatoos Calyptorhynchus spp. Emu. 79: 215–227.The history of the classification of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus and the White-tailed Black-Cockatoo C. baudinii is given. The differences between the long-billed (C. baudinii) and short-billed (C. latirostris) forms of the White-tailed Black-Cockatoo are presented: the long-billed form has a longer wing, differently shaped upper mandible, different cranial morphology, different food preferences and different contact calls; the breeding and foraging ranges of the two forms are presented and discussed. Based on these differences, the two forms are treated as separate species. The results of an examination of museum material and literature on the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo are presented. On this evidence the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo is divided into three subspecies: one, C. funereus funereus ranges from eastern Victoria, north to Berserker Range (hear Rockhampton, Q.) and has a longer wing and tail, with a slightly larger upper mandible, tarsus and claw; another, C. f. xanthanotus, occurs in southern Victoria, south-eastern South Australia to lower Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Tasmania and King, Flinders and Cape Barren Islands, Bass Strait; the third, C. f. latirostris, is white tailed, here transferred from C. baudinii, and occurs in south-western Australia in the drier inland sandplain and mallee areas.The similarities between C. f. xanthanotus and latirostris are stressed and discussed; the only major difference is loss of yellow colouring and brown-black spotting. It is suggested that a continuous population of a stock jointly ancestral to funereus and baudinii across southern Australia was split climatically and C. baudinii arose from the western isolate and developed specialized adaptations for feeding on the fruits of Marri Eucalyptus calophylla. A subsequent invasion later gave rise to C. f. latirostris, which was reproductively isolated from C. baudinii by different habitat and calls.