What was the Jarnadup Bristlebird?

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 8 years ago

ABSTRACT – A 1919 collection of eggs from jarnadup, near Manjimup, southwestern Australia, was claimed at the time to be from the Western Bristlebird, Dasyornis longirostris. This was subsequently disputed by the expert ornithologists H. Whittell and C. Smith. This paper clarifies the discrepancy by comparing dimensions of the eggs for all populations in the genus. Measurements of the eggs, as well as a consideration of the description of the nest, indicate that the clutch is likely to be from the Rufous Bristlebird Dasyornis broadbenti. This leads to 'two possible conclusions. The clutch might be the only known collection of eggs of the now extinct western subspecies of the Rufous Bristlebird, D. broadbenti fitoralis, and therefore represent a significant extension of the known range of this taxon. The alternative, and favoured, explanation is that there is an error in the location data, and the eggs are from a Victorian collection of D. b. caryochrous.