Acanthiza pusilla magnirostris (Campbell, 1903)
King Island brown thornbill, Large-billed tit (archaic)
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Acanthiza magnirostris Campbell, 1903; Acanthira archibaldi Mathews, 1910; Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi (Mathews, 1910); Acanthiza archibaldi Mathews, 1910
The King Island brown thornbill was originally described as Acanthiza magnirostris (Campbell, 1903). However, believing that the name was already occupied by Acanthiza magnirostra (Gould, 1838), Mathews replaced the name with Acanthira archibaldi (Mathews, 1910). The IBC [url=http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/brown-thornbill-acanthiza-pusilla]website[/url] states that:
"Name archibaldi was unnecessarily introduced as a replacement name for magnirostris, mistakenly believed to be preoccupied, but latter can not now be reinstated."
LeCroy (2008) states:
"[Acanthira (sic) archibaldi Mathews]
Proposed by Mathews (1910a: 501) to replace Acanthiza magnirostris A.J. Campbell (1902: 202*), preoccupied by Acanthiza magnirostra Gould, 1838. The type is that of Acanthiza magnirostris, which is in MV (HLW 2088, collected by A.J. Campbell, 10 November 1902, on King Island; W. Longmore, personal commun.)."
However, as A. p. magnirostris has priorty over A. p. archibaldi then there is no reason why A. p. magnirostris should not be considered the valid name. This taxa is listed as A. p. magnirostris by (Peterson, 2002), and that is a good enough reason for me to include it as such here.
"Acanthiza pusillus magnirostris Nomenclature
Previously listed as Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi Mathews 1910 Novit.Zool. 17 no.3 p.501 and Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi is the name used by H&M 3 rd:448 {and through Corrigenda #5} (without further discussion).
Colin Jones points out that Schodde in the CSIRO checklist of Australian birds, holds A. p. archibaldi to be a junior synonym of A. p. magnirostris Campbell. This can currently (2006.10.07) be found at http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/abrs/fauna/tree.pl?pstrVol=AVES&pintMode=1"
* LeCroy (2008) gives the date of the publication of (Campbell, 1903) as 1902. However, as the publication clearly states: "Vol. II. 1903".
Conservation Status
Last record: 2002
Since rediscovered
IUCN RedList status: "possibly extinct"
The King Island Brown Thornbill is listed in the 2009 Red List as follows:
"[R]ace archiboldi is possibly extinct, since it has not been seen since 1971 (del Hoyo et al. 2007*)."
Apart from the fact that the specific name is spelt incorrectly (it is archibaldi not archiboldi), two individuals were found in the Pegarah State Forest in March 2002 (Donaghey & Lloyd 2003). The previous record of this species was in 1971, and so it obviously has an ability to go undetected for long periods. Therefore the fact that the last sighting was 10 years ago does not necessarily reflect the actual status of the population. Godino (2012) was therefore, in the opinion of the author of this database, too quick to write off the species as "extinct":
"There have only been around a dozen records since its discovery, the latest in 2002, but as it has always been so rarely recorded it should not be considered extinct. The population is estimated at fewer than 50 birds (Garnett et al. 2011)."
(Szabo et al. 2012:Table S3, p. 4)
* The IUCN Red List does not give a bibliography for the species Acanthiza pusilla, so I am not sure what publication is being referred to. However, it may be the following:
del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and D.A. Christie (editors). (2007). Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 12. Picathartes to tits and chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, 815 pp. 56 pls
Distribution
King Island, Tasmania, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Holotype: HLW 2088
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Campbell, A. J. (1903). Description of a new Acanthiza. The Emu 2(4): 202-203.
Other references:
BirdLife International. (2012). Acanthiza pusilla. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 17 August 2013.
Blakers, M., Davies. S. J. J. F. and Reilly, P. N. (1984). The Atlas of Australian Birds. RAOU. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
Boles W. E. (1983). A taxonomic revision of the brown thornbill Acanthiza pusilla (Shaw) 1790 with description of a new subspecies. Emu [b]83[/b]: 51-58.
Bryant, Sally L. and Jackson, J. (1999). Tasmania's Threatened Fauna Handbook: What, Where and How to Protect Tasmania's Threatened Animals. Threatened Species Unit, DPIWE, Hobart. [p. 254-256]
Campbell, A. J. (1888). Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. Expedition to King Island, November, 1887. Official Report. Vict. Nat. 4: 129-164.
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2009). Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed 14/5/2012.
Donaghey, Richard H. and Lloyd, Sarah. (2003). Ecology, conservation and management of birds and recovery of threatened species, pp. 67-88. In: Donaghey, Richard H. (ed.). The Fauna of King Island: A Guide to Identification and Conservation Management. Currie, King Island: King Island Natural Resource Management Group. [2 individuals recorded at one site, see Table 1 on p. 70; confirmed in next chapter (i.e. 8) on p. 125]
Garnett, Stephen. (ed.). (1992). Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia. RAOU Report Number 82. 212 pp.
Garnett, S. T. and Crowley, G. M. (2000). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000. Canberra, ACT: Environment Australia & Birds Australia.
Garnett, Stephen T., Hayward-Brown, Brittany K. et al. (2022). Australia's most imperilled vertebrates. Biological Conservation 270: 109561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109561
Garnett, S. T., Szabo, J. K. and Dutson, G. C. L. (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
Geyle, Hayley M. et al. (2018). Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions. Pacific Conservation Biology 24(2): 157-167. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC18006
Godino, F. M. J. (2012). King Island Brown Thornbill. Available at: extinct-website.com / extinct-website.co.uk [Downloaded on Saturday, April 14, 2012]
Green, R. H. (1995). The Fauna of Tasmania: Birds. Potoroo Publishing, Launceston.
Green, R. H. and McGarvie, A. M. (1971). The birds of King Island, with reference to other western Bass Strait islands and annotated lists of the vertebrate fauna. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum 40: 1-42.
LeCroy, Mary. (2008). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 7, Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, and Petroicidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Number 313, 287 pp.
Mack, George. (1936). A systematic revision of the Australian thornbills. Memoirs of the National Museum 10: 86-118.
Mathews, Gregory M. (1910). On some necessary alterations in the nomenclature of birds. Novitates Zoologicae 17: 492-503.
Mathews, Gregory M. (1923). The Birds of Australia, suppl. No. 2: Check List of the Birds of Australia: Order Passeriformes (part). London: Witherby & Co.
Mayr, Ernst and Serventy, D. L. (1938). A revision of the genus Acanthiza Vigors & Horsfield. Emu 38: 245-292.
McGarvie, A. M. and Templeton, M. T. (1974) Additions to the birds of King Island, Bass Strait. Emu [b]74[/b]: 91-96.
Schodde, R. and Mason, I. J. (1999). The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. CSIRO, Collingwood, Victoria.
Szabo, J. K., Khwaja, N., Garnett, S. T. and Butchart, S. H. M. (2012). Global Patterns and Drivers of Avian Extinctions at the Species and Subspecies Level. PLoS ONE 7(10): e47080.
Thomas, D. (1979). Tasmanian Bird Atlas. Hobart: Fauna of Tasmania Committee.
Threatened Species Section. (2012). King Island Biodiversity Management Plan. Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Hobart.
"Zoonomen Nomenclatural data" (2002) Alan P. Peterson http://www.zoonomen.net"
http://www.fpa.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/68096/brown_thornbill_2011.pdf
http://www.kingislandnaturalresources.org/brown-thornbill
http://www.kingislandnaturalresources.org/publications/brochurefinal-Qk5.pdf
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-30/good-news-for-king-island-thornbill-and-scrubtit/10947576
http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/critically-endangered-birds-still-alive-on-king-island