Distribution and taxonomy of southern birds in the Great Victoria Desert

Abstract

Certain birds, usually associated with the mallee and sclerophyllous woodlands of south-western Australia, south-eastern Australia and Eyre Peninsula, also occur in the Great Victoria Desert, viz Glossopsitta porphyrocephalu, Neophema splendida, Cinclosoma castonotum, Myiagra inquieta, Microeca leucophaea, Pachysephala inortata, Climacteris rufa, Pardalotus xanthopygus, Strepera versicolor and Gymnorhina tibicen. The distribution, habitats and subspecific status of these species are discussed. The Great Victoria Desert is an avenue for the continuous distribution of these birds between Eyre Peninsula and the Southwest. Populations of most of these species on the eastern and western sides of the Nullarbor Plain have not diverged subspecifically from one another.