Conspecificity of the Black-throated and Fairy Warblers

Abstract

The Black-throated Warbler Gerygone palpebrosa and the Fairy Warbler G. flavida are connected by a geographically wide series of morphologically intermediate populations in north-eastern Queensland; so are conspecific. There is a gradual north-south reduction in the depth of coloration on the throat and face from dark brown on Cape York Peninsula to pale olive-grey in central coastal Queensland, with a step in the gradient where dense rainforest tends to break the range in the region of the Atherton high-lands. Contrary to descriptions in current field guides and handbooks the male of flavida has a bib on the throat though it is less pronounced than in other forms of palpebrosa.