| CBoS
lists both these stamps as showing American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica).
This was strictly correct, because Howard and Moore (1980) did not recognise
the split between this and the Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva).
I am indebted to Neil Ellman
of New Jersey, USA, for drawing my attention to this. In his own
words : the problem is this: the stamp was
issued in February, 1994, when dominica was a single species; but, during
the same year, the
American
Ornithological Union (AOU) split the bird from its pacific coast counterpart,
Pluvialis fulva, which became the Pacific Golden-plover. The bird
on the stamp is identified as dominica and the American Golden-plover,
and it is further identified as a "Migratory Species of the Barbados."
HOWEVER, it appear to be fulva, based on the extended white stripe down
the side. This is understandable given the fact that the split occurred
in the same year as the stamp was printed.
One
can hardly blame the Barbados postal authorities for not knowing that the
ornithologists would make a split, but in choosing a model for a stamp,
they appeared to have chosen the subspecies (at the time) that could not
possibly be
migratory
through the Barbados. What is identified as dominica and migratory
through the area is, in fact, fulva and migratory only along the Pacific
coast.
I have noticed in The Birds
of the West Indies by Raffaele et al (1998) that fulva has occurred as
a vagrant on Barbados where dominica occurs annually in large numbers.
Does anyone have any further views on this? |