Bismarck Munia

SCI Name:  Lonchura melaena
Protonym:  Munia melaena Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt2 p.66 pl.7 fig.2
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Estrildidae / Lonchura
Taxonomy Code:  bismun1
Type Locality:  Kabbakadai, New Britain.
Author:  Sclater, PL
Publish Year:  1880
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

LONCHURA
(Estrildidae; Ϯ Scaly-breasted Munia L. punctulata) Gr. λογχη lonkhē  spear-head, lance; ουρα oura  tail; "Genus LONCHURA. Rostrum forte, breve, latum, altitudine ad basin longitudinem æquans; mandibulis integris, superiori in frontem angulariter extendente cumque eo circuli arcum formante.  Alæ mediocres, subacuminatæ; remigibus, 1ma brevissima subspuria, 2da 3tia 4taque fere æqualibus longissimis.  Cauda gradata, lanceolata; rectricibus mediis cæteras paullo longitudine superantibus.  Pedes mediocres, subgraciles.   The peculiar spear-head form of the tail, and the ridge of the upper mandible and the forehead, forming a segment of the same circle, together with the habits of the following species, afford sufficient characteristics to justify their separation from the genus Fringilla of M. Temminck. The Gros-bec longicone of the Pl. Col. 96. (Emb. quadricolor, Lath.) belongs to the same group.   109. Lonchura nisoria. Fringilla nisoria, Temm. Gros-bec épervin. Pl. Col. 500. Fig. 2.  ...  110. LONCHURA CHEET.  ...  111. Lonchura leuconota. Fringilla leuconota, Temm. Gros-bec leuconote, Pl. Col. 500, fig. 1." (Sykes 1832); "Lonchura Sykes, 1832, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 94. Type, by original designation, Fringilla nisoria Temminck = Loxia punctulata Linnaeus. Not preoccupied by Lonchurus Bloch, 1793 (Pisces)." (Paynter in Peters 1968, XIV, 372 (erroneous typification)); "LONCHURA Sykes, 1832 F - Fringilla nisoria Sykes, 1832; type by subsequent designation (Sharpe, 1890, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., 13, p. 326). = Loxia punctulata Linnaeus, 1758" (Dickinson & Christidis (eds.) 2014, 297).
Synon. Dermophrys, Diacmura, Donacola, Maia, Mayrimunia, Munia, Oryzivora, Oryzornis, Oxycerca, Padda, Trichogrammoptila, Uroloncha, Weebongia.

melaena
Gr. μελας melas, μελαινα melaina black.

SUBSPECIES

Bismarck Munia (melaena)
SCI Name: Lonchura melaena melaena
melaena
Gr. μελας melas, μελαινα melaina black.

Bismarck Munia (bukaensis)
SCI Name: Lonchura melaena bukaensis
bukaensis
Buka I., Solomon Is.