Black-headed Waxbill

SCI Name:  Estrilda atricapilla
Protonym:  Estrelda atricapilla Rev.Mag.Zool.(2), 3 p.421
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Estrildidae / Estrilda
Taxonomy Code:  blhwax1
Type Locality:  Gabon.
Author:  Verreaux, J & Verreaux, E
Publish Year:  1851
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ESTRILDA
(Estrildidae; Ϯ Common Waxbill E. astrild) Specific name Loxia astrild Linnaeus, 1758. It has been suggested that the name derives from a German or Dutch avicultural term for a waxbill. However, an incandescent Reichenbach 1849, wrote that the name Estrelda, from astrild, was neither Latin nor English, nor anything else, and castigated the linguistically proficient authors who foisted it on the scientific community (“Der Name Estrelda, aus Astrild gemacht, ist weder lateinisch noch englisch, noch sonst etwas; man könnte ihn kaum deutsch-englisch nennen und muss erstauen, wie ein paar sprachkundige Männer ihn in die wissenschaft aufzunehmen vorsuchten”); "ESTRILDA.   Rostrum breve, conicum, immarginatum.  Alæ breves, rotundatæ; remige 1^ma spuria, minuta, 3^tia, 4^ta, et 5^ta æqualibus, longissimis.  Cauda subelongata, gradata.  ... Type. Loxia astrild. Linn.  This, and the preceding genus [Amadina], appear strictly confined to the warm regions of the old world; and will detach a vast number of species from the Loxiæ and Fringillæ of Linnæus. I have endeavoured in vain to reconcile the different groups of these birds proposed by Brisson, Cuvier, and Vieillot, with any thing like a geographic or a natural arrangement; and this must be my apology for not adopting either their names or characters; the first would lead to much confusion, while the latter are artificial. The minute spurious quill, (which I have termed, for the sake of uniformity, the first), seems to be an unerring indication of an African or Asiatic origin; and I find the same character in all those I have seen from New Holland." (Swainson 1827); "Estrilda Swainson, Zool. Journ. iii, p. 349, 1827.  Type by original designation, Loxia astrild Linn." (W. Sclater, 1930, Syst. Av. Aethiop., II, p. 794).   
Var. Astrilda, Estrelda, Estrila.   
Synon. Brunhilda, Glaucestrilda, Habropyga, Haplopyga, Krimhilda, Melpoda, Senegalus.

atricapilla
L. atricapillus  black-haired (i.e. black-capped, black-headed) < ater  black; capillus  hair of the head (cf. L. atricapilla  unknown small bird, perhaps a tit or the Blackcap).
● ex “Merula atricapilla capitis b. spei” of Brisson 1760 (Donacobius).
● ex “Pato cabeza negra” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 438 (Heteronetta).
● ex “Tangara jaune à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 809, fig. 2, “Mordoré” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Black-headed Tanager” of Latham 1783 (syn. Lanio fulvus).
● ? ex “Chinese Sparrow” of Edwards 1743, and “Grosbec de la Chine” of Brisson 1760 (Lonchura).
● ex “Merula viridis atricapilla Moluccensis” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Pitta sordida).
● ex “Atricapilla” or “Ficedula” of Aldrovandus 1599, and Willughby 1676, “Black-Cap” of Ray 1713, and “Motacilla testacea, subtus cinerea, pileo obscuro” of Linnaeus 1746 (Sylvia).
● ex “Black-crowned Bunting” of Latham 1783 (Zonotrichia).
● ex “Cap Nègre” of Levaillant 1804, pl. 140 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Black-headed Waxbill (atricapilla)
SCI Name: Estrilda atricapilla atricapilla
atricapilla
L. atricapillus  black-haired (i.e. black-capped, black-headed) < ater  black; capillus  hair of the head (cf. L. atricapilla  unknown small bird, perhaps a tit or the Blackcap).
● ex “Merula atricapilla capitis b. spei” of Brisson 1760 (Donacobius).
● ex “Pato cabeza negra” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 438 (Heteronetta).
● ex “Tangara jaune à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 809, fig. 2, “Mordoré” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Black-headed Tanager” of Latham 1783 (syn. Lanio fulvus).
● ? ex “Chinese Sparrow” of Edwards 1743, and “Grosbec de la Chine” of Brisson 1760 (Lonchura).
● ex “Merula viridis atricapilla Moluccensis” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Pitta sordida).
● ex “Atricapilla” or “Ficedula” of Aldrovandus 1599, and Willughby 1676, “Black-Cap” of Ray 1713, and “Motacilla testacea, subtus cinerea, pileo obscuro” of Linnaeus 1746 (Sylvia).
● ex “Black-crowned Bunting” of Latham 1783 (Zonotrichia).
● ex “Cap Nègre” of Levaillant 1804, pl. 140 (unident.).

Black-headed Waxbill (avakubi)
SCI Name: Estrilda atricapilla avakubi
avakubi
Avakubi, Ituri District, Belgian Congo (= DR Congo).

Black-headed Waxbill (marungensis)
SCI Name: Estrilda atricapilla marungensis
marungensis / marunguensis
Marungu Highlands, Belgian Congo / DR Congo.