Black Vulture

SCI Name:  Coragyps atratus
Protonym:  Vultur atratus Allg.Uebers.Vogel[Latham] 1 Anhang p.655
Taxonomy:  Cathartiformes / Cathartidae / Coragyps
Taxonomy Code:  blkvul
Type Locality:  St. John''s River, Florida.
Author:  Bechstein
Publish Year:  1793
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CORAGYPS
(Cathartidae; Ϯ American Black Vulture C. atratus) Gr. κοραξ korax,  κορακος korakos  raven (i.e. black)  < κρωζω krōzō  to croak; γυψ gups, γυπος gupos  vulture; "GENRE CORAGYPS, Coragyps d'Isid. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire.  (κοραξ, Corbeau, γυψ, Vautour).  Ce Genre ne diffère du précédent [Cathartes], aux dépens duquel il a été formé, que par son bec plus grêle, à narines plus étroites, et sa queue égale.  Le CORAGYPS URUBU (Coragyps urubu, d'Isid. Geoffroy; Vultur atratus, de Wilson)" (Le Maout 1853); "Coragyps Geoffroy, in Le Maout, Hist. Nat. Ois., 1853, p. 66. Type, by monotypy, [Coragyps urubu =] Vultur urubu Vieillot = Vultur atratus Bechstein." (Peters, 1931, I, p. 190).

atrata / atratus
L. atratus  clothed in mourning  < ater  black.
● ex “Black Vulture or Carrion Crow” of Bartram 1791 (Coragyps).
● ex “Black Swan” of Phillip 1789 (Cygnus).
● ex “Black Red-tail” of Latham 1783 (?syn. Phoenicurus ochruros).

SUBSPECIES

Black Vulture (atratus)
SCI Name: Coragyps atratus atratus
atrata / atratus
L. atratus  clothed in mourning  < ater  black.
● ex “Black Vulture or Carrion Crow” of Bartram 1791 (Coragyps).
● ex “Black Swan” of Phillip 1789 (Cygnus).
● ex “Black Red-tail” of Latham 1783 (?syn. Phoenicurus ochruros).

Black Vulture (brasiliensis)
SCI Name: Coragyps atratus brasiliensis
brasiliana / brasilianum / brasilianus / brasiliense / brasiliensis
Mod. L. Brasilianus or Brasiliensis  Brazilian, from Brazil. ‘Brasil’ was the name given to a dyewood long imported from the East. Pedro Cabral’s expedition in 1500 discovered a strange new tree of similar hue and gave it the same name, brasil or brazil, the name soon attaching itself to the country (e.g. Terra do Brasil,1530).
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  brasiliensis.  30. P. brachyurus viridis, facie rubra, temporibus cæruleis.  Psittacus viridis brasiliensis. Edw. av. 161. t. 161.  Habitat in Brasilia.  Avis viridis flavo contaminata. Rubrum infra flexuram alæ & in exteriore latere rectricum 2. 2; cæruleum in latere exteriore remigum rectricumque primorum." (Linnaeus 1758) (Amazona). This name is the sixth toponym in avian nomenclature.
● ex “Mareca alia species” of Marcgrave 1648, “Anas brasiliensis” of Brisson 1760, “Maréca” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Mareca Duck” of Latham 1785 (Amazonetta).
● Erroneous TL. Brazil (= Cayenne) (syn. Attila spadiceus).
● ex “Tette-chèvre tacheté du Brésil” of Brisson 1760, and “Ibijau” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Chordeiles acutipennis).
● ex “Caracara” of Marcgrave 1648 (syn. Circus buffoni).
● ex “Yellow-bellied Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Donacobius atricapilla).
● ex “Noctua Brasiliensibus Cabure dicta” of Ray 1713, “Asio Brasiliensis” of Brisson 1760, “Caburé” or “Caboure” of Willughby 1767, “Hibou du Brésil” of Brisson 1760, and “Brasilian Eared Owl” of Latham 1781 (Glaucidium).
● ex “Pica brasiliensis” of Seba 1734-1765 (unidentifiable), “Apiaster brasiliensis” of Brisson 1760, “Merops rouge et bleu” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Brasilian Bee-eater” of Latham 1782 (?syn. Haematoderus militaris; ?syn. Merops nubicus (per Cabanis & Heine, 1860, Mus. Heineanum, II, p. 141)).
● ex “Jacana alia species” (= ☼) of Marcgrave 1648, “Aguapecaca” of Willughby 1676 and Ray 1713, “Jacana armata” of Brisson 1760, “Jacana-péca” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Brasilian Jacana” of Latham 1785 (syn. Jacana jacana).
● Erroneous TL. Brazil (= Java); ex “Grimpereau violet du Brésil” of Brisson 1760, “Guit-guit noir et violet” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Black and Violet Creeper” of Latham 1782 (Leptocoma).
● “Vieillot himself gave up the name M. octosetaceus as misleading, the bird having many more than eight feathers on the occiput” (Salvadori 1895) (syn. Mergus octosetaceus).
● ex “Majaque” of Willughby 1676, and Ray 1713 (ex “Maiague” of Piso 1658), “Puffinus brasiliensis” of Brisson 1760, “Puffin de Brésil” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Brasilian Petrel” of Latham 1785 (Phalacrocorax).
● ex “Guiranheemgatu” of Marcgrave 1648 (subsp. Sicalis flaveola).
● ex “Tangara bleu du Brésil” of Brisson 1760 (Tangara).
● ex “Héron du Brésil” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Tigrisoma lineatum).
● Brazil and Cayenne; ex “Magoua” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Tinamus major).
●?Erroneous TL. Brazil (= Jamaica); ex “Small yellow and brown Bird” of Sloane 1725, “Icterus brasiliensis” of Brisson 1760, and “Brasilian Oriole” of Latham 1782 (unident.)

Black Vulture (foetens)
SCI Name: Coragyps atratus foetens
foetens
L. foetens, foetentis  stinking  < foetere  to stink; ex “Iribú” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 2 (subsp. Coragyps atratus).