Blue-headed Coucal

SCI Name:  Centropus monachus
Protonym:  Centropus monachus NeueWirbelth.Vog. p.57 pl.21 fig.2
Taxonomy:  Cuculiformes / Cuculidae / Centropus
Taxonomy Code:  blhcou2
Type Locality:  Kulla, northern Ethiopia.
Author:  Rüppell
Publish Year:  1837
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CENTROPUS
(Cuculidae; Ϯ Senegal Coucal C. senegalensis) Gr. κεντρον kentron  spur, spike; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "This genus is distinguished from all other members of the family by having on the hallux a long nearly straight hind claw, very much like a Lark's." (Blanford 1895).  The coucals were formerly known as 'lark-heeled cuckoos.'  The substantive 'Coucal' is derived from French Coucou  cuckoo, and Alouette  lark; "GENUS 13. CENTROPUS (κεντρον stimulus, calcar  πους pes) (Spornfuß Germ.) Rostrum capiti brevius, incurvum, valde compressum, grypanium.  Tomia integerrima.  Nares plumis recumbentibus tectae.  Lingua . . .  Cauda gradata, elongata.  Pedes scansorii, congrui. Digiti externi internis longiores, antici fissi, posticorum externus versatilis? Ungues incurvi, posticus internus reliquis aliquantum longior, retiusculus, subulatus.  Species: Cuculus Aegyptius, Tolu LinGmel." (Illiger 1811); "Centropus Illiger, Prodromus, 1811, p. 205. Type, by subsequent designation, Cuculus aegyptius Gmelin. (G. R. Gray, List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 56.)" (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 66). 
Var. Certropus, Certtopus, Centrophus. 
Synon. Anacentropus, Centrococcyx, Corydonyx, Grillia, Huhus, Megacentropus, Nesocentor, Nisus, Onixylus, Polophilus, Pyrrhocentor, Toulou.

monachus
Late L. monachus monk (e.g. hooded, black-capped) < Gr. μοναχος monakhos monk < μονος monos solitary < μοναχοω monakhoō to make single.
● ex “Crested or Coped Black Vulture. Vultur cristatus niger” of Edwards 1760, and “Vultur arabicus” of Brisson 1760 (Aegypius).
● the "Coucoua capucin" of Lesson 1830: "plumage ferrugineux" (syn. Coccycua minuta).
● ex “Perruche à poitrine grise” of d’Aubenton 17765-1781, pl. 768, “Perruche-Souris” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Grey-breasted Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (Myiopsitta).

Monachus
(syn. Sylvia Ϯ Blackcap S. atricapilla) Late L. monachus  monk (e.g. hooded, black-capped)  < Gr. μοναχος monakhos  monk  < μονος monos  solitary  < μοναχοω monakhoō  to make single; "8. Sylvia atricapilla.  ...  8. Mönch. Monachus. (Sylvia atricapilla.)  ...  Char[akter]. Grasmücken mit schwarzem Kopfe, befiederten Augenliedern und schwachem Schnabel.   Leb[ensart]. Hierin gleichen sie den Grasmücken, lieben aber Gärten und Anlagen. Der Gesang ist in seiner höchsten Vollendung" (Kaup 1829).

SUBSPECIES

Blue-headed Coucal (occidentalis)
SCI Name: Centropus monachus occidentalis
occidentale / occidentalis
L. occidentalis  western  < occidens, occidentis  west  < occidere  to set. This toponym was frequently given to taxa discovered in locations west of previously known populations.
● Cocal, Western Andes, Colombia (Dysithamnus).
● Jamaica; ex “Onocrotalus” or “Pelecanus fuscus” of Sloane 1725, “Pelican of America” of Edwards 1747, and “Pelecanus” of Browne 1756 (Pelecanus).
● TL. Day Dawn, Western Australia; "Westralian Wedgebill" (Mathews 1912) (Psophodes).

Blue-headed Coucal (fischeri)
SCI Name: Centropus monachus fischeri
fischeri
● Gustav Adolf Fischer (1848-1886) German doctor, explorer, collector in tropical Africa 1876-1886 (Agapornis, syn. Calamonastes simplex, subsp. Centropus monachus, subsp. Cisticola chiniana, subsp. Cyanomitra veroxii, syn. Eurocephalus rueppelli, subsp. Geokichla guttata, Lamprotornis, Melaenornis, subsp. Mirafra rufocinnamomea, Phyllastrephus, subsp. Ploceus melanocephalus, subsp. Pogoniulus bilineatus, syn. Scotopelia peli, syn. Sylvietta whytii minima, Tauraco, Vidua).
● George Fischer (fl. 1896) Dutch surgeon, collector in the East Indies (Ramphiculus).
● Johann Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (1771-1853) German palaeontologist, zoologist in Russia 1804-1853 (Somateria, syn. Syrrhaptes paradoxus).

Blue-headed Coucal (monachus)
SCI Name: Centropus monachus monachus
monachus
Late L. monachus monk (e.g. hooded, black-capped) < Gr. μοναχος monakhos monk < μονος monos solitary < μοναχοω monakhoō to make single.
● ex “Crested or Coped Black Vulture. Vultur cristatus niger” of Edwards 1760, and “Vultur arabicus” of Brisson 1760 (Aegypius).
● the "Coucoua capucin" of Lesson 1830: "plumage ferrugineux" (syn. Coccycua minuta).
● ex “Perruche à poitrine grise” of d’Aubenton 17765-1781, pl. 768, “Perruche-Souris” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Grey-breasted Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (Myiopsitta).