Blue-headed Wood-Dove

SCI Name:  Turtur brehmeri
Protonym:  Chalcopelia Brehmeri J.Orn. 13 p.97
Taxonomy:  Columbiformes / Columbidae / Turtur
Taxonomy Code:  bhwdov1
Type Locality:  Gaboon.
Author:  Hartlaub
Publish Year:  1865
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

TURTUR
(Columbidae; Ϯ Blue-spotted Wood Dove T. afer) L. turtur, turturis  turtle dove; "160. Tourterelle du Senegal. BUFF. VI. p. 394.  BRISS. Ornith. I. p. 122. pl. X. f. 1.  Turtur afra, LINN. 104. 34." (Boddaert 1783); "Turtur Boddaert, Tabl Pl. enlum., 1783, p. 10. Type, by monotypy, Columba afra Linné." (Peters 1937, III, 112).
Synon. Calopelia, Chalcopelia, Chalcoptera.
● (syn. Streptopelia Ϯ "Turtle Dove S. risorius" (= domesticated Eurasian Collared Dove S. decaocto or African Collared Dove S. roseogrisea)) "Genus TURTUR.   THE birds belonging to this group are distinguished by their bill, which is slenderer in its proportions than that of the Pigeons.  ...  As an example of the genus, we present our readers with a figure of the well known  COLLARED TURTLE Turtur risorius  ...  Besides the wild turtle known to us as a regular summer visitant in the southern districts of England, the Columba maculicollis and the Columba aurita of Temminck, and several others belong to the group, of which the present species may be considered a type." (Selby 1835).    Var. Turtus.

turtur
L. turtur, turturis  turtle dove.
● "92. COLUMBA.  ...  Turtur.  20. C. rectricibus apice albis, dorso griseo, pectore incarnato, macula laterali colli.  Turtur. Will. orn. 134. t. 35. Raj. av. 61. Alb. av. 2. p. 43. t. 47.  Habitat in India." (Linnaeus 1758) (Streptopelia).

brehmeri
Heinrich Brehmer (fl. 1865) German trader in the Gaboon (Turtur).

SUBSPECIES

Blue-headed Wood-Dove (infelix)
SCI Name: Turtur brehmeri infelix
infelix
L. infelix, infelicis  unhappy, unfortunate, unfruitful  < in-  not; felix, felicis  fruitful, fortunate, favourable, lucky.
● “I have concluded that the genera Certhilauda and Mirafra cannot be kept separate. This affects the names of two forms of C. curvirostra ...C. c. transvaalensis Roberts (1936, Rustenburg) is preoccupied by Mirafra africana transvaalensis Hartert 1900” (White 1960) (syn. Certhilauda semitorquata transvaalensis).
● “Unfortunately it is in a very imperfect state, the bill and greater part of the tail feathers having been shot away” (P. Sclater 1877) (Symposiachrus).
● “Columba (Peristera) puella Schlegel ...1848 ...Not Columba puella Lesson 1827 ...I can find no structural characters that would warrant the retention of the genus Calopelia for this species” (Peters 1937) (subsp. Turtur brehmeri).

Blue-headed Wood-Dove (brehmeri)
SCI Name: Turtur brehmeri brehmeri
brehmeri
Heinrich Brehmer (fl. 1865) German trader in the Gaboon (Turtur).