Blue-rumped Pitta

SCI Name:  Hydrornis soror
Protonym:  Pitta (Hydrornis) soror Ibis p.496
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Pittidae / Hydrornis
Taxonomy Code:  blrpit1
Type Locality:  Saigon, Cochinchina.
Author:  Wardlaw Ramsay
Publish Year:  1881
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

HYDRORNIS
(Pittidae; Ϯ Blue-naped Pitta H. nipalensis) Gr. ὑδρο- hudro-  water-   < ὑδωρ hudōr, ὑδατος hudatos  water; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird (see Paludicola); "Pitta nuchalis, Nobis, is identical with Hydrornis (olim Paludicola) Nipalensis, Hodgson, J.A.S. VI, 103: but it is barely separable from the great group of Pitta" (Blyth 1843); "Hydrornis Blyth, 1843, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 12, p. 960. New name for Paludicola Hodgson, 1837. Type, by monotypy, Paludicola Nipalensis Hodgson." (Mayr in Peters, 1979, VIII, pp. 310-311).   
Synon. Anthocincla, Eucichla, Gigantipitta, Heleornis, Insignipitta, Iridipitta, Leucopitta, Merulanthus, Ornatipitta, Paludicola.

soror / sorora
L. soror, sororis  sister (i.e. closely related).
● "Ähnlich der X. f. flavigula Cab." (Neumann 1914) (subsp. Atimastillas flavigula).
● "Männchen dem vorgenannten Arten sehr ähnlich, im allgemeinen aber etwas kleiner, Schnabel wie bei B. puella, etwas schmaler als bei B. senegalensis und orientalis" (Reichenow 1903) (Batis).
● "Bisher habe ich unter dem Namen C. rufopileata Vögel von West- und Ostafrika zusammengefaßt.  ...  Als Typ für die Form soror ist ein Vogel vom Kilimandscharo.  C. rufopileata scheint nur vom Niger bis zum Gabun verbreitet zu sein.  Vögel von Loango gleichen der östlichen Form soror." (Reichenow 1916) (syn. Cisticola bulliens).
● "Der E. brunneiceps [= subsp. Erythropygia leucophrys] sehr ähnlich, aber kleiner" (Reichenow 1905) (syn. Erythropygia leucophrys zambesiana).
● "Von P. macrocerca (Lcht.) [= subsp. Euplectes macrourus] durch bedeutend geringere Grösse und etwas heller gelben Schulterfleck unterschieden" (Reichenow 1887) (syn. Euplectes macrourus).
● "This specimen may possibly prove to be an immature H. nipalensis, from which it differs in being slightly smaller and more slender in the tarsi" (Wardlaw Ramsay 1881) (Hydrornis).
● "Similar to pumila [= subsp. Lalage maculosa]" (Mayr & Ripley 1941) (subsp. Lalage maculosa).
● “typical Pachycephala, closely allied to P. melanura, but with the tail brown, bordered with olive-green” (P. Sclater 1874) (Pachycephala).
● "This subspecies is surprisingly similar to feminina [= subsp. Petroica pusilla], although the ranges of the two forms are widely separated by ambrynensis [= subsp. Petroica pusilla]" (Mayr 1934) (subsp. Petroica pusilla).
● "The name soror means sister, alluding to its close similarity with the other taxa in this [Seicercus (= Phylloscopus) burkii] complex" (Alström & Olsson 1999) (Phylloscopus).
● "Closely allied to M. castaneiceps, from which it differs in its much larger size" (Sharpe 1887) (subsp. Schoeniparus castaneceps).
● "The name of the subspecies is based on the close relationship of this indigobird with the other forms of the indigobird species" (Payne 1982) (syn. Vidua camerunensis).
● "Intermediär zwischen X. g. genibarbis Ill., aus Amazonien, und X. g. pelzelni [= syn. X. minutus] Hellm., aus S.-O.-Brasilien" (Hellmayr 1921) (syn. Xenops genibarbis).

SUBSPECIES

Blue-rumped Pitta (tonkinensis)
SCI Name: Hydrornis soror tonkinensis
tonkinensis
Tonkin Protectorate, French Indochina / Tong-king or Dong-king, Vietnam.

Blue-rumped Pitta (petersi)
SCI Name: Hydrornis soror petersi
petersi / petersii
● Prof. Wilhelm Karl Hartwig Peters (1815-1883) German zoologist, collector in tropical Africa 1842-1848 (subsp. Podica senegalensis).
● Dr James Lee Peters (1889-1952) US ornithologist, nomenclaturist, Curator of Birds MCZ (subsp. Aethopyga saturata, subsp. Agelasticus thilius, subsp. Coccyzus longirostris, syn. Coracina schistacea, subsp. Hydrornis soror, syn. Hylatomus lineatus similis, subsp. Pheugopedius maculipectus, syn. Picoides kizuki matsudairai, syn. Rupornis magnirostris griseocauda, subsp. Schoeniophylax phryganophilus, Xenodacnis).
● Ernst Peters (fl. 1890) German student, collector in Venezuela 1890 (Zimmerius).

Blue-rumped Pitta (douglasi)
SCI Name: Hydrornis soror douglasi
douglasi
Robert Douglas (fl. 1910) collector in China (subsp. Hydrornis soror).

Blue-rumped Pitta (soror)
SCI Name: Hydrornis soror soror
soror / sorora
L. soror, sororis  sister (i.e. closely related).
● "Ähnlich der X. f. flavigula Cab." (Neumann 1914) (subsp. Atimastillas flavigula).
● "Männchen dem vorgenannten Arten sehr ähnlich, im allgemeinen aber etwas kleiner, Schnabel wie bei B. puella, etwas schmaler als bei B. senegalensis und orientalis" (Reichenow 1903) (Batis).
● "Bisher habe ich unter dem Namen C. rufopileata Vögel von West- und Ostafrika zusammengefaßt.  ...  Als Typ für die Form soror ist ein Vogel vom Kilimandscharo.  C. rufopileata scheint nur vom Niger bis zum Gabun verbreitet zu sein.  Vögel von Loango gleichen der östlichen Form soror." (Reichenow 1916) (syn. Cisticola bulliens).
● "Der E. brunneiceps [= subsp. Erythropygia leucophrys] sehr ähnlich, aber kleiner" (Reichenow 1905) (syn. Erythropygia leucophrys zambesiana).
● "Von P. macrocerca (Lcht.) [= subsp. Euplectes macrourus] durch bedeutend geringere Grösse und etwas heller gelben Schulterfleck unterschieden" (Reichenow 1887) (syn. Euplectes macrourus).
● "This specimen may possibly prove to be an immature H. nipalensis, from which it differs in being slightly smaller and more slender in the tarsi" (Wardlaw Ramsay 1881) (Hydrornis).
● "Similar to pumila [= subsp. Lalage maculosa]" (Mayr & Ripley 1941) (subsp. Lalage maculosa).
● “typical Pachycephala, closely allied to P. melanura, but with the tail brown, bordered with olive-green” (P. Sclater 1874) (Pachycephala).
● "This subspecies is surprisingly similar to feminina [= subsp. Petroica pusilla], although the ranges of the two forms are widely separated by ambrynensis [= subsp. Petroica pusilla]" (Mayr 1934) (subsp. Petroica pusilla).
● "The name soror means sister, alluding to its close similarity with the other taxa in this [Seicercus (= Phylloscopus) burkii] complex" (Alström & Olsson 1999) (Phylloscopus).
● "Closely allied to M. castaneiceps, from which it differs in its much larger size" (Sharpe 1887) (subsp. Schoeniparus castaneceps).
● "The name of the subspecies is based on the close relationship of this indigobird with the other forms of the indigobird species" (Payne 1982) (syn. Vidua camerunensis).
● "Intermediär zwischen X. g. genibarbis Ill., aus Amazonien, und X. g. pelzelni [= syn. X. minutus] Hellm., aus S.-O.-Brasilien" (Hellmayr 1921) (syn. Xenops genibarbis).

Blue-rumped Pitta (flynnstonei)
SCI Name: Hydrornis soror flynnstonei
flynnstonei
Sean Leslie Flynn (1941-1971) US actor (son of film-star Errol Flynn), photojournalist, and Dana Stone (1939-1971) US photojournalist, both captured by the VietCong in Cambodia and then murdered by the Khmer Rouge (OD per Björn Bergenholtz) (subsp. Hydrornis soror).