Blue-tailed Bee-eater

SCI Name:  Merops philippinus
Protonym:  Merops philippinus Syst.Nat.ed.12 ed.12, 1 end erratafor p.183 sp.5
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Meropidae / Merops
Taxonomy Code:  btbeat1
Type Locality:  Philippine Islands.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1767
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MEROPS
(Meropidae; Ϯ European Bee-eater M. apiaster) L. merops, meropis  bee-eater  < Gr. μεροψ merops  bee-eater; "57. MEROPS.  Rostrum curvatum, compressum, carinatum.  Lingua apice laciniata.  Digiti infimo articulo coadunati: postico distincto." (Linnaeus 1758); "Merops Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 117. Type, by tautonymy, Merops apiaster Linné (Merops, prebinomial specific name in synonymy)." (Peters 1945, V, 233). Linnaeus's Merops comprised four species (M. Apiaster, M. viridis, M. cinereus, M. cafer).
Synon. Aerops, Apiaster, Archimerops, Blepharomerops, Bombylonax, Coccolarynx, Cosmaerops, Dicreadium, Dicrocercus, Melittias, Melittophagus, Melittophas, Melittotheres, Meropiscus, Micromerops, Patricus, Phlothrus, Spheconax, Sphecophobus, Tachymerops, Tephraerops, Urica.

philippinus
Philippine Is.
● ex “Philippine Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Ixos).
● ex “Grand Guespier des Philippines” of Brisson 1760 (Merops).
● Erroneous TL. Philippines (= Ceylon); ex “Gros-bec des Philippines” of Brisson 1760: "On l'appelle aux Isles Philippines TOUCNAM COURVI"; "'Toucnam-courvi,' the supposed native name in the Philippines, according to Brisson ...does not sound Tagalish ...while, on the other hand, it closely resembles the Malay [i.e. Tamil] name for the common Weaverbird, P. baya, Blyth, in Ceylon, and which Mr Layard ...renders Tokanam cooroovi, i.e. Basket-maker bird" (Walden 1875) (Ploceus).