Brown-backed Solitaire

SCI Name:  Myadestes occidentalis
Protonym:  Myadestes obscurus var. occidentalis Proc.U.S.Natl.Mus. 4 p.371,372
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Turdidae / Myadestes
Taxonomy Code:  brbsol1
Type Locality:  Tonila, Jalisco.
Author:  Stejneger
Publish Year:  1882
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MYADESTES
(Turdidae; Ϯ Rufous-throated Solitaire M. genibarbis) Gr. μυα mua  fly  < μυια muia, μυιας muias  fly; εδεστης edestēs  eater  < εδω edō  to eat; "MYADESTES; we shall not only characterize this form, but endeavour to demonstrate it as the rasorial type of Rhipidura.  The bill is small, angular, and much depressed towards the base; but the culmen is slightly and gradually bent, and the gonys ascends, in the same degree, towards the point: the rictal bristles are few and short, and do not extend to one-half the length of the bill: the wings are moderate, not reaching beyond the tail-covers; their structure is the same as in all the Old World flycatchers, but the first and second are suddenly narrowed at their tips; a character we have not met with in any other of this family.  The legs, for a flycatcher, are strong, the tarsus moderately lengthened, and the toes considerably developed, much longer, in fact, than either in Rhipidura or Leucocirca.  The middle toe is as long as the tarsus; the inner toe much shorter than the outer, but both are cleft to their base; the hinder and inner toes are equal; the legs are very pale, and the tarsal scale is in one entire piece; the breadth and curvature of the claws, joined to the relative length of the toes, renders it highly probable that this bird does not habitually frequent the ground.  But its great peculiarity lies in the tail, which is moderately lengthened and slightly graduated, having something of the size and form of Leucocirca, excepting that the feathers, instead of being broad, are rather narrow, with the tips acuminated.  Such are the characters of the bird before us.  It is at once distinguished from our sub-genus Muscicapa (as subsequently defined) by its long toes and lengthened graduated bill; and from Leucocirca, by its small slightly bristled bill, and those other indications which unite it to the genuine flycatchers; the whole structure of the bird, particularly in the head, which is thick like that of the robin, is quite opposed to that slenderness of shape so general among its congeners.  Lastly, although not one of the leastof its characteristic marks, is the pure white which ornaments the ends of the three pair of lateral tail-feathers.   ...   WHISKERED FANTAIL.  Myidestes genibarbis, SWAINS.  ...  We are entirely unacquainted with the country it inhabits, and, of course, are equally so regarding its manners. Judging from the formation of its wings, however, we should conclude it was from some part of the warm latitudes of Africa or India   ...   it bears upon its face a flycatcher disguised as a robin." (Swainson 1838); "Myadestes Swainson, 1838, Nat. Libr. Flycatchers, p. 132. Type, by monotypy, Myidestes (sic) genibarbis Swainson." (Ripley in Peters 1964, X, 89).
Var. Myiadectes (Gr. μυια muia, μυιας muias  fly; δεκτης dektēs  receiver  < δεχομαι dekhomai  to receive), Myiadestes, Myiesthes, Myedestes, Myidestes, Myidastes, Myiedestes, Myiodectes.
Synon. Phaeornis.

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).

SUBSPECIES

Brown-backed Solitaire (occidentalis)
SCI Name: Myadestes occidentalis 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).

Brown-backed Solitaire (insularis)
SCI Name: Myadestes occidentalis insularis
insularis
L. insularis  of an island  < insula, insulae  island.
● Ceylon (= Sri Lanka) (syn. Accipiter badius, subsp. Chloropsis aurifrons, subsp. Dicrurus caerulescens, subsp. Prinia inornata).
● New Caledonia (syn. Accipiter fasciatus vigilax).
● Phu-Quoc I., Cochin China (=Vietnam) (subsp. Aethopyga siparaja).
● Andaman Is., Bay of Bengal (subsp. Amaurornis phoenicurus).
● Bahrain, Arabian Gulf (subsp. Ammomanes deserti)
● Erroneous TL. Madagascar (= Zanzibar) (subsp. Andropadus importunus).
● Santa Cruz I., Channel Is., California, USA (subsp. Aphelocoma californica, subsp. Eremophila alpestris).
● Rennell I., Solomon Is. (Aplonis).
● Jobi I. (= Japen = Yapen), New Guinea (Arses, subsp. Pachycephalopsis hattamensis).
● Sardinia (Bubo).
● Fernando Póo (= Bioko), Gulf of Guinea (syn. Campethera tullbergi, syn. Cinnyris chloropygius).
● Isla Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico (syn. Cathartes aura, subsp. Cyclarhis gujanensis).
● Aldabra, Indian Ocean (subsp. Centropus toulou).
● Sardinia (syn. Coccothraustes coccothraustes).
● Grand Cayman, Caribbean Sea (subsp. Columbina passerina).
● New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea (Corvus).
● Formosa/Taiwan (subsp. Dendrocopos leucotos, Myophonus, syn. Garrulus bispecularis).
● Borneo (syn. Dicrurus paradiseus).
● Nicobar Is., Bay of Bengal (syn. Ducula aenea nicobarica).
● Corsica (syn. Emberiza calandra, syn. Saxicola rubicola).
● Socotra (subsp. Emberiza tahapisi, Passer).
● Weda Is., Halmahera, Indonesia (syn. Eos squamata).
● Tres Marías Is., Nayarit, Mexico (Forpus, subsp. Myadestes occidentalis, subsp. Nyctidromus albicollis, subsp. Pachyramphus aglaiae, subsp. Setophaga pitiayumi, syn. Zenaida asiatica).
● Lord Howe I., Tasman Sea (syn. Fregetta grallaria, ‡Gerygone).
● Rottnest I., Western Australia (syn. Gavicalis virescens).
● Meco I., Quintana Roo, Mexico (subsp. Habia fuscicauda).
● Ship I., off Gulfport, Mississippi, USA (syn. Hirundo rustica erythrogaster).
● Tobago (Hylophilus, subsp. Platyrinchus mystaceus, subsp. Psarocolius decumanus).
● Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico (Junco).
● Isla Margarita, Venezuela (syn. Leptotila verreauxi,  subsp. Quiscalus lugubris).
● New Providence, Bahamas (sym. Leuconotopicus villosus maynardi).
● King I., Bass Strait, Australia (syn. Melithreptus brevirostris).
● Kangean Is., Java Sea, Indonesia (subsp. Oriolus chinensis).
● Fergusson I., D'Entrecasteaux Is., Papua New Guinea (Otidiphaps).
● Mahé I., Seychelles (Otus).
● Kodiak I., Alaska, USA (subsp. Passerella unalaschcensis).
● Honshu, Japan (subsp. Periparus ater).
● Stewart I., New Zealand (syn. Poodytes punctatus).
● Henderson I., Pitcairn Group, Pacific Ocean (Ptilinopus).
● Naochow I., Kwangtung, China (syn. Pycnonotus aurigaster resurrectus).
● Banggai I., North Borneo (syn. Pycnonotus plumosus hachisukae).
● Madagascar (Sarothrura, subsp. Thalassornis leuconotus).
● Forsyth I., Bass Strait, Australia (syn. Sericornis frontalis).
● Grand Bahama I., Bahamas (Sitta).
● Trinidad (syn. Sporophila intermedia).
● Nias I., Sumatra (subsp. Terpsiphone affinis).
● Terangan I., Aru Is., Indonesia (syn. Todiramphus macleayii).
● Isla Socorro, Colima, Mexico (syn. Troglodytes sissonii).
● Erroneous TL. São Vicente, Cape Verde Is. (= St. Vincent, West Indies) (subsp. Tyto glaucops).
● Vancouver I., British Columbia, Canada (syn. Vireo huttoni).
● Stephens I., Cook Strait, New Zealand (‡syn. Xenicus lyalli).
● Curaçao, Dutch Antilles (subsp. Zonotrichia capensis).
● Tanegashima, south of Kyushu, Japan (subsp. Zosterops japonicus).

Brown-backed Solitaire (oberholseri)
SCI Name: Myadestes occidentalis oberholseri
oberholseri
Prof. Dr Harry Church Oberholser (1870-1963) US ornithologist, Fish & Wildlife Service 1894-1941, Curator of Ornithology, Cleveland Mus. of Natural History 1941-1947, nomenclaturist (syn. Aerodramus spodiopygius assimilis, syn. Caprimulgus macrurus schlegelii, subsp. Collocalia esculenta, Empidonax, subsp. Eurystomus orientalis, subsp. Glaucidium palmarum, subsp. Hypothymis azurea, subsp. Myadestes occidentalis, syn. Progne subis hesperia, subsp. Pseudocolaptes boissoneauii, subsp. Sitta carolinensis, subsp. Thryothorus ludovicianus, subsp. Toxostoma curvirostre, subsp. Treron fulvicollis).