Brown Falcon

SCI Name:  Falco berigora
Protonym:  Falco Berigora Trans.Linn.Soc.London(1), 15(1826) p.184
Taxonomy:  Falconiformes / Falconidae / Falco
Taxonomy Code:  brofal1
Type Locality:  New South Wales.
Author:  Vigors & Horsfield
Publish Year:  1827
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

FALCO
(Falconidae; † Eurasian Hobby F. subbuteo) Late L. falco, falconis  falcon  < L. flectere  to curve (alluding to the curved talons) (cf. Late Gr. φαλκων phalkōn, φαλκωνος phalkōnos  falcon). "41. FALCO.  Rostrum aduncum, basi cera instructum.  Caput pennis arcte tectum.  Lingua bifida.  ...  Aquilæ dictæ fuere Falcones majores, pedibus hirsutis.  ...  Falconaria avs ad aucupium & venatum instruendi Falcones transiit in Scientiam; inter auctores plurimos eminet d'Esparon Falconaria. Francs. 1617. quart." (Linnaeus 1758). This genus is the second diagnosed in avian nomenclature. "Falco Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 88.  Type, by subsequent designation, Falco subbuteo Linné. (A. O. U. Committee, 1886.)" (Peters, 1931, I, 284); "Falco Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1, p. 88, 1758—type, by subs. desig. (Brit. Orn. Un-Comm., List of British Birds, p. 149, 1915),² Falco Subbuteo Linnaeus.   ...   ² The A. O. U. Committee (1886), though generally credited with designating the genotype, unfortunately failed to do so, but merely determined Falco subbuteo as type by employing the inadmissable method of elimination." (Hellmay & Conover, 1949, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (4), p. 293); "Falco Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 88. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, p. 3), "F. peregrinus L." = Falco peregrinus Tunstall." (Amadon in Peters, 1979, I, 2nd ed., p. 400); "FALCO Linnaeus, 1758  M - Falco subbuteo Linnaeus, 1758; type by subsequent designation (A.O.U., 1886, Check List, 2nd ed., p. 193)." (Dickinson and Remsen (eds.), H. & M. Complete Checklist, 4th ed., 2013, 1 (Non-passerines), p. 349).  Linnaeus's Falco comprised twenty-six species (F. Melanætus, F. Chrysaëtus, F. fulvus, F. canadensis, F. rusticolus, F. barbarus, F. cærulescens, F. Albicilla, F. Pygargus, F. Milvus, F. forficatus, F. gentilis, F. Subbuteo, F. Buteo, F. Tinnunculus, F. sufflator, F. cachinnans, F. sparverius, F. columbarius, F. Lanarius, F. Haliætus, F. Gyrfalco, F. apivorus, F. æruginosus, F. palumbarius, F. Nisus).
Synon. Aegypius, Aesalon, Archifalco, Asturaetus, Cataractes, Cenchris, Cerchneis, Chiquera, Confusiana, Cuvieria, Dendrofalco, Dissodectes, Dorcadothera, Erythropus, Eufalco, Euhierax, Falcolus, Falcula, Gennadas, Gennaia, Gyrfalco, Harpe, Hierax, Hierofalco, Hypotriorchis, Ieracidea, Lanarius, Lithofalco, Megacerchneis, Neofalco, Nesierax, Notofalco, Palifalco, Pannychistes, Planofalco, Plioaetus, Pnigohierax, Poecilornis, Pontotriorchis, Rhynchodon, Rhynchofalco, Tichornis, Tinnunculus, Tolmerus, Turumtia.

falco
Late L. falco, falconis  falcon  < L. flectere  to curve; the “Sekretär” of Gravenhorst 1817 (syn. Sagittarius serpentarius).

berigora
Austraboriginal name Berigora for the Brown Falcon, apparently from its cackling cries (Nash 2016 per Björn Bergenholtz) (Falco).

SUBSPECIES

Brown Falcon (novaeguineae)
SCI Name: Falco berigora novaeguineae
novaeguinae / novaeguineae / novaeguineensis
L. novus  new; Mod. L. Guineensis  Guinean  < Guinea  Guinea, West Africa; i.e. New Guinea (first named Nueva Guinea in 1545 by the Spanish explorer Ortíz de Retes, because aborigines in the Mamberano region reminded him of those he had encountered earlier in African Guinea).
● ex “Lori noir de la Nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Black Lory” of Latham 1781 (syn. Chalcopsitta atra).
● ex “Choucas de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 269, and “New-Guinea Crow” of Latham 1781 (syn. Coracina striata).
● Erroneous TL. New Guinea (= New South Wales); ex “Grand Martin-pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1766, “who had received the specimen from Cook’s botanist, Joseph Banks, at Cape Town. Sonnerat had never travelled to either New Guinea or Australia” (Robin 2001) (Dacelo).
● ex “Crabier de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 926, “Crabier noir” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “New Guinea Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Egretta sacra).
● ex “Caille de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776, and “New Guinea Quail” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

Brown Falcon (berigora)
SCI Name: Falco berigora berigora
berigora
Austraboriginal name Berigora for the Brown Falcon, apparently from its cackling cries (Nash 2016 per Björn Bergenholtz) (Falco).

Brown Falcon (occidentalis)
SCI Name: Falco berigora 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).