California Gnatcatcher

SCI Name:  Polioptila californica
Protonym:  Polioptila californica Bull.NuttallOrn.Club 6 p.103
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Polioptilidae / Polioptila
Taxonomy Code:  calgna
Type Locality:  Riverside, San Bernardino Co. [= Riverside Co.], California.
Author:  Brewster
Publish Year:  1881
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

POLIOPTILA
(Polioptilidae; Ϯ Blue-grey Gnatcatcher P. caerulea) Gr. πολιος polios  grey; πτιλον ptilon  plumage; "The genus Culicivora (as established by Mr. Swainson in the Zoological Journal for 1827) has the Muscicapa stenura of Temminck for its type, but embraces also the Muscicapa cærulea of Wilson and its affines.  Now these birds belong in reality to two very different groups; the M. stenura being a Tyrannine, while the M. cærulea can hardly be placed within the limits of that family, but must be arranged either with the old-world Muscicapines (as in Bonaparte's Conspectus) or with the Sylvians (asin Gray's Genera of Birds).  Dr. Cabanis in his Ornithologische Notizen, in Wiegmann's Archiv, has rightly separated these two forms, but has unfortunately chosen to call the M. cærulea and its allies Culicivora, and made a new name Hapalura for the M. stenura—the true Culicivora of Swainson.  Under these circumstances Hapalura is a mere useless synonym of Culicivora, Sw., and a new name is required for the group containing M. cærulea, and commonly known as Culicivora.  I therefore propose for it the term Polioptila, from the general grey colouring of the plumage.  The species of this genus that I am at present acquainted with are the following:—   1. POLIOPTILA CÆRULEA (Linn.).   ...   2. POLIOPTILA DUMICOLA (Vieill.).   ...   3. POLIOPTILA LEUCOGASTRA (Max.).   ...   4. POLIOPTILA BILINEATA (Licht.)." (P. Sclater 1855); "Polioptila Sclater, 1855, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 23, p. 11. Type, by subsequent designation (Baird, 1864, Rev. Amer. Birds, 1, p. 67), Motacilla caerulea Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters 1964, X, 448).

polioptila / polioptilus
Gr. πολιος polios grey; πτιλον ptilon plumage.

californiana / californianus / californica
California  < myth. Queen Calafia, who ruled an island paradise rich in gold and peopled by Amazons, created (c. 1500) by Spanish novelist Rodriguez de Montalvo.
● Alta California, Mexico (Aphelocoma, Geococcyx).
● California, USA (syn. Buteo regalis).
● Alta California, New Spain (Callipepla, Gymnogyps).

SUBSPECIES

California Gnatcatcher (californica)
SCI Name: Polioptila californica californica
californiana / californianus / californica
California  < myth. Queen Calafia, who ruled an island paradise rich in gold and peopled by Amazons, created (c. 1500) by Spanish novelist Rodriguez de Montalvo.
● Alta California, Mexico (Aphelocoma, Geococcyx).
● California, USA (syn. Buteo regalis).
● Alta California, New Spain (Callipepla, Gymnogyps).

California Gnatcatcher (pontilis)
SCI Name: Polioptila californica pontilis
pontilis
L. pontilis  belonging to a bridge, bridge-  < pons, pontis  bridge.
● Puente de Ixtla, Morelos, Mexico (syn. Geothlypis poliocephala).
● "The study of these specimens and their relationships with the two contiguous forms shows clearly that Junco oreganus pontilis directly connects Junco townsendi with Junco oreganus thurberi, and that, therefore, the former must be a sub-species of the latter" (Oberholser 1919) (subsp. Junco hyemalis).
● San Francisquito Bay, Baja California, Mexico (subsp. Polioptila californica).

California Gnatcatcher (margaritae)
SCI Name: Polioptila californica margaritae
margaritae
● Margarita Nikandrovna Zilova (fl. 1897) common-law wife of Russian ornithologist Konstantin Davydof (Laurent Raty in litt.) (syn. Alectoris chukar sinaica).
● Margaret Kernochan Pulitzer née Leech (1893-1974) US author, historian, wife of publisher and sponsor Ralph Pulitzer (Batis).
● Margarethe Koenig née Westphal (1865-1943) German field-naturalist, collector, wife of zoologist Prof. A. Koenig (subsp. Chersophilus duponti).
● Gabrielle Maud Vassal née Candler (fl. 1919) collector in tropical China and Indochina (subsp. Cissa chinensis).
● Subsequent spelling by author of subspecific name Coeligena torquata margaretae Zimmer, 1948 (syn. Coeligena torquata margaretae).
● Margaret Hall Holt née Lander (b. 1894) wife of US ornithologist Ernest G. Holt (Conirostrum).
● Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela (subsp. Crypturellus erythropus, subsp. Megascops choliba, subsp. Phalaenopsis brasiliana, subsp. Rallus longirostris, subsp. Xiphorhynchus susurrans).
● Hon. Margaret Mary Fraser (1881-1973) sister of explorer Simon Fraser 14th Lord Lovat (syn. Estrilda paludicola ochrogaster).
● Amelia ‘Daisy’ Woolworth Smith née Smith (b. 1858) US preparator, collector in the Neotropics, wife of naturalist Herbert Huntington Smith (Spanish name margarita for the daisy flower) (subsp. Lampornis amethystinus, subsp. Sporathraupis cyanocephala, subsp. Tangara flava).
● Margaret Fitzell Gilliard née Tifft (1918-2008) wife of US ornithologist E. Thomas Gilliard (subsp. Paradisornis rudolphi).
● Isla Santa Margarita, Baja California, Mexico (subsp. Polioptila californica).
● Anne Louise Marguerite Dorst née Larpent (fl. 1956) wife of French ornithologist Jean Dorst (subsp. Psilopsiagon aurifrons).
● Marguerite Delacour (1860-1954) mother of French ornithologist Jean Delacour (Psittiparus).
● Margaret Boardman Conover (b. 1888) sister of US ornithologist Henry Boardman Conover (subsp. Zentrygon frenata).