Caribbean Dove

SCI Name:  Leptotila jamaicensis
Protonym:  Columba jamaicensis Syst.Nat.ed.12 ed.12 p.283
Taxonomy:  Columbiformes / Columbidae / Leptotila
Taxonomy Code:  cardov1
Type Locality:  Jamaica.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1766
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

LEPTOTILA
(Columbidae; Ϯ Caribbean Dove L. jamaicensis) Gr. λεπτος leptos  slender; πτιλον ptilon  feather; "Leptotila, Sw. (fig. 299.b, c. 300.b)  First quill suddenly narrowed; the fourth longest.  Tarsus lengthened, and much longer than the hallux.  All the toes long and slender.  Knees naked.  America only?   P. rufaxilla.  Nat. Lib. v. pl. 24." (Swainson 1837); "Leptotila Swainson, Classif. Bds., 2, 1837, p. 349. Type, by monotypy, P. rufaxilla Nat. Libr., 5, pl. 24 = Peristera rufaxilla Selby (not of Richard and Bernard) = Columba jamaicensis Linné." (Peters 1937, III, 122).   
Var. Leoptotila, Leptoptila, Leptophila.   
Synon. Aechmoptila, Engyptila, Homoptila.

jamaicensis
Jamaica (named Xaymaca  land of springs, by the indigenous Taíno).
● ex “Cream-coloured Buzzard” of Latham 1781 (Buteo).
● ex “Chattering Crow” of Sloane 1725, and Latham 1781, “Cornix Jamaicensis” of Brisson 1760, and “Corneille de la Jamaïque” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Corvus).
● ex “Least Water-Hen” of Edwards 1760 (Laterallus).
● ex “Columba minor ventre candido” of Sloane 1725, and “Pigeon de la Jamaïque” of Brisson 1760 (Leptotila).
● ex “Jamaica Night-Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Nyctanassa violacea).
● ex “Guira querea” of Ray 1713, “Wood-Owle” of Sloane 1725, “Mountain Owl” of Browne 1756, and “Jamaica Goatsucker” of Latham 1783 (Nyctibius).
● ex “Jamaica Shoveler” of Latham 1785 (Oxyura).
● TL. Coast of British Guiana; "Chalcophanes Wagl.   80. Ch. jamaicensis Cab. [nec Daudin]  ...  Lebt an der Küste und findet sich auf den Fahr- und Fusswegen, auf Grasplätzen, in der Umgebung der Coloniestadt, besucht auch häufig in kleineren Gesellschaften die Höfe der Wohnungen." (Cabanis 1849) (syn. Quiscalus lugubris).
● "*Holoquiscalus niger crassirostris (Swainson).¹   ...   ¹ Ridgway and Peters have adopted for this form the subspecific name jamaicensis of Daudin (Traité Elém. Compl. Orn., 2, p. 317, 1800), a procedure that appears to me hardly justifiable.  Daudin based his name by no means  exclusively on Brown's "Merops niger, iride sub-argentea" from Jamaica, but this is merely one of the references which he believed to pertain to one and the same bird, for which "plusieurs îles des Antilles, la Jamaïque et le Labrador" are given as habitat. The only specimens actually seen by Daudin, upon which the description of his Sturnus jamaicensis was probably based, are those sent to the Paris Museum by Maugé from Porto Rico and "St. Thomas" [= H. n. brachypterus].  I do not advocate, however, transferring Daudin's name to the Porto Rico form, and would rather consider it an unidentifiable mixtum compositum." (Hellmay 1937) (?syn. Quiscalus niger).
● ex “Jamaica Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Turdus).

SUBSPECIES

Caribbean Dove (gaumeri)
SCI Name: Leptotila jamaicensis gaumeri
gaumeri
Dr George Franklin Gaumer (1850-1929) US zoologist, botanist, collector resident in Mexico 1884-1929 (subsp. Attila spadiceus, subsp. Chaetura vauxi, subsp. Leptotila jamaicensis).

Caribbean Dove (collaris)
SCI Name: Leptotila jamaicensis collaris
collaris
L. collaris  of the neck  < collum  neck (cf. L. collare, collaris  neck-chain, collar).
● ex “Héoro-taire à collier blanc” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (syn. Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris).
● ex "Grue à collier" of d'Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 865 (syn. Antigone antigone).
● ex “Barbu à collier de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 395, and “Tamatia à collier” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Bucco capensis).
● ex "Mbatuitui collar negro" of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 392 (Charadrius).
● ex “Coucou à Collier Blanc” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 213 (syn. Clamator glandarius).
● ex "Sucrier Gamtocin" or "Sucrier à Cordon Bleue" of Levaillant 1812, pl. 299 (Hedydipna).
● ex “Gobe-mouche à collier du Sénégal” (= ♀) of Brisson 1760 (syn. Platysteira cyanea).
● ex “Pico grueso gargantilla” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 125 (syn. Sporophila caerulescens).
● ex “Gros-Bec d’Angola” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Sporophila).
● ex “Bacbakiri” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 67 (syn. Telophorus zeylonus).
● ex “Martin-pêcheur à collier blanc des Philippines” of Sonnerat 1776 (subsp. Todiramphus chloris).
● ex “Couroucou Rosalba” of Levaillant 1806 (Trogon).

Caribbean Dove (jamaicensis)
SCI Name: Leptotila jamaicensis jamaicensis
jamaicensis
Jamaica (named Xaymaca  land of springs, by the indigenous Taíno).
● ex “Cream-coloured Buzzard” of Latham 1781 (Buteo).
● ex “Chattering Crow” of Sloane 1725, and Latham 1781, “Cornix Jamaicensis” of Brisson 1760, and “Corneille de la Jamaïque” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Corvus).
● ex “Least Water-Hen” of Edwards 1760 (Laterallus).
● ex “Columba minor ventre candido” of Sloane 1725, and “Pigeon de la Jamaïque” of Brisson 1760 (Leptotila).
● ex “Jamaica Night-Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Nyctanassa violacea).
● ex “Guira querea” of Ray 1713, “Wood-Owle” of Sloane 1725, “Mountain Owl” of Browne 1756, and “Jamaica Goatsucker” of Latham 1783 (Nyctibius).
● ex “Jamaica Shoveler” of Latham 1785 (Oxyura).
● TL. Coast of British Guiana; "Chalcophanes Wagl.   80. Ch. jamaicensis Cab. [nec Daudin]  ...  Lebt an der Küste und findet sich auf den Fahr- und Fusswegen, auf Grasplätzen, in der Umgebung der Coloniestadt, besucht auch häufig in kleineren Gesellschaften die Höfe der Wohnungen." (Cabanis 1849) (syn. Quiscalus lugubris).
● "*Holoquiscalus niger crassirostris (Swainson).¹   ...   ¹ Ridgway and Peters have adopted for this form the subspecific name jamaicensis of Daudin (Traité Elém. Compl. Orn., 2, p. 317, 1800), a procedure that appears to me hardly justifiable.  Daudin based his name by no means  exclusively on Brown's "Merops niger, iride sub-argentea" from Jamaica, but this is merely one of the references which he believed to pertain to one and the same bird, for which "plusieurs îles des Antilles, la Jamaïque et le Labrador" are given as habitat. The only specimens actually seen by Daudin, upon which the description of his Sturnus jamaicensis was probably based, are those sent to the Paris Museum by Maugé from Porto Rico and "St. Thomas" [= H. n. brachypterus].  I do not advocate, however, transferring Daudin's name to the Porto Rico form, and would rather consider it an unidentifiable mixtum compositum." (Hellmay 1937) (?syn. Quiscalus niger).
● ex “Jamaica Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Turdus).

Caribbean Dove (neoxena)
SCI Name: Leptotila jamaicensis neoxena
neoxena / neoxenus
Gr. νεος neos  new; ξενος xenos  stranger, guest, visitor.
● "To these nine described species, he added two others apparently new to science, and which he characterized under the names of Ort. neoxenus and affinis; stating at the same time his doubts whether both might not be the females or young males of the imperfectly known species Ort. Sonninii or cristatus." (Vigors 1831) (syn. Colinus cristatus).
● “I have seldom been more gratified by the sight of any species of this beautiful family than I was on the receipt of the bird figured on the accompanying plate, which exhibits characters of the highest interest   ...   Judging from analogy, I should conceive that it is the young male of an aberrant species   ...   The difficulty of assigning a specific name to any species of which the young only has been seen has induced me to propose that of neoxenus (welcome stranger) for the present bird, adult examples of which will be sought for with the highest interest by every ornithologist.” (Gould 1838) (Euptilotis).
● “from the circumstance of its appearance throughout the whole of the southern portion of Australia being hailed as a welcome indication of the approach of spring and its arrival there associated with precisely the same ideas as those popularly entertained respecting our own pretty swallow in Europe” (Gould 1842) (Hirundo).
● "It is without doubt perfectly distinct from any other known species." (Cory 1886); "Cory's term neoxenus, based on a melano-erythristic mutation of frequent occurrence in Ontario and Florida" (Hellmayr & Conover 1948, XIII, 233) (syn. Ixobrychus exilis).
● "Engyptila neoxena, sp. nov.  ...  But two specimens of this interesting bird were taken and both were badly prepared.  It is possible that a larger series would show it to be not specifically separable from E. jamaicensis." (Cory 1887) (subsp. Leptotila jamaicensis).