Dickinson's Kestrel

SCI Name:  Falco dickinsoni
Protonym:  Falco dickinsoni Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt2 p.248
Taxonomy:  Falconiformes / Falconidae / Falco
Taxonomy Code:  dickes1
Type Locality:  Chibasa, Shire River, Nyasaland.
Author:  Sclater, PL
Publish Year:  1864
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).

dickinsoni
● Dr John Dickinson (1832-1863) British physician, missionary to Nyasaland (Falco).
● Prof. Joshua Clifton Dickinson, Jr. (1916-2009) US palaeontologist, ornithologist (‡Glaucidium).
● Edward Clive Dickinson (b. 1938) British businessman, ornithologist, nomenclaturist, publisher (Aves Press), editor of 'The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth edn. 2013-2014' (subsp. Pomatorhinus phayrei).