Eurasian Wryneck

SCI Name:  Jynx torquilla
Protonym:  Jynx Torquilla Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.112
Taxonomy:  Piciformes / Picidae / Jynx
Taxonomy Code:  eurwry
Type Locality:  Europe := Sweden ex Fn. Sv.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

JYNX
(Picidae; Ϯ Eurasian Wryneck J. torquilla) L. iynx, iyngis  wryneck  < Gr. ιυγξ iunx, ιυγγος iungos  wryneck, a bird wrought large in ancient superstition, especially as a charm to bring back a strayed lover (the unfortunate bird being tied to a length of string and whirled around)  < ιυζω iuzō  to shout  < ιυ iu  exclamation of surprise (cf. Gr. myth. Iynx, one of the Pierides, who, having failed to best the Muses in a singing contest, was transformed into a bird; in former times it was not a good idea to challenge the Muses!); "53. JYNX.  Rostrum teretiusculum, acuminatum.  Nares concavæ.  Lingua teres, lumbriciformis, longissima, apice mucronata." (Linnaeus 1758); "Jynx Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 112. Type, by monotypy, Jynx torquilla Linné." (Peters 1948, VI, 86). Linnaeus's Jynx comprised a single species. 
Var. Inx, Iunx, Iynx, Junx, Ynx, Yunx, Yunz.
Synon. Torquilla.

jynx
L. iynx, iyngis  wryneck  < Gr. ιυγξ iunx, ιυγγος iungos  wryneck (syn. Jynx torquilla).

torquilla
Med. L. torquilla  name given to the Eurasian Wryneck by Gaza 1476, because of its strange, serpentine head movements < dim. L. torquere to twist; "53. JYNX.  ...  Torquilla.  1. JYNX.  Cuculus subgriseus maculatus, rectricibus nigris fasciis undulatis. Fn. svec. 78. t. 1. f. 78.  Jynx s. Torquilla. Bell. av. 76. a. Gesn. av. 573. Aldr. ornith. l. 12. c. 42. Jonst. av. . . t. 42. Will. orn. 95. t. 22. Raj. av. 44. Rudb. lapp. 66. t. 66. Alb. av. I. p. 11. t. 21. Frisch. av. . . t. 38.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (Jynx).

Torquilla
(syn. Jynx Ϯ Eurasian Wryneck J. torquilla) Med. L. torquilla  wryneck; "Genus Torquillæ   Le Genre du Torcol.  ...  LE TORCOL.  ...  TORQUILLA" (Brisson 1760); based on "Torquilla", "Iynx", and "Verticilla" of earlier authors, and "Jynx torquilla" Linnaeus, 1748.

SUBSPECIES

Eurasian Wryneck (torquilla)
SCI Name: Jynx torquilla torquilla
torquilla
Med. L. torquilla  name given to the Eurasian Wryneck by Gaza 1476, because of its strange, serpentine head movements < dim. L. torquere to twist; "53. JYNX.  ...  Torquilla.  1. JYNX.  Cuculus subgriseus maculatus, rectricibus nigris fasciis undulatis. Fn. svec. 78. t. 1. f. 78.  Jynx s. Torquilla. Bell. av. 76. a. Gesn. av. 573. Aldr. ornith. l. 12. c. 42. Jonst. av. . . t. 42. Will. orn. 95. t. 22. Raj. av. 44. Rudb. lapp. 66. t. 66. Alb. av. I. p. 11. t. 21. Frisch. av. . . t. 38.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (Jynx).

Eurasian Wryneck (tschusii)
SCI Name: Jynx torquilla tschusii
tschusii
Dr Viktor Ritter von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen (1847-1924) Austrian ornithologist, founding editor of Ornithologisches Jahrbuch 1890 (subsp. Carduelis carduelis, syn. Cinclus cinclus aquaticus, syn. Corvus frugilegus, subsp. Emberiza schoeniclus, syn. Falco biarmicus erlangeri, subsp. Jynx torquilla, syn. Otus scops, syn. Poecile palustris italicus, syn. Prunella collaris, subsp. Tetrao tetrix).

Eurasian Wryneck (mauretanica)
SCI Name: Jynx torquilla mauretanica
mauretanica / mauretanicus
L. Mauritanicus  of Mauretania, Moorish  < Mauritania  Morocco.

Eurasian Wryneck (himalayana)
SCI Name: Jynx torquilla himalayana
himalayana / himalayanus
Himalaya Mts. < Sanskrit hima  snow; ālaya  abode.