European Robin

SCI Name:  Erithacus rubecula
Protonym:  Motacilla Rubecula Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.188
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Muscicapidae / Erithacus
Taxonomy Code:  eurrob1
Type Locality:  Europe [= Sweden, vide Linnaeus, 1746, Fauna Svecica, no. 232] .
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ERITHACUS
(Muscicapidae; Ϯ European Robin E. rubecula) L. erithacus  unknown small winter bird, perhaps the European Robin, that metamorphosed in the summer to another (perhaps a redstart)  < Gr. εριθακος erithakos  unknown small bird, perhaps the European Robin, the Common Redstart, or the Black Redstart; "Rouge-gorges . . .  Erithacus." (Cuvier 1800); “This generic name is first met with on the second table at the end of Cuvier’s Leçons d’Anat. Comp. 1800. It is founded on “Rouge-gorges,” a group-name in the plural. There can be little doubt that Cuvier intended to use the name for the Robin, and in a previous work (‘Tableau elementaire,’ 1798) by the same author there is a reference to the “Rouge-gorge (Motacilla rubecula).” It would perhaps be difficult to justify the use of the name under the strict application of the international rules, but it has had such a long and widespread currency that the Committee have decided to retain it in preference to Dandalus of Boie [1826] ...  which has been used by Hartert and others of late years” (BOU 1915); "Erithacus Cuvier, 1800, Leçons Anat. Comp., 1, tab. 2. Type, by monotypy, Motacilla Rubecula Linnaeus." (Ripley in Peters, 1964, X, p. 32).   
Var. Eritacus, Erythacus.   
Synon. Dandalus, Erythaca, Ficedula, Helminthophaga, Phaeca, Rhondella, Rubecula.

erithacus
● L. erithacus  unknown small bird  < Gr. εριθακος erithakos unknown small bird, perhaps the European Robin or Red-breast, the Common Redstart, or the Black Redstart (Ficedula, syn. Ficedula platenae, subsp. Liosceles thoracicus, syn. Phoenicurus phoenicurus, syn. Sittasomus sylviellus).
● Gr. εριθακος erithakos  this name also referred to a bird said to mimic human sounds, perhaps the Black Redstart, but here associated with the Grey Parrot, famed for being trained to utter human words; "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  erithacus.  20. P. brachyurus canus, temporibus albis, cauda coccinea. Mus. Ad. Fr. I. p. 14.  Psittacus cinereus s. subcæruleus. Aldr. ornith. l. 11. c. 10. Raj. av. 31. Alb. av. I. p. 12. t. 12. Frisch. av. 4. t. 51.  Habitat in Guinea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Psittacus).

rubecula
Med. L. rubecula  redbreast or robin  < dim. L. ruber  red, ruddy.  Epithet also given to unrelated species with red breasts, e.g. Mergus rubecula Palmer, 1836, a new name for the Red-breasted Merganser M. serrator.
● "99. MOTACILLA.  ...  Rubecula.  28. M. grisea, gula pectoreque fulvis. Fn. svec. 226.  Rubecula. Will. orn. 160. t. 38. Raj. av. 78. n. 3. Alb. av. I. p. 49. t. 51. Frisch. av. 3. t. 19. f. 2. Olin av. 16.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (Erithacus).
● ex "Red-breasted Tody” of Latham 1787 (Myiagra).

Rubecula
● (syn. Erithacus Ϯ European Robin E. rubecula) Specific name Motacilla rubecula Linnaeus, 1758; "Fünfte Sippe.  Rothkehlchen. Rubecula, Briss. (Dandalus, Boje.)  ...  1) Das Fichtenrothkehlchen. Rubecula pinetorum, Br. (S. rubecula, Lath., Mot. rubecula, Linn.)" (C. Brehm 1831).  Var. Rubecola.
● (syn. Phoenicurus Ϯ Black Redstart P. ochruros) Med. L. rubecula  robin  < dim. L. ruber  red, ruddy; "Genus Rubecula; Robin.   The robin-redbreast . . .R. familiaris    The black redstart. . .R. tithys    The common redstart . . .R. arborea   ...   The form of these birds is too well known to require a description: it is intermediate between the nightingales (Philomela) and the chats (Rubetra). It presents itself, however, under two slight modifications, which differ a little in their habits; one, exemplified in the common redstart of this country; the other, in the robin: their respective peculiarities are, however, united in the black redstart (R. tithys), which species may accordingly be selected as the standard of the genus Rubecula" (Blyth 1833).

SUBSPECIES

European Robin (melophilus)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula melophilus
melophilus
Gr. μελος melos  song, tune; φιλος philos  loving  < φιλεω phileō  to love  < φιλος philos  lover.

European Robin (rubecula)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula rubecula
rubecula
Med. L. rubecula  redbreast or robin  < dim. L. ruber  red, ruddy.  Epithet also given to unrelated species with red breasts, e.g. Mergus rubecula Palmer, 1836, a new name for the Red-breasted Merganser M. serrator.
● "99. MOTACILLA.  ...  Rubecula.  28. M. grisea, gula pectoreque fulvis. Fn. svec. 226.  Rubecula. Will. orn. 160. t. 38. Raj. av. 78. n. 3. Alb. av. I. p. 49. t. 51. Frisch. av. 3. t. 19. f. 2. Olin av. 16.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (Erithacus).
● ex "Red-breasted Tody” of Latham 1787 (Myiagra).

European Robin (superbus)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula superbus
superba / superbus
L. superbus superb, splendid, magnificent < super above.
● ex “Sougnimbindou” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (Cinnyris).
● ex “Cock Purple-breasted Manakin” of Edwards 1764, and “Cotinga Cordon Bleu” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Cotinga maculata).
● ex “Merle vert d’Angola” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 561 (syn. Lamprotornis australis).
● ex “Superbe” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 632 (Lophorina).
● ex “Aigle moyen de la Guiane” of Mauduyt de la Varenne 1784, and “Autour Huppé” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 26 (syn. Spizaetus ornatus).
● ex “Bec-de-Fer” of Levaillant 1801, pl. 79 (artefact).

European Robin (witherbyi)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula witherbyi
witherbyi
Henry “Harry” Forbes Witherby (1873-1943) English ornithologist (subsp. Emberiza schoeniclus, subsp. Erithacus rubecula).

European Robin (balcanicus)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula balcanicus
balcanica / balcanicus / balchanica
Balkans, south-eastern Europe.

European Robin (valens)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula valens
valens
L. valens, valentis  powerful, strong  < valere  to be strong.

European Robin (hyrcanus)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula hyrcanus
hyrcana / hyrcanus
L. Hyrcanus  Hyrcanian, Caspian  < Hyrcani  a people of the Caspian Sea (Mare Hyrcanus).

European Robin (tataricus)
SCI Name: Erithacus rubecula tataricus
tatarica / tataricus
Tartary, a vague term used in Mediaeval times for the area between China and the Urals (so called from its Tartar or Tatar and Mongol inhabitants).