Familiar Chat

SCI Name:  Oenanthe familiaris
Protonym:  Motacilla familiaris Gen.Zool.[Shaw] 13 pt1 p.241
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Muscicapidae / Oenanthe
Taxonomy Code:  famcha1
Type Locality:  Southern Africa, ex Levaillant; restricted to Table Mountain, southwestern Cape Province, by Macdonald, 1957, Contrib. Orn. W. South Africa, Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), p. 129.
Author:  Wilkes
Publish Year:  1817
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

OENANTHE
(Muscicapidae; Ϯ Northern Wheatear O. oenanthe) Specific name Motacilla oenanthe Linnaeus, 1758; "MOTTEUX, Œnanthe.  Motacilla, Linn.  Silvia et Turdus, Lath.  Bec plus haut que large à la base, droit, très-fendu; mandibule supérieure un peu obtuse, courbée et échancrée à la pointe; l'inférieure plus courte, droite, pointue. — Ailes à penne batarde; la deuxième remige la plus longue.   Esp. Motteux, Buff. — Turdus leucurus, Lath." (Vieillot 1816); "Oenanthe Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 43. Type, by monotypy, "Motteux" Buffon = Turdus leucurus Gmelin." (Ripley in Peters 1964, X, 121); "OENANTHE Vieillot, 1816  F — "Le Motteux" Buffon; type by tautonymy = Motacilla oenanthe Linnaeus, 1758" (Dickinson & Christidis (eds.) 2014, 610).
Var. Oeanthe, Ananthe, Aenante, Aenanthe.
Synon. Campicola, Cercomela, Leucotoa, Penthodyta, Pentholaea, Philothamna, Saxicola, Sciocincla, Vitiflora.

oenanthe
L. oenanthe  wheatear  < Gr. οινανθη oinanthē  unidentified bird mentioned by Aristotle, from its appearance in the vintage season  < οινη oinē  vine; ανθος anthos  bloom, associated with the wheatear by later authors; "99. MOTACILLA. ...  Oenanthe.  17. M. dorso cano, fronte alba, oculorum fascia nigra. Fn. svec. 217.  Oenanthe s. Vitiflora. Jonst. av. 123. t. 45. f. 13. Will. orn. 168. t. 41. f. 4. Raj. av. 75. n. 1. Alb. av. I. p. 53. t. 55.  β. Motacilla subtus pallida, rectricibus introrsum albis, dorso undulato. Fn. svec. 219.  Oenanthes vitifloræ femina. Alb. av. 3. p. 50. t. 54.  Habitat in Europæ apricis lapidosis.  Sexu & ætate varia: cessante nocturno frigore advenit." (Linnaeus 1758) (Oenanthe).

familiare / familiaris
L. familiaris  familiar, friendly  < familia  family, household.
● Von Kittlitz 1831, remarked that the Bonin White-eye was the first bird that greeted visitors to those islands, where it was the equivalent of the House Sparrow (“Dieser schöne kleine Vogel ist der, welcher dem Besucher von Boninsima zumeist und gewöhnlich auch zuerst ins Auge fällt, in vieler Hinsicht der Repräsentant unsrer Sperlinge daselbst”) (Apalopteron).
● Linnaeus 1757, documented the Finnish custom of using tame Eurasian Treecreepers, and other birds, to destroy insects in houses (Tommy Tyrberg in litt.); "59. CERTHIA.  ...  familiaris.  1. C. supra grisea, subtus alba, remigibus fuscis: decem macula alba.  Certhia. Fn. svec. 213. Gesn. av. 251. Aldr. ornith. l. 12. c. 44. Bell. av. 98. a. Will. orn. 100. t. 23. Raj. av. 47. n. 5. Alb. av. 3. p. 24. t. 25. Frisch. av. 39. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ arboribus reptans; ova 20. parit.  Remiges 4 - 14. macula transversa alba notatæ." (Linnaeus 1758) (Certhia).
● ex "Traquet Famillier" of Levaillant 1806, pl. 183, and "Familiar Warbler" of Latham 1822 (Oenanthe).

SUBSPECIES

Familiar Chat (falkensteini)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris falkensteini
falkensteini
Dr Julius August Ferdinand Falkenstein (1842-1917) German surgeon, collector in tropical Africa 1873-1876 (Chlorocichla, subsp.Cinnyris venustus, subsp. Oenanthe familiaris).

Familiar Chat (omoensis)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris omoensis
omo / omoensis
Omo River, southwestern Ethiopia.

Familiar Chat (modesta)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris modesta
modesta / modestum / modestus
L. modestus  plain, modest, unassuming  < modus  measure, standard.

Familiar Chat (angolensis)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris angolensis
angolae / angolense / angolensis / angolica / angolicus
Angola (Portuguese Angola  <  Ngola a title of the kings of Ndongo).
● ex “Rollier d’Angola” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Coracias caudatus).
● ex “Angola Vulture” of Latham 1781 (Gypohierax).
● ex “Apiaster angolensis” of Brisson, “Petit Guêpier vert et bleu à queue étagée” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Angola Bee-eater” of Latham 1782 (?syn. Merops pusillus).
● ex “Linotte d’Angola” of Brisson 1760, and “Angola Finch” of Latham 1783 (syn. Ochrospiza atrogularis).
● ex “Fringilla ventre caeruleo. Blue-belly’d Finch” of Edwards 1750 (Uraeginthus).
● Erroneous TL. Angola (= Brazil); ex “Black Gros-beak” of Edwards 1764 (Sporophila).

Familiar Chat (galtoni)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris galtoni
galtoni
Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) English scientist, founder of eugenics, traveller and explorer in Egypt, Syria and Damaraland (subsp. Oenanthe familiaris).

Familiar Chat (hellmayri)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris hellmayri
hellmayri
Carl Eduard Hellmayr (1878-1944) Austrian/US ornithologist (subsp. Accipiter fasciatus, subsp. Anthoscopus caroli, Anthus, subsp. Attila rufus, subsp. Campylorhamphus trochilirostris, subsp. Catharus fuscater, subsp. Celeus elegans, syn. Chloroceryle americana cabanisii, Cinnyris, syn. Conopophaga lineata, Cranioleuca, syn. Crypturellus strigulosus, subsp. Cyanerpes caeruleus, subsp. Dendrocincla tyrannina, Drymophila, subsp. Empidonax occidentalis, subsp. Geositta cunicularia, syn. Geositta rufipennis fasciata, subsp. Hemithraupis flavicollis, subsp. Isleria hauxwelli, subsp. Lepidocolaptes angustirostris, subsp. Leptopogon superciliaris, subsp. Leptotila rufaxilla, Mecocerculus, subsp. Myioborus miniatus, subsp. Myiozetetes cayanensis, syn. Nonnula rubecula, subsp. Oenanthe familiaris, syn. Petronia petronia, subsp. Piaya cayana, syn. Pitangus sulphuratus, subsp. Poecile palustris, subsp. Pyriglena leuconota, subsp. Rhynchocyclus brevirostris, subsp. Saltator aurantiirostris, syn. Selenidera gouldii, subsp. Sporophila caerulescens, Synallaxis, subsp. Tanygnathus megalorhynchos, subsp. Terenotriccus erythrurus, syn. Thamnophilus schistaceus dubius, subsp. Tyto alba, subsp. Xenops tenuirostris).

Familiar Chat (actuosa)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris actuosa
actuosa / actuosus
L. actuosus  very active, lively  < actus  motion, impulse  < agere  to set in motion.

Familiar Chat (familiaris)
SCI Name: Oenanthe familiaris familiaris
familiare / familiaris
L. familiaris  familiar, friendly  < familia  family, household.
● Von Kittlitz 1831, remarked that the Bonin White-eye was the first bird that greeted visitors to those islands, where it was the equivalent of the House Sparrow (“Dieser schöne kleine Vogel ist der, welcher dem Besucher von Boninsima zumeist und gewöhnlich auch zuerst ins Auge fällt, in vieler Hinsicht der Repräsentant unsrer Sperlinge daselbst”) (Apalopteron).
● Linnaeus 1757, documented the Finnish custom of using tame Eurasian Treecreepers, and other birds, to destroy insects in houses (Tommy Tyrberg in litt.); "59. CERTHIA.  ...  familiaris.  1. C. supra grisea, subtus alba, remigibus fuscis: decem macula alba.  Certhia. Fn. svec. 213. Gesn. av. 251. Aldr. ornith. l. 12. c. 44. Bell. av. 98. a. Will. orn. 100. t. 23. Raj. av. 47. n. 5. Alb. av. 3. p. 24. t. 25. Frisch. av. 39. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ arboribus reptans; ova 20. parit.  Remiges 4 - 14. macula transversa alba notatæ." (Linnaeus 1758) (Certhia).
● ex "Traquet Famillier" of Levaillant 1806, pl. 183, and "Familiar Warbler" of Latham 1822 (Oenanthe).