Grassland Sparrow

SCI Name:  Ammodramus humeralis
Protonym:  Tanagra humeralis J.Hist.Nat.Paris 2 p.179 pl.34 fig.4
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Passerellidae / Ammodramus
Taxonomy Code:  graspa1
Type Locality:  Cayenne.
Author:  Bosc
Publish Year:  1792
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AMMODRAMUS
(Passerellidae; † Grasshopper Sparrow A. savannarum bimaculatus) Gr. αμμος ammos  sand;
-δρομος -dromos  -racer, -runner  < τρεχω trekhō  to run (cf. Late Gr. δραμω dramō  to run); "SHARP-TAILED FINCH. FRINGILLA CAUDACUTA  ... This new ... and beautiful species is an associate of the former [SEA-SIDE FINCH. FRINGILLA MARITIMA], inhabits the same places, lives on the same food; and resembles it so much in manners" (A. Wilson 1811). "Ammodramus bimaculatus. Above gray, varied with chestnut lines and black spots; beneath ochraceous white, unspotted; breast with a lateral black spot. Table land. Temiscaltipec." (Swainson 1827); "An earlier name for Coturniculus Bonaparte [1838] is found in Ammodramus Swainson [1827, Philosophical Magazine, new series, 1, 435], the real type of which is Ammodramus bimaculatus Swainson —not, as commonly considered, Fringilla caudacuta Wilson (= Oriolus caudacutus Gmelin). This is a case precisely similar to those of Xiphorhynchus and Tiaris, since the first use of Ammodramus is in the original description of Ammodramus bimaculatus, the western continental form of Ammodramus savannarum (Gmelin), antedating by several months the publication of an article [Swainson, 1827, Zoological Journal, 3, 348] wherein Fringilla caudacuta Wilson is given as the type" (Oberholser 1905); "Ammodramus Swainson, 1827, Philos. Mag., new ser., 1, p. 435.  Type, by monotypy, Ammodramus bimaculatus Swainson." (Paynter in Peters, 1970, XIII, p. 68) (see Ammospiza).
Var. Ammodromus, Amodramus.
Synon. Coturniculus, Myiospiza, Myospiza, Palaeostruthus, Passerherbulus, Thryospiza.
• (Passerellidae; syn. Ammospiza † Saltmarsh Sparrow A. caudacuta) "AMMODRAMUS.   ...   Bill moderate, strong, conic, slightly notched; commissure sinuated, the base angulated.  Wings short, rounded; the first and fifth quills equal; the second, third, and fourth equal and longest.  Tail slender, graduated or rounded, the feathers narrow and pointed.  Feet slender, lengthened; nails slender, that of the hind toe rather long.   Type. Fringilla caudacuta. Wilson, 4. Pl. 34. f. 3.   This is a very remarkable group, comprising no less than six species, now before me.  It occurs both in North and South America, and insensibly leads to another genus [Amadina] closely approximating to the European Sparrow, but whose characters I have not yet sufficiently investigated." (Swainson 1827); "Ammodramus Swainson (not of Swainson, June, 1827), Zool. Journ., 3, No. 11, p. 348, Sept.-Dec. 31, 1827—type, by orig. desig., Fringilla caudacuta Wilson = Oriolus caudacutus Gmelin." (Hellmayr, 1938, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. XI, p. 504).

humeralis
Late L. humeralis  of the shoulders  < L. umerus  shoulders.
● ex “Perruche Banks” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Lathamus discolor).
● ex “Fringilla humeralis” of Lichtenstein MS (Peucaea).
● ex “Waalia Pigeon” of Bruce 1790 (syn. Treron waalia).

SUBSPECIES

Grassland Sparrow (humeralis)
SCI Name: Ammodramus humeralis humeralis
humeralis
Late L. humeralis  of the shoulders  < L. umerus  shoulders.
● ex “Perruche Banks” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Lathamus discolor).
● ex “Fringilla humeralis” of Lichtenstein MS (Peucaea).
● ex “Waalia Pigeon” of Bruce 1790 (syn. Treron waalia).

Grassland Sparrow (pallidulus)
SCI Name: Ammodramus humeralis pallidulus
pallidula / pallidulus
L. pallidulus  somewhat pale, palish  < dim. pallidus  pale  < pallere  to be pale.

Grassland Sparrow (xanthornus)
SCI Name: Ammodramus humeralis xanthornus
xanthornus
Gr. ξανθος xanthos  yellow; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird.
● ex “Carouge de Méxique” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 5, fig. 1 (syn. Icterus nigrogularis).
● "49. CORACIAS.  ...  Xanthornus.  6. C. flava, capite remigibusque primoribus nigris.  Icterus indicus, capite nigro. Edw. av. 77. t. 77.  Xanthornus major, nigro varius. Broun. jam. 477.  Pica luteo nigra varia. Catesb. car. 3. p. 5. t. 5.  Habitat in America." (Linnaeus 1758) (Oriolus).

Grassland Sparrow (tarijensis)
SCI Name: Ammodramus humeralis tarijensis
tarijae / tarijensis
Tarija, Bolivia.