Gray-headed Bullfinch

SCI Name:  Pyrrhula erythaca
Protonym:  Pyrrhula erythaca Ibis p.389
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Fringillidae / Pyrrhula
Taxonomy Code:  gyhbul2
Type Locality:  Sikkim.
Author:  Blyth
Publish Year:  1862
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PYRRHULA
(Fringillidae; Ϯ Eurasian Bullfinch P. pyrrhula) Late Med. L. pyrrhula  Bullfinch  < Gr. πυρρουλας purrhoulas  worm-eating bird, mentioned by Aristotle, later identified as either the Robin Erithacus or the Bullfinch; "Le genre du Bouvreuil.  Genus Pyrrhulæ" (Brisson 1760): based on "Pyrrhula" and "Rubicilla" of many authors, "Rubrica" of Gessner 1555, "Fringilla sanguinea" of Schwenckfeld 1603, "Fringilla Rubecula" of Frisch 1733-1743, "Coccothraustes sanguinea" of Klein 1750, and "Loxia artubus nigris ..." of Linnaeus 1746; "Pyrrhula Brisson, 1760, Ornithologie, 1, p. 36. Type, by tautonymy, Loxia pyrrhula Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters 1968, XIV, 293). In ornithology the combination pyrrhul- is often used for thick-billed birds, or for those with red breasts. The Eurasian Bullfinch is accused of eating cultivated fruits or nipping buds and is still persecuted in some areas.
Var. Pyhrrhula, Pyrhula, Phyrrula, Pyrrhulas, Pirrula, Pirula, Pitalla, Purrhula.
Synon. Protopyrrhula, Pyrrhia.

pyrrhula
Gr. πυρρουλας purrhoulas  worm-eating bird mentioned by Aristotle, since identified as either the robin Erithacus or the bullfinch; "96. LOXIA.  ...  Pyrrhula.  4. L. artubus nigris, tectricibus caudæ remigumque posticarum albis. Fn. svec. 178.  Rubicilla s. Pyrrhula. Gesn. av. 733. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 31. Jonst. av. . . t. 43. Will. ornith. 130. t. 43. Raj. av. 86. Alb. orn. I. t. 59. 60. Frisch. av. . . t. 2. f. 1. 2. Olin. av. 40.  Habitat in Europæ sylvis, Sorbi disseminator.  Mas subtus ruber, Femina subtus fusco-cinerea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pyrrhula).

erythaca / erythacus
Gr. εριθακος erithakos  unknown small bird mentioned by Aristotle, Hesychius and others, in ornithology usually identified with the European Robin or Redbreast (syn. Ficedula mugimaki, syn. Ficedula platenae, Pyrrhula, syn. Sittasomus sylviellus).

Erythaca
(Muscicapidae; syn. Erithacus Ϯ European Robin E. rubecula) Gr. εριθακος erithakos  unknown small bird mentioned by Aristotle, Hesychius and others, in ornithology usually identified with the European Robin or Redbreast; "1. ERYTHACA (SIALIA) ARCTICA. (Swainson.) The Arctic Blue-bird.  GENUS, Erythaca. Sub-genus, Sialia, SWAINSON.   ...   2. ERYTHACA (SIALIA) WILSONII. (Swainson.) Common Blue-bird.  GENUS, Erythaca. Sub-genus, Sialia, SWAINSON.  ...  This richly-coloured bird, which has all the familiarity of the English Redbreast, without its pugnacious disposition, is a great favourite in America, where it is customary to fix up boxes in the farm-yards and gardens for its accommodation.   ...    19. Genus, ERYTHACA.  ...  Type. —  Sylvia rubecula, AUCT.    OBS. —  I am not, at present, prepared to offer any opinion on the extent of this genus, which seems to be the Fissirostral group of the Saxicolinæ.  Sialia and Petroica are probably two of the sub-genera, the first distinguished by the structure of the wing, the other by that of the foot.  Sylvia rubecula may possibly constitute the passage to the genus Saxicola." (Swainson 1832); "Erythaca Swainson, 1832, Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, Birds, pp. 209, 488.  Type, by original designation, Sylvia rubecula, i.e. Motacilla rubecula Linnaeus, 1758." (JAJ 2021).
Var. Erythraca.

SUBSPECIES

Gray-headed Bullfinch (erythaca)
SCI Name: Pyrrhula erythaca erythaca
erythaca / erythacus
Gr. εριθακος erithakos  unknown small bird mentioned by Aristotle, Hesychius and others, in ornithology usually identified with the European Robin or Redbreast (syn. Ficedula mugimaki, syn. Ficedula platenae, Pyrrhula, syn. Sittasomus sylviellus).

Gray-headed Bullfinch (wilderi)
SCI Name: Pyrrhula erythaca wilderi
wilderi
Revd. George Durand Wilder (1869-1946) US missionary to China 1894-1938 (syn. Cinclus pallasii, subsp. Picoides kizuki, subsp. Pyrrhula erythaca).

Gray-headed Bullfinch (owstoni)
SCI Name: Pyrrhula erythaca owstoni
owstoni
Alan Owston (1853-1915) English merchant, yachtsman, naturalist, collector resident in Japan 1871-1915 (subsp. Aethopyga siparaja, Dendrocopos, Ficedula, subsp. Garrulax canorus, syn. Hydrobates tristrami, Hypotaenidia, subsp. Nucifraga hemispila, subsp. Pyrrhula erythaca, Sittiparus, syn. Terpsiphone atrocaudata, subsp. Todiramphus chloris, subsp. Zosterops semperi).