Great Rufous Sparrow

SCI Name:  Passer motitensis
Protonym:  Passer motitensis Rep.Exped.Centr.Afr. p.50
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Passeridae / Passer
Taxonomy Code:  grrspa1
Type Locality:  60 miles south of Orange River ; restricted to near Hopetown, northern Cape Province by Macdonald (1957, Contr. Orn. W. South Africa, p. 157).
Author:  Smith, A
Publish Year:  1836
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PASSER
(Passeridae; Ϯ House Sparrow P. domesticus) L. passer, passeris  sparrow; "Rostro in apicem crassum & brevem exeunte; { Rostri basi capiti latitudine multo cedente. . . . . .Passer. Genus 33.   ...   XXXIII. Genus Passerinum.  Le genre du Moineau.  ...  1. LE MOINEAU FRANC  ...  PASSER DOMESTICUS.  ...  Ils se nourrissent de graines & d'Insectes. Ils font leur nid dans les trous des murs." (Brisson 1760): based on "Passer" and "Passer domesticus" of many authors (Brisson lists over 20 species and forms of 'Moineau'); "Passer Brisson, 1760, Orn., 1, p. 36 [; 3, p. 71]. Type, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, ed. 1, p. 46), Fringilla domestica Linnaeus." (Greenway in Peters 1962, XV, 8).  No thanks to positive introduction, the House Sparrow, with a natural Palaearctic and western Indomalayan range, is now found throughout the world as a commensal of man. If the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittiformes) and the tyrants and allies (Subosciniformes) are separated from the Passeriformes sens. lat. the remaining species could be titled Osciniformes.
Synon. Ammopasser, Auripasser, Caffropasser, Chrysospiza, Corospiza, Leucophrya, Megapasser, Pseudostruthus, Pyrgita, Pyrgitopsis, Salicipasser, Sorella.

passer
L. passer, passeris  sparrow.

motitensis
Tswana township of Motito (or Motitong), near Old Latakoo, 135 miles north of the Orange River, South Africa.  According to A. Smith 1848, the original specimens of the Great Sparrow were collected about sixty miles to the south of the Orange River.  Clinning 1989, records that William Burchell 1822, listed Molito, in the Kuruman district, as one of his collecting localities (Passer).

SUBSPECIES

Great Rufous Sparrow (benguellensis)
SCI Name: Passer motitensis benguellensis
benguelae / benguelensis / benguellensis
Benguella (= Benguela), Angola.

Great Rufous Sparrow (motitensis)
SCI Name: Passer motitensis motitensis
motitensis
Tswana township of Motito (or Motitong), near Old Latakoo, 135 miles north of the Orange River, South Africa.  According to A. Smith 1848, the original specimens of the Great Sparrow were collected about sixty miles to the south of the Orange River.  Clinning 1989, records that William Burchell 1822, listed Molito, in the Kuruman district, as one of his collecting localities (Passer).

Great Rufous Sparrow (subsolanus)
SCI Name: Passer motitensis subsolanus
subsolana / subsolanum / subsolanus
L. subsolanus  eastern, oriental, the east wind personified  < sub  beneath; sol, solis  sun.