Greater Antillean Elaenia

SCI Name:  Elaenia fallax
Protonym:  Elainea fallax Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt1 p.76,note
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Tyrannidae / Elaenia
Taxonomy Code:  graela1
Type Locality:  Jamaica.
Author:  Sclater, PL
Publish Year:  1861
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

ELAENIA
(Tyrannidae; Ϯ Yellow-bellied Elaenia E. flavogaster) Gr. ελαινεος elaineos  of olive-oil, oleaginous  < ελαια elaia  olive; "Elænia n. g. ⁶)  Musc. pagana Licht.; brevirostris, — modesta, — aurifrons Pr. Max; — Hylophilus cinerascens ejusd.  Numerosæ americanæ, transitum ad Tyrannides præbentes; Fringillis subsimiles.   ...    ⁶) Rostrum crassiusculum, breve, basi dilatatum, altitudine latius; carina dorsali subacuta, sutura recta.  Membrana narium plumulis tecta.  Vibrissæ tenues.  Alæ mediocres vel sub-breves, rotundatæ, remigib. 3-5 reliqvis longioribus.  Pedes mediocres, digitis brevibus, subliberis.  Olivaceæ-cinerascentes; sæpe subtus, interdum vertice flavæ. — Eλαινιος, oleagineus." (Sundevall 1836); "Elaenia Sundevall, 1836, Vetensk. Akad. Handl., 1835, p. 89. Type, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1855, Cat. Gen. Subgen. Birds, p. 49), Muscicapa pagana Lichtenstein = Pipra flavogaster Thunberg." (Traylor in Peters, 1979, VIII, pp. 26-27).  
Var. Elaenea, Elainea, Elainia, Eloenia, Elana, Elania.

fallax
L. fallax, fallacis  false, deceptive, deceiving  < fallere  to deceive. Epithet most frequently given to forms originally falsely identified, allocated to the wrong genus, or of uncertain relationships.
● "Differs from falki Hart. (Russian Turkestan) in being somewhat paler and duller on the upper side, the white eyebrow-stripe narrower; the crown of the head uniform fawn-colour; the chest paler and with narrow black bars on the flanks" (Sushkin 1927); "Hellmayr [1929] regards fallax as indistinguishable from pallida" (J. Peters 1934, II, 65, footnote) (subsp. Alectoris chukar).
● "I have two examples of a second species of this genus from Jamaica, which is, I suppose, undescribed. Before I had an opportunity of examining Mr. Osburn's specimens I was inclined to believe the latter were Mr. Gosse's E. cotta; but I now find that they are quite different, - Elainea fallax, as I propose to call it" (P. Sclater 1861) (Elaenia).
● "Io credei che questa specie potesse essere riferita al genere Euthyrhynchus, Schleg., che invece ho verificato essere identico al mio genere Timeliopsis" (Salvadori 1878) (Glycichaera).
● "The short crest of the males of this form furnishes the only certain character to distinguish it from huarandosae of the Chinchipe Valley. In ascertaining this measurement, the length of the occipital feathers should be taken rather than the distance from the exposed base of the culmen to the tip of the crest, since stretching or contraction of the skin of the head in preparation of the specimen will give a totally false conclusion" (J. Zimmer 1945) (subsp. Islerothraupis cristata).
● "This species bears a very close resemblance to Z. melodia, of which it is the western representative" (Baird 1854) (subsp. Melospiza melodia).
● "It was often killed by mistake, as it had a habit of perching motionless in low, thick brush or on the branch of a tall tree, where its plain colors made it difficult to identify. For this reason I think its name appropriate" (McGregor 1904) (subsp. Pachycephala philippinensis).
● "On the whole this bird has the appearance of a miniature Dicrurus, and may have to be placed in a new genus" (Ramsay 1885); "Ramsay had written on the label "Rhipidura (?) fallax (Ramsay) should be put in a new genus". This indicates the difficulty this species presents in classification using external characters" (Longmore 1991) (subsp. Symposiachrus axillaris).

SUBSPECIES

Greater Antillean Elaenia (Jamaican)
SCI Name: Elaenia fallax fallax
fallax
L. fallax, fallacis  false, deceptive, deceiving  < fallere  to deceive. Epithet most frequently given to forms originally falsely identified, allocated to the wrong genus, or of uncertain relationships.
● "Differs from falki Hart. (Russian Turkestan) in being somewhat paler and duller on the upper side, the white eyebrow-stripe narrower; the crown of the head uniform fawn-colour; the chest paler and with narrow black bars on the flanks" (Sushkin 1927); "Hellmayr [1929] regards fallax as indistinguishable from pallida" (J. Peters 1934, II, 65, footnote) (subsp. Alectoris chukar).
● "I have two examples of a second species of this genus from Jamaica, which is, I suppose, undescribed. Before I had an opportunity of examining Mr. Osburn's specimens I was inclined to believe the latter were Mr. Gosse's E. cotta; but I now find that they are quite different, - Elainea fallax, as I propose to call it" (P. Sclater 1861) (Elaenia).
● "Io credei che questa specie potesse essere riferita al genere Euthyrhynchus, Schleg., che invece ho verificato essere identico al mio genere Timeliopsis" (Salvadori 1878) (Glycichaera).
● "The short crest of the males of this form furnishes the only certain character to distinguish it from huarandosae of the Chinchipe Valley. In ascertaining this measurement, the length of the occipital feathers should be taken rather than the distance from the exposed base of the culmen to the tip of the crest, since stretching or contraction of the skin of the head in preparation of the specimen will give a totally false conclusion" (J. Zimmer 1945) (subsp. Islerothraupis cristata).
● "This species bears a very close resemblance to Z. melodia, of which it is the western representative" (Baird 1854) (subsp. Melospiza melodia).
● "It was often killed by mistake, as it had a habit of perching motionless in low, thick brush or on the branch of a tall tree, where its plain colors made it difficult to identify. For this reason I think its name appropriate" (McGregor 1904) (subsp. Pachycephala philippinensis).
● "On the whole this bird has the appearance of a miniature Dicrurus, and may have to be placed in a new genus" (Ramsay 1885); "Ramsay had written on the label "Rhipidura (?) fallax (Ramsay) should be put in a new genus". This indicates the difficulty this species presents in classification using external characters" (Longmore 1991) (subsp. Symposiachrus axillaris).

Greater Antillean Elaenia (Hispaniolan)
SCI Name: Elaenia fallax cherriei
cherrieanus / cherriei
George Kruck Cherrie (1865-1948) US field ornithologist, collector, adventurer (subsp. Ammodramus aurifrons, syn. Cacicus haemorrhous, syn. Cyanerpes careuleus microrhynchus, Cypseloides, Elaenia, syn. Myadestes genibarbis montanus, Myrmotherula, Synallaxis (ex Synallaxis rufogularis Cherrie, 1916), Thripophaga, subsp. Tolmomyias sulphurescens).