Grosbeak Weaver

SCI Name:  Amblyospiza albifrons
Protonym:  Pyrrhula albifrons Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt1 no.8 p.92
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Ploceidae / Amblyospiza
Taxonomy Code:  growea1
Type Locality:  Algoa Bay.
Author:  Vigors
Publish Year:  1831
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AMBLYOSPIZA
(Ploceidae; Ϯ Thick-billed Weaver A. albifrons) Gr. αμβλυς amblus  blunt  < αμβλυνω amblunō  to blunt; σπιζα spiza  finch  < σπιζω spizō  to chirp; "Obs. Pyrrhula albifrons Vig., e Caffraria allata, hodie in genus Pyrenestes relata est, a quo nimis differt; nec in aliud genus cognitum referri potest; novum igitur proponimus:  Amblyospitza, rostro maximo, crassissimo culmine arcuato, subcompresso; angulo frontali elongato, lineari; naribus subtectis; tomio superiore mutica  ...  (Typus P. albifrons Vig., Pyrenestes frontalis Smith Ill. 61, 62.)" (Sundevall 1850); "Amblyospitza (misprint for Amblyospiza) Sundevall, Œfv. K. Sv. Vet.-Akad. Förh. for 1850, p. 98.  Type by original designation, Pyrrhula albifrons Vig." (W. Sclater, 1930, Syst. Av. Aethiop., II, p. 753).      
Var. Amblyospitza (original spelling).   
Synon. Coryphegnathus, Goniaphea.

albifrons
L. albus  white; frons, frontis  forehead, brow.
● ex “White-fronted Owl” of Latham 1787 (syn. Aegolius acadicus).
● ex “White-crowned Parrot” of Latham 1781 (Amazona).
● ex “Cola aguda vientre de canela” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 234 (Donacospiza).
● ex “White-fronted Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Miro australis).
● ex “White-faced Manakin” of Edwards 1764 (Pithys).

SUBSPECIES

Grosbeak Weaver (capitalba)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons capitalba
capitalba / capitalbus
L. capitalis  relating to the head  < caput, capitis  head; albus  white.

Grosbeak Weaver (saturata)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons saturata
saturata
L. saturatus  richly coloured, darker coloured  < satur, satura  rich, copious  < satis  enough.

Grosbeak Weaver (melanota)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons melanota
melanota / melanotha
Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; -νωτος -nōtos  -backed  < νωτον nōton  back.

Grosbeak Weaver (unicolor)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons unicolor
unicolor
L. unicolor, unicoloris  plain, uniform, of one colour  < uni-  single-  < unus  one; color, coloris  colour.
● ex “Tanagra unicolor” of Lichtenstein MS (Haplospiza).
● ex “Perroquet Lori unicolore” of Levaillant 1801-1805 (unident.).

Grosbeak Weaver (montana)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons montana
montana
L. montanus of the mountains, mountain-, mountaineer < mons, montis mountain.
● ex “Lesser Pied Mountain Finch” or “Brambling” of Willughby 1676, and Morton 1712, and “Mountain Bunting” of Latham 1783 (syn. Fringilla montifringilla).
● Jamaica; ex “Mountain Partridge” of Sloane 1725, and “Columba minor fulva” of Edwards 1751 (Geotrygon).
● Namaqualand; ex “Traquet Montagnard” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 184, fig. 2 (syn. Oenanthe monticola).
● ex “Perdrix de montagne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 136 (syn. Perdix perdix).
● Montana, USA (subsp. Pinicola enucleator).
● ex “Mountain Owl” of Latham 1787 (syn. Strix nebulosa).
● ex “Berg-gans” of Kolbe 1719, and “Mountain Goose” of Latham 1785 (?syn. Tadorna cana).

Grosbeak Weaver (tandae)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons tandae
tandae / tando
N’Dalla Tando (= Vila Salazar), northern Angola.

Grosbeak Weaver (kasaica)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons kasaica
kasai / kasaica / kasaicus
Kasai Province, Belgian Congo (= Zaïre = DR Congo).

Grosbeak Weaver (maxima)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons maxima
maxima / maximi
L. maximus greatest < super. magnus great.

Grosbeak Weaver (albifrons)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons albifrons
albifrons
L. albus  white; frons, frontis  forehead, brow.
● ex “White-fronted Owl” of Latham 1787 (syn. Aegolius acadicus).
● ex “White-crowned Parrot” of Latham 1781 (Amazona).
● ex “Cola aguda vientre de canela” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 234 (Donacospiza).
● ex “White-fronted Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Miro australis).
● ex “White-faced Manakin” of Edwards 1764 (Pithys).

Grosbeak Weaver (woltersi)
SCI Name: Amblyospiza albifrons woltersi
woltersi
Hans Edmund Wolters (1915-1991) German ornithologist (syn. Amblyospiza albifrons, subsp. Calandrella brachydactyla, syn. Serinus serinus, subsp. Spermestes bicolor, syn. Vidua regia).