Long-tailed Finch

SCI Name:  Poephila acuticauda
Protonym:  Amadina acuticauda Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1839) (1839), Pt7 no.82 p.143
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Estrildidae / Poephila
Taxonomy Code:  lotfin1
Type Locality:  Northwestern Australia [= Derby] . (Yellow-billed.)
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1840
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

POEPHILA
(Estrildidae; Ϯ Long-tailed Finch P. acuticauda) Gr. ποιη poiē  grass; φιλος philos  lover; "inhabit the open plains bordering streams, and feed on the seeds of various grasses and other plants" (Gould 1865); "Genus POËPHILA.  Gen. char.— Rostrum ad basin tumidum, et igitur fere tam latum et profundum quam longum.  Alæ mediocres, remige prima parvula, secunda tertia quarta et quinta inter se fere æqualibus; digitis gracilibus, medio externis longiore, illis inter se æqualibus; digito postico, medio valde breviore.  Cauda cuneiformis, rectricibus duabus intermediis productis.  This form is nearly allied to Erythura and Estrelda.  Type, P. acuticauda (Amadina acuticauda, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 143)." (Gould 1842).
Synon. Alisteranus, Neopoephila.

acuticauda
L. acutus  sharp-pointed  < acuere  to sharpen to a point; cauda  tail.

SUBSPECIES

Long-tailed Finch (hecki)
SCI Name: Poephila acuticauda hecki
hecki
Dr Ludwig Franz Friedrich Georg Heck (1860-1951) German biologist, Director of Berlin Zoological Gardens 1888-1931 (syn. Amazona lilacina, subsp. Casuarius bennetti, syn. Crax rubra, subsp. Poephila acuticauda).

Long-tailed Finch (acuticauda)
SCI Name: Poephila acuticauda acuticauda
acuticauda
L. acutus  sharp-pointed  < acuere  to sharpen to a point; cauda  tail.