MacGregor's Bowerbird

SCI Name:  Amblyornis macgregoriae
Protonym:  Amblyornis macgregoriae AnnualRep.Brit.NewGuinea(1888-1889) App.G p.61
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Ptilonorhynchidae / Amblyornis
Taxonomy Code:  macbow2
Type Locality:  Musgrave Range.
Author:  De Vis
Publish Year:  1890
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AMBLYORNIS
(Ptilonorhynchidae; Ϯ Vogelkop Bowerbird A. inornata) Gr. αμβλυοεις ambluoeis  dull  <  αμβλυς amblus  dull  < αμβλυνω amblunō  to blunt; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "The other species to which I referred above as having been described by Prof. Schlegel in the same paper, was placed by him in the genus Ptilonorhynchus, and named P. inornatus. It, however, differs greatly from the P. violaceus (holosericeus auct.), the only species now representing that genus, in wanting the feathers projecting over the bill and hiding the nostril (one of the principal characters of Ptilonorhynchus), and also in having a very different structure of feather. The sexes, according to Von Rosenberg, are the same in the colour of their plumage, while those of P. violaceus are widely different. I have therefore regarded it as representing a new generic form, which I propose to call AMBLYORNIS,  with the following characters — Bill short, thick, culmen much curved, gonys nearly straight; nostrils partly hidden by the feathers of the forehead, which are soft and flexible. A few short bristles project forwards over the culmen and nostrils, which last are round, open, and partly exposed. Wings moderate, fourth primary longest. Tail very slightly rounded, composed of ten feathers. Toes slender, middle one nearly as long as the tarsus, outer longer than the inner one.  The only species known is  AMBLYORNIS INORNATA.  Ptilonorhynchus inornatus, Schleg., Tijdsch. v. d. Dierk. pt. v. p. 51 (1871)." (Elliot 1872); "Ambylornis Elliot, Ibis, 1872, p. 113.  Type (by monotypy): Ptilorhynchus [sic] inornatus Schl." (Mathews, 1930, Syst. Av. Austral., II, p. 886).
Var. Ambliornis.
Synon. Xanthochlamys.

macgregoria / macgregoriae / macgregorii
● Lady Mary Jane Macgregor née Cocks (d. 1919) second wife of colonial governor and explorer Sir William Macgregor (Amblyornis, syn. Macgregoria pulchra).
● Sir William Macgregor (1846-1919) British colonial administrator, Medical Officer in the Seychelles 1873-1875, Medical Officer/Colonial Secretary in Fiji 1875-1888, Administrator/Lt.-Gov. of British New Guinea 1888-1898, Gov. of Lagos, Nigeria 1899-1902, Gov. of Newfoundland 1904-1909, Gov. of Queensland, Australia 1909-1914, explorer, ornithologist, collector (Cnemophilus).

SUBSPECIES

MacGregor's Bowerbird (mayri)
SCI Name: Amblyornis macgregoriae mayri
mayri
Dr Ernst Walter Mayr (1904-2005) German evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, systematist (syn. Aerodramus hirundinaceus, subsp. Amblyornis macgregoriae, subsp. Athene brama, syn. Burhinus oedicnemus indicus, subsp. Cecropis daurica, subsp. Cincloramphus macrurus, syn. Cinclosoma castanotum, subsp. Culicicapa helianthea, subsp. Ficedula westermanni, subsp. Lewinia pectoralis, subsp. Lonchura spectabilis, subsp. Megalaima virens, syn. Mixornis gularis rubicapilla, subsp. Mulleripicus funebris, syn. Phonygammus keraudrenii purpureoviolaceus, syn. Pogoniulus chrysoconus, Ptiloprora, subsp. Ptilorrhoa leucosticta, Rallicula, syn. Rhinortha chlorophaea, subsp. Roraimia adusta, subsp. Sarcophanops steerii, subsp. Tregellasia leucops, subsp. Trugon terrestris, subsp. Turnix maculosus, subsp. Zapornia pusilla).

MacGregor's Bowerbird (macgregoriae)
SCI Name: Amblyornis macgregoriae macgregoriae
macgregoria / macgregoriae / macgregorii
● Lady Mary Jane Macgregor née Cocks (d. 1919) second wife of colonial governor and explorer Sir William Macgregor (Amblyornis, syn. Macgregoria pulchra).
● Sir William Macgregor (1846-1919) British colonial administrator, Medical Officer in the Seychelles 1873-1875, Medical Officer/Colonial Secretary in Fiji 1875-1888, Administrator/Lt.-Gov. of British New Guinea 1888-1898, Gov. of Lagos, Nigeria 1899-1902, Gov. of Newfoundland 1904-1909, Gov. of Queensland, Australia 1909-1914, explorer, ornithologist, collector (Cnemophilus).

MacGregor's Bowerbird (germana)
SCI Name: Amblyornis macgregoriae germana
germana
(a) L. Germanus  German (i.e. of German New Guinea)  < Germani  Germans.
• AMBLYORNIS SUBALARIS GERMANUS, subsp. n.   Adult female.  Slightly darker and more rufescent than the female of A. subalaris subalaris, the feathers of the throat being uniform  ...  Hab. Rawlinson Mts., German New Guinea.  ...  The existence of a species of Amblyornis in German New Guinea was first indicated by the receipt of the crest of a male, obtained from natives in the Rawlinson Mountains.  So far no complete skin of a male has been obtained, only that of a female." (Rothschild 1910) (subsp. Amblyornis macgregoriae).

(b) L. germana  sister: germanus  brother  < germen, germinis  offshoot  < gignere  to beget.
• “PTILOTIS GERMANA.  sp. nov.  ...  This species comes close to P. ornatus (Gould), on the one hand from the stripes of the chest, but has not the blackish lores of that species; on the other hand it resembles P. flavescens of the same author, but may be distinguished from it by the dull brown of the back, and stripes on the under surface.” (Ramsay 1879) (syn. Ptilotula flavescens).

MacGregor's Bowerbird (kombok)
SCI Name: Amblyornis macgregoriae kombok
kombok
"The name 'kombok' is taken from the local Papuan name for the species in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea" (Schodde & McKean 1973) (OD per Björn Bergenholtz) (subsp. Amblyornis macgregoriae).

MacGregor's Bowerbird (lecroyae)
SCI Name: Amblyornis macgregoriae lecroyae
lecroyae / lecroyana
Mary Kathryn LeCroy née Strother (b. 1935) US ornithologist (subsp. Amblyornis macgregoriae, subsp. Edolisoma mindanense, syn. Euphonia xanthogaster badissima, subsp. Pachycare flavogriseum, subsp. Pachycephalopsis hattamensis).

MacGregor's Bowerbird (nubicola)
SCI Name: Amblyornis macgregoriae nubicola
nubicola / nubicolus
Mod. L. nubicola  cloud-dweller  < L. nubes, nubis  cloud; -cola  dweller  < colere  to inhabit.