Madagascar Wagtail

SCI Name:  Motacilla flaviventris
Protonym:  Motacilla flaviventris J.Orn. 8 p.94
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Motacillidae / Motacilla
Taxonomy Code:  madwag1
Type Locality:  Bombetoke Bay, Madagascar.
Author:  Hartlaub
Publish Year:  1860
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MOTACILLA
(Motacillidae; Ϯ White Wagtail M. alba) Late Med. L. (1555) motacilla  pied wagtail  < L. motacilla  wagtail  < Gr. μυττηξ muttēx  type of bird mentioned by Hesychius. The mistaken use of -cilla ­for “tail” in ornithology goes back to mediaeval writers who misread motacilla, Varro’s name for the wagtail ("quod semper movet caudam") and a diminutive from motare to move about or shake (i.e. a little shaker or wagger), as “shaketail”; "99. MOTACILLA.  Rostrum subulatum, rectum: Mandibulis subæqualibus.  Nares obovatæ.  Lingua lacero-emarginata." (Linnaeus 1758);"Motacilla Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 184. Type, by tautonymy, "Motacilla" = M. alba Linnaeus." (Vaurie in Peters 1960, IX, 130). Linnaeus's Motacilla comprised thirty-four species (M. Luscinia, M. Calidris, M. modularis, M. Schœnobænus, M. campestris, M. Curruca, M. Hippolais, M. Salicaria, M. Sylvia, M. Philomela, M. Ficedula, M. alba, M. flava, M. Tiphia, M. Ruticilla, M. hispanica, M. Oenanthe, M. Rubetra, M. Atricapilla, M. Emeria, M. Phœnicurus, M. Erithacus, M. Titys, M. svecica, M. Sialis, M. Velia, M. Spiza, M. Rubecula, M. Troglodytes, M. Regulus, M. Trochilus, M. Acredula, M. Pendulinus, M. minuta). The White Wagtail has a wide range in the Palaearctic, although several subspecies are sometimes treated specifically (e.g. yarrellii, subpersonata, personata, lugens).
Var. Matacilla, Metacilla, Motacilea, Motacitta, Mottacilla, Montacilla, Notacilla, Notorcilla.
Synon. Aguimpia, Atolmodytes, Boarula, Budytes, Calobates, Pallenura, Pecula, Psomophilus, Seisura.

motacilla
L. motacilla  wagtail  < Gr. μυττηξ muttēx  type of bird mentioned by Hesychius (subsp. Myiothlypis fulvicauda, Parkesia).

flaviventer / flaviventre / flaviventris
L. flavus  yellow, golden-yellow; venter, ventris  belly.
● ex “Ortolan à ventre jaune du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 664, fig. 2 (Emberiza).
● ex “Petit Râle de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 847 (Hapalocrex).
● ex "Ypacahá ceja blanca" of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 377 (syn. Hapalocrex flaviventer).
● ex “Coucou à ventre rayé de l’Île Panay” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Hierococcyx sparverioides).
● ex “Tachurí vientre amarillo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 171 (Pseudocolopteryx).
● ex “Tangara tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 290, fig. 2 (syn. Tangara mexicana).