Masked Gnatcatcher

SCI Name:  Polioptila dumicola
Protonym:  Sylvia dumicola Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 11 p.170
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Polioptilidae / Polioptila
Taxonomy Code:  masgna1
Type Locality:  Paraguay.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1817
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

POLIOPTILA
(Polioptilidae; Ϯ Blue-grey Gnatcatcher P. caerulea) Gr. πολιος polios  grey; πτιλον ptilon  plumage; "The genus Culicivora (as established by Mr. Swainson in the Zoological Journal for 1827) has the Muscicapa stenura of Temminck for its type, but embraces also the Muscicapa cærulea of Wilson and its affines.  Now these birds belong in reality to two very different groups; the M. stenura being a Tyrannine, while the M. cærulea can hardly be placed within the limits of that family, but must be arranged either with the old-world Muscicapines (as in Bonaparte's Conspectus) or with the Sylvians (asin Gray's Genera of Birds).  Dr. Cabanis in his Ornithologische Notizen, in Wiegmann's Archiv, has rightly separated these two forms, but has unfortunately chosen to call the M. cærulea and its allies Culicivora, and made a new name Hapalura for the M. stenura—the true Culicivora of Swainson.  Under these circumstances Hapalura is a mere useless synonym of Culicivora, Sw., and a new name is required for the group containing M. cærulea, and commonly known as Culicivora.  I therefore propose for it the term Polioptila, from the general grey colouring of the plumage.  The species of this genus that I am at present acquainted with are the following:—   1. POLIOPTILA CÆRULEA (Linn.).   ...   2. POLIOPTILA DUMICOLA (Vieill.).   ...   3. POLIOPTILA LEUCOGASTRA (Max.).   ...   4. POLIOPTILA BILINEATA (Licht.)." (P. Sclater 1855); "Polioptila Sclater, 1855, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 23, p. 11. Type, by subsequent designation (Baird, 1864, Rev. Amer. Birds, 1, p. 67), Motacilla caerulea Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters 1964, X, 448).

polioptila / polioptilus
Gr. πολιος polios grey; πτιλον ptilon plumage.

dumicola
L. dumicola  thicket-dweller  < dumus, dumi  thorn-bush; -cola  -dweller  < colere  to dwell.
● ex “Contramaestre azuladillo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 158 (Polioptila).

Dumecola
(Tyrannidae; ?syn. Terenotriccus † Dumecola ruficauda unidentified) L. dumetum, dumeti  thicket  < dumus, dumi  thorn-bush; -cola  -dweller  < colere  to inhabit; "SYLVICOLA, Sw.  ...  Sub-genera..   .. Aberrant group.  ...  Dumecola, Sw.,  Zosterops, H. and V.,  Mniotilta, Vieil.   ...   22. Sub-genus, DUMECOLA.  (Generis Sylvicolæ.)  Bill wide at the base, the sides compressed, the tip abruptly hooked and notched, the base surrounded with diverging bristles.  Wings moderate, the first, second, and third quills slightly graduated.  Tail divaricated, ending in fine points.  Hinder toe and claw large, as long as the middle; lateral toes unequal.  Claws strong, much hooked.    Type. — D. ruficauda, above olive, beneath fulvous; head, neck, and throat, in the male, cinereous; the tail and upper coverts tinged with fulvous.   OBS. — Having seen but one species of this form, I venture to characterize it with much doubt, since I suspect that the true fissirostral type of Sylvicola is the Muscicapa Dyops of Temminck, Pl. col. 144, f. 1.   Dumecola ruficauda closely resembles a very small Tyrannula, except in its feet, which agree with this genus in being long, — the tarsus measuring, from the knee to the sole, nine-tenths of an inch." (Swainson 1832); "Dumecola Swainson, 1832, Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, Birds, p. 489.  Type, by original designation, Dumecola ruficauda Swainson, 1831." (JAJ 2021).
Var. Dumicola.

SUBSPECIES

Masked Gnatcatcher (berlepschi)
SCI Name: Polioptila dumicola berlepschi
berlepschi
Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig Graf von Berlepsch (1850-1915) German ornithologist, collector specialising in the Neotropical avifauna (Aglaiocercus, Anthocephala, Asthenes, syn. Catharus fuscater, subsp. Ceratopipra erythrocephala, Chaetocercus, subsp. Chamaeza campanisona, subsp. Chlorostilbon lucidus (ex Chlorostilbon splendidus egregius von Berlepsch & Ihering, 1885), subsp. Colius striatus, subsp. Conopias trivirgatus, Cranioleuca, Crypturellus, Dacnis, syn. Dendrocolaptes picumnus validus, syn. Eremophila teleschowi, syn. Eriocnemis vestita, subsp. Hafferia zeledoni, syn. Heliodoxa jacula henryi, syn. Henicorhina leucophrys, Hylopezus, syn. Hylopezus macularius paraensis, Leptasthenura, subsp. Lesbia victoriae, subsp. Merganetta leucogenis, subsp. Mitrephanes phaeocercus, syn. Myiornis auricularis, subsp. Myrmoborus lugubris, subsp. Myrmotherula menetriesii, subsp. Ochthoeca fumicolor, Parotia, Patagioenas, subsp. Phaeochroa cuvierii, syn. Phaethornis syrmatophorus, subsp. Phimosus infuscatus, subsp. Polioptila dumicola, subsp. Pseudotriccus pelzelni, subsp. Pyrrhura melanura, Rhegmatorhina, syn. Sicalis olivascens, Sipia, subsp. Sphenopsis melanotis, syn. Tangara episcopus prysjonesi, subsp. Tangara nigroviridis, subsp. Thamnophilus tenuepunctatus, subsp. Tolmomyias sulphurescens, syn. Turdus albicollis spodiolaemus, subsp. Veniliornis mixtus, subsp. Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus).

Masked Gnatcatcher (dumicola)
SCI Name: Polioptila dumicola dumicola
dumicola
L. dumicola  thicket-dweller  < dumus, dumi  thorn-bush; -cola  -dweller  < colere  to dwell.
● ex “Contramaestre azuladillo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 158 (Polioptila).

Masked Gnatcatcher (saturata)
SCI Name: Polioptila dumicola saturata
saturata
L. saturatus  richly coloured, darker coloured  < satur, satura  rich, copious  < satis  enough.