Northern Flicker

SCI Name:  Colaptes auratus
Protonym:  Cuculus auratus Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.112
Taxonomy:  Piciformes / Picidae / Colaptes
Taxonomy Code:  norfli
Type Locality:  Carolina, i.e., South Carolina.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

COLAPTES
(Picidae; Ϯ Yellow-shafted Flicker C. auratus) Gr. κολαπτης kolaptēs  chiseller  < κολαπτω kolaptō  to chisel, to peck, to strike; "The former group, or the Linnean Pici, it may be again observed, include some species where the bill loses the straight and angulated form, and becomes curved and compressed. These birds, of which the Picus auratus of Linnæus is the representative §, exhibit in this particular an evident approximation to the true Creepers   ...   § This group forms the genus Colaptes of Mr. Swainson." (Vigors 1825); "Colaptes Vigors, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 14, pt. 3, 1826, p. 457, note.  Type, by original designation, Cuculus auratus Linné." (Peters, 1948, VI, p. 100).  
Synon. Chrysopicus, Chrysoptilus, Craugus, Geopicos, Malherbipicus, Nesoceleus, Pediopipo, Pituipicus, Soroplex, Theiopicus, Tridactylocolaptes.

auratum / auratus
L. auratus  gilded, ornamented with gold  < aurum  gold.
● ex “Barbu orangé du Pérou” of Levaillant 1806 (Capito).
● "52. CUCULUS.  ...  auratus.  8. C. cauda subforcipata, gula pectoreque nigris, nucha rubra.  Picus major, alis aureis. Catesb. car. I. p. 18. t. 18.  Habitat in Carolina.  Cauda refert Picum. Avis varia pulchra; rachis remigum primorum aurea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Colaptes).
● ex “Grenat” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Garnet-throated Hummingbird” of Latham 1782 (syn. Eulampis jugularis).
● ex “Merle de Madagascar” of Brisson 1760, and “Tanaombé” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Hartlaubius).
● ex “Merle violet du royaume de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 540, and “Gilded Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Lamprotornis purpureus).
● ex “Loriodor” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 260 (Oriolus).
● ex Charadrius apricarius Linnaeus, 1758, and “Pluvier doré à gorge noire” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Pluvialis apricarius).
● ex “Batara pardo dorado” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 214 (= ♀) (syn. Thamnophilus caerulescens).

SUBSPECIES

Northern Flicker (Cuban)
SCI Name: Colaptes auratus chrysocaulosus
chrysocaulosus
Gr. χρυσος khrusos  gold; καυλος kaulos  quill of a feather, spear shaft.

Northern Flicker (Grand Cayman I.)
SCI Name: Colaptes auratus gundlachi
gundlachi / gundlachii
Johannes Christoph Gundlach (name changed to Juan Cristóbal Gundlach 1876) (1810–1896) German ornithologist, zoologist, entomologist, resident in Cuba 1839-1896 and Puerto Rico 1873, 1875-1876 (Accipiter, Buteogallus, Chordeiles, subsp. Colaptes auratus, Mimus, syn. Psittacara chloropterus, subsp. Quiscalus niger, subsp. Setophaga petechia, Vireo).

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
SCI Name: Colaptes auratus auratus/luteus
COLAPTES
(Picidae; Ϯ Yellow-shafted Flicker C. auratus) Gr. κολαπτης kolaptēs  chiseller  < κολαπτω kolaptō  to chisel, to peck, to strike; "The former group, or the Linnean Pici, it may be again observed, include some species where the bill loses the straight and angulated form, and becomes curved and compressed. These birds, of which the Picus auratus of Linnæus is the representative §, exhibit in this particular an evident approximation to the true Creepers   ...   § This group forms the genus Colaptes of Mr. Swainson." (Vigors 1825); "Colaptes Vigors, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 14, pt. 3, 1826, p. 457, note.  Type, by original designation, Cuculus auratus Linné." (Peters, 1948, VI, p. 100).  
Synon. Chrysopicus, Chrysoptilus, Craugus, Geopicos, Malherbipicus, Nesoceleus, Pediopipo, Pituipicus, Soroplex, Theiopicus, Tridactylocolaptes.

Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
SCI Name: Colaptes auratus [cafer Group]
COLAPTES
(Picidae; Ϯ Yellow-shafted Flicker C. auratus) Gr. κολαπτης kolaptēs  chiseller  < κολαπτω kolaptō  to chisel, to peck, to strike; "The former group, or the Linnean Pici, it may be again observed, include some species where the bill loses the straight and angulated form, and becomes curved and compressed. These birds, of which the Picus auratus of Linnæus is the representative §, exhibit in this particular an evident approximation to the true Creepers   ...   § This group forms the genus Colaptes of Mr. Swainson." (Vigors 1825); "Colaptes Vigors, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 14, pt. 3, 1826, p. 457, note.  Type, by original designation, Cuculus auratus Linné." (Peters, 1948, VI, p. 100).  
Synon. Chrysopicus, Chrysoptilus, Craugus, Geopicos, Malherbipicus, Nesoceleus, Pediopipo, Pituipicus, Soroplex, Theiopicus, Tridactylocolaptes.

Northern Flicker (Guatemalan)
SCI Name: Colaptes auratus mexicanoides
mexicanoides
Specific name Colaptes mexicanus Swainson, 1817 (= subsp. Colaptes cafer); Gr. -οιδης -oidēs  resembling; "6. FAMILIA PICIDÆ genus COLAPTES Swainson.  Col. mexicanoïdes Nob.  ...  Cette espèce a de tels rapports de forme et de coloration avec le Colaptes mexicanus à baguettes rouges, qu'en les comparant en dessous, on n'y trouve d'autre différence que dans les taches du ventre plus nombreuses, moins rondes et plus transversales chez le Mexicanoïde; mais, vu en dessus, ce dernier diffère par le dessus de la tête et du cou, d'un roux brun décidé, par la même nuance couvrant le dos, où les bandes transversales noirs sont beaucoup plus rapprochées et égales au brun qui les sépare" (de La Fresnaye 1844)  (Colaptes).