Northern Red Bishop

SCI Name:  Euplectes franciscanus
Protonym:  Loxia franciscana Schrift.Ges.Nat.Freund.Berlin 9 p.332 pl.9 cdP
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Ploceidae / Euplectes
Taxonomy Code:  orabis1
Type Locality:  Accra.
Author:  Isert
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

EUPLECTES
(Ploceidae; Ϯ Southern Red Bishop E. orix) Gr. ευ eu  fine, good; Mod. L. plectes  weaver  < Gr. πλεκω plekō  to plait; "DIVISIONS OR SUB-GENERA.  MALIMBUS. Vieil.  ...  PLOCEUS. Cuv.  ...  EUPLECTES. Nob.  Bill of Ploceus. Toes and claws very slender. The greater quills scarcely longer than the lesser; spurious quill very minute.  Type, Loxia Orix. L.  ...  The Weaving Birds, confined to the hotter regions of the old world, are chiefly found in Africa, where they represent the Hangnests (Icterinæ) of America: an analogy long since remarked by Buffon. Both these tribes astonish us by the consummate skill with which they fabricate their nests: but the intelligence displayed by the African Weavers is still more wonderful." (Swainson 1829); "Euplectes Swainson, Zool. Illustr. 2nd ser. i, text to pl. 37, 1929 [sic = 1829].  Type by original designation, Loxia orix Linn." (W. Sclater, 1930, Syst. Av. Aethiop., II, p. 759).
Var. Eupodes.
Synon. Boetticherella, Chera, Coliuspasser, Coliostruthus, Diatropura, Drepanoplectes, Groteiplectes, Hyperanthus, Niobe, Niobella, Oryx, Paraplectes, Penthetria, Penthetriopsis, Phlogoplectes, Pyromelana, Tachyplectes, Taha, Urobrachya, Xanthomelana.

franciscana / franciscanus
● Rio São Francisco, Bahia/ Minas Gerais, Brazil (Arremon, Knipolegus, Xiphocolaptes).
● Mod. L. Franciscanus  Franciscan (alluding to the scarlet robes worn by the Franciscan order) (Euplectes).