Olive-backed Tailorbird

SCI Name:  Orthotomus sepium
Protonym:  Orthotomus sepium Trans.Linn.Soc.London(1), 13 p.166
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Cisticolidae / Orthotomus
Taxonomy Code:  olbtai1
Type Locality:  Java; here restricted to Bogor, western Java.
Author:  Horsfield
Publish Year:  1821
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ORTHOTOMUS
(Cisticolidae; Ϯ Olive-backed Tailorbird O. sepium) Gr. ορθος orthos  straight; τομευς tomeus, τομεως tomeōs  knife, edge (cf. ορθοτομεω orthotomeō  to cut straight); "Gen. 34. ORTHOTOMUS.   Rostrum mediocre, rectum, subdepressum, basi triquetrum, attenuatum: culmine basi carinato, versus apicem leviter arcuato.  Mandibula tomiis rectissimis.  Nares basales, magnæ, superne membrana clausæ, inferne rima longitudinali apertæ.  Alæ: remiges, 1 spuria, 2 et 3 abrupte longiores, 4—8 longiores subæquales externe emarginatæ, ceteræ gradatim breviores cuneatæ.  Pedes subelongati.  Digitus exterior a medio ad basin connexus: hallux validus.  Ungues compressi arcuati acuti, postico medio duplo majore.  Acropodia scutulata.   The straightness and slenderness of the bill distinguish Orthotomus from the two former genera [Pomatorhinus, Prinia]; these characters, with the depression and triangular form of the base of the bill, prevent its union with the other genera of this family. I have not been able to determine satisfactorily the affinity of this genus. The slenderness of the bill and its other habits associate it with the Certhiadæ; in the acumen of the bill and the size of the hallux it resembles in some degree the genus Sitta.    Spec. 1. Orthotomus sepium.  ...  Chiglet Javanis." (Horsfield 1821); "Orthotomus Horsfield, 1821, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, p. 165. Type, by monotypy, Orthotomus sepium Horsfield." (Watson in Peters 1986, XI, 173).  
Var. Orthotoma.
Synon. Edela, Sutoria.

sepium
L. sepium  of hedges  < sepes, sepis  hedge.

SUBSPECIES

Olive-backed Tailorbird (sundaicus)
SCI Name: Orthotomus sepium sundaicus
sundaicus
Sunda, a former name for western Java.

Olive-backed Tailorbird (sepium)
SCI Name: Orthotomus sepium sepium
sepium
L. sepium  of hedges  < sepes, sepis  hedge.