Parasitic Weaver

SCI Name:  Anomalospiza imberbis
Protonym:  Crithagra imberbis J.Orn. 16 p.412
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Viduidae / Anomalospiza
Taxonomy Code:  parwea1
Type Locality:  East Africa = Mombasa, cf. Grant and Mackworth-Praed, 1945, Bull. Brit. Orn. CI., 66, p. 9.
Author:  Cabanis
Publish Year:  1868
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ANOMALOSPIZA
(Viduidae; † Cuckoo-finch A. imberbis) Gr. ανωμαλος anōmalos  uneven, strange  < negative prefix αν- an- ; ομαλος omalos  even; σπιζα spiza  finch  < σπιζω spizō  to chirp; the Cuckoo-finch or Parasitic Weaver was originally described as a fringillid, then moved to the Ploceidae and the Estrildidae; recent studies show that it belongs with the indigobirds and paradise whydahs; "Through the kindness of Dr. Forbes, Director of the Liverpool Museums, I have been able to examine the types of Serinus rendalli, Tristram, and find that the species is really a Weaver-bird belonging to the subfamily Viduinae, and I should place it in a new genus between Pyromelana and Quelea in my List of the Birds of Africa.  The very remarkable sharp angle at the base of the lower mandible suggests for this genus the name: —  ANOMALOSPIZA, n. gen.  Bill very deep and much compressed at the sides; exposed culmen straight from the tip to the nostrils and extending far back, dividing in two the feathered portion of the forehead.  Cutting-edge of the lower mandible bent into a sharp angle at the base, with the posterior side directed in a straight line with the centre of the nostril.  Structure of the wings and feet the same as in Pyromelana and Quelea.  Type A. rendalli (Tristr.)" (Shelley 1901); "Anomalospiza Shelley, 1901. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl., 12, p. 30.  Type, by original designation, Crithagra rendalli Tristram = Crithagra imberbis Cabanis." (Moreau in Peters, 1962, XV, p. 74).  
Synon. Heliospiza.

imberbe / imberbis
L. imberbis  beardless  < in-  without; barba  beard.
● “The specific name imberbe refers to the entire absence of rictal bristles” (P. Sclater 1857) (Camptostoma).

SUBSPECIES

Parasitic Weaver (imberbis)
SCI Name: Anomalospiza imberbis imberbis
imberbe / imberbis
L. imberbis  beardless  < in-  without; barba  beard.
● “The specific name imberbe refers to the entire absence of rictal bristles” (P. Sclater 1857) (Camptostoma).

Parasitic Weaver (butleri)
SCI Name: Anomalospiza imberbis butleri
butleri
● Arthur Lennox Butler (1873-1939) British tea-planter in Ceylon, collector, Curator of Selangor State Mus., Malaya, Superintendent of Game Preservation in Sudan 1901-1915 (syn. Anomalospiza imberbis, subsp. Ardeotis arabs, syn. Cinnyris osea decorsei, syn. Cisticola cantans concolor, syn. Columba livia schimperi, syn. Eremopterix nigriceps albifrons, syn. Lagonosticta larvata nigricollis, subsp. Phylloscopus castaniceps, subsp. Ptilopachus petrosus, syn. Upupa epops).
● Lt.-Col. Edward Arthur Butler (1842-1916) British Army in Gibraltar, India and South Africa, collector, taxidermist, ornithologist (Accipiter, syn. Anthus chloris, Strix).