Pied Currawong

SCI Name:  Strepera graculina
Protonym:  Corvus Graculinus J.voy.NewS.Wales[White] p.251
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Artamidae / Strepera
Taxonomy Code:  piecur1
Type Locality:  [New South Wales].
Author:  Shaw
Publish Year:  1790
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

STREPERA
(Artamidae; Ϯ Pied Currawong S. graculina) Specific name Coracias strepera Latham 1790; "IV.^e Sous-genre. RÉVEILLEUR; Strepera; Coracias, Lath.   Bec long, robuste, conique, égal, presque droit, peu convexe, à arête épaisse et renflée; narines en fente longitudinale, ouverte; quelques soies à la commissure; ailes courtes; queue longue, arrondie; tarses assez minces, alongés, scutellés.   Observ. Ce sous-genre établit le passage le plus naturel des corbeaux aux cassicans, barita.  Une seule espèce appartient à ce sous-genre, c'est le coracias strepera, Lath.  ...  Habite la Nouvelle-Hollande et l'île Norfolk." (Lesson 1831); "Strepera Lesson, 1830 or 1831, Traité Orn., livr. 5, p. 329. Type, by tautonymy, Coracias strepera Latham = Corvus graculinus J. White." (Amadon in Peters 1962, XV, 170).
Synon. Coronica, Neostrepera.

strepera / streperus
Late L. streperus  noisy  < L. strepere  to make a loud noise.
● "61. ANAS.  ...  strepera.  18. A. macula alarum rufa nigra alba. Fn. svec. 101.  Anas strepera. Gesn. av. 121.  Anas platyrhynchos, rostro nigro & plano. Aldr. orn. l. 19. c. 32. Raj. av. 145.  The godwall or gray. Will. orn. 287. t. 72.  Habitat in Europæ aquis dulcibus." (Linnaeus 1758) (Mareca).
● "GENUS XIV.  CORACIAS.   ...   21. strepera.  ...  HABITAT in insula Norfolk maris pacifici; numerosissima; magnitudine vix C. Corone cedens.—19 pollices longa.—Stolida et incauta avis, noctu pervigilans; quo tempore inquieta et strepera, aliis somnum abrumpit." (Latham 1790); the “Noisy Roller” of Latham 1802 (syn. Strepera graculina).

graculina / graculinus
L. graculus or gracula unknown bird, identified with the Jackdaw (cf. Med. L. graculus  Rook or Jay).
● ex Gracula cyanotis Latham 1801, and “Héoro-taire graculé” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (syn. Entomyzon cyanotis).
● “The White-vented Crow. This bird is about the size of a Magpye; and in shape is not much unlike one, except that the tail is not cuneated ...but the whole habit and general appearance of the bird sufficiently justify its being regarded as a species of Corvus” (J. White 1790) (Strepera).

SUBSPECIES

Pied Currawong (magnirostris)
SCI Name: Strepera graculina magnirostris
magnirostre / magnirostris
L. magnus  great; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.
● ex “Alouette à Gros Bec” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 193 (Galerida).
● ex “Épervier à gros bec de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 464, and “Great-billed Falcon” of Latham 1781 (Rupornis).

Pied Currawong (robinsoni)
SCI Name: Strepera graculina robinsoni
robinson / robinsoni / robinsonii
● Herbert Christopher Robinson (1874-1929) British ornithologist, systematist, collector in Australia 1896, and Malaysia 1908-1926 (syn. Aerodramus maximus, syn. Alectura lathami, subsp. Alophoixus pallidus, subsp. Chalcophaps indica, subsp. Cissa chinensis, subsp. Enicurus maculatus, subsp. Gecinulus grantia, subsp. Heterophasia desgodinsi, subsp. Macropygia amboinensis, syn. Megalaima australis duvaucelii, syn. Myiagra cyanoleuca, Myophonus, subsp. Oriolus traillii, subsp. Picus guerini, subsp. Pteruthius aeralatus, syn. Pycnonotus blanfordi conradi, syn. Rallina tricolor, syn. Rhipidura albicollis atrata, subsp. Strepera graculina, subsp. Treron sphenurus).
● Col. Wirt Robinson (1864-1929) US Army, who taught chemistry at West Point 1906-1928, ornithologist, collector (syn. Butorides striata, syn. Cardinalis phoeniceus, syn. Zenaida auriculata stenura).
● Dr Anthony Robinson (d. 1768) English surgeon, botanist, resident in Jamaica (syn. Pyrrhulagra violacea ruficollis).
● Robinson Crusoe, literary character who was shipwrecked but survived on a desert island, created by Daniel Defoe 1719; the character was heavily influenced by the adventures of the privateer Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721) who survived several years on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez (syn. Sephanoides fernandensis).

Pied Currawong (graculina)
SCI Name: Strepera graculina graculina
graculina / graculinus
L. graculus or gracula unknown bird, identified with the Jackdaw (cf. Med. L. graculus  Rook or Jay).
● ex Gracula cyanotis Latham 1801, and “Héoro-taire graculé” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (syn. Entomyzon cyanotis).
● “The White-vented Crow. This bird is about the size of a Magpye; and in shape is not much unlike one, except that the tail is not cuneated ...but the whole habit and general appearance of the bird sufficiently justify its being regarded as a species of Corvus” (J. White 1790) (Strepera).

Pied Currawong (nebulosa)
SCI Name: Strepera graculina nebulosa
nebulosa / nebulosum / nebulosus
L. nebulosus  misty, cloudy, dark  < nebula  cloud, mist.
● ex “Nebuleux” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 149 (Sylvia artefact).

Pied Currawong (ashbyi)
SCI Name: Strepera graculina ashbyi
ashbyi
Edwin Ashby (1861-1941) English conchologist, ornithologist, settled in Australia, founder member of RAOU (syn. Aegintha temporalis, syn. Cacatua sanguinea gymnopis, syn. Calamanthus montanellus, syn. Epthianura aurifrons, syn. Falco hypoleucos, syn. Glossoptila pusilla, subsp. Malurus cyaneus, syn. Pachycephala pectoralis, subsp. Pomatostomus superciliosus, subsp. Sericornis frontalis, subsp. Sphecotheres vieilloti, subsp. Strepera graculina, syn. Sugomel niger).

Pied Currawong (crissalis)
SCI Name: Strepera graculina crissalis
crissale / crissalis
Mod. L. crissalis  crissal, of the vent  < crissum  vent, lower tail-coverts  < L. crissare  to copulate, “used of a certain motion of the haunches” (Coues 1882).