Pirre Hummingbird

SCI Name:  Goethalsia bella
Protonym:  Goethalsia bella Smiths.Misc.Coll. 60 no.3 p.7
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Trochilidae / Goethalsia
Taxonomy Code:  ruchum1
Type Locality:  Cana, 2000 feet, Panama.
Author:  Nelson
Publish Year:  1912
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

GOETHALSIA
(Trochilidae; Ϯ Rufous-cheeked Hummingbird G. bella) Col. George Washington Goethals (1858-1928) US Army, chief engineer on the Panama Canal project 1907-1914, Gov. of Panama Canal Zone 1914-1916;  "GOETHALSIA, ¹ gen. nov.   Apparently nearest Goldmania, the three or four middle under tail coverts being shorter than usual and specialized as in that genus, silky white in color and forming a tuft of overlapping or "nested" and strongly decurved stiff plumes about twice as long as in Goldmania and more plume-like nearly to base of feathers; other under tail coverts normal and differently colored from middle ones but proportionately smaller than usual; this strong character present in both sexes and in the young as in Goldmania; primaries medium width, broader than in Goldmania, normal in all conditions (?) and outer primary distinctly longer than next one; tail emarginate, nearly three-fifths the length of wing; bill slightly broadened and ridged at base, terete elsewhere and same length as head; nostrils operculate, feathering of forehead extending out about two-thirds of length of nostrils; tarsus bare except near upper end in front.   ...   Type of genus Goethalsia bella, sp. nov. (monotypic).   GOETHALSIA BELLA, sp. nov.  ...  collected March 16, 1912, by E. A. Goldman   ...   ¹ Named in honor of Colonel George W. Goethals, head of the Panama Canal Commission, to whom the scientific workers of the Biological Survey of the Canal Zone are deeply indebted for prompt and courteous assistance in prosecuting their work." (Nelson 1912); "Goethalsia Nelson, 1912, Smithson. Misc. Collect. 60 (3): 6.  Type, by original designation, Goethalsia bella Nelson." (AOU Checklist, 7th ed., 1998, p. 296).
Var. Gaethalsia, Goetalsia, Goethsalia.

bella
L. bellus  pretty, charming  < benus old form of bonus  good.
● ex “Black-lined Grosbeak” of Latham 1801 (Stagonopleura).