Pygmy Cupwing

SCI Name:  Pnoepyga pusilla
Protonym:  [Pnoepyga] pusillus Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt13 no.146 p.25
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Pnoepygidae / Pnoepyga
Taxonomy Code:  pywbab1
Type Locality:  Nepal.
Author:  Hodgson
Publish Year:  1845
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PNOEPYGA
(Pnoepygidae; † Scaly-breasted Cupwing P. albiventer) Gr. πνοη pnoē  blowing  < πνεω pneō  to breathe; πυγη pugē rump; "Pnoepyga (Tesia) concolor, [drawing no.] 847.    P. pusillus, [drawing no.] 870.  P. rufiventer, [drawing no.] 457.  P. albiventer, [drawing no.] 491." (Hodgson 1844); “Genus Pnoepyga (olim Tesia), mihi.  ...  wings very short, bowed, and perfectly rounded; tail rudimentary, consisting of only six plumes, which are hid by the puffy rump-feathers.  ...  Types, the following: — 1st species, albiventer (M. squamata, Gould, postea), mihi.” (Hodgson 1845); "Pnoepyga Hodgson, 1844, in J. E. Gray, Zool. Misc., no. 3, p. 82. Type, by subsequent designation (Zimmer and Vaurie, 1954, Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl., 74, p. 41), Tesia albiventer Hodgson." (Deignan in Peters, 1964, X, p. 293).  The birds of this genus were formerly known as Wren Babblers.  Cupwing is an innovative modern creation which does not scan well; I suggest the substantive Dwarf-babbler.
Var. Proepygia (Gr. προε- proe-  before), Pneopyga, Propyga.
Synon. Microura.

pusilla
L. pusillus  very little, very small  < dim. pusus  little boy  < puer  boy.
● ex “Cinclus dominicensis minor” of Brisson 1760 (Calidris).
● ex “Small Nuthatch” of Catesby 1731, “Petit Torchepot de la Caroline” of Brisson 1760, and “Petite Sittelle à tête brune” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Sitta).
● ex “Little Sparrow” of Catesby 1731 (Spizella).
● "59. CERTHIA.  ...  pusilla.  2. C. supra grisea, subtus alba, rectricibus fuscis: extimis apice albis.  Certhia fusca minor. Edw. av. 26. l. 26.  Habitat in India." (Linnaeus 1758) (unident.; nom. dub.).

SUBSPECIES

Pygmy Cupwing (pusilla)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla pusilla
pusilla
L. pusillus  very little, very small  < dim. pusus  little boy  < puer  boy.
● ex “Cinclus dominicensis minor” of Brisson 1760 (Calidris).
● ex “Small Nuthatch” of Catesby 1731, “Petit Torchepot de la Caroline” of Brisson 1760, and “Petite Sittelle à tête brune” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Sitta).
● ex “Little Sparrow” of Catesby 1731 (Spizella).
● "59. CERTHIA.  ...  pusilla.  2. C. supra grisea, subtus alba, rectricibus fuscis: extimis apice albis.  Certhia fusca minor. Edw. av. 26. l. 26.  Habitat in India." (Linnaeus 1758) (unident.; nom. dub.).

Pygmy Cupwing (annamensis)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla annamensis
annamense / annamensis
Annam Protectorate, French Indochina (= central Vietnam).

Pygmy Cupwing (harterti)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla harterti
harterti / hartertiana / hartertianus
Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (1859-1933) German ornithologist, collector, Curator of Rothschild Mus., Tring (syn. Acestrura berlepschi, subsp. Acrocephalus australis, subsp. Alauda arvensis, syn. Aplonis opaca kurodai, subsp. Arses telescopthalmus, syn. Artamus leucoryn leucopygialis, Asthenes, Batrachostomus, syn. Brachypteryx leucophrys carolinae, subsp. Burhinus oedicnemus, subsp. Buteo buteo, Camaroptera, subsp. Campylorhynchus albobrunneus, syn. Certhia brachydactyla, subsp. Chalcites lucidus, syn. Chlorocichla simplex, subsp. Cincloramphus macrurus, subsp. Circus aeruginosus, syn. Cisticola juncidis, syn. Columba delegorguei sharpei, subsp. Crypturellus soui, syn. Cyanistes caeruleus ogliastrae, syn. Cyornis unicolor cyanopolia, subsp. Dendrocopos major, subsp. Dicrurus macrocercus, syn. Dryobates minor colchicus, syn. Dyaphorophyia concreta graueri, subsp. Emberiza schoeniclus, syn. Entomyzon cyanotis, syn. Eophona migratoria sowerbyi, subsp. Eudynamys scolopaceus, subsp. Eumyias panayensis, syn. Eurostopodus argus, Eurylaimus, syn. Falco peregrinus calidus, Ficedula, subsp. Fringilla coelebs, syn. Galerida theklae ruficolor, syn. Geospiza fuliginosa, subsp. Heleia superciliaris, subsp. Hemiprocne longipennis, syn. Hieraaetus pennatus, syn. Hypsipetes amaurotis stejnegeri, syn. Icterus icterus, subsp. Illadopsis turdina, syn. Jynx torquilla sarudnyi, syn. Lagonosticta nitidula, subsp. Linaria cannabina, syn. Lullula arborea pallida, subsp. Machaerirhynchus nigripectus, subsp. Malacocincla sepiaria, subsp. Melanorectes nigrescens, syn. Metallura tyrianthina oreopola, subsp. Micropsitta pusio, subsp. Mirafra africana, syn. Monarcha cinerascens, subsp. Mulleripicus pulverulentus, syn. Myiozetetes cayanensis hellmayri, subsp. Myrmecocichla arnotti, subsp. Myzomela obscura, syn. Ochrospiza dorsostriata maculicollis, syn. Onychognathus fulgidus hartlaubii, syn. Phylloscopus orientalis, syn. Phylloscopus reguloides assamensis, Phlogophilus, syn. Picoides kizuki matsudairai, subsp. Picumnus olivaceus, subsp. Pittasoma rufopileatum, subsp. Pnoepyga pusilla, syn. Poephila personata, subsp. Prionops caniceps, subsp. Psittacella brehmii, syn. Pternistis afer cranchii, syn. Pycnonotus barbatus tricolor, syn. Rhipidura albiscapa alisteri, syn. Rhipidura rufifrons granti, subsp. Rhodinocichla rosea, syn. Rhyticeros plicatus, syn. Scotocerca inquieta, subsp. Sericornis frontalis, syn. Sitta europaea roseilia, syn. Strix aluco nivicola, syn. Sturnus vulgaris porphyronotus, Tarphonomus, subsp. Terpsiphone viridis, Thapsinillas, syn. Treron curvirostra, syn. Vanellus miles, syn. Yuhina flavicollis rouxi, subsp. Zosterops citrinella, syn. Zosterops japonicus simplex).

Pygmy Cupwing (lepida)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla lepida
lepida
L. lepidus  charming, elegant  < lepos, leporis  charm.

Pygmy Cupwing (rufa)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla rufa
rufa
L. rufus  red, ruddy. In ornithology rufus, rufa and rufum cover a wide spectrum of colours from yellow, orange and brown to crimson, scarlet and purple.
● "91. TETRAO.  ...  rufus.  8. T. rostro pedibusque sanguineis, gula alba cincta fascia nigra albo-punctata.  Tetrao rectricibus cinereis: superiore medietate hinc inde rufis. Fn. svec. 171.  Perdix rufa s. major. Gesn. av. 682. Aldr. orn. l. 13. c. 18. Jonst. av. 68. t. 27. Will. orn. 118. t. 29. Raj. av. 57. Alb. av. I. p. 29. t. 29.  Habitat in Europa australiori.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Alectoris).
● ex “Anhinga roux” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Anhinga).
● ex “Ferrugineous Duck” of Pennant 1776 (?syn. Aythya nyroca).
● ex “Pie rousse de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782 (syn. Dendrocitta vagabunda).
● ex “Aigrette rousse de la Louisiane” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 902 (syn. Egretta rufescens).
● ex “Hirondelle à ventre roux de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 724, fig. 1, and “Rufous-bellied Swallow” of Latham 1783 (syn. Hirundo erythrogaster).
● ex “Alouette noire de la Encenada” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 738, fig. 2, and “Alouette noire à dos fauve” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Lessonia).
● ex “Lanius madagascariensis rufus” of Brisson 1760 (Schetba).
● ex “Fauvette rousse” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 581, fig. 1 (?syn. Sylvia communis).
● ex “Kleinste Grasmücke” of Frisch 1733, “Curruca rufa” of Brisson 1760, “Fauvette rousse” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 581, fig. 1, and de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Rufous Warbler” of Latham 1783 (?syn. Sylvia communis).
● ex “Schet Roux” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 147 (syn. Terpsiphone mutata).

Pygmy Cupwing (everetti)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla everetti
everetti / everettii
Alfred Hart Everett (1848-1898) English administrator in Sarawak 1872-1890, naturalist, collector in the Philippines and East Indies (Arachnothera, syn. Bradypterus castaneus, subsp. Cacomantis vaiolosus, subsp. Cyornis concretus, Dicaeum, syn. Dicaeum hypoleucum pontifex, Dinopium, syn. Ducula pickeringii, subsp. Edolisoma mindanense, syn. Eudynamys orientalis picatus, syn. Gerygone inornata, subsp. Horornis flavolivaceus, Hypsipetes, subsp. Lonchura leucogastra, subsp. Mixornis bornensis, syn. Ninox spilocephala reyi, Otus, subsp. Pachycephala fulvotincta, subsp. Phyllergates cucullatus, subsp. Phylloscopus poliocephalus, subsp. Pnoepyga pusilla, subsp. Ptilinopus cinctus, Rhyticeros, syn. Sasia abnormis, Symposiachrus, Tanygnathus, Tesia, subsp. Treron axillaris, Turnix, syn. Tyto alba delicatula, Yuhina, Zoothera, Zosterops).

Pygmy Cupwing (timorensis)
SCI Name: Pnoepyga pusilla timorensis
timorense / timorensis / timoriense / timoriensis
Timor, Dutch East Indies / Indonesia.