Pygmy Nuthatch

SCI Name:  Sitta pygmaea
Protonym:  Sitta pygmaea Zool.Beechey'sVoy. p.25 pl.IV
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Sittidae / Sitta
Taxonomy Code:  pygnut
Type Locality:  Monterey, California.
Author:  Vigors
Publish Year:  1839
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SITTA
(Sittidae; Ϯ Eurasian Nuthatch S. europaea) Late Med. L. sitta (Turner 1544) nuthatch  < Gr. σιττη sittē  bird like a woodpecker mentioned by Aristotle, Callimachus, and Hesychius; "55. SITTA.  Rostrum subcultrato-conicum, rectum, porrectum: integerrimum, mandibula superiore obtusiuscula.  Lingua lacero-emarginata." (Linnaeus 1758); "Sitta Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, p. 115. Type, by monotypy, Sitta europaea Linnaeus." (Greenway in Peters 1967, XII, 125). Linnaeus's Sitta comprised a single species.
Var. Sitla, Sida.
Synon. Arctositta, Callisitta, Cyanositta,  Dendrophila, Homositta, Leptositta, Melositta, Mesositta, Micrositta, Oenositta, Orthorynchus, Poecilositta, Poliositta, Rupisitta, Sittella.

pygmaea / pygmaeum / pygmaeus / pygmea / pygmeum / pygmeus
L. pygmaeus  pygmy  < Gr. πυγμαιος pugmaios  pygmy, of the size of a fist  < πυγμη pugmē   fist.
● ex “Flat-billed Auk” of Latham 1785, and “Pigmy Auk” of Pennant 1785 (Aethia).
● ex “Pygmy Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Charmosyna palmarum).
● “73. PLATALEA.  ...  pygmea.  3. P. corpore supra fusco, subtus albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p. . .  Habitat Surinami.  Magnitudo Passeris.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Calidris).
● ex "Pygmy Curlew" of Pennant 1773, and Latham 1785 (syn. Calidris ferruginea).
● ex “Petit Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 831, fig. 2, “Gobe-moucheron” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Dwarf Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myrmotherula brachyura).

SUBSPECIES

Pygmy Nuthatch (melanotis)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea melanotis
MELANOTIS
(Mimidae; Ϯ Blue Mockingbird M. caerulescens) Specific name Turdus melanotis Temminck, 1830 (< Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; -ωτις -ōtis  -eared  < ους ous, ωτος ōtos  ear); "573. Melanotis, Bp. (Mimus, p. Boie. - Orpheus, p. Sw. - Turdus, p. Gr.)   Mexico.  1.  TURDUS melanotis, Temm. nec Gould. (Orpheus caerulescens, Sw. - Melanotis caerulescens, Bp.) Pl. col. 498.  ex Mexico." (Bonaparte 1850); "Melanotis Bonaparte, 1850, Consp. Gen. Av., 1, p. 276. Type, by monotypy, Turdus melanotis Temminck = Orpheus caerulescens Swainson." (Davis & Miller in Peters 1960, IX, 441).

Pygmy Nuthatch (pygmaea)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea pygmaea
pygmaea / pygmaeum / pygmaeus / pygmea / pygmeum / pygmeus
L. pygmaeus  pygmy  < Gr. πυγμαιος pugmaios  pygmy, of the size of a fist  < πυγμη pugmē   fist.
● ex “Flat-billed Auk” of Latham 1785, and “Pigmy Auk” of Pennant 1785 (Aethia).
● ex “Pygmy Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Charmosyna palmarum).
● “73. PLATALEA.  ...  pygmea.  3. P. corpore supra fusco, subtus albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p. . .  Habitat Surinami.  Magnitudo Passeris.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Calidris).
● ex "Pygmy Curlew" of Pennant 1773, and Latham 1785 (syn. Calidris ferruginea).
● ex “Petit Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 831, fig. 2, “Gobe-moucheron” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Dwarf Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myrmotherula brachyura).

Pygmy Nuthatch (leuconucha)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea leuconucha
leuconucha
L. leucos  white  < Gr. λευκος leukos  white; Med. L. nuchus  nape < Arabic nukhā'  spinal marrow.

Pygmy Nuthatch (chihuahuae)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea chihuahuae
chihuahuae
Chihuahua, Mexico.

Pygmy Nuthatch (brunnescens)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea brunnescens
brunnescens
Mod. L. brunnescens, brunnescentis  somewhat brown, brownish  < brunneus  brown  < Med. L. brunius  brown.

Pygmy Nuthatch (flavinucha)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea flavinucha
flavinucha / flavinuchus
L. flavus  yellow, golden-yellow; Med. L. nuchus  nape  < Arabic nukhā'  spinal marrow.

Pygmy Nuthatch (elii)
SCI Name: Sitta pygmaea elii
elii
Prof. Charles Adelbert Ely (b. 1933) US ornithologist (subsp. Sitta pygmaea).