Red-backed Mousebird

SCI Name:  Colius castanotus
Protonym:  Colius castanotus Rev.Mag.Zool. (2), 7 p.351
Taxonomy:  Coliiformes / Coliidae / Colius
Taxonomy Code:  rebmou1
Type Locality:  No locality, according to Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 17, 1892, p. 343, the type is from Gaboon.
Author:  Verreaux, J & Verreaux, E
Publish Year:  1855
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

COLIUS
(Coliidae; Ϯ White-backed Mousebird C. colius) Gr. κολοιος koloios  jackdaw; "LES COLIOUS. (COLIUS. Gm.) (2)  ...  (2) Kολοιος, nom grec d'une petite espéce de corneille" (Cuvier 1817); the relevance of this name to the Afrotropical mousebirds is unclear and probably arbitrary (Dowsett 1988, suggested the name is from Gr. κολεος koleos  scabbard or sheath, alluding to the long tails of these birds) (cf. κολιος kolios variant form of κελεος keleos  woodpecker; "GROENSPECHT, in 't Latyn Colius.  Zie deezen Vogel by SEBA, in zyn Thes. I. t. 60. f. 5. ["Avicula Americana Colubritis" = Cyanerpes] & T. II. t. 3. t. 70. f. 8. ["Avicula de Tatac", = ?miscoloured Chlorophanes]" (Moehring 1758)). Early authors placed Colius amongst the Fringillidae, allied to Pyrrhula and Loxia    ("Colios cum Fringillis (Loxiis) conjungi volunt Auctores, et re vera illis satis affines sunt, nec characteres hucusque dati ad distinguendos eos sufficiunt, si vero pedum structura, qualem eam ex Colio Senegalensi descripsi, omnibus Coliis eadem est, genus peculiare satis firmat" (Illiger 1811)). Burchell 1822, thought it close to Corythaix in the Musophagidae, as did Nitzsch 1840 (who considered Opisthocomus to be in the same group). Wallace 1856, from a study of their habits, linked them to the parrots Psittacidae, and Huxley 1867, placed them near the cuckoos in the Coccygomorphæ. Garrod 1876, summarised previous works and, from an anatomical study, considered the Coliidae to be related on the one hand to the woodpeckers Picidae, and on the other to the kingfishers Alcedinidae and hornbills Bucerotidae. Current evidence mirrors Garrod's findings and suggests that the mousebirds are nested within the Coraciimorphae; "Colius. Genus 36.  ...  SECTIO II.  Eæ quæ mandibula donantur superiore adunca.  BINA Avium genera sectionem istam constituunt. Aliæ rostro donantur superne convexo, subtus palniusculo, ut Colius: aliæ vero rostro superne & inferne convexo, ut Pyrrhula.  Le genre du Coliou.  Genus Colii.  ...  LE COLIOU DU CAP DE BONNE ESPÉRANCE  ...  COLIUS CAPITIS BONÆ SPEI" (Brisson 1760); "Colius Brisson, Orn., 1, 1760, p. 36; 3, p. 304. Type, by tautonymy, Loxia colius Linné." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 143). 
Var. Collus.
Synon. Necrornis, Rhabdocolius.

colius
Gr. κολοιος koloios  jackdaw (cf. κολιος kolios  woodpecker) (see Colius); ex “Coliou du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of Brisson 1760 (Colius).

castanotum / castanotus
Gr. καστανον kastanon  chestnut; -νωτος -nōtos  -backed  < νωτον nōton  back.