Red-headed Finch

SCI Name:  Amadina erythrocephala
Protonym:  Loxia eryocephala Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.172
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Estrildidae / Amadina
Taxonomy Code:  rehfin1
Type Locality:  Africa [= Angola, ex Edwards, 1751, Nat. Hist. Birds, 4, p. 180] .
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AMADINA
(Estrildidae; Ϯ Cut-throat Finch A. fasciata) Corrupt dim. < genus Ammodramus Swainson, 1827, sparrow; the Cut-throat Finch was considered to form a link between Ammodramus and Estrilda Swainson, 1827, waxbill (see Estrilda); "AMADINA.  ...  Bill short, large, conic, entire.  Wings short, rounded; the first quill spurious and very small; the second and third nearly equal and longest.  Tail short, even, or slightly rounded.   Type. Loxia fasciata. Gmelin.  Brown, Ill. of Zool. Pl. 27." (Swainson 1827); "Amadina Swainson, Zool. Journ. iii, p. 349, 1827.  Type by original designation, Loxia fasciata Gmel." (W. Sclater, 1930, Syst. Av. Aethiop., II, p. 782). 
Synon. Sporothlastes.

erythrocephala / erythrocephalum / erythrocephalus
Gr. ερυθρος eruthros  red; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  eryocephala [sic].  9. L. cinerascens, capite purpurascente, pectore albo maculato.  Passer paradisæus, capite rubro, pectore nigro albo maculato. Edw. av. 180. t. 180.   Habitat in Africa.  Corpus supra cinereum, griseo maculatum; subtus totum fuscum maculis albis rotundis. Alæ fuscæ. Remiges margine griseæ. Cauda nigra, forficata. Caput purpureum." (Linnaeus 1758) (Amadina).
● ex “Barbu de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 206, fig. 1 (syn. Capito niger).
● "100. PARUS.  ...  erythrocephalus.  10. P. niger, capite femoribusque fulvis.  Parus auricapillus. Klein. av. 86.  Parus niger, capite fulvo. Edw. av. 21. p. 21.  Habitat in America australi." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ceratopipra).
● ex “Petit Pic à Baguettes d’Or” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 253 (syn. Dendropicos fuscescens).
● ex “Red-headed Finch” of Latham 1783 (syn. Foudia rubra).
● "54. PICUS.  ...  erythrocephalus.  5. P. capite toto rubro, alis caudaque nigris, abdomine albo.  Picus capite toto rubro. Catesb. car. I. p. 20. t. 20.  Habitat in America." (Linnaeus 1758) (Melanerpes).
● ex “Apiaster indicus erythrocephalus” of Brisson 1760, “Guêpier à tête rouge” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Red-headed Bee-eater” of Shaw 1778 and Latham 1782 (syn. Merops leschenaulti).
● ex “Red-headed Swallow” of Latham 1783 (unident.; ?syn. Petrochelidon fluvicola).
● ex “Psittaca ginginiana erythrocephalos” of Brisson 1760, “Perruche à tête rouge de Gingi” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 264, “Perruche à tête rouge” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Blossom-headed Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Psittacula roseata).

SUBSPECIES

Red-headed Finch (erythrocephala)
SCI Name: Amadina erythrocephala erythrocephala
erythrocephala / erythrocephalum / erythrocephalus
Gr. ερυθρος eruthros  red; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  eryocephala [sic].  9. L. cinerascens, capite purpurascente, pectore albo maculato.  Passer paradisæus, capite rubro, pectore nigro albo maculato. Edw. av. 180. t. 180.   Habitat in Africa.  Corpus supra cinereum, griseo maculatum; subtus totum fuscum maculis albis rotundis. Alæ fuscæ. Remiges margine griseæ. Cauda nigra, forficata. Caput purpureum." (Linnaeus 1758) (Amadina).
● ex “Barbu de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 206, fig. 1 (syn. Capito niger).
● "100. PARUS.  ...  erythrocephalus.  10. P. niger, capite femoribusque fulvis.  Parus auricapillus. Klein. av. 86.  Parus niger, capite fulvo. Edw. av. 21. p. 21.  Habitat in America australi." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ceratopipra).
● ex “Petit Pic à Baguettes d’Or” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 253 (syn. Dendropicos fuscescens).
● ex “Red-headed Finch” of Latham 1783 (syn. Foudia rubra).
● "54. PICUS.  ...  erythrocephalus.  5. P. capite toto rubro, alis caudaque nigris, abdomine albo.  Picus capite toto rubro. Catesb. car. I. p. 20. t. 20.  Habitat in America." (Linnaeus 1758) (Melanerpes).
● ex “Apiaster indicus erythrocephalus” of Brisson 1760, “Guêpier à tête rouge” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Red-headed Bee-eater” of Shaw 1778 and Latham 1782 (syn. Merops leschenaulti).
● ex “Red-headed Swallow” of Latham 1783 (unident.; ?syn. Petrochelidon fluvicola).
● ex “Psittaca ginginiana erythrocephalos” of Brisson 1760, “Perruche à tête rouge de Gingi” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 264, “Perruche à tête rouge” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Blossom-headed Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Psittacula roseata).

Red-headed Finch (dissita)
SCI Name: Amadina erythrocephala dissita
dissita
L. dissitus  lying apart, remote  < disserere  to spread.|
• "Two specimens of the endemic Red-headed Finch Amadina erythrocephala (Linnæus) of the high country below the Drakensberg Escarpment in the eastern Cape Province and Natal in the Durban Museum collection are now found to differ subspecifically from the populations breeding in the dry central and western regions of southern Africa.  ...  I find the birds of these populations generally paler and less densely squamated ventrally than those of the small resident population of the south-eastern highlands.  Despite the limited material at present available, I consider that the latter birds deserve a name of their own, and I propose to designate them  Amadina erythrocephala dissita, subsp. nov. (syn. Amadina erythrocephala).
• "The species is one that has not been found previously outside South America, where its more northern representatives range north only to the Orinoco Valley in southern Venezuela and southeastern Colombia, so that it is remarkable to find this colony on Coiba Island, where its presence has been wholly unsuspected.  The Coiba birds represent a distinct race, which is described herewith.   CRANIOLEUCA VULPINA DISSITA  subsp. nov.  ...  The general appearance of this bird, a remarkable addition to the Panamanian avifauna, is that of a group of forms allocated under the species name Cranioleuca vulpina (Pelzeln), though the decidedly brighter brown of the lower surface separates it from them so definitely as almost to warrant species status." (Wetmore 1957) (Cranioleuca).
• "Doryfera johannæ dissita, new subspecies  ...  Mt. Duida, Venezuela, 4700 ft.  ...  While there are no records of this species from between Duida and the Andes, a distance of about 1000 miles, it may possibly occur there." (Chapman 1929) (syn. Doryfera johannae guianensis).