Red-headed Fody

SCI Name:  Foudia eminentissima
Protonym:  Foudia eminentissimus Consp.Gen.Av. 1 p.446 ydP
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Ploceidae / Foudia
Taxonomy Code:  rehfod1
Type Locality:  'Zanzibar'', error for Moheli Island, fide Benson (1960, Ibis, 103 b, p. 101).
Author:  Bonaparte
Publish Year:  1850
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

FOUDIA
(Ploceidae; Ϯ Red Fody F. madagascariensis) Malagasy names Foudi, Fodi or Fody for the Red Fody. Reichenbach's 1850, plate LXXIX, labelled Passerinae: Pyrrhulinae genuinae, includes a variety of thick-billed finches and other birds, and shows Foudia next to Cardinalis. "*951. Foudia, Reichenb. 1850. (Ploceus, p. Gr.)   Africa.   4.    1. LOXIA madagascariensis, L. (Cardinalis madagascariensis, Briss. - Euplectes rubra, Sw. - Ploceus ruber? Blyth. - Pl. madagascariensis et ruber, Gr.) Pl. enl. 134. 2. - Vieill. Ois. Chant. t. 53.  ex Ins. Maur. Madagascar.  ...  2. FRINGILLA erythrocephala et Emberiza rubra, Gm. (Ploceus erythrocephalus, Sw.-Pl. martineti! Gr.-Hyphantornis erythrocephalus, Blyth.) Pl. enl. 665. 1. mas. 2 faem. - Brown, Ill. Zool., t. 28. 2. - Vieill. Ois. Chant. t. 28. ex Ins. Mauritius.  ...  *3. F. eminentissimus, Bp. Mus. Paris. ex Afr. or. Zanzibar.  ...   4. PLOCEUS erythrops, Hartl. Rev. Zool. 1848. p. 109. ex Ins. S.^ti Thomae. Afr. occ." (Bonaparte 1850); "Foudia Reichenbach, 1850, Av. Syst. Nat., pl. 79. Type, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1855, Gen. Subgen. Birds, p. 70), Loxia madagascariensis Linnaeus." (Moreau in Peters, 1962, XV, p. 62).
Synon. Calyphantria, Nesacanthis, Neshyphantes.

eminentissima / eminentissimus
L. eminentissimus  outstanding, distinguished  < super. eminens, eminentis  eminent, distinguished  < eminere  to stand out  < ex  from; minere  to project.

SUBSPECIES

Red-headed Fody (Grand Comoro)
SCI Name: Foudia eminentissima consobrina
consobrina
L. consobrina  cousin  < cum (old form com)  together with; sobrina  female cousin on the mother's side  < soror, sororis  sister (originally of the children of two sisters).
● "Similar to Conopoderas caffra mendanæ but averaging slightly smaller" (Murphy & Mathews 1928) (subsp. Acrocephalus mendanae).
● "Nearest to, and agreeing with A. d. arequipae in uniform sooty black remiges; but considerably smaller" (Hellmayr 1925) (subsp. Asthenes dorbignyi).
● "Questa nuova specie somiglia molto alla C. geelwinkiana, Schleg. [= subsp. Ducula myristicivora], della Papuasia" (Salvadori 1887) (subsp. Ducula aenea).
● "le Tisserin d'Angasize ... diffère ... du Foudia Algondae [= subsp. Foudia eminentissima] de Mayotte, et ressemble ... aux Foudia eminentissima de Zanzibar, F. erythrocephala [= syn. Foudia rubra] de l'île Maurice et F. madagascariensis de Madagascar ... il est intermédiaire entre les Foudia erythrocephala et Foudia madagascariensis d'une part et le Foudia eminentissima d'autre part" (Milne-Edwards & Oustalet 1885) (subsp. Foudia eminentissima).
● "This species is similar to H. tytleri [= subsp. Hypothymis azurea], from the Andaman islands" (Richmond 1902) (subsp. Hypothymis azurea).
● "Allied closely to F. quixensis and F. boucardi, particularly to the former, but differs in its smaller size and the uniform rich chestnut colouring of the female below" (P. Sclater 1860) (subsp. Microrhopias quixensis).
● "694A.  PACHYCEPHALA GUTTURALIS CONSOBRINA, subsp. n.  Buchanan Island Black-tailed Thickhead.  Differs from P. g. violetæ [= syn. P. melanura robusta] in its smaller wing and thinner bill; and from P. g. melanura  in its larger size.  Type, Buchanan Island, Northern Territory" (Mathews 1912) (syn. Pachycephala melanura robusta). 
● "Am ähnlichsten T. nigroviridis cyanescens (Scl.)" (Hellmayr 1921) (syn. Tangara nigroviridis cyanescens).
● see consobrinus

Red-headed Fody (Southern Comoros)
SCI Name: Foudia eminentissima [eminentissima Group]
FOUDIA
(Ploceidae; Ϯ Red Fody F. madagascariensis) Malagasy names Foudi, Fodi or Fody for the Red Fody. Reichenbach's 1850, plate LXXIX, labelled Passerinae: Pyrrhulinae genuinae, includes a variety of thick-billed finches and other birds, and shows Foudia next to Cardinalis. "*951. Foudia, Reichenb. 1850. (Ploceus, p. Gr.)   Africa.   4.    1. LOXIA madagascariensis, L. (Cardinalis madagascariensis, Briss. - Euplectes rubra, Sw. - Ploceus ruber? Blyth. - Pl. madagascariensis et ruber, Gr.) Pl. enl. 134. 2. - Vieill. Ois. Chant. t. 53.  ex Ins. Maur. Madagascar.  ...  2. FRINGILLA erythrocephala et Emberiza rubra, Gm. (Ploceus erythrocephalus, Sw.-Pl. martineti! Gr.-Hyphantornis erythrocephalus, Blyth.) Pl. enl. 665. 1. mas. 2 faem. - Brown, Ill. Zool., t. 28. 2. - Vieill. Ois. Chant. t. 28. ex Ins. Mauritius.  ...  *3. F. eminentissimus, Bp. Mus. Paris. ex Afr. or. Zanzibar.  ...   4. PLOCEUS erythrops, Hartl. Rev. Zool. 1848. p. 109. ex Ins. S.^ti Thomae. Afr. occ." (Bonaparte 1850); "Foudia Reichenbach, 1850, Av. Syst. Nat., pl. 79. Type, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1855, Gen. Subgen. Birds, p. 70), Loxia madagascariensis Linnaeus." (Moreau in Peters, 1962, XV, p. 62).
Synon. Calyphantria, Nesacanthis, Neshyphantes.