Red-legged Honeycreeper

SCI Name:  Cyanerpes cyaneus
Protonym:  Certhia cyanea Syst.Nat.ed.12 ed.12 p.188
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Thraupidae / Cyanerpes
Taxonomy Code:  relhon1
Type Locality:  Surinam.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1766
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CYANERPES
(Thraupidae; † Red-legged Honeycreeper C. cyaneus) Gr. κυανος kuanos  dark-blue; ἑρπης  herpēs  creeper  <   ἑρπω herpō  to crawl; the Red-legged Honeycreeper was for long included in the “Coerebidae,” a hotch-potch group of  “honeycreepers" now known to be unrelated; "This very homogeneous group of Cœrebidæ has by some authors been called Cœreba, by some Caereba, by others Arbelorhina, but unfortunately none of these names is properly applicable to the genus.  As Mr. Ridgway has already shown [1887] the name Cœreba Vieillot [1807] can not be used for this group, since the only recognized species mentioned in the original diagnosis is Certhia flaveola Linn., which must therefore necessarily be the type; the term Cœreba thus supplanting the more recent Certhiola Sundevall.  Caereba of Vigors [1825] is merely an emendation, accidental or otherwise, of Vieillot's Cœreba, and therefore identical in application.  Arbelorhina was proposed by Cabanis [1847] simply to replace Cæreba,—"Den regelwidrigen Namen Caereba haben wir in Arbelorhina umgeändert."  That the same author subsequently sought [1850] to restrict Arbelorhina to the group at present under consideration can, of course, not in the least alter the case, and Arbelorhina must be considered a strict synonym of  Cœreba.  As this disposition leaves the Blue Creepers without a generic name6, it is proposed that they be called  Cyanerpes,7 gen. nov.  ... Type, Certhia cyanea Linnæus.  CHARS. GEN. — Genus generi 'Chlorophanes' dicto similis, sed rostro multo graciliore et magis incurvato dignoscendum.   ...   6 Guitus Rafinesque, Analyse, 1815, 68, is a nomen nudum.   7 κυανος = cyaneus, + ἑρπης." (Oberholser 1899); "Cyanerpes Oberholser, 1899, Auk 16: 32.  Type, by original designation, Certhia cyanea Linnaeus." (AOU Checklist, 7th ed., 1998, p. 590).  

cyaneum / cyaneus
L. cyaneus  dark-blue, sea-blue, greenish-blue  < Gr. κυανεος kuaneos  dark-blue, glossy.
● ex “Blue Hawk” of Edwards 1758 (Circus).
● ex “Black and Blue Creeper” of Edwards 1751, and “Grimpereau bleu du Brésil” of Brisson 1760 (Cyanerpes).
● ex “Merle à tête noire du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 392 (syn. Donacobius atricapillus).

SUBSPECIES

Red-legged Honeycreeper (carneipes)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus carneipes
carneipes
L. carneus  of flesh  < caro, carnis  flesh; pes, pedis  foot  < Gr. πους pous, ποδος podos  foot.

Red-legged Honeycreeper (gemmeus)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus gemmeus
gemmeus
L. gemmeus  adorned with jewels, set with gems  < gemma  jewel, gem.

Red-legged Honeycreeper (pacificus)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus pacificus
pacificus
L. pacificus  peaceful  < pax, pacis  peace; facere  to make.  The Pacific Ocean was so-named by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães in 1520, contrasting its calm waters with the stormy seas of Cape Horn.  The toponym refers to islands in the Pacific Ocean as well as localities on Pacific Ocean coasts.
● Tahiti; ex “Pacific Parrot, var. B” of Latham 1781 (‡syn. Cyanoramphus zealandicus).
● New Holland; ex “Black-backed Gull” (pt.) of Latham 1785, and “Pacific Gull” of Latham 1801 (Larus).
● Erroneous TL. Islands of the South Sea (= Norton Sound, Alaska); ex “Pacific Crow” of Latham 1781 (subsp. Perisoreus canadensis).

Red-legged Honeycreeper (gigas)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus gigas
gigas
L. gigas, gigantis  giant  < Gr. γιγας gigas, γιγαντος gigantos  giant.
● ex Ardea scolopacea J. Gmelin, 1789, and “Caráu” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 366 (syn. Aramus guarauna).
● ex “Coucal Géant” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 223 (syn. Centropus phasianinus).
● ex “Touraco Géant” of Levaillant 1813-1818, pl. 19 (syn. Corythaeola cristata).
● ex “Coucou verdâtre de Madagascar” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Great Madagascar Cuckow” of Latham 1781 (Coua).
● ex “Plus grand Martin-pêcheur” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Great Brown Kingsfisher” of Latham 1782 (syn. Dacelo novaeguineae).

Red-legged Honeycreeper (eximius)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus eximius
eximium / eximius
L. eximius  select, distinguished  < eximere  to take away  < emere  to purchase.

Red-legged Honeycreeper (dispar)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus dispar
dispar
L. dispar, disparis  different, dissimilar, unlike.

Red-legged Honeycreeper (tobagensis)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus tobagensis
tobaci / tobagensis
Tobago.
● ex “Tobago Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (Amazilia).

Red-legged Honeycreeper (cyaneus)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus cyaneus
cyaneum / cyaneus
L. cyaneus  dark-blue, sea-blue, greenish-blue  < Gr. κυανεος kuaneos  dark-blue, glossy.
● ex “Blue Hawk” of Edwards 1758 (Circus).
● ex “Black and Blue Creeper” of Edwards 1751, and “Grimpereau bleu du Brésil” of Brisson 1760 (Cyanerpes).
● ex “Merle à tête noire du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 392 (syn. Donacobius atricapillus).

Red-legged Honeycreeper (brevipes)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus brevipes
brevipes
Mod. L. brevipes, brevipedis  short-footed  < L. brevis  short; pes, pedis  foot  < Gr. πους pous, ποδος podos  foot.

Red-legged Honeycreeper (holti)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus holti
holti / holtii
● Ernest Golson Holt (1889-1983) US explorer in tropical America 1926-1947 (Cichlocolaptes, subsp. Cyanerpes cyaneus, syn. Sicalis flaveola brasiliensis).
● Prof. Henry Frederick William Holt (1838-1890) British consular service in China, linguist, numismatist, colleague of Robert Swinhoe (subsp. Ixos mcclellandii).

Red-legged Honeycreeper (violaceus)
SCI Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus violaceus
violaceum / violaceus
L. violaceus  violet-coloured, violaceous  < viola  violet.
● ex “Calao Violet” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Anthracoceros coronatus).
● ex “Perroquet de la Guadeloupe” of Du Tertre 1667-1671, “Psittacus aquarum Lupiarum insulae” of Brisson 1760, “Crick à tête violette” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Ruff-necked Parrot” of Latham 1781 (syn. Deroptyus accipitrinus).
● ex “Polytmus cayennensis violaceus” of Brisson 1760, “Colibri violet de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 600, fig. 2, “Colibri violet” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Violet Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (syn. Eulampis jugularis).
● ex “Little Dusky Parrot” of Edwards 1764, “Perroquet varié de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 408, and “Papegai violet” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (syn. Pionus fuscus).
● ex “Cassique de la Louisiane” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 646 (syn. Quiscalus quiscula).
● ex “Lanius capite collo pectoreque e violaceo nigricantibus; digitis duobus anticis, totidemque posticis”” of Koelreuter 1765, “Couroucou à chaperon violet” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Violet-headed Curucui” of Latham 1782 (Trogon).
● ex “Violet Corvorant” of Pennant 1785, and “Violet Shag” of Latham 1785 (unident.).
● ex “Merle bleu de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1776 (unident.).