Red-thighed Sparrowhawk

SCI Name:  Accipiter erythropus
Protonym:  Nisus erythropus J.Orn. 3 p.354
Taxonomy:  Accipitriformes / Accipitridae / Accipiter
Taxonomy Code:  retspa1
Type Locality:  Rio Bountry, Gold Coast.
Author:  Hartlaub
Publish Year:  1855
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ACCIPITER
(Accipitridae; Ϯ Eurasian Sparrowhawk A. nisus) L. accipiter, accipitris  hawk  < accipere  to grasp (the original meaning was “to understand” rather than “to seize”) (cf. Med. L. accipiter  Sparrowhawk; ancipiter  Goshawk; "another possible origin is from the Greek aci for 'swift' and pertrum [?πτερον] for 'wing'." (Clark & Davies 2018)); "Accipiter. Genus 8.  ...  Les femelles des Oiseaux de ce genre sont plus grandes que leurs mâles. Elles sont aussi mieux faites, plus fortes & plus courageuses. Pour cette raison on appelle les mâles Tiercelets; parce qu'ils sont d'environ un tiers plus petits que leurs femelles.  ...  **1. L'EPERVIER.  ...  ACCIPITER." (Brisson 1760): based on "Accipiter minor" of Gessner 1555, "Accipiter fringillarius" of Gessner 1555, Schwenckfeld 1603, Jonston 1650-1653, and Charleton 1668, "Nisus" of Willughby 1676, and Sibbald 1684, and numerous other references; "Accipiter Brisson, Orn., 1, 1760, p. 28, 310. Type, by tautonymy, Accipiter Brisson = Falco nisus Linné." (Peters, 1931, I, 205). 
Synon. Aerospiza, Aesalon, Asterias, Astur, Chirospizias, Cooperastur, Daedalion, Dinospizias, Erythrospiza, Eunisus, Eusparvius, Hieraspiza, Ierax, Leptohierax, Leucospiza, Lophospiza, Neonisus, Nisastur, Nisuoides, Nisus, Paraspizias, Phabotypus, Scelospiza, Sparvius, Spilospiza, Tachyspiza, Teraspiza, Urospiza.

erythropus
Gr. ερυθροπους eruthropous, ερυθροποδος eruthropodos  red-footed  < ερυθρος eruthros  red; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot.
● "61. ANAS.  ...  erythropus.  8. A. cinerea, fronte alba. Fn. svec. 92.  Anser helsingicus. Clus. exot. 368.  Habitat in Europa septentrionali." (Linnaeus 1758); “Hartert [et al., 1912] ...uses the name Anser finmarchicus Gunnerus, 1767, for the Lesser White-fronted Goose, as he states that Anas erythropus, Linn., 1758, is not determinable; recently Lönnberg (Ibis, 1913, p. 400) has given very good reasons for fixing Linnaeus’ name on the Lesser White-fronted Goose, which breeds in northern Sweden, while the larger form, Anser albifrons, never does so” (BOU 1915) (Anser).
● ex “Ardea haematopus” or “Cirris” of Willughby 1676, and Ray 1713, “Cancrophagus rufus” of Brisson 1760, “Crabier roux marron” of de Buffon 1770-1784, and “Red-legged Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Ardeola ralloides).
● ex “Red-legged Gull” of Pennant 1785, and “Brown-headed Gull” of Latham 1785 (syn. Chroicocephalus ridibundus).
● ex “White-backed Coly” of Latham 1783 (syn. Colius colius).

Erythropus
Gr. ερυθροπους eruthropous, ερυθροποδος eruthropodos  red-footed   < ερυθρος eruthros  red; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot.
• (Phasianidae; syn. Alectoris † Red-legged Partridge A. rufa) "So, also, on the Continent, the common red-legged partridge (Erythropus vulgaris) is the colour of the gravelly and sandy soils on which it is found" (Blyth 1835); "Two of the Redfoot, (Erythropus Gallicus), or Red Partridge of ordinary parlance, occupy the next plate, and are well figured" (Blyth 1836); "Erythropus Blyth, 1835, in Loudon (ed.), Mag. Nat. Hist and Journ. Zool, VIII, (art. IV), p. 51.  Type, by monotypy, Erythropus vulgaris Blyth, 1835 = Tetrao rufus Linnaeus, 1758." (JAJ 2021).
• (Falconidae; syn. Falco † Red-footed Falcon F. vespertinus) "XIII. G.  Rothfußfalke, Erythropus Br.   Der blaugraue Rothfußfalke, E. vespertinus Br." (Brehm 1828); "Erythropus Brehm, Isis, 1828, col. 1270.  Type, by monotypy, E. vespertinus Br. = Falco vespertinus Linn." (W. Sclater, 1924, Syst. Av. Aethiop., I, p. 52).

SUBSPECIES

Red-thighed Sparrowhawk (erythropus)
SCI Name: Accipiter erythropus erythropus
erythropus
Gr. ερυθροπους eruthropous, ερυθροποδος eruthropodos  red-footed  < ερυθρος eruthros  red; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot.
● "61. ANAS.  ...  erythropus.  8. A. cinerea, fronte alba. Fn. svec. 92.  Anser helsingicus. Clus. exot. 368.  Habitat in Europa septentrionali." (Linnaeus 1758); “Hartert [et al., 1912] ...uses the name Anser finmarchicus Gunnerus, 1767, for the Lesser White-fronted Goose, as he states that Anas erythropus, Linn., 1758, is not determinable; recently Lönnberg (Ibis, 1913, p. 400) has given very good reasons for fixing Linnaeus’ name on the Lesser White-fronted Goose, which breeds in northern Sweden, while the larger form, Anser albifrons, never does so” (BOU 1915) (Anser).
● ex “Ardea haematopus” or “Cirris” of Willughby 1676, and Ray 1713, “Cancrophagus rufus” of Brisson 1760, “Crabier roux marron” of de Buffon 1770-1784, and “Red-legged Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Ardeola ralloides).
● ex “Red-legged Gull” of Pennant 1785, and “Brown-headed Gull” of Latham 1785 (syn. Chroicocephalus ridibundus).
● ex “White-backed Coly” of Latham 1783 (syn. Colius colius).

Red-thighed Sparrowhawk (zenkeri)
SCI Name: Accipiter erythropus zenkeri
zenkeri / zenkerianus
Georg August Zenker (1855-1922) German botanist, explorer, collector, settler in the Cameroons 1889-1922 (subsp. Accipiter erythropus, subsp. Agapornis swindernianus, subsp. Anthus leucophrys, syn. Lanius mackinnoni, syn. Macrosphenus concolor, Melignomon, syn. Neocossyphus poensis, syn. Phyllastrephus albigularis, subsp. Sarothrura pulchra, subsp. Smithornis sharpei, syn. Stizorhina finschi, subsp. Tauraco persa).