Rufous-fronted Tailorbird

SCI Name:  Orthotomus frontalis
Protonym:  Orthotomus frontalis Ibis p.112 pl.2 fig.1
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Cisticolidae / Orthotomus
Taxonomy Code:  ruftai1
Type Locality:  islands of Basilan and Mindanao, Philippines = Zamboanga, Mindanao, fide Sharpe, 1877, Trans. Linn. Soc. London., 1, Zool., p. 336; type locality inferentially restricted to Mindanao by McGregor, 1907, Philippine Journ. Sci., Sect. A, 2, p. 289.
Author:  Sharpe
Publish Year:  1877
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ORTHOTOMUS
(Cisticolidae; Ϯ Olive-backed Tailorbird O. sepium) Gr. ορθος orthos  straight; τομευς tomeus, τομεως tomeōs  knife, edge (cf. ορθοτομεω orthotomeō  to cut straight); "Gen. 34. ORTHOTOMUS.   Rostrum mediocre, rectum, subdepressum, basi triquetrum, attenuatum: culmine basi carinato, versus apicem leviter arcuato.  Mandibula tomiis rectissimis.  Nares basales, magnæ, superne membrana clausæ, inferne rima longitudinali apertæ.  Alæ: remiges, 1 spuria, 2 et 3 abrupte longiores, 4—8 longiores subæquales externe emarginatæ, ceteræ gradatim breviores cuneatæ.  Pedes subelongati.  Digitus exterior a medio ad basin connexus: hallux validus.  Ungues compressi arcuati acuti, postico medio duplo majore.  Acropodia scutulata.   The straightness and slenderness of the bill distinguish Orthotomus from the two former genera [Pomatorhinus, Prinia]; these characters, with the depression and triangular form of the base of the bill, prevent its union with the other genera of this family. I have not been able to determine satisfactorily the affinity of this genus. The slenderness of the bill and its other habits associate it with the Certhiadæ; in the acumen of the bill and the size of the hallux it resembles in some degree the genus Sitta.    Spec. 1. Orthotomus sepium.  ...  Chiglet Javanis." (Horsfield 1821); "Orthotomus Horsfield, 1821, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, p. 165. Type, by monotypy, Orthotomus sepium Horsfield." (Watson in Peters 1986, XI, 173).  
Var. Orthotoma.
Synon. Edela, Sutoria.

frontale / frontalis
L. frontalis  fronted, frontal  < frontalia or frontale  frontlet  < frons, frontis  forehead, brow (ref. distinctive, contrastingly coloured forehead patch, usually black or red).
● ex “Faucon Huppé” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 28 (syn. Crinifer piscator).
● Front Range, Rocky Mts., Colorado, USA (syn. Otus flammeolus).
● ex “Perruche Ara à Bandeau Rouge” of Levaillant 1801 (Pyrrhura).

SUBSPECIES

Rufous-fronted Tailorbird (frontalis)
SCI Name: Orthotomus frontalis frontalis
frontale / frontalis
L. frontalis  fronted, frontal  < frontalia or frontale  frontlet  < frons, frontis  forehead, brow (ref. distinctive, contrastingly coloured forehead patch, usually black or red).
● ex “Faucon Huppé” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 28 (syn. Crinifer piscator).
● Front Range, Rocky Mts., Colorado, USA (syn. Otus flammeolus).
● ex “Perruche Ara à Bandeau Rouge” of Levaillant 1801 (Pyrrhura).

Rufous-fronted Tailorbird (mearnsi)
SCI Name: Orthotomus frontalis mearnsi
mearnsi
Lt.-Col. Edgar Alexander Mearns (1858-1916) US Army 1883-1909, surgeon, collector in Mexico 1892-1894, the Philippines 1903-1907, and tropical Africa 1909-1911 (Aerodramus, subsp. Agelaius phoeniceus, subsp. Colaptes chrysoides, subsp. Cyrtonyx montezumae, subsp. Junco hyemalis, subsp. Lanius ludovicianus, syn. Macronus striaticeps mindanensis, syn. Melanerpes formicivorus, subsp. Orthotomus frontalis, subsp. Toxostoma cinereum, syn. Turtur afer, subsp. Zenaida asiatica).