Rufous Hummingbird

SCI Name:  Selasphorus rufus
Protonym:  Trochilus rufus Syst.Nat. 1 pt1 p.497
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Trochilidae / Selasphorus
Taxonomy Code:  rufhum
Type Locality:  'In sinu Americae Natka,'' i.e. Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1788
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

SELASPHORUS
(Trochilidae; Ϯ Rufous Hummingbird S. rufus) Gr. σελασφορος selasphoros  light-bearing  < σελας selas, σελατος selatos  light, fire, flame; -φορος -phoros  -carrying  < φερω pherō  to carry; "2. TROCHILUS (SELASPHORUS) RUFUS. (Swainson.)  Cinnamon, or Nootka Humming-bird.  ...   Sub-genus, Selasphorus*, SWAINS.   ...   *Th. Σελασφορος, splendorem ferens.   ...   the whole of the chin and throat is covered by scale-like feathers, of a fire-like colour and lustre, equally brilliant with the throat of T. mosquitus, but with more of a red and less of an orange gloss; the tints, however, change in almost every direction of light, and in all are exquisitely splendid.   ...   The feathers on the sides of the throat are gradually elongated, as they recede from the ears and seem capable of being raised into two tufts." (Swainson 1832); "Selasphorus Swainson, in Swainson and Richardson, Fauna Bor.-Am., 2, 1831 (1832), p. 324. Type, by monotypy, Trochilus rufus Gmelin." (Peters 1945, V, 141).
Var. Selasopherus, Selatophorus, Selosphorus.
Synon. Platurornis, Selasornis, Stellula.

rufum / rufus
L. rufus  red, ruddy, rufous. In ornithology rufus, rufa and rufum cover a wide spectrum of colours from yellow, orange and brown to crimson, scarlet and purple.
● ex “Red-legg’d Partridge from Barbary” of Edwards 1743-1751 (syn. Alectoris rufa).
● ex “Crapaud-Volant” or “Tête-chêvre de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 735, and “Engoulevent roux de Cayenne” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Antrostomus).
● ex “Batara roxo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 218 (Casiornis).
● ex “Pic roux de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 694, fig. 1, and “Rufous Woodpecker” of Latham 1782 (syn. Celeus undatus).
● ex “Coucal Rufin” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 221 (syn. Centropus benghalensis).
● ex “Fournier des Buenos Ayres” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 739, “Fournier” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Rufous Bee-eater” of Latham 1782 (Furnarius).
● ex “Gobe-mouche roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 453, fig. 1 (Pachyramphus).
● ex “Merle roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 644, fig. 1 (syn. Percnostola rufifrons).
● “I cannot see the slightest advantage to be gained by rejecting Bechstein’s name for the Chiffchaff on the ground that Boddaert’s Sylvia rufa may be the Whitethroat. It is obvious that Boddaert intended to designate a bird other than the Whitethroat by this name; and under no circumstances can the name of Phylloscopus rufa, Bechst., be confounded with any other bird than the one to which he applied it” (Seebohm 1881); “Bechstein’s name, used by both Seebohm and Saunders, and also in the 1^st edition [1883] of the List, really dates from his Gem. naturg. Deutsch. iv. 1795, p. 682, and is not an original description, but is founded on Gmelin’s Motacilla rufa. This is not a Phylloscopus, and the name cannot be used for the Chiffchaff” (BOU 1915) (syn. Phylloscopus collybita).
● ex “Caracterizado cañela corona de pizarra” (= ♀) of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 208 (Platypsaris).
● ex “Courly brun de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Plegadis falcinellus).
● ex “Ruff-necked Humming-bird” of Latham 1782, and “Ruffed Honey-sucker” of Pennant 1785 (Selasphorus).
● ex “Tangaroux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 711 (Tachyphonus).
● "95. TURDUS.  ...  rufus.  6. T. ferrugineus subtus dilutior maculatus, remigibus unicoloribus, cauda rotundata.  Turdus ruffus [sic]. Catesb. car. I. p. 28. t. 28.  Habitat in America septentrionali & meridionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Toxostoma).
● ex “Yellow-belly’d Green Cuckow” of Edwards 1758, “Couroucou à queue rousse de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 736, and “Rufous Curucui” of Latham 1782 (Trogon).