Society Kingfisher

SCI Name:  Todiramphus veneratus
Protonym:  Alcedo venerata Syst.Nat. 1 pt1 p.453
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Alcedinidae / Todiramphus
Taxonomy Code:  tahkin1
Type Locality:  'Insula amici'' = Society Islands.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1788
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

TODIRAMPHUS
(Alcedinidae; Ϯ Chattering Kingfisher T. tutus) Genus Todus Brisson 1760, tody; Gr. ῥαμφος rhamphos  bill; “Ce groupe est remarquable aussi par la forme aplatie du bec qui rappelle celle des Todiers.  ...  L'Alcedo sacra, si mal décrit par les auteurs, formera notre genre Todiramphus, et l'Halcyon sanctus de MM. Horsfield et Vigors demeurera dans le genre Alcedo dont il a tous les caractères.   TODIRAMPHE. Todiramphus.  ...  Les insulaires des îles de la Société les nomment O-tataré. C'etaient, avec le Crabier-Blanc, des oiseaux vénérés dans l'ancienne religion de ces peuples; il était défendu de les tuer sous des peines sévères, et leur dépouille servait d'offrande au grand dieu Oro.   1^re ESPÈCE. TODIRAMPHE SACRÉ. Todiramphus sacer, Less. Tab. XI.  Alcedo tuta, Gm., Sp. 28; Lath., Syn. Sp. 17?  Alcedo sacra, Gm., Sp. 30. Var. A. Lath., Sp. 15. Var. a?  Sacred King's fisher, pl. 27. Latham, Gen. Syn. Var. C. p. 622. p. II?” (Lesson 1827).   
Var. Todirramphus, Todirhamphus.   
Synon. Antisyma, Coporhamphus, Cyanalcyon, Dilazula, Dilazulena, Entomophila, Hyposyma, Lazulena, Leucalcyon, Melanalcyon, Sauropatis, Sauropatoides, Todalcyon.

venerata / veneratus
L. veneratus  venerated, worshipped  < venerare  to worship.
● ex “Venerated Kingsfisher” of Latham 1782: “This species inhabits Apye, one of the Friendly Isles, where it is held as sacred among the natives as that of Otaheite” (Todiramphus).

SUBSPECIES

Society Kingfisher (Moorea)
SCI Name: Todiramphus veneratus youngi
youngi
● Revd. William Paulin Young (b. 1886) Scottish missionary to Nyasaland 1911-1938 (subsp. Apalis thoracica, syn. Scotornis fossii).
● Charles Gore Young (b. 1901) British colonial administrator, ornithologist, collector in Malaya 1922-1942 and Cameroon 1943-1950 (syn. Bradypterus lopezi camerunensis).
● Eponym; dedicatee not yet identified; "690.  Pachycephala gutturalis youngi subsp. n.  Victorian Thickhead.  Mathews, Handlist No. 667 (pars).  Differs from P. g. gutturalis in having the tail for half its distance from the tip quite black: the basal half being grey.  Type: Victoria, No. 2635.  Range: Victoria." (Mathews 1912, Novitates Zoologicae, XVIII, 313) (subsp. Pachycephala pectoralis).
● Capt. Sir Arthur Henderson Young (1854-1938) British Army, colonial administrator in Cyprus 1878-1905, Governor of Straits Settlements and High Commissioner of the Malay States 1911-1920 (subsp. Phylloscopus castaniceps).
● John Young (1838-1901) English civil servant, ornithologist, collector in the Pacific 1886-1887 (Todiramphus).

Society Kingfisher (Tahiti)
SCI Name: Todiramphus veneratus veneratus
venerata / veneratus
L. veneratus  venerated, worshipped  < venerare  to worship.
● ex “Venerated Kingsfisher” of Latham 1782: “This species inhabits Apye, one of the Friendly Isles, where it is held as sacred among the natives as that of Otaheite” (Todiramphus).