Sunbittern

SCI Name:  Eurypyga helias
Protonym:  Ardea helias NeueNordischeBeytrage 2 p.48 pl.3
Taxonomy:  Eurypygiformes / Eurypygidae / Eurypyga
Taxonomy Code:  sunbit1
Type Locality:  Surinam.
Author:  Pallas
Publish Year:  1781
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

EURYPYGA
(Eurypygidae; Ϯ Sun-Bittern E. helias) Gr. ευρυς eurus  broad; πυγη pugē  rump, tail; "GENUS 104. EURYPYGA  (ευρυς latus, πυγη anus, cauda) (Schweifstelze Germ.  Caurale Gall.)  Rostrum capite longius, crassiusculum, rectum, elongato-conicum, acuminatum, acutum, compressum, mandibulis subaequalibus, maxilla utrinque sulco lato profundo, antrorsum evanescente, exarata, culmine basi distincto in apicem sensim deflexo.  Nares in sulci basi sitae, lineares, longitudinales, superne membrana tectae, perviae. Lingua linearis, cornea, integra, acuta.  Caput et lora plumata.  Alae tuberculatae. Cauda mediocris, exserta, in orbem expansilis, rectricibus aeque latis, apice obtuso-rotundatis.  Pedes grallarii, elongati, congrui, tetradactyli, semicolligati. Hallux phalangem digiti medii aequans, incumbens. Ungues breves, falculares, acuti, medius acie interna integerrima. Tarsus digito medio vix longior. Acropodia scutulata.   Species: Ardea Helias Lin Gmel." (Illiger 1811); "Eurypyga Illiger, Prodromus, 1811, p. 257. Type, by monotypy, Ardea helias Pallas." (Peters, 1934, II, p. 215).  
Var. Eurypygia, Euripyga, Eurypaga, Eurypiga, Eurypya.
Synon. Helias, Ornelias.

helias
Gr. ἡλιας hēlias  solar, of the sun  < ἡλιος hēlios  sun.
● ex “Oiseau de Soleil” of Fermin 1769 (Eurypyga).

Helias
(Eurypygidae; syn. Eurypyga † Sun-Bittern E. helias) Gr. ἡλιας hēlias  solar, of the sun  < ἡλιος hēlios  sun (cf. specific name Ardea helias Pallas, 1781); "217. CAURALE, Helias.  Ardea, Linn. Gm.  Scolopax, Lath.  Bec un peu épais, plus long que la tête, droit presque rond, accuminé, pointu; mandibule supérieure canelée sur les côtés, fléchie et échancrée vers le bout. - Doigts externes unis à la base par une membrane; pouce ne portant à à terre que sur le bout.  Esp. Caurale, Buff." (Vieillot 1816); "Helias Vieillot,1 Anal. Nouv. Orn. Elém., p. 56, April, 1816—type, by monotypy, "Le Caurale" Buffon = Ardea helias Pallas.  ...  1 Helias Rafinesque (Anal. Nat., p. 71, 1815) is a nomen nudum without nomenclatural standing." (Hellmay and Conover, 1942, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (1), p. 424) (see Ornelias).

SUBSPECIES

Sunbittern (major)
SCI Name: Eurypyga helias major
major
L. maior, maioris  greater, larger  < comp. magnus  great, large, powerful.
● ex “Poule d’eau de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 352; “Even if [Statius Müller, 1776] ...should some day be repudiated by ornithologists on account of his carelessness and his apparent colour-blindness, then the proper name of the species would be Aramides major (Boddaert), founded on Daubenton’s plate” (Sharpe 1894) (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Grand Corbeau” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 51 (unident.;?Corvus sp.).
● ex “Crotophagus major” of Brisson 1760, “Grand bout de Petun” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 102, fig. 1, “Ani des palétuviers” of Salerne 1767, and “Greater Ani” of Latham 1781 (Crotophaga).
● 54. PICUS.  ...  major.  10. P. albo nigroque varius, ano occipiteque rubro.  Picus albo nigroque varius, rectricibus tribus lateralibus utrinque albescentibus. Fn. svec. 81.  Picus varius major. Ges. av. 708. Aldr. ornith. l. 12. c. 32. Will. orn. 94. t. 21. Raj. av. 43. Alb. av. I. p. 19. t. 19. Frisch. av. . . t. 36. f. 1.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (Dendrocopos).
● ex “Grande Egrette d’Amérique” of d’Aubenton, 1765-1781, pl. 925 (syn. Egretta garzetta).
● ex “Scolopax media” of Frisch 1733-1763, “Great Snipe” of Pennant 1768, and Latham 1785 (syn. Gallinago media).
● ex “Grand Indicateur, mâle” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 241, fig. 1 (syn. Indicator indicator).
● ex “Pie-grièche Blanchot” of Levaillant 1810, pl. 285 (syn. Malaconotus blanchoti).
● ex “An other sort of Loggerhead” of Sloane 1707-1725, “Sitta” or “Picus cinereus major, rostro curvo” of Ray 1713, “Grand Sittelle à bec crochu” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Great Nuthatch” of Latham 1781 (?syn. Myiarchus validus).
● ex “Parus major” of Gessner 1555, Belon 1555, Aldrovandus 1599, and Willughby 1676, “Fringillago”, “Great Titmouse” or “Ox Eye” of Ray 1713, and Albin 1731, and “Parus capite nigro, temporibus albis, nucha luteis” of Linnaeus 1746 (Parus).
● ex “Grèbe de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 404, fig. 1, and “Grand Grèbe” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Podiceps).
● ex “Barbican des côtes de Barbarie” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 602 (syn. Pogonornis dubius).
● ex “Grande Quiscale” of Vieillot 1819 (Quiscalus).
● ex “Tangara des grands bois de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 205 (syn. Saltator maximus).
● ex “Batara mayor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 211 (Taraba).
● ex “Macucagua” of Marcgrave 1648, Willughby 1676, and Ray 1713, “Perdix brasiliensis” of Brisson 1760, and “Magoua” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Tinamus).
● ex “Trepadore grande” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 241 (Xiphocolaptes).

Sunbittern (meridionalis)
SCI Name: Eurypyga helias meridionalis
meridionale / meridionalis
L. meridionalis  southern  < meridies  south.
● Cayenne; ex “Rufous-headed Falcon” of Latham 1787 (Heterospizias).
● South Island, New Zealand; ex “Southern brown Parrot” of Latham 1781 (Nestor).
● Erroneous TL. Bahamas (= Trinidad) (syn. Trogon violaceus).

Sunbittern (helias)
SCI Name: Eurypyga helias helias
helias
Gr. ἡλιας hēlias  solar, of the sun  < ἡλιος hēlios  sun.
● ex “Oiseau de Soleil” of Fermin 1769 (Eurypyga).