Tomtit

SCI Name:  Petroica macrocephala
Protonym:  Parus macrocephalus Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.1013
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Petroicidae / Petroica
Taxonomy Code:  tomtit1
Type Locality:  Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand, ex Latham.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

PETROICA
(Petroicidae; Ϯ Norfolk Island Robin P. multicolor) Gr. πετρα petra  rock, crag; οικος oikos  dwelling  < οικεω oikeō  to inhabit; "PETROICA multicolor.  Scarlet-breasted Robin.   Family Sylviadæ.   GENERIC CHARACTER.   Bill slender, the sides compressed, the tip gradually bent, and beset with bristles at the base.  Wings long; the first quill spurious; the second intermediate in length between the sixth and seventh.  Tarsi elevated, the inner toe manifestly shorter than the external toe.  Tail broad, even.   ...  Lewin, who wrote upon the spot, observes that although in some respects solitary, it frequents the abodes of man in winter, like the Robin; which it further resembles in its note.  ...   Mr. Caley mentions that he saw "this bird in November" (our European summer), "when far distant in the mountains, in the roughest part of the country I had then or since visited." Linn. Tr. 15. p. 245.  Mr. Caley, moreover, as if perfectly aware of its natural affinities, names it the Australian Redstart." (Swainson 1830); "Petroica Swainson, 1830, Zool. Illustr., ser. 2, pt. 8, pl. 36 and text. Type, by monotypy, Muscicapa multicolor Gmelin." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 562).   
Var. Petroeca.   
Synon. Belchera, Erythrodryas, Littlera, Miro, Myiomoira, Myioscopus, Nesomiro, Whiteornis.

macrocephala
Gr. μακροκεφαλος makrokephalos  great-headed  < μακρος makros  long; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● ex “Great-headed Titmouse” of Latham 1783: “the head very full of feathers, appearing very disproportionate to the size of the bird” (Petroica).

SUBSPECIES

Tomtit (New Zealand)
SCI Name: Petroica macrocephala [macrocephala Group]
PETROICA
(Petroicidae; Ϯ Norfolk Island Robin P. multicolor) Gr. πετρα petra  rock, crag; οικος oikos  dwelling  < οικεω oikeō  to inhabit; "PETROICA multicolor.  Scarlet-breasted Robin.   Family Sylviadæ.   GENERIC CHARACTER.   Bill slender, the sides compressed, the tip gradually bent, and beset with bristles at the base.  Wings long; the first quill spurious; the second intermediate in length between the sixth and seventh.  Tarsi elevated, the inner toe manifestly shorter than the external toe.  Tail broad, even.   ...  Lewin, who wrote upon the spot, observes that although in some respects solitary, it frequents the abodes of man in winter, like the Robin; which it further resembles in its note.  ...   Mr. Caley mentions that he saw "this bird in November" (our European summer), "when far distant in the mountains, in the roughest part of the country I had then or since visited." Linn. Tr. 15. p. 245.  Mr. Caley, moreover, as if perfectly aware of its natural affinities, names it the Australian Redstart." (Swainson 1830); "Petroica Swainson, 1830, Zool. Illustr., ser. 2, pt. 8, pl. 36 and text. Type, by monotypy, Muscicapa multicolor Gmelin." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 562).   
Var. Petroeca.   
Synon. Belchera, Erythrodryas, Littlera, Miro, Myiomoira, Myioscopus, Nesomiro, Whiteornis.

Tomtit (Snares Is.)
SCI Name: Petroica macrocephala dannefaerdi
dannefaerdi
Sigvard Jacob Dannefaerd (1853-1920) Danish collector based in New Zealand (Petroica).