Variable Oriole

SCI Name:  Icterus pyrrhopterus
Protonym:  Agelaius pyrrhopterus Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 34 p.543
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Icteridae / Icterus
Taxonomy Code:  epaori4
Type Locality:  Paraguay.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1819
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ICTERUS
(Icteridae; Ϯ Venezuelan Troupial I. icterus) L. icterus Golden Oriole < Gr. ικτερος ikteros  yellow bird, perhaps the Golden Oriole, the sight of which was supposed to cure jaundice; "Genus Icteri.(¹) ...  (¹) Icterus, a colore luteo plurimarum hujus generis specierum ...  Le genre du Troupiale.(¹)  ...  (¹) Troupiale, nom qu'on donne en Amérique à quelques especes de ce genre  ...  ICTERUS" (Brisson 1760): based on "Guira-Tangeima Brasiliensibus" of Marcgrave 1648, "Xanthornus major, nigro varius" of Browne 1725, "Pica luteo-nigra varia" of Sloane 1725, and Klein 1750, "Picus major ... nidum suspendens" of Barrére 1741, "Yellow and Black Pye" of Catesby 1731, "Cissa Americana" of Barrère 1745, "Cissa nigra cirrata, cauda lutea" of Linnaeus 1748, and other references; "Icterus Brisson, 1760, Ornithologie, 1, p. 30; 2, p. 85. Type, by tautonymy, Icterus Brisson = Oriolus icterus Linnaeus." (Blake in Peters 1968, XIV, 149). The bright-orange Venezuelan Troupial is a declining species, thanks to trapping for the cage-bird market.   
Synon. Andriopsar, Aporophantes, Ateleopsar, Bananivorus, Cassiculoides, Euopsar, Icterioides, Melanopsar, Pendulinus, Poliopsar, Rhyndace, Trupialis, Xanthornus, Yphantes.

icterus
L. icterus Golden Oriole < Gr. ικτερος ikteros yellow bird.
● ex “Troupiale” of Brisson 1760 (Icterus).
● ex “Pie-grièche Blanchot” of Levaillant 1810, pl. 285 (syn. Malaconotus blanchoti).
● Gr. ικτερος ikteros jaundice-yellow (syn. Ochrospiza mozambica).

pyrrhoptera / pyrrhopterum / pyrrhopterus
Gr. πυρρος purrhos  flame-coloured, red  < πυρ pur, πυρος puros  fire; -πτερος -pteros  -winged  < πτερον pteron  wing (cf. πυρροπτερυξ purrhopterux, πυρροπτερυγος purrhopterugos  red-winged).
● ex “Coucou des Philippines” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 824 (?syn. Centropus sinensis, ?syn. Centropus viridis).
● ex “Tordo del negro cobijas de canela” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 74 (Icterus).

SUBSPECIES

Variable Oriole (Yellow-shouldered)
SCI Name: Icterus pyrrhopterus tibialis
tibialis
L. tibialis  pertaining to the shin, tibial  < tibia  shin-bone, tibia.
● ex “Faucon à Culotte Noire” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 29 (unident.).

Variable Oriole (Chestnut-shouldered)
SCI Name: Icterus pyrrhopterus [pyrrhopterus Group]
ICTERUS
(Icteridae; Ϯ Venezuelan Troupial I. icterus) L. icterus Golden Oriole < Gr. ικτερος ikteros  yellow bird, perhaps the Golden Oriole, the sight of which was supposed to cure jaundice; "Genus Icteri.(¹) ...  (¹) Icterus, a colore luteo plurimarum hujus generis specierum ...  Le genre du Troupiale.(¹)  ...  (¹) Troupiale, nom qu'on donne en Amérique à quelques especes de ce genre  ...  ICTERUS" (Brisson 1760): based on "Guira-Tangeima Brasiliensibus" of Marcgrave 1648, "Xanthornus major, nigro varius" of Browne 1725, "Pica luteo-nigra varia" of Sloane 1725, and Klein 1750, "Picus major ... nidum suspendens" of Barrére 1741, "Yellow and Black Pye" of Catesby 1731, "Cissa Americana" of Barrère 1745, "Cissa nigra cirrata, cauda lutea" of Linnaeus 1748, and other references; "Icterus Brisson, 1760, Ornithologie, 1, p. 30; 2, p. 85. Type, by tautonymy, Icterus Brisson = Oriolus icterus Linnaeus." (Blake in Peters 1968, XIV, 149). The bright-orange Venezuelan Troupial is a declining species, thanks to trapping for the cage-bird market.   
Synon. Andriopsar, Aporophantes, Ateleopsar, Bananivorus, Cassiculoides, Euopsar, Icterioides, Melanopsar, Pendulinus, Poliopsar, Rhyndace, Trupialis, Xanthornus, Yphantes.