White-browed Sparrow-Weaver

SCI Name:  Plocepasser mahali
Protonym:  Plocepasser mahali Rep.Exped.Centr.Afr. p.51
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Ploceidae / Plocepasser
Taxonomy Code:  wbswea1
Type Locality:  between the Orange River and the Tropic, restricted to Modder River, near junction with the Riet River, Orange Free State by Clancey, 1957, Durban Mus. Novit., 5, p. 48.
Author:  Smith, A
Publish Year:  1836
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PLOCEPASSER
(Ploceidae; Ϯ White-browed Sparrow Weaver P. mahali) Portmanteau of genera Ploceus Cuvier 1816, weaver, and Passer Brisson 1760, sparrow; "Sub-genus PLOCEPASSER.*  Bill conical, pointed; culmen arched and entering between feathers of forehead; edges of upper mandible slightly waved; nostrils basal, rounded, and open; rictus slightly bristled; wings rather long, third and fourth quills equal; tail slightly rounded; tarsi moderate, outer and inner toes of equal length; claws slightly curved and rather blunt.    Plocepasser Mahali.  ...  Inhabits the country between the Orange River and the Tropic.  ...  * The Ploceus superciliosus, of Ruppel, may perhaps belong to this group." (A. Smith 1836); "Plocepasser A. Smith, 1836, Rep. Exped. Cent. Africa, p. 51. Type, by monotypy, P. mahali A. Smith." (Moreau in Peters 1962, XV, 5).   
Var. Ploceopasser, Ploceipasser, Ploceuspasser.   
Synon. Agrophilus, Fullerellus, Leucophrys, Philagrus.

mahali
Tswana name Moğale or Mùxálí  bold person or brave warrior, for the White-browed Sparrow Weaver; "The names given by the Natives to the objects above described, I have adopted as the trivial ones" (A. Smith 1836); "probably referring to the bird's scolding call" (Jacobs 2016) (Plocepasser).

SUBSPECIES

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Black-billed)
SCI Name: Plocepasser mahali melanorhynchus
melanorhyncha / melanorhynchos / melanorhynchus
Late Med. L. melanorhynchos  black-billed  < Gr. μελας melas, μελανος  melanos  black; ῥυγχος rhunkhos  bill.
● ex “Black-billed Tropic Bird” of Latham 1785 (subsp. Phaethon rubricauda).

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (White-tailed)
SCI Name: Plocepasser mahali ansorgei
ansorgeanus / ansorgei / ansorgii
Prof. Dr William John Ansorge (1850-1913) British physician in Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria, zoologist, collector, explorer in tropical Africa (subsp. Acrocephalus rufescens, subsp. Anthoscopus caroli, subsp. Anthus leucophrys, syn. Apalis rufogularis angolensis, syn. Apus caffer, subsp. Calendulauda sabota, syn. Chlorophoneus bocagei, syn. Cinnyris reichenowi, subsp. Cisticola rufilatus, subsp. Criniger barbatus, Dyaphorophyia, syn. Eremomela atricollis, syn. Erythropygia leucophrys munda, subsp. Euplectes gierowii, syn. Euplectes progne delacouri, Eurillas, subsp. Indicator willcocksi, subsp. Lagonosticta rhodopareia, syn. Melaenornis infuscatus benguellensis, syn. Myioparus griseigularis, Nesocharis, syn. Numida meleagris reichenowi, subsp. Ortygospiza atricollis, subsp. Parisoma subcaeruleum, subsp. Parmoptila woodhousei, subsp. Plocepasser mahali, subsp. Prinia flavicans, subsp. Pterocles bicinctus, syn. Sarothrura rufa, subsp. Sylvia abyssinica, syn. Sylvia subcoerulea iohannis, subsp. Sylvietta rufescens, subsp. Tchagra australis, subsp. Treron calvus, subsp. Tricholaema hirsuta, Xenocopsychus).

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Spot-chested)
SCI Name: Plocepasser mahali pectoralis
pectorale / pectoralis
L. pectoralis  of the breast, pectoral  < pectus, pectoris  breast.
● ex “Engoulevent à collier” of Levaillant 1806 (Caprimulgus).
● ex “Janfréderic” of Levaillant 1801-1804, pl. 111 (syn. Cossypha caffra).
● ex “Austral Quail” of Latham 1823 (Coturnix).
● ex “Gold-breasted Manakin” of Latham 1801 (Euphonia).
● ex “Petit Merle brun à gorge rousse de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 644, fig. 2, and “Yellow-breasted Thrush” of Latham 1785 (syn. Gymnopithys rufigula).
● ex “Red-breasted Snipe” of Montagu 1813 (syn. Limnodromus griseus).
● ex “Black-breasted Flycatcher” of Latham 1787 (Pachycephala).
● ex “Mbatuitui pecho listado” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 389 (syn. Pluvialis dominica).
● ex “Tachurí pecho amarillo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 165 (Polystictus).
● ex “Black-breasted Grosbeak” of Latham 1783 (syn. Sporophila americana).
● ex “Cordon Noir” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 150 (artefact).
● ex “Hausse-Col Noir” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 110 (artefact).

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (White-breasted)
SCI Name: Plocepasser mahali mahali
mahali
Tswana name Moğale or Mùxálí  bold person or brave warrior, for the White-browed Sparrow Weaver; "The names given by the Natives to the objects above described, I have adopted as the trivial ones" (A. Smith 1836); "probably referring to the bird's scolding call" (Jacobs 2016) (Plocepasser).