White-necked Babbler

SCI Name:  Stachyris leucotis
Protonym:  Timalia leucotis Contrib.Orn.[Jardine] p."63-10" pl.12
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Timaliidae / Stachyris
Taxonomy Code:  whnbab1
Type Locality:  Malacca.
Author:  Strickland
Publish Year:  1848
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

STACHYRIS
(Timaliidae; Ϯ Grey-throated Babbler S. nigriceps) Gr. στραχυ strakhu  rough, distort  < τραχυς trakhus  rough, jagged; ῥις rhis, ῥινος rhinos nostrils; "Timaliæ  ...  Stachyris, Hodgson.  ...  1. St. nigriceps, Hodgson.  ...  2. St. pyrrhops, Hodgson.  ...  3. St. chrysæa, Hodgson.  ...  Mr. Hodgson sends the following diagnostics  ...  "Stachyris, Mihi. (Certhianæ? Leiotrichanæ? Parianæ? [I do not hesitate to place it as above.—E. B.]  Bill equal to head, very strong, pointed, and trenchant; tips equal and entire; its form conico-compressed and higher than broad, with culmen raised between prolonged nareal fossæ.  Nares basal, lateral, with ovoid posteal aperture, the front being closed by the very salient rude scale above.  Gape smooth.  Frontlet rigid.  Tongue cartilaginous, bifid, simple.  Legs and feet very strong, suited to creeping and climbing in inverted strained positions.  Tarse very stout, longer than any toe or nail.  Toes short, unequal, depressed, basally connected, the hind stoutest and exceeding the inner fore.  Nails very falcate and acute.  Wings short, feeble, the first four primaries much graduated, the four next subequal.  Tail medial, simple, firm.   Type St. nigriceps.  Sylvan, shy; creeps among foliage, buds and flowers, like Zosterops and Orthotomus; feeds on minute hard insects and their eggs and larvæ." (Hodgson 1844).
Var. Stachyrhis, Strachyrhis, Strachyris.
Synon. Cilathora, Heterorhynchus, Nigravis, Sphenocichla, Stachyrirhynchus, Thringorhina.

leucotis
Gr. λευκος leukos white; -ωτις -ōtis -eared < ους ous, ωτος ōtos ear.
● ex “Fourmilier à oreilles blanches de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 822, and “White-eared Manakin” of Latham 1783 (syn. Conopophaga aurita).

SUBSPECIES

White-necked Babbler (leucotis)
SCI Name: Stachyris leucotis leucotis
leucotis
Gr. λευκος leukos white; -ωτις -ōtis -eared < ους ous, ωτος ōtos ear.
● ex “Fourmilier à oreilles blanches de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 822, and “White-eared Manakin” of Latham 1783 (syn. Conopophaga aurita).

White-necked Babbler (sumatrensis)
SCI Name: Stachyris leucotis sumatrensis
sumatrae / sumatrana / sumatranum / sumatranus / sumatrensis
Sumatra, Dutch East Indies / Indonesia  < Sanskrit Samudra  sea (a name subsequently mangled by European travellers).
● ex “Malacca Partridge” of Latham 1823 (syn. Caloperdix oculeus).
● Perhaps the “Polo Condor Gull” of Latham 1801 (Sterna).
● Erroneous TL. Sumatra (= Celebes / Sulawesi) (Tanygnathus).

White-necked Babbler (obscurata)
SCI Name: Stachyris leucotis obscurata
obscurata / obscuratus
L. obscuratus  dark, dusky  < obscurare  to darken  < obscurus  dark.