White-tailed Tropicbird

SCI Name:  Phaethon lepturus
Protonym:  Phaëton lepturus Hist.Nat.[Buffon]ed.Didot 14 p.319
Taxonomy:  Phaethontiformes / Phaethontidae / Phaethon
Taxonomy Code:  whttro
Type Locality:  Mauritius.
Author:  Daudin
Publish Year:  1802
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PHAETHON
(Phaethontidae; Ϯ Red-billed Tropicbird P. aethereus) Gr. φαεθων phaethōn  sun  < φαω phaō  to shine (Gr. myth. Phaëthon, the disobedient son of Phoebus or Sol, the Sun, and the Oceanid Clymene); “Linnaeus bestowed upon it the generic term  ...  in allusion to its attempts to follow the path of the sun” (Newton & Gadow 1896) (see Phaetusa); "67. PHAËTHON.  Rostrum cultratum, rectum, acuminatum. Fauce pone rostrum hiante.  Nares oblongæ, postice membrana semitectæ.  Digiti postici antrorsum versi.  ...  Habitat in Pelago inter tropicos." (Linnaeus 1758); "Phaëthon Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 134. Type, by subsequent designation, Phaëthon æthereus Linné (Gray, List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 80.)" (Peters 1931, I, 77). Linnaeus's Phaethon comprised two species (P. æthereus, P. demersus).  
Var. Phacton, Phaeton.
Synon. Leptophaethon, Lepturus, Phoenicurus, Scaeophaethon, Tropicophilus.

phaethon
Gr. φαεθων phaethōn  sun  < φαω phaō  to shine.

lepturus
Gr. λεπτος leptos  delicate, slender; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.
● ex “Petit Paille-en-queue” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (cf. genus Lepturus Brisson, 1760, tropicbird) (Phaethon).

Lepturus
Gr. λεπτος leptos  delicate, slender; ουρα oura  tail.
● (syn. Euscarthmus Ϯ Tawny-crowned Pygmy Tyrant E. meloryphus) "Lepturus, Sw.  Bill triangular, gradually narrowed from the base, culminated. Wings excessively small, and very much rounded; the lesser quills being nearly as long as the primaries. Tail lengthened, very slender. Feet large, much developed. Claws slender, and but slightly curved.   L. fulviceps.  Braz. Birds." (Swainson 1837).
● (syn. Phaethon Ϯ Red-billed Tropicbird P. aethereus) "67. LEPTURUS.  Avis Tropicorum.  WILL. Orn. 250. t. 76.  ...  Caudæ rectrices binæ tantum, tota ave longiores." (Moehring 1752); "Genus Lepturi.  Le genre du Paille-en-cul.  ...  Deux des plumes de la queue très-longues." (Brisson 1760): based on "Avis tropicorum" of Willughby 1676 and Ray 1713, "Plancus tropicus" of Klein 1750, "Lepturus" of Moehring 1752, and Phaëthon æthereus Linnaeus, 1758; "Lepturus Brisson, Orn., 1, p. 60; 6, p. 479, 1760—type, by tautonymy, "Lepturus" Moehring = Phaëthon aethereus Linnaeus." (Hellmayr & Conover 1948, XIII, 110).
● (syn. Phainopepla Ϯ Phainopepla P. nitens) "Lepturus galeatus, Less. - Corpore toto atro-cœruleo nitente;  crista ampla, plumis mollis divaricatis formata. Pennis alarum exterioribus albis marginali interno. - Hab. Mexica republicana" (Lesson 1839).

SUBSPECIES

White-tailed Tropicbird (Indian Ocean)
SCI Name: Phaethon lepturus lepturus
lepturus
Gr. λεπτος leptos  delicate, slender; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.
● ex “Petit Paille-en-queue” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (cf. genus Lepturus Brisson, 1760, tropicbird) (Phaethon).

White-tailed Tropicbird (Golden)
SCI Name: Phaethon lepturus fulvus
fulvum / fulvus
L. fulvus  tawny, deep yellow, brown, fulvous.
● ex “Cream-coloured Buzzard” of Latham 1781 (syn. Buteo jamaicensis).
● ex “Aigle de Montevideo” of de Buffon (Sonnini ed.), 1800-1802 (syn. Buteogallus urubitinga) (= ☼).
● ex “Tangara jaune à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 809, fig. 2, and “Tangara mordoré” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Lanio).
● ex “Oriolus Maderaspatanus fulvus” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Oriolus kundoo).

White-tailed Tropicbird (Europa I.)
SCI Name: Phaethon lepturus europae
europae / europaea / europaeus / europeus
L. Europaeus European < Europa or Europe Europe (Gr. myth. Europe, daughter of Agenor King of Phoenicia and mother to Sarpedon and Minos by Jupiter)).
● "102. CAPRIMULGUS.  ...  europæus.  1. C. narium tubis obsoletis.  Hirundo cauda integra, ore setis ciliato. Fn. svec. 248.  Caprimulgus. Bell. av. 28. a. Gesn. av. 242. Jonst. av. 53. t. 20. Will. orn. 70. t. 14. Raj. av. 26. n. 1. Alb. av. I. p. 10. t. 10. Frisch. av. . . t. 101. Catesb. car. I. p. 8. t. 8.  β. Caprimulgus minor americanus. Catesb. car. 3. p. 16. t. 16. Edw. av. 63. t. 63.  Habitat in Europa & America.  Varietatem β. judico ex macula alba alarum & rectricum, ut in mare avis europeæ.  Victitat Phalænis & insectis nocturnis. Nidus orbiculatus e luto inter rupes." (Linnaeus 1758) (Caprimulgus).
● Erroneous TL. Southern Europe, Greece (= India) (syn. Francolinus francolinus asiae).
● Île Europa, Mozambique Channel (subsp. Phaethon lepturus).
● "55. SITTA.  ...  europæa.  1. S. rectricibus nigris: lateralibus quatuor infra apicem albis. Fn. svec. 182.  Sitta s. Picus cinereus. Gesn. av. 711. Aldr. orn. l. 12. c. 38. Will. ornith. 98. t. 33. Raj. av. 47. Alb. av. 2. p. 27. t. 28. Frisch. av. . . t. 39. f. 2.  β. Sitta capite nigro & Sitta capite fusco. Catesb. carol. 1. p. 22. t. 22.  Habitat in Europæ, Americæ truncis arborum larvas sub cortice effodiens; Nuces rostro perforat & edit. Nidum struens reperto congruo foramine arboris, illud limo oblinit pro capacitate ingressus." (Linnaeus 1758) (Sitta).
● Europe; ex “Merle de montagne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 182 (syn. Turdus torquatus).

White-tailed Tropicbird (Atlantic)
SCI Name: Phaethon lepturus catesbyi
catesbaei / catesbyi
Mark Catesby (1682-1749) English naturalist, illustrator (syn. Larus atricilla (ex "Laughing Gull" of Catesby 1731), subsp. Phaethon lepturus (ex “Tropick Bird” of Catesby 1731)).

White-tailed Tropicbird (Pacific)
SCI Name: Phaethon lepturus dorotheae
dorotheae
● Dorothy Ebsworth White (1888-1959) daughter of Australian oologist Henry Luke White (syn. Acanthiza nana, Amytornis, subsp. Phaethon lepturus, syn. Psephotellus dissimilis).
● Dorothea Minola Alice Bate (1879-1951) British palaeontologist, pioneer archaeozoologist, explorer (subsp. Certhia brachydactyla).
● Female eponym; dedicatee not yet identified (Wolters 1980, Die Vogelarten der Erde, pt. 6, 407) (subsp. Turdus lherminieri).

White-tailed Tropicbird (Ascension)
SCI Name: Phaethon lepturus ascensionis
ascensionis
Ascension I., South Atlantic Ocean (sighted by the the Portuguese empire builder Afonso de Albuquerque on Ascension Day 1503 and named Ilha da Ascensão).