Yellow-billed Oxpecker

SCI Name:  Buphagus africanus
Protonym:  Buphaga africana Syst.Nat.ed.12 ed.12 p.154
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Buphagidae / Buphagus
Taxonomy Code:  yeboxp1
Type Locality:  Senegal.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1766
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

BUPHAGUS
(Buphagidae; † Yellow-billed Oxpecker B. africanus) Gr. βους bous  ox; -φαγος -phagos  -eating  < φαγειν phagein  to eat; the oxpeckers feed only on ticks and other skin parasites of grazing mammals, especially African Buffalo, Giraffe and rhinoceroses; "LE PIQUE-BŒUF.  ... BUPHAGUS.  ... Cet Oiseau se pose sur le dos des Bœufs, & à coups de bec réitérés en fait sortir le sang, non pas pour s'en nourrir, mais pour tirer de dessous l'épiderme des vers, qui y vivent jusqu'au moment de leur métamorphose, & desquels il est très-friands: c'est ce qui lui a fair donner le nom de Pique-bœuf" (Brisson 1760); “Beef-eater ...  Buphaga of Linnaeus and Brisson  ...  because it picks holes in the backs of cattle to get at the Larvae of insects deposited there” (Pennant 1773); "Buphagus Brisson, 1760, Orn., 1, p. 32, 2, p. 436.  Type, by monotypy, "Buphagus" Brisson = Buphaga africana Linnaeus." (Amadon in Peters, 1962, XV, p. 121).
Var. Buphaga, Buphaea.
Synon. Buphagoides.
• (Stercorariidae; syn. Catharacta † Great Skua C. skua) Gr. βου- bou-  huge  < βους bous  bull, ox; -φαγος -phagos  -eating  < φαγειν phagein  to eat; "71. BUPHAGUS.  Skua. HOIER. ap. CLUS. exot auctar. 369., WILL. Orn. t. 67.  Catarractes. RAI. Syn. av. 128." (Moehring 1752); "ZEE-HAVIK, in 't Latyn Buphagus.  Skua van HOJER. by CLUSIUS. Exot. auctar. 369. en by WILLUGHBY t. 67.  Cataractes by RAY Syn. Av. p. 128" (Moehring 1758); "I.  Statura maximi, et forma robustissimi.  Pedes et rostrum validi.  Tarsus brevior quam digitus medius cum ungue.  Rectrices mediæ latæ vix ultra cæteras porrectæ. . . .Genus BUPHAGUS.   ...   Genus BUPHAGUS Moehring.  Buphagus, Moehring, Genera Avium, 1752, page 66, no. 71.  Typus Larus catarractes, Linn." (Coues 1863); "Buphagus "(Moehring, 1752)" Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1863, p. 124—type, by orig. desig., Larus catarractes Linnaeus = Catharacta skua Brünnich." (Hellmayr and Conover, 1948, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (3), p. 241).

africanus
L. Africanus  African.
● ex “African Jacana” of Latham 1785 (Actophilornis).
● Erroneous TL. Africa (= ?Sumatra); ex “Rhinoceros avis secunda varietas” of Willughby 1676, “Trompette de Brac” or “Oiseau trompette” of Labat 1728, “Hydrocorax africanus” of Brisson 1760, “Brac” or “Calao d’Afrique” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “African Hornbill” of Latham 1781 (unident; ?syn. Buceros rhinoceros).
● ex “Pique-Boeuf” of Brisson 1760 (Buphagus).
● Erroneous TL. Country of the Auteniquoi, South Africa (= ?Europe); ex “Buse Gantée” of Levaillant 1797, pl. 18 (syn. Buteo lagopus).
● ex “Engoulevent à Collier” of Levaillant 1799, and “Bombay Goatsucker” of Latham 1802 (syn. Caprimulgus pectoralis).
● ex “African Pheasant” of Latham 1787 (syn. Crinifer piscator).
● ex “African Shag” of Latham 1785 (Microcarbo),.
● ex “Loriot Coudougnan” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 261 (syn. Oriolus larvatus) (see coudougan).
● ex “Coure-vite à double collier d’Afrique” of Temminck 1807 (Smutsornis).
● Erroneous TL. Great Namaqualand (= ?); ex “Faucon à Culotte Noire” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 29 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Yellow-billed Oxpecker (africanus)
SCI Name: Buphagus africanus africanus
africanus
L. Africanus  African.
● ex “African Jacana” of Latham 1785 (Actophilornis).
● Erroneous TL. Africa (= ?Sumatra); ex “Rhinoceros avis secunda varietas” of Willughby 1676, “Trompette de Brac” or “Oiseau trompette” of Labat 1728, “Hydrocorax africanus” of Brisson 1760, “Brac” or “Calao d’Afrique” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “African Hornbill” of Latham 1781 (unident; ?syn. Buceros rhinoceros).
● ex “Pique-Boeuf” of Brisson 1760 (Buphagus).
● Erroneous TL. Country of the Auteniquoi, South Africa (= ?Europe); ex “Buse Gantée” of Levaillant 1797, pl. 18 (syn. Buteo lagopus).
● ex “Engoulevent à Collier” of Levaillant 1799, and “Bombay Goatsucker” of Latham 1802 (syn. Caprimulgus pectoralis).
● ex “African Pheasant” of Latham 1787 (syn. Crinifer piscator).
● ex “African Shag” of Latham 1785 (Microcarbo),.
● ex “Loriot Coudougnan” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 261 (syn. Oriolus larvatus) (see coudougan).
● ex “Coure-vite à double collier d’Afrique” of Temminck 1807 (Smutsornis).
● Erroneous TL. Great Namaqualand (= ?); ex “Faucon à Culotte Noire” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 29 (unident.).

Yellow-billed Oxpecker (langi)
SCI Name: Buphagus africanus langi
langi
Herbert Lang (1879-1957) US ornithologist, collector in tropical Africa 1926-1957 (subsp. Buphagus africanus, syn. Scleroptila levalliantoides).