Arabian Warbler

SCI Name:  Sylvia leucomelaena
Protonym:  Curruca leucomelaena Symb.Phys.Aves(1828) (1828), sig.cc note7
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Sylviidae / Sylvia
Taxonomy Code:  reswar1
Type Locality:  Midyan, Saudi Arabia, fide Meinertzhagen, 1954, Birds Arabia, p. 202
Author:  Hemprich & Ehrenberg
Publish Year:  1833
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SYLVIA
(Sylviidae; Ϯ Eurasian Blackcap S. atricapilla) Mod. L. sylvia  woodland sprite  < L. silva or sylva  woodland (cf. Motacilla sylvia Linnaeus, 1766 (considered unidentifiable, but perhaps the Common Whitethroat)); "SYLVIA.  Gens tenuirostris, insectivora, canora, garrula, inquieta, arboribus insidens, strigi illudens, migrans, saltitans nec ambulans, vocem nullam edens dum volat.   227. SYLVIA LUSCINIA.  ...  Ital. Rossignolo. Germ. Nachtigall.  ...  228. SYLVIA CURRUCA.  ...  Ital. Bianchetto. Germ. Spottvogel.  ...  229. SYLVIA ATRICAPILLA.  ...  Ital. Capo nero. Germ. Schwarzplatl.  ...  230. SYLVIA OENANTHE.  ...  Ital. Cullo bianco. Germ. Steinschwazer.  ...  231. SYLVIA RUBECULA.  ...  Ital. Petto rosso, Pitardello, Petuzzo. Germ. Rothkehlchen, Rothkröpfl.  ...  232. SYLVIA PHOENICURUS.  ...  Ital. Scorsolato, Quarossolo. German. Rothschwänzchen, Waldrothschweifl.  ...  233. SYLVIA TITHYS.  ...  Ital. Moretto. Germ. Hausrothschweifl.  ...  234. SYLVIA ZYA.  ...  235. SYLVIA SCHOENOBAENUS?  ...  Ital. Grisato.  ...  236. SYLVIA MUSCIPETA.  ...  Ital. Grisatto bastardo.  ...  237. SYLVIA RUBETRA.  ...  238. SYLVIA TROCHILUS.  ...  Germ. Schmittl.  ...  239. SYLVIA TROGLODYTES.  ...  Ital. Reatolo. Germ. Königerl, Zaunschlupferl.  ...  240. SYVIA REGULUS.  ...  Germ. Goldhähnlein, Zaunkönig." (Scopoli 1769). "When the genus Sylvia, containing upwards of two hundred and fifty species, shall have been properly studied, it will be found practicable to divide it into several more sections, subgenera, and even perhaps genera. This bird [Sylvia palmarum], along with many other North American species, will constitute a highly natural group, very distinct from the true Sylvia, of which S. atricapilla may be considered as the type" (Bonaparte 1828); “This genus, proposed by Scopoli  ...  has no type designated by the author. Of later writers, Swainson in 1836 designated Sylvia hippolais (the Icterine Warbler), Gray in 1840 Sylvia melanocephala (the Sardinian Warbler), and Seebohm in 1881 Sylvia cinerea (the Whitethroat) as the types. As these three species are not to be found among those included by Scopoli in his original list of species, it is obvious that another type must be found. Motacilla sylvia Linnaeus, 1766 (= Sylvia communis Lath.), which might be regarded as the type by tautonymy, cannot be taken into consideration; it is not included in Scopoli’s original list of the members of the genus, and the identification of Motacilla sylvia with Sylvia communis is very doubtful. The Committee suggest that Sylvia curruca (Linn.) should henceforth be regarded as the type of this genus” (BOU 1915); "Sylvia Scopoli, 1769, Annus I Hist. Nat., p. 154. Type, by subsequent designation (Bonaparte, 1828, Amer. Ornith., 2, p. 17), Motacilla atricapilla Linnaeus." (Watson in Peters 1986, XI, 270).
Var. Silvia, Silvya, Slyvia, Sylcia.   
Synon. Adophoneus, Adornis, Aegithalopsis, Alsoecus, Atraphornis, Communis, Corytholaea, Cuphopterus, Cuphornis, Curruca, Dagela, Epilais, Erythroleuca, Ficedula, Horizorhinus, Hortensis, Lioptilornis, Lioptilus, Melizophilus, Melophilus, Monachus, Nisoria, Parisoma, Philacantha, Philydra, Pseudoalcippe, Pyrophthalma, Sterparola, Thamnodus, Trochilus.

sylvia
Mod. L. sylvia  woodland sprite, little bird, warbler  < L. silva  woodland.
● Roman myth. Rhea Silvia, wife to the river god Tiberinus, and mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome; alluding to watery habitats (subsp. Cisticola erythrops, Tanysiptera).
● Roman myth. Silvia, goddess of the forests (syn. Peneothello bimaculata vicaria).
● "99. MOTACILLA.   ...   Sylvia.  9. M. supra cinerea, subtus alba, rectrice prima longitudinaliter dimidiato albo, secunda apice alba. Fn. svec. 228.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (?syn. Sylvia curruca).

leucomelaena
Gr. λευκος leukos white; μελας melas, μελαινα melaina black

SUBSPECIES

Arabian Warbler (blanfordi)
SCI Name: Sylvia leucomelaena blanfordi
blanfordi / blanfordii
Dr William Thomas Blanford (1832-1905) English geologist, zoologist, collector in Ethiopia, Persia and India (syn. Acrocephalus scirpaceus, Calandrella, syn. Carduelis carduelis brevirostris, subsp. Cinnyris jugularis, syn. Cisticola marginatus, syn. Leiopicus mahrattensis, subsp. Parus major, subsp. Prinia inornata, syn. Prunella modularis obscura, subsp. Psalidoprocne pristoptera, Pycnonotus, Pyrgilauda, syn. Strix aluco nivicola, subsp. Sylvia leucomelaena, syn. Tchagra senegalus, subsp. Turnix tanki).

Arabian Warbler (somaliensis)
SCI Name: Sylvia leucomelaena somaliensis
somalensis / somalica / somalicum / somalicus / somaliensis
Somaliland / Somalia (from the pastoral Samaale inhabitants of the region).

Arabian Warbler (leucomelaena)
SCI Name: Sylvia leucomelaena leucomelaena
leucomelaena
Gr. λευκος leukos white; μελας melas, μελαινα melaina black

Arabian Warbler (negevensis)
SCI Name: Sylvia leucomelaena negevensis
negevensis
Negev Desert, southern Israel.