Blue-headed Fantail

SCI Name:  Rhipidura cyaniceps
Protonym:  Muscipeta cyaniceps Proc.Acad.Nat.Sci.Philadelphia 7 p.438
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Rhipiduridae / Rhipidura
Taxonomy Code:  blhfan1
Type Locality:  Philippine Islands; restricted to Mt. Makiling (Maquiling), Laguna Province, Luzon, by Parkes, 1958, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1891, p. 2.
Author:  Cassin
Publish Year:  1855
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

RHIPIDURA
(Rhipiduridae; Ϯ New Zealand Fantail R. fuliginosa) Gr. ῥιπις rhipis, ῥιπιδος rhipidos  fan; ουρα oura  tail; “Fan-tailed Fly-catcher  ... flies always with its tail spread in shape of a fan.” (Latham 1783); "Genus. RHIPIDURA*.  Rostrum breve, depressum, basi latum, apice compressum, culmine arcuato; mandibula superiore apice emarginata; naribus basalibus, ovalibus, setis plumulisque fere obtectis; rictu vibrissis confertis mandibulas longitudine fere superantibus instructo.  Alæ mediocres, subacuminatæ; remige prima brevissima, secunda duplo longiore, tertia et quarta, quæ est longissima, gradatim longioribus.  Cauda elongata, patula, apice rotundata.  Pedes mediocres, graciles, acrotarsiis paratarsiisque integris.  This group may be at once recognised as offering strong marks of distinction from the true Muscicapa in the fan-like structure of the tail.   ...   *'Pιπις flabellum, and ουρα cauda.   ...   1. FLABELLIFERA. ...  Muscicapa flabellifera. Gmel. i. 943. no. 67.  Fan-tailed Flycatcher. Lath. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 184. no. 44. pl. 99.  ...  Fantail.—There is something singular in the habits of this bird. It frequents the small trees and bushes, from whence it suddenly darts at its prey, spreading out its tail like a fan, and to appearance turning over like a tumbler Pigeon, and then immediately returning to the same twig or bough from whence it sprang.   ...   2. MOTACILLOIDES.  ...  It bears a great resemblance to the description of Dr. Latham's Motacilla atricapilla, or the Black-topped Flycatcher of his "General History," but differs in the colour of the bill, back and throat.   ...   3. RUFIFRONS.  ...  Muscicapa rufifrons. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. 1. no. 5.  Rufous-fronted Flycatcher.  Id. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 213. no. 95." (Vigors & Horsfield 1827); "Rhipidura Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 246. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, p. 32), Muscicapa flabellifera Gmelin [= Muscicapa fuliginosa Sparrman]." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 530).
Var. Ripidura, Rhipadura, Rhissidura.
Synon. Cyanonympha, Howeavis, Leucocirca, Muscylva, Neomyias, Rhipidicidura, Ripidicala, Rupicula, Sauloprocta, Setosura.

rhipidura / rhipidurus
Gr. ῥιπις rhipis, ῥιπιδος rhipidos  fan; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.

cyaniceps
L. cyaneus  dark-blue  < Gr. κυανεος kuaneos  dark-blue, glossy; -ceps  -headed  < caput, capitis  head.

SUBSPECIES

Blue-headed Fantail (pinicola)
SCI Name: Rhipidura cyaniceps pinicola
PINICOLA
(Fringillidae; Ϯ Pine Grosbeak P. enucleator) L. pinus  pine tree; -cola  dweller  < colere  to dwell; "Habitat in Sveciæ summæ, Canadæ Pinetis, victitans strobilis; disseminator Pini" (Linnaeus 1758); "EXPLICATION DE LA PLANCHE PREMIÈRE.   ...   Nº 13.  Bec du Pinicole rouge, Pinicola rubra, gros, conico-convexe, entier, crochu à la pointe de sa partie supérieure, et tronqué à l'extrémité de l'inférieure.  Le bec de cet oiseau ayant une forme très-dissemblable à celui de la Loxie ou du Gros-bec, genre dans lequel les méthodistes l'ont placé, j'en ai fait le type d'un nouveau, décrit dans le tome III." (Vieillot 1808); "Pinicola Vieillot, 1808, Hist. Nat. Ois. Amér. Sept., 1, (1807), p. iv, pl. 1, fig. 13. Type, by monotypy, Pinicola rubra Vieillot = Loxia enucleator Linaneus." (Paynter in Peters 1968, XIV, 283).
Var. Pinciola.
Synon. Corythus, Densirostra, Enucleator, Strobilophaga.

Blue-headed Fantail (cyaniceps)
SCI Name: Rhipidura cyaniceps cyaniceps
cyaniceps
L. cyaneus  dark-blue  < Gr. κυανεος kuaneos  dark-blue, glossy; -ceps  -headed  < caput, capitis  head.