Brown Booby

SCI Name:  Sula leucogaster
Protonym:  Pelecanus Leucogaster TablePlanchesEnlum. p.57
Taxonomy:  Suliformes / Sulidae / Sula
Taxonomy Code:  brnboo
Type Locality:  Cayenne.
Author:  Boddaert
Publish Year:  1783
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SULA
(Sulidae; Ϯ Brown Booby S. leucogaster) Norwegian name Sula for a gannet  < Old Norse Súla. The suppositions that this name is derived either from Gr. συλαω sulaō  to rob, or from Gaelic souler  sharp-sighted, are erroneous. In fact, the gannets Morus no longer hold this generic tag, which is restricted to the tropical and subtropical boobies; "LE FOU.  ...  SULA" (Brisson 1760): based on "Booby" of Catesby 1731, "Stultus" of Barrère 1741 and 1745, "Plancus Morus" of Klein 1750, and Pelecanus Piscator Linnaeus, 1758; "Sula, Brisson, Orn., 1, 1760, p. 60; 6, 1760, p. 494. Type, by tautonymy, "Sula" = Sula leucogaster Boddaert." (Peters 1931, I, 83).   
Var. Suca.   
Synon. Abeltera, Anaethetus, Dysporus, Hemisula, Parasula, Piscatrix, Prophalacrocorax, Pseudosula, Sularius.

sula
● Sula-Besi, Sula Is., Moluccas (Edolisoma).
● Norwegian name Sula for a gannet < Old Norse Súla; ex “Anseri bassano congener fusca avis” of Ray 1713, and Sloane 1725, “Booby” of Catesby 1731, “Anaethetus major melinus, subtus albidus, rostro serrato” of Browne 1756, and “Sula” or “Fou” of Brisson 1760 (Sula).

leucogaster / leucogastra / leucogastris
Gr. λευκος leukos  white; γαστηρ gastēr, γαστρος gastros  belly.
● ex “Guainumbi sp. 1” of Marcgrave 1648, “Mellisuga cayanensis ventre albo” of Brisson 1760, “Oiseau-mouche à cravate dorée de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 672, fig. 3, “Cravate-dorée” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Gold-throated Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (Agyrtria).
● (Boddaert 1783) ex “Merle violet à ventre blanc de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 648, fig. 1, and de Buffon 1770-1785 (Cinnyricinclus).
● (J. Gmelin 1789) ex “Merle violet à ventre blanc de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 648, fig. 1, and “Whidah Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Cinnyricinclus leucogaster).
● ex “Drongri à Ventre Blanc” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 171 (syn. Dicrurus leucophaeus).
● ex "Héron bleuâtre à ventre blanc de Cayenne" of d'Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 350, and "Demi-Aigrette" of de Buffon 1770-1786 (syn. Egretta tricolor).
● ex "Jacamar à Ventre Blanc" of Levaillant 1807 (Galbula).
● ex “White-bellied Eagle” of Latham 1781 (Haliaeetus).
● ex “Malkoha” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 224 (syn. Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus).
● ex “Geai à ventre jaune de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 249 (syn. Pitangus sulphuratus).
● ex “Fou de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 973 (Sula).

SUBSPECIES

Brown Booby (Brewster's)
SCI Name: Sula leucogaster brewsteri
brewsteri
William Brewster (1851-1919) US ornithologist, collector, field naturalist, founder member of AOU, President of first Audubon Society 1896 (subsp. Egretta thula, subsp. Empidonax traillii, syn. Megascops kennicottii, subsp. Melanerpes uropygialis, subsp. Psittacara holochlorus, subsp. Saltator olivascens, subsp. Setophaga petechia, Siphonorhis, Spinus pinus x Acanthis flammea, subsp. Sula leucogaster, syn. Tympanuchus cupido, subsp. Vireo gilvus).

Brown Booby (Atlantic)
SCI Name: Sula leucogaster leucogaster
leucogaster / leucogastra / leucogastris
Gr. λευκος leukos  white; γαστηρ gastēr, γαστρος gastros  belly.
● ex “Guainumbi sp. 1” of Marcgrave 1648, “Mellisuga cayanensis ventre albo” of Brisson 1760, “Oiseau-mouche à cravate dorée de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 672, fig. 3, “Cravate-dorée” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Gold-throated Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (Agyrtria).
● (Boddaert 1783) ex “Merle violet à ventre blanc de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 648, fig. 1, and de Buffon 1770-1785 (Cinnyricinclus).
● (J. Gmelin 1789) ex “Merle violet à ventre blanc de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 648, fig. 1, and “Whidah Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Cinnyricinclus leucogaster).
● ex “Drongri à Ventre Blanc” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 171 (syn. Dicrurus leucophaeus).
● ex "Héron bleuâtre à ventre blanc de Cayenne" of d'Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 350, and "Demi-Aigrette" of de Buffon 1770-1786 (syn. Egretta tricolor).
● ex "Jacamar à Ventre Blanc" of Levaillant 1807 (Galbula).
● ex “White-bellied Eagle” of Latham 1781 (Haliaeetus).
● ex “Malkoha” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 224 (syn. Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus).
● ex “Geai à ventre jaune de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 249 (syn. Pitangus sulphuratus).
● ex “Fou de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 973 (Sula).

Brown Booby (Forster's)
SCI Name: Sula leucogaster plotus
plotus
L. plotus, plotos or plautus  flat-footed (cf. Gr. πλωτος plōtos  floating  < πλωω plōō  to float).

Brown Booby (Colombian)
SCI Name: Sula leucogaster etesiaca
etesiaca / etesiacus
L. etesiacus  of the trade-winds  < etesiae  trade-winds  < Gr. ετησιαι etēsiai  trade-winds.