Brown-headed Honeyeater

SCI Name:  Melithreptus brevirostris
Protonym:  Meliphaga brevirostris Trans.Linn.Soc.London(1), 15(1826) p.315
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Meliphagidae / Melithreptus
Taxonomy Code:  brhhon1
Type Locality:  New South Wales.
Author:  Vigors & Horsfield
Publish Year:  1827
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MELITHREPTUS
(Meliphagidae; Ϯ White-naped Honeyeater M. lunatus) Gr. μελιθρεπτος melithreptos  honey-fed  < μελι meli, μελιτος melitos  honey; θρεπτα threpta  feeding  < τρεφω trephō  to nourish; "162. HEOROTAIRE, Melithreptus.  Certhia, Linn. Gm. Lath.  Bec arrondi à la base, entier, plus court, ou plus long que la tête, arqué en faucille, acuminé.—Langue ou divisée en 2 filets, ou ciliée à la pointe.—Les première et deuxième remiges les plus longues.  2 sections.   Esp. Heorotaire fuscalbin.—Hoho, Vieill. Ois. dorés.   ...   Melithreptus [μελιθερωτος [sic], melle nutritus]." (Vieillot 1816); "Melithreptus Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 46. Type, by subsequent designation (Gadow, 1884, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., 9, p. 204), Certhia lunulata Shaw (error for lunata) = Certhia lunata Vieillot.¹   ...   ¹ This is the first correct type designation. It is usually stated that the type designation is based on monotypy, but Vieillot actually placed two species in his Melithreptus, namely "Heorotaire fuscalbin" (= Certhia lunata Vieillot) and "Hoho" (= Certhia pacifica Gmelin), referring to Vieillot, 1802, Oiseaux Dorés, 2, pls. 61, 63, respectively. G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, ed. 1, p. 15 cited Melithreptus as a synonym to Acanthorhynchus, but in the second edition (1841, p. 16) stated that he wanted to retain Melithreptus as the name for the "first section" (i.e. Certhia lunata), "to which it seems more proper that it should be applied." This cannot be accepted as a definite type designation." (Salomonsen in Peters 1967, XII, 394).
Var. Melethreptus, Melithreptes, Melitreptus, Melitihreptus.
Synon. Dialis, Eidopsarus, Gymnophrys, Haematops.

brevirostre / brevirostris
Mod. L. brevirostris  having a short beak  < L. brevis  short; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.

SUBSPECIES

Brown-headed Honeyeater (brevirostris)
SCI Name: Melithreptus brevirostris brevirostris
brevirostre / brevirostris
Mod. L. brevirostris  having a short beak  < L. brevis  short; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.

Brown-headed Honeyeater (wombeyi)
SCI Name: Melithreptus brevirostris wombeyi
wombeyi
John Charles Wombey (b. 1945) Australian zoologist (subsp. Melithreptus brevirostris).

Brown-headed Honeyeater (pallidiceps)
SCI Name: Melithreptus brevirostris pallidiceps
pallidiceps
L. pallidus  pale  < pallere  to be pale; -ceps  -headed  < caput, capitis  head.

Brown-headed Honeyeater (magnirostris)
SCI Name: Melithreptus brevirostris magnirostris
magnirostre / magnirostris
L. magnus  great; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.
● ex “Alouette à Gros Bec” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 193 (Galerida).
● ex “Épervier à gros bec de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 464, and “Great-billed Falcon” of Latham 1781 (Rupornis).

Brown-headed Honeyeater (leucogenys)
SCI Name: Melithreptus brevirostris leucogenys
leucogenis / leucogenus / leucogenys
Gr. λευκος leukos  white; γενυς genus, γενυος genuos  jaw, chin, cheek.
● ex “Turdus leucogenys” of Lichtenstein MS (Cichlopsis).