Brown Thrasher

SCI Name:  Toxostoma rufum
Protonym:  [Turdus] rufus Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.169
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Mimidae / Toxostoma
Taxonomy Code:  brnthr
Type Locality:  in America septentrionali et meridionali = South Carolina.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

TOXOSTOMA
(Mimidae; Ϯ Curve-billed Thrasher T. curvirostre) Gr. τοξον toxon   bow, arch; στομα stoma, στοματος stomatos  mouth; "Genus Toxostoma, Bogenschnabel. (Genus novum.)   54. Toxostoma Vetula (species nova).  Notaeo toto e fuliginoso-cinereo, exclusa alae flexura albida et macula in apice rectricum quaternarum, externarum candida (versus rectrices interiores sensim minore); gastraeo toto albido, fusco-cinereo nubilo; rostro arcuato nigro. Adult.   Chietotottotl Hernand. Thes. p. 31. cap. 80." (Wagler 1831); "Toxostoma Wagler, 1831, Isis von Oken, 24, p. 528. Type, by monotypy, Toxostoma vetula Wagler = Orpheus curvirostris Swainson." (Davis & Miller in Peters 1960, IX, 449).
Var. Toxastoma, Taxostoma.
Synon. Antimimus, Harpes, Harporhynchus, Methriopterus.

rufum / rufus
L. rufus  red, ruddy, rufous. In ornithology rufus, rufa and rufum cover a wide spectrum of colours from yellow, orange and brown to crimson, scarlet and purple.
● ex “Red-legg’d Partridge from Barbary” of Edwards 1743-1751 (syn. Alectoris rufa).
● ex “Crapaud-Volant” or “Tête-chêvre de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 735, and “Engoulevent roux de Cayenne” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Antrostomus).
● ex “Batara roxo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 218 (Casiornis).
● ex “Pic roux de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 694, fig. 1, and “Rufous Woodpecker” of Latham 1782 (syn. Celeus undatus).
● ex “Coucal Rufin” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 221 (syn. Centropus benghalensis).
● ex “Fournier des Buenos Ayres” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 739, “Fournier” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Rufous Bee-eater” of Latham 1782 (Furnarius).
● ex “Gobe-mouche roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 453, fig. 1 (Pachyramphus).
● ex “Merle roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 644, fig. 1 (syn. Percnostola rufifrons).
● “I cannot see the slightest advantage to be gained by rejecting Bechstein’s name for the Chiffchaff on the ground that Boddaert’s Sylvia rufa may be the Whitethroat. It is obvious that Boddaert intended to designate a bird other than the Whitethroat by this name; and under no circumstances can the name of Phylloscopus rufa, Bechst., be confounded with any other bird than the one to which he applied it” (Seebohm 1881); “Bechstein’s name, used by both Seebohm and Saunders, and also in the 1^st edition [1883] of the List, really dates from his Gem. naturg. Deutsch. iv. 1795, p. 682, and is not an original description, but is founded on Gmelin’s Motacilla rufa. This is not a Phylloscopus, and the name cannot be used for the Chiffchaff” (BOU 1915) (syn. Phylloscopus collybita).
● ex “Caracterizado cañela corona de pizarra” (= ♀) of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 208 (Platypsaris).
● ex “Courly brun de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Plegadis falcinellus).
● ex “Ruff-necked Humming-bird” of Latham 1782, and “Ruffed Honey-sucker” of Pennant 1785 (Selasphorus).
● ex “Tangaroux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 711 (Tachyphonus).
● "95. TURDUS.  ...  rufus.  6. T. ferrugineus subtus dilutior maculatus, remigibus unicoloribus, cauda rotundata.  Turdus ruffus [sic]. Catesb. car. I. p. 28. t. 28.  Habitat in America septentrionali & meridionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Toxostoma).
● ex “Yellow-belly’d Green Cuckow” of Edwards 1758, “Couroucou à queue rousse de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 736, and “Rufous Curucui” of Latham 1782 (Trogon).

SUBSPECIES

Brown Thrasher (rufum)
SCI Name: Toxostoma rufum rufum
rufum / rufus
L. rufus  red, ruddy, rufous. In ornithology rufus, rufa and rufum cover a wide spectrum of colours from yellow, orange and brown to crimson, scarlet and purple.
● ex “Red-legg’d Partridge from Barbary” of Edwards 1743-1751 (syn. Alectoris rufa).
● ex “Crapaud-Volant” or “Tête-chêvre de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 735, and “Engoulevent roux de Cayenne” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (Antrostomus).
● ex “Batara roxo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 218 (Casiornis).
● ex “Pic roux de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 694, fig. 1, and “Rufous Woodpecker” of Latham 1782 (syn. Celeus undatus).
● ex “Coucal Rufin” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 221 (syn. Centropus benghalensis).
● ex “Fournier des Buenos Ayres” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 739, “Fournier” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Rufous Bee-eater” of Latham 1782 (Furnarius).
● ex “Gobe-mouche roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 453, fig. 1 (Pachyramphus).
● ex “Merle roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 644, fig. 1 (syn. Percnostola rufifrons).
● “I cannot see the slightest advantage to be gained by rejecting Bechstein’s name for the Chiffchaff on the ground that Boddaert’s Sylvia rufa may be the Whitethroat. It is obvious that Boddaert intended to designate a bird other than the Whitethroat by this name; and under no circumstances can the name of Phylloscopus rufa, Bechst., be confounded with any other bird than the one to which he applied it” (Seebohm 1881); “Bechstein’s name, used by both Seebohm and Saunders, and also in the 1^st edition [1883] of the List, really dates from his Gem. naturg. Deutsch. iv. 1795, p. 682, and is not an original description, but is founded on Gmelin’s Motacilla rufa. This is not a Phylloscopus, and the name cannot be used for the Chiffchaff” (BOU 1915) (syn. Phylloscopus collybita).
● ex “Caracterizado cañela corona de pizarra” (= ♀) of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 208 (Platypsaris).
● ex “Courly brun de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Plegadis falcinellus).
● ex “Ruff-necked Humming-bird” of Latham 1782, and “Ruffed Honey-sucker” of Pennant 1785 (Selasphorus).
● ex “Tangaroux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 711 (Tachyphonus).
● "95. TURDUS.  ...  rufus.  6. T. ferrugineus subtus dilutior maculatus, remigibus unicoloribus, cauda rotundata.  Turdus ruffus [sic]. Catesb. car. I. p. 28. t. 28.  Habitat in America septentrionali & meridionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Toxostoma).
● ex “Yellow-belly’d Green Cuckow” of Edwards 1758, “Couroucou à queue rousse de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 736, and “Rufous Curucui” of Latham 1782 (Trogon).

Brown Thrasher (longicauda)
SCI Name: Toxostoma rufum longicauda
longicauda
L. longus  long; cauda  tail.
● ex “Merle à longue queue du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 220, and “Vert-doré” of de Buffon 1770-1785 (syn. Lamprotornis caudatus).
● ex “Petit Figuier à longue queue de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Long-tailed Warbler” of Latham 1783 (subsp. Orthotomus sutorius).
● ex “Plumet-blanc” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Pithys albifrons).
● ex “Perruche de Malac” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 887, “Grand Perruche à long brins” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Malacca Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (Psittacula).
● ex “Merle Tricolor à Longue Queue” of Levaillant 1801-1804, pl. 114 (unident.).