Grass-green Tanager

SCI Name:  Chlorornis riefferii
Protonym:  Tanagra Riefferii Rev.Zool. 3 p.4
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Thraupidae / Chlorornis
Taxonomy Code:  grgtan1
Type Locality:  Santa-Fe de Bogota, Colombia.
Author:  Boissonneau
Publish Year:  1840
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CHLORORNIS
(Thraupidae; † Grass-green Tanager C. reifferii) Gr. χλωρος khlōros  green; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird. "D'un beau vert de malachite très-brillant, front, joue, gorge, abdomen et petites couvertures inférieures de la queue, d'un roux ferrugineux terne" (Boissonneau 1840). Reichenbach's 1850, plate LXXVII, labelled Passerinae: Fringillinae Tanagrinae, does not reveal the true colours of this tanager, but he had obviously seen the original description or a skin or illustration; "Reichenbach's drawing shows the generic characters very well, and his name, accompanied, as it is, by a recognizable figure, cannot be discarded as a nomen nudum, although no type species is mentioned." (Hellmayr 1936); "Chlorornis Reichenbach, 1850, Avium Systema Naturale, pl. LXXVII (no specific names given). Type, by subsequent designation (G. Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds, p. 72), Tanagra prasina Lesson, 1843 = Tanagra riefferii Boissonneau, 1840." (JAJ 2021).
Synon. Psittospiza.

riefferi / riefferii
Étienne Rieffer (1806-1872) French naturalist, collector in tropical America, grocer (Martin Schneider and Laurent Raty in litt.) (syn. Amazilia tzacatl, Chlorornis, Pipreola).

SUBSPECIES

Grass-green Tanager (riefferii)
SCI Name: Chlorornis riefferii riefferii
riefferi / riefferii
Étienne Rieffer (1806-1872) French naturalist, collector in tropical America, grocer (Martin Schneider and Laurent Raty in litt.) (syn. Amazilia tzacatl, Chlorornis, Pipreola).

Grass-green Tanager (dilutus)
SCI Name: Chlorornis riefferii dilutus
dilutum / dilutus
L. dilutus  weak, diluted, resolved, thin, soft  < diluere  to dissolve  < dis  separate, apart; luere  to make good.

Grass-green Tanager (elegans)
SCI Name: Chlorornis riefferii elegans
elegans
L. elegans, elegantis  elegant, fine  < elegere probably an early form of eligere   to select.
● ex “Pic jaune tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 524 (Celeus).
● ex “Bucco maynanensis” of Brisson 1760, “Barbu des Maynas” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 330, “Beau Tamatia” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Beautiful Barbet” of Latham 1782 (syn. Eubucco versicolor).
● ex “Perdix martineta” of de Azara 1802-1805 (Eudromia).
● ex “Tangara de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 114, fig. 1 (syn. Euphonia chlorotica).
● ex “Beautiful Lory” of Latham 1781, ?and “Pennantian Parrot” of Latham 1787 (Platycercus).
● ex “Kink de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 617 (syn. Sturnia sinensis).

Grass-green Tanager (celatus)
SCI Name: Chlorornis riefferii celatus
celata / celatus
L. celatus  hidden  < celare  to hide.
● "This bird is distinguished by the colour of the feathers on the crown of the head, which are of a fulvous colour, tipped with the same colour as that of the neck and back, so that the fulvous colour does not appear at first sight" (Say 1822) (Leiothlypis).

Grass-green Tanager (bolivianus)
SCI Name: Chlorornis riefferii bolivianus
boliviae / boliviana / bolivianum / bolivianus / boliviensis
Bolivia (named after Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) "The Liberator", Venezuelan revolutionary, who helped to expel the Spaniards from their South American empire).