Gray-backed Tailorbird

SCI Name:  Orthotomus derbianus
Protonym:  Orthotomus derbianus Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1854) (1854), Pt22 no.279 p.309 pl.76
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Cisticolidae / Orthotomus
Taxonomy Code:  gybtai1
Type Locality:  Philippines.
Author:  Moore, F
Publish Year:  1855
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ORTHOTOMUS
(Cisticolidae; Ϯ Olive-backed Tailorbird O. sepium) Gr. ορθος orthos  straight; τομευς tomeus, τομεως tomeōs  knife, edge (cf. ορθοτομεω orthotomeō  to cut straight); "Gen. 34. ORTHOTOMUS.   Rostrum mediocre, rectum, subdepressum, basi triquetrum, attenuatum: culmine basi carinato, versus apicem leviter arcuato.  Mandibula tomiis rectissimis.  Nares basales, magnæ, superne membrana clausæ, inferne rima longitudinali apertæ.  Alæ: remiges, 1 spuria, 2 et 3 abrupte longiores, 4—8 longiores subæquales externe emarginatæ, ceteræ gradatim breviores cuneatæ.  Pedes subelongati.  Digitus exterior a medio ad basin connexus: hallux validus.  Ungues compressi arcuati acuti, postico medio duplo majore.  Acropodia scutulata.   The straightness and slenderness of the bill distinguish Orthotomus from the two former genera [Pomatorhinus, Prinia]; these characters, with the depression and triangular form of the base of the bill, prevent its union with the other genera of this family. I have not been able to determine satisfactorily the affinity of this genus. The slenderness of the bill and its other habits associate it with the Certhiadæ; in the acumen of the bill and the size of the hallux it resembles in some degree the genus Sitta.    Spec. 1. Orthotomus sepium.  ...  Chiglet Javanis." (Horsfield 1821); "Orthotomus Horsfield, 1821, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, p. 165. Type, by monotypy, Orthotomus sepium Horsfield." (Watson in Peters 1986, XI, 173).  
Var. Orthotoma.
Synon. Edela, Sutoria.

derbiana / derbianus
Edward Smith Stanley 13^th Earl of Derby (1775-1851) English zoologist, founder of Knowsley Menagerie (Aulacorhynchus, syn. Chauna chavaria, syn. Ensifera ensifera, syn. Lyrurus tetrix, Oreophasis, Orthotomus, subsp. Pitangus sulphuratus, Psittacula) (see also derbyanus).

SUBSPECIES

Gray-backed Tailorbird (derbianus)
SCI Name: Orthotomus derbianus derbianus
derbiana / derbianus
Edward Smith Stanley 13^th Earl of Derby (1775-1851) English zoologist, founder of Knowsley Menagerie (Aulacorhynchus, syn. Chauna chavaria, syn. Ensifera ensifera, syn. Lyrurus tetrix, Oreophasis, Orthotomus, subsp. Pitangus sulphuratus, Psittacula) (see also derbyanus).

Gray-backed Tailorbird (nilesi)
SCI Name: Orthotomus derbianus nilesi
nilesi
Dr David M. Niles (fl. 1988) US ornithologist (subsp. Orthotomus derbianus).