Pacific Swift

SCI Name:  Apus pacificus
Protonym:  Hirundo pacifica Suppl.ind.orn. p.lviii
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Apus
Taxonomy Code:  fotswi
Type Locality:  New Holland = New South Wales apud Mathews
Author:  Latham
Publish Year:  1801
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

APUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Common Swift A. apus) Specific name Hirundo apus Linnaeus, 1758; "APVS. BELLON. Alæ arcuatæ, ultra caudam sedentis extensæ. Nares ellipticæ, duplicatura in exteriore cantho instructæ. Mandibula utraque apice deflexa. Digiti quatuor, omnes anticis.  HIRVNDO Apus. LINN." (Scopoli 1777); “Three generic names have been used at various times for the Swifts. Apus Scopoli  ...  is preoccupied by Apos, introduced by the same author on p. 404 for a genus of Crustaceans. As these names are identical except for the interchange of “o” and “u,” the earlier one only is valid. The second is Micropus Meyer & Wolf [1810]  ...  This has been rejected by Sharpe (Hand-List, ii. 1900, p. 95), as the same name was applied to a genus of plants by Linnaeus, but under the present rules this no longer renders a name invalid for zoology, and Micropus should therefore be used. The third name, Cypselus Illiger, 1811, was used in the 1^st edition of the List and by most of the earlier authors” (BOU 1915); "Apus Scopoli, Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 483. Type, by tautonymy, Hirundo apus Linné.¹   ...   ¹ Not preoccupied by Apos Scopoli, 1777, Crustacea.  Replaces Cypselus Illiger, 1811, of Sharpe's Hand-list and Micropus Meyer and Wolf, 1810, of many recent authors." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 244).   
Synon. Apodium, Brachypus, Brevipes, Caffrapus, Colletoptera, Cypselus, Drepanis, Epicypselus, Micropus, Tetragonopyga.

apus
● L. apus, apodis  swift, type of swallow said to have no feet  < Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind  < negative prefix α- a- ; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Apus.  5. H. nigricans, gula alba, digitis omnibus quatuor anticis.  Hirundo tota nigra, gula albicante. Fn. svec. 246.  Hirundo Apus. Bell. av. 100. a. Gesn. av. 166. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 10. Jonst. av. 119. t. 42. Will. orn. 156. t. 39. Raj. av. 72. n. 4. Alb. av. 2. p. 51. t. 55. Frisch. av. 3. t. 17. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ altis.  In terram decidens non evolat; capitur hamo Cicadæ inserto. Bell. 16." (Linnaeus 1758) (Apus).
● Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind; ex “Becque Fleur” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 134 (syn. Anthoscopus minutus).

pacificus
L. pacificus  peaceful  < pax, pacis  peace; facere  to make.  The Pacific Ocean was so-named by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães in 1520, contrasting its calm waters with the stormy seas of Cape Horn.  The toponym refers to islands in the Pacific Ocean as well as localities on Pacific Ocean coasts.
● Tahiti; ex “Pacific Parrot, var. B” of Latham 1781 (‡syn. Cyanoramphus zealandicus).
● New Holland; ex “Black-backed Gull” (pt.) of Latham 1785, and “Pacific Gull” of Latham 1801 (Larus).
● Erroneous TL. Islands of the South Sea (= Norton Sound, Alaska); ex “Pacific Crow” of Latham 1781 (subsp. Perisoreus canadensis).

SUBSPECIES

Pacific Swift (pacificus)
SCI Name: Apus pacificus pacificus
pacificus
L. pacificus  peaceful  < pax, pacis  peace; facere  to make.  The Pacific Ocean was so-named by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães in 1520, contrasting its calm waters with the stormy seas of Cape Horn.  The toponym refers to islands in the Pacific Ocean as well as localities on Pacific Ocean coasts.
● Tahiti; ex “Pacific Parrot, var. B” of Latham 1781 (‡syn. Cyanoramphus zealandicus).
● New Holland; ex “Black-backed Gull” (pt.) of Latham 1785, and “Pacific Gull” of Latham 1801 (Larus).
● Erroneous TL. Islands of the South Sea (= Norton Sound, Alaska); ex “Pacific Crow” of Latham 1781 (subsp. Perisoreus canadensis).

Pacific Swift (kurodae)
SCI Name: Apus pacificus kurodae
kurodae / kurodaei / kurodai
Nagamichi Marquis Kuroda (1889-1978) Japanese ornithologist (subsp. Aplonis opaca, syn. Apus pacificus, syn. Dendrocitta frontalis, syn. Dendrocopos leucotos namiyei, syn. Emberiza variabilis, syn. Microscelis amaurotis harterti, subsp. Myzomela rubratra, syn. Picoides canicapillus nagamichii, syn. Picoides kizuki seebohmi, syn. Picoides tridactylus, syn. Turdus celaenops).