Pearl Kite

SCI Name:  Gampsonyx swainsonii
Protonym:  Gampsonyx Swainsonii Zool.J. 2 p.69
Taxonomy:  Accipitriformes / Accipitridae / Gampsonyx
Taxonomy Code:  peakit1
Type Locality:  tableland of Bahia, Brazil.
Author:  Vigors
Publish Year:  1825
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

GAMPSONYX
(Accipitridae; Ϯ Pearl Kite G. swainsonii) Gr. γαμψονυξ gampsonux,  γαμψονυχος gampsonukhos  hooked-claw, an epithet of the vulture  < γαμψος gampsos  curved; ονυξ onux, ονυχος onukhos  claw; "This bird decidedly belongs to the Accipitrine subfamily of the Falconidæ  ...  It possesses the bill of the Hawks, and also the shortness of wing which so strongly characterizes them; but the structure of the wing itself is the same as in Falco, the second quill feather being the longest, and the first and second of these feathers being marked on the inner web by an abrupt emargination near the apex; while the tarsi also display the character of the same group in having the acrotarsia reticulated  ...  the bird before us, although a New World species, I shall invest with an Old World name. GAMPSONYX.  Rostrum breve; mandibulis integris; naribus rotundatis.  Alæ breves; remige secunda longissima, tertia secundæ fere æquali; primæ et secundæ pogonio interno fortiter prope apicem emarginato.  Cauda mediocris, æqualis.  Pedes mediocres; tarsis reticulatis, acrotarsiis infra genu usque ad medium plumatis.   SWAINSONII.  ...  Dⁿⁱ Swainson, naturæ indagatoris seduli, acutississimi, felicissimi, hæc avis, ab illo primum detecta, merito nomen ferat." (Vigors 1825); "Gampsonyx Vigors, Zoöl. Journ., 2, 1825, p. 69. Type, by monotypy, Gampsonyx swainsonii Vigors." (Peters, 1931, I, p. 281).
Var. Gampsonix, Campsonyx.

swainsoni / swainsonii
William Swainson (1789-1855) English naturalist, artist, collector (Buteo, syn. Campephaga flava, Catharus, Chlorostilbon, syn. Circus macrourus, syn. Coracina lineata, syn. Cossypha niveicapilla, syn. Criniger calurus verreauxi, syn. Doricha enicura, Gampsonyx, syn. Halcyon leucocephala pallidiventris, syn. Iduna caligata, Limnothlypis, syn. Mackenziaena severa, syn. Momotus momota bahamensis, Myiarchus (ex “Suirirí pardo amarillo menor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 193), syn. Myrmeciza longipes (ex Myrmothera longipes Swainson, 1825), subsp. Notharchus macrorhynchos, Onychorhynchus, syn. Pachyramphus marginatus, Passer, syn. Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, syn. Phigys solitarius, syn. Philohydor lictor, syn. Phylloscopus nitidus, Polytelis, Pternistis, syn. Ptilinopus regina, subsp. Ramphastos ambiguus, syn. Struthidea cinerea, syn. Tangara sayaca, syn. Thinocorus rumicivorus, syn. Trichoglossus moluccanus, syn. Turdoides jardineii, subsp. Vireo gilvus).

SUBSPECIES

Pearl Kite (leonae)
SCI Name: Gampsonyx swainsonii leonae
leonae
León, western Nicaragua.

Pearl Kite (swainsonii)
SCI Name: Gampsonyx swainsonii swainsonii
swainsoni / swainsonii
William Swainson (1789-1855) English naturalist, artist, collector (Buteo, syn. Campephaga flava, Catharus, Chlorostilbon, syn. Circus macrourus, syn. Coracina lineata, syn. Cossypha niveicapilla, syn. Criniger calurus verreauxi, syn. Doricha enicura, Gampsonyx, syn. Halcyon leucocephala pallidiventris, syn. Iduna caligata, Limnothlypis, syn. Mackenziaena severa, syn. Momotus momota bahamensis, Myiarchus (ex “Suirirí pardo amarillo menor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 193), syn. Myrmeciza longipes (ex Myrmothera longipes Swainson, 1825), subsp. Notharchus macrorhynchos, Onychorhynchus, syn. Pachyramphus marginatus, Passer, syn. Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, syn. Phigys solitarius, syn. Philohydor lictor, syn. Phylloscopus nitidus, Polytelis, Pternistis, syn. Ptilinopus regina, subsp. Ramphastos ambiguus, syn. Struthidea cinerea, syn. Tangara sayaca, syn. Thinocorus rumicivorus, syn. Trichoglossus moluccanus, syn. Turdoides jardineii, subsp. Vireo gilvus).

Pearl Kite (magnus)
SCI Name: Gampsonyx swainsonii magnus
magnum / magnus
L. magnus  great, large, mighty.
● ex “Grand Corbeau” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 51 (unident.;?syn. Corvus sp.).
● ex “Grand Perroquet vert de la Nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776, and “New-Guinea Green Parrot” of Latham 1781 (syn. Eclectus roratus).
● ex “Grand Batara” of de Buffon (Sonnini ed.) 1800-1802 (syn. Taraba major).
● ex “Grand Grimpar” of Levaillant 1807 (unident.; ?syn. Xiphocolaptes sp.).