Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler

SCI Name:  Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps
Protonym:  Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps Ann.Mag.Nat.Hist.(4), 12 p.487
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Timaliidae / Pomatorhinus
Taxonomy Code:  rbsbab1
Type Locality:  Karen Hills, Upper Burma.
Author:  Walden
Publish Year:  1873
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

POMATORHINUS
(Timaliidae; Ϯ Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler P. montanus) Gr. πωμα pōma, πωματος pōmatos  lid, cover; ῥις rhis, ῥινος rhinos  nostrils; “Gen. 32.  POMATORHINUS.   Rostrum longiusculum, basi rectum, ultra nares modici incurvum et abruptius compressum, mesorhinio elevato: culmine validiusculo, carinato, apice integro.  Nares operculo corneo oblongo convexo clausæ, apertura oblique postice spectans, juxta capistrum fornicata.  Alæ rotundatæ. Remiges: 1 et 2 abrupte, 3 et 4 gradatim increscentes, 3-7 externe tenuiter emarginatæ.  Cauda rotundata, elongata.  Pedes subelongati. Digitus medius longior, cum exteriore basi leviter connexus. Ungues compressi, arcuati, posteriore majore, validiore.  Acropodia scutulata; acrotarsia obscurior.   The corneous covering of the nares and its sudden compression and equal breadth beyond these form the distinguishing character of this genus, in which it differs both from the two following genera [Prinia, Orthotomus], and from that extensive group which comprises Certhia, Nectarinia and Cinnyris. The prominent, rounded and very gradually attenuated back or culmen is also peculiar to this genus.   Spec. 1.  Pomatorhinus montanus.  ...  Bokkrek, Javanis.” (Horsfield 1821); "Pomatorhinus Horsfield, 1821, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, p. 164. Type, by monotypy, Pomatorhinus montanus Horsfield." (Deignan in Peters 1964, X, 266).
Var. Pomathorinus, Pomathorhinus, Pomathorrhinus, Pomatorrhinus.
Synon. Xiphirhynchus, Xiphorhamphus.

pomatorhinus
Gr. πωμα pōma, πωματος pōmatos  lid, cover; ῥις rhis, ῥινος rhinos  nostrils.
● See: pomarinus

ochraceiceps
Mod. L. ochraceus  ochraceous  < L. ochra  ochre  < Gr. ωχρα ōkhra  yellow ochre; -ceps  -capped  < caput, capitis  head.

SUBSPECIES

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler (stenorhynchus)
SCI Name: Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps stenorhynchus
stenorhynchus
Gr. στηνος stēnos narrow, thin; ῥυγχος rhunkhos bill.

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler (austeni)
SCI Name: Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps austeni
austeni
Lt.-Col. Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834-1923) British Army surveyor who gave his name to the Himalayan peak K2 or Mt. Godwin-Austen (Anorrhinus, subsp. Fulvetta vinipectus, syn. Grammatoptila striata cranbrooki, syn. Paradoxornis guttaticollis, subsp. Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps, syn. Prinia rufescens, Trochalopteron, syn. Zosterops palpebrosus siamensis).

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler (ochraceiceps)
SCI Name: Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps ochraceiceps
ochraceiceps
Mod. L. ochraceus  ochraceous  < L. ochra  ochre  < Gr. ωχρα ōkhra  yellow ochre; -ceps  -capped  < caput, capitis  head.

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler (alius)
SCI Name: Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps alius
alius
L. alius  other, another.
● “The name alius, which is Latin for ‘other’ (this being another Scops-owl from the Nicobar Islands), encapsulates the family name of Mr Humayun Abdulali [1914-2001], who first collected this species, and contributed a great deal to Indian ornithology, and in particular that of the Andaman and Nicobar islands” (Rasmussen 1998) (Otus).
● "I find that birds from west of the Rift Valley (true jacksoni) are clearly separable from those from the east of it.  As no name appears to be available for the eastern form, I propose to name it  Pogoniulus bilineatus alius subsp. nov.  ...  Similar to P. b. jacksoni but somewhat smaller  ...  and darker below, more grayish on the throat and breast, less clear greenish yellow on the abdomen." (Friedmann 1930) (syn. Pogoniulus bilineatus jacksoni).
● "Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps alius, subsp. nov.  ...  Similar to Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps ochraceiceps, but the tail darker above, the black area at the tip more extensive and extending further towards the base of the feathers; the tail beneath even has the black more extensive, very little brown showing except at the base and a narrow border at the tip.  ...  Dr. Rock only took the single specimen." (Riley 1940) (subsp. Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps).