Red Crossbill

SCI Name:  Loxia curvirostra
Protonym:  Loxia curvirostra Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.171
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Fringillidae / Loxia
Taxonomy Code:  redcro
Type Locality:  Europe ; restricted to Sweden by Hartert, 1904, Vogel pal. Fauna, p. 117.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

LOXIA
(Fringillidae; Ϯ Red Crossbill L. curvirostra) Gr. λοξος loxos  crosswise, slanting; "Loxia is the proper name of the Cross-bill, from λοξος oblique" (Pennant 1773); "LOXIA Brisson (λοξος obliquus, curvus)  ...  Rostrum mediocre, crassum, compressum, forficatum, mandibularum apicibus inflexis, una alteram decussatim praetereunte" (Illiger 1811); "96. LOXIA.  Rostrum conico-gibbum, fronte subcalvum: Mandibula inferior margine laterali inflexa.  Nares in basi rostri.  Lingua integra." (Linnaeus 1758); "Loxia Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, p. 171. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Genera Birds, ed. 1, p. 49), Loxia curvirostra Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters 1968, XIV, 287). Linnaeus's Loxia comprised thirty-two species (L. Curvirostra, L. Coccothraustes, L. Enucleator, L. Pyrrhula, L. Cardinalis, L. Dominicana, L. cristata, L. mexicana, L. eryocephala, L. flavicans, L. oryzivora, L. panicivora, L. punctulata, L. hordeacea, L. sanguinirostris, L. Astrild, L. cyanea, L. Lineola, L. mexicana, L. Chloris, L. butyracea, L. Collaria, L. benghalensis, L. malabarica, L. fusca, L. melanocephala, L. cana, L. nigra, L. cærulea, L. violacea, L. minuta, L. bicolor). In nomenclature Loxia is used in combination for a variety of finch-like birds, usually distinguished by their curved or thick heavy bills.
Var. Loxias (Gr. λοξιας loxias  crooked, an epithet of Apollo, because of his ambiguous oracles). 
Synon. Chiasoramphe, Crucirostra, Curvirostra, Loxorynchus.
● (syn. Coccothraustes Ϯ Hawfinch C. coccothraustes) "CONIROSTRES . . .{ Gros-becs. . .Loxia. . .{ Gros-bec...Loxia  Bec-croisé...Cruci-rostra" (Cuvier 1800).

loxia
Genus Loxia Cuvier, 1800, Hawfinch (not Loxia Linnaeus, 1758); "M. Lesson la décrivit et lui imposa le nom de Psittacule gros bec, par une sorte de ressemblance due à la force des mandibules avec les passereaux du genre gros bec, Loxia L., ou Coccothraustes CUV." (Bourjot St.-Hilaire 1838) (syn. Bolbopsittacus lunulatus).

curvirostra / curvirostre / curvirostris
L. curvus  curved, bent; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.
● ex “Sirli du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Certhilauda).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  Curvirostra.  1. L. rostro forficato. Fn. svec. 177.  Loxia. Gesn. av. 592. Aldr. orn. l. 12. c. 47. Charl. onom. 68. t. 68. Will. orn. 181. t. 44. Raj. av. 86. Alb. orn. I. p. 58. t. 61. Frisch. av. 2. t. 11. f. 3. 4.  Habitat in Europæ Abietis, strobilos enucleans, at non in ipsa arbore, disseminator Abietis rostro singulari." (Linnaeus 1758) (Loxia).
● ex “Malkoha Rouverdin” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 225 (Phaenicophaeus).
● ex "Hook-billed Pigeon" of Latham 1783 (Treron).
● ex “Loggerhead” of Sloane 1725, and “Grande Sitelle à bec crochu” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (?syn. Tyrannus caudifasciatus).
● ex “Collurio madagascariensis” of Brisson 1760 (Vanga).

Curvirostra
(Fringillidae; syn. Loxia † Red Crossbill L. curvirostra) L. curvus  curved, bent; rostrum  beak, bill (cf. specific name Loxia curvirostra Linnaeus, 1758); "eine besondere Art, die ich den mittlern Kreuzschnabel, Crucirostra *) media nennen möchte, ausmachen.  ...  *) So bitte ich künftig anstatt Curvirostra zu lesen, sowohl in dem Beiträgen, als auch im Lehrbuche." (Brehm 1827); "Curvirostra Brehm, Ornis, 3, p. [78,] 85 [not found on this page], 1827—type, by tautonymy, Loxia curvirostra Linnaeus." (Hellmayr, 1938, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. XI, p. 302).

SUBSPECIES

Red Crossbill (Corsican)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra corsicana
corsicana / corsicanus
L. Corsicanus  Corsican  < Corsica or Corsis, Corsidis  Corsica.

Red Crossbill (Balearic)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra balearica
BALEARICA
(Gruidae; Ϯ Black Crowned Crane B. pavonina) L. grui Balearicae  Balearic crane with a tufted head mentioned by Pliny. It is not known to which species Pliny referred, or even if it was a type of crane, although the Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides formerly occurred in Spain, and still migrates through the Nile valley, and it is possible that the Black Crowned Crane bred in the Nile delta or the marshes of Tunisia in classical times. Ulysses Aldrovandus 1599, gave the name grus Balearica to the latter sp., translated by Willughby 1676, as the ‘Balearic Crane’; "Balearica. Genus 84.  ...  La tête ornée d'une hupe composée de plumes ressemblantes à des racines de Chiendent.  **1. L'OISEAU-ROYAL.  ...  BALEARICA." (Brisson 1760): based on "Grus Balearica" of Aldrovandus 1599-1603, Ardea pavonina Linnaeus, 1758, and many other references; "Balearica Brisson, Orn., 1760, 1, p. 48; 5, p. 511. Type, by monotypy, Balearica Brisson = Ardea pavonina Linné." (Peters, 1934, II, p. 154).

Red Crossbill (North African)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra poliogyna
poliogyna / poliogynus
Gr. πολιος polios  grey; γυνη gunē, γυναικος gunaikos  woman, wife.

Red Crossbill (Cyprus)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra guillemardi
guillemardi
Dr Francis Henry Hill Guillemard (1853-1933) British geographer, zoologist, traveller (subsp. Coracina striata, subsp. Dicrurus hottentottus, subsp. Loxia curvirostra).

Red Crossbill (Crimean)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra mariae
mariae
• Female eponym; dedicatee not yet identified; "LE C. DE MARIE.  T. MARIÆ.  ...  Patrie: Vénézuela." (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1846, Ann. Sci. Phys. Nat. Agric. Ind. Lyon, IX, p. 319); the possibilities are legion: Mulsant's mother was Marie Anne Victoire Mulsant née Jacquetton (1777-1854), his five daughters included Marie Rosalie Mulsant (1817-1841), Pauline Marie Mulsant (b. 1829), Marie Joséphine Caroline Mulsant (1833-1841), and Marie Jules Victorine Mulsant (b. 1842), his favourite grand-daughter was Marie Françoise Victoire Deduit (fl. 1846) who accompanied her grandfather on trips, his aunt was Marie Rosalie Etiennette Tuffet née Mulsant (d. 1834), and then we have Maria Sybilla Merian (1647-1717) Swiss-German botanical artist and entomologist in Surinam 1699-1701, and Marie-Rose Wachanru née Gaudemard (1821-1853) French entomologist, both of whom Mulsant admired (see julie) (syn. Amazilia beryllina).
• Marie Duclos (fl. 1850) mother of French zoologist Jean-Paul Coinde (syn. Bombycilla cedrorum).
• Margit Mária von Madarász née Ligeti (1862-1951) wife of Hungarian ornithologist Gyula von Madarász (subsp. Bradypterus lopezi).
• Mary Alexander (1843-1905) mother of explorer Capt. Boyd Alexander (syn. Calonectris edwardsii, subsp. Urolais epichlorus).
• Maria Madre I., Tres Marias Is., Mexico (subsp. Cardinalis cardinalis).
• Florence Mary Benson née Lanham (1909-1993) South African botanist, artist, wife of English ornithologist Constantine Benson (Björn Bergenholtz and Laurent Raty in litt.) (syn. Cisticola njombe, Nesillas, subsp. Zoonavena grandidieri).
• Mary Jane Hargitt (1832-1907) sister of Scottish ornithologist Edward Hargitt (cf. his mother Mary Hargitt née Bagley (1811-1853)) (Paul Scofield in litt.) (syn. Colaptes melanochloros).
• Mary Ella Terry née McLennan (1888-1967) wife of US geologist Robert A. Terry (subsp. Colinus cristatus).
• Marie-Izabel Ottonia von Jenisch Baronin von Plessen (1906-1971) wife of German ornithologist Victor Baron von Plessen (syn. Dicaeum maugei neglectum).
• Dr Stella Marie Aglaé Leche Deignan (1901-1993) US anthropologist, wife of ornithologist H. G. Deignan (subsp. Kurochkinegramma hypogrammicum).
• Lady Mary Jane Macgregor née Cocks (1863-1919) wife of colonial governor and explorer Sir William Macgregor (syn. Loria loriae).
• Female eponym; dedicatee not yet identified (Dementiev, 1932, Alauda, 4, p. 7) (OD per Björn Bergenholtz); perhaps after a relative of the Russian ornithologists Georgiy P. Dementiev or Sergei A. Buturlin, or the collector Brzesinski (syn. Loxia curvirostra guillemardi).
• Édouard Auguste Marie (1835-1889) French commissariat civil servant in New Caledonia 1869, conchologist, collector (Megalurulus).
• Elizabeth Mary La Touche (1907-1973) daughter of Irish ornithologist J. D. Digues La Touche (subsp. Minla ignotincta).
• Mary Moncrieffe Ripley née Livingston (1914-1996) US amateur botanist, entomologist, wife of ornithologist Dr Sidney Dillon Ripley II (subsp. Leptocoma aspasia, subsp. Lonchura teerinki, subsp. Pericrocotus ethologus, syn. Phylloscopus fuscatus).
• Mary Alice Ramsay née Hogg (d. 1951) wife of ornithologist Col. R. G. W. Ramsay (syn. Pomatorhinus ferruginosus albogularis).
• Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna (1819-1876) eldest daughter of Tzar Nicholas I of Russia and wife of Maximilian de Beauharnais Prince of Eichstädt and 3rd Duke of Leuchtenburg (subsp. Pteroglossus azara).
• Marie Jacquinot (born Sylvie Eugénie Pinot or Pinault or Pinaud) (1794-1857) mother of French surgeon-naturalist Honoré Jacquinot (subsp. Ptilinopus perousii).
• Mary Elizabeth Baker née Waddell (1913-2000) wife of US zoologist and biogeographer Lt. Rollin Harold Baker (subsp. Rhipidura rufifrons).

Red Crossbill (Altai)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra altaiensis
altaiana / altaica / altaicus / altaiensis
Altai Mts., Central Asia, on the borders of Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and north-western China.

Red Crossbill (Tien Shan)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra tianschanica
tianschanica / tianschanicus / tianshanica / tianshanicus
Tiān Shān or Tien Shān, a mountain range of Central Asia.

Red Crossbill (Himalayan)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra himalayensis
himalayensis
Himalaya Mts.  < Sanskrit hima  snow; ālaya  abode.

Red Crossbill (Da Lat)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra meridionalis
meridionale / meridionalis
L. meridionalis  southern  < meridies  south.
● Cayenne; ex “Rufous-headed Falcon” of Latham 1787 (Heterospizias).
● South Island, New Zealand; ex “Southern brown Parrot” of Latham 1781 (Nestor).
● Erroneous TL. Bahamas (= Trinidad) (syn. Trogon violaceus).

Red Crossbill (Japanese)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra japonica
japanensis / japanicus / japensis / japonensis / japonica / japonicum / japonicus
Japan (Mod. English names (early examples including Giapan) were derived from a Portuguese corruption of Malay Jepang and Chinese Zeppen, themselves local renderings of Nippon). The French equivalent is Japon.
● ex “Japonese Eagle” of Latham 1781 (subsp. Falco peregrinus).
● ex “Grue du Japon” of Brisson 1760 (Grus).
● Erroneous TL Japan (= New Guinea); ex “Psittacus erythrochlorus macrourus” of Aldrovandus 12599, and “Psittaca japonica” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Charmosyna papou).

Red Crossbill (Luzon)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra luzoniensis
luzonensis / luzonia / luzonica / luzonicus / luzoniense / luzoniensis
Luzon, Philippines.
● ex “Crabier de la côte de Coromandel” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 910 (syn. Bubulcus ibis coromandus).
● ex “Tourterelle grise ensanglantée de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (Gallicolumba).
● ex “Chirugien de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Luzonian Jacana” of Latham 1785 (syn. Hydrophasianus chirurgus).
● ex “Courlis tacheté de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Luzonian Curlew” of Latham 1785 (syn. Numenius phaeopus variegatus).
● ex “Barbu de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Psilopogon haemacephalus).
● Erroneous TL. Luzon (= South Africa); ex "Trogon de l'isle de Luçon" of Sonnerat 1782 (syn. Tricholaema leucomelas).
● ex “Caille de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Luzonian Quail” of Latham 1783 (?syn. Turnix ocellatus).
● Erroneous TL Luzon (= Mindanao, Philippines); ex “Gobe-mouche noir de l’isle de Luzon” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Black Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (unident.; ?syn. Sittiparus semilarvatus).

Red Crossbill (curvirostra)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra curvirostra
curvirostra / curvirostre / curvirostris
L. curvus  curved, bent; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.
● ex “Sirli du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Certhilauda).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  Curvirostra.  1. L. rostro forficato. Fn. svec. 177.  Loxia. Gesn. av. 592. Aldr. orn. l. 12. c. 47. Charl. onom. 68. t. 68. Will. orn. 181. t. 44. Raj. av. 86. Alb. orn. I. p. 58. t. 61. Frisch. av. 2. t. 11. f. 3. 4.  Habitat in Europæ Abietis, strobilos enucleans, at non in ipsa arbore, disseminator Abietis rostro singulari." (Linnaeus 1758) (Loxia).
● ex “Malkoha Rouverdin” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 225 (Phaenicophaeus).
● ex "Hook-billed Pigeon" of Latham 1783 (Treron).
● ex “Loggerhead” of Sloane 1725, and “Grande Sitelle à bec crochu” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (?syn. Tyrannus caudifasciatus).
● ex “Collurio madagascariensis” of Brisson 1760 (Vanga).

Red Crossbill (bendirei)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra bendirei
bendirei
Maj. Charles Emil Bendire (1836-1897) German/US soldier, field naturalist, oologist, collector (syn. Falco columbarius, subsp. Loxia curvirostra, subsp. Megascops kennicottii, syn. Melospiza melodia fallax, Toxostoma).

Red Crossbill (sitkensis)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra sitkensis
sitkensis
Sitka, Alaska, USA.

Red Crossbill (pusilla)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra pusilla
pusilla
L. pusillus  very little, very small  < dim. pusus  little boy  < puer  boy.
● ex “Cinclus dominicensis minor” of Brisson 1760 (Calidris).
● ex “Small Nuthatch” of Catesby 1731, “Petit Torchepot de la Caroline” of Brisson 1760, and “Petite Sittelle à tête brune” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Sitta).
● ex “Little Sparrow” of Catesby 1731 (Spizella).
● "59. CERTHIA.  ...  pusilla.  2. C. supra grisea, subtus alba, rectricibus fuscis: extimis apice albis.  Certhia fusca minor. Edw. av. 26. l. 26.  Habitat in India." (Linnaeus 1758) (unident.; nom. dub.).

Red Crossbill (benti)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra benti
benti
Arthur Cleveland Bent (1866-1954) US ornithologist (subsp. Loxia curvirostra, subsp. Turdus assimilis).

Red Crossbill (minor)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra minor
minor
L. minor  smaller  < comp. parvus  small. “Comparative names ... Specific names expressive of comparative size are also to be avoided, as they may be rendered inaccurate by the after-discovery of additional species. The names ... maximus, minor, minimus, etc. are examples of this objectionable practice” (Strickland Code 1842).
● ex “Short-eared Owl” of Pennant 1761 (syn. Asio flammeus).
● ex “Little Thrush” of Catesby 1731-1743, Edwards 1758-1764, Latham 1783, and Pennant 1785, “Turdus iliacus carolinensis” of Brisson 1760, and “Grivette de l’Amérique” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Catharus fuscescens).
● ex “Whip-poor-will” of Catesby 1731 (Chordeiles).
● ex “Coucou des palétuviers de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 813, “Petit Vieillard” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Mangrove Cuckow” of Latham 1782 (Coccyzus).
● "54. PICUS.  ...  minor.  12. P. albo nigroque varius vertice rubro, ano albido.  Picus albo nigroque varius, rectricibus tribus lateralibus seminigris. Fn. svec. 83. Hasselqv. iter. 242.  Picus varius tertius. Raj. av. 43.  Picus varius minor. Alb. av. I. p. 20. t. 20.  Habitat in Europa.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Dryobates).
● ex “Fregata minor” of Brisson 1760, “Petite Frégate” of de Buffon 1770-1783, “Man of War Bird” of Edwards 1760, and “Lesser Frigate Pelican” of Latham 1785 (Fregata).
● ex “Petit Indicateur” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 242 (Indicator).
● ex “Pie-grièsche d’Italie” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 32, fig. 1 (Lanius).
● ex “Perruche à ailes noires” of de Buffon 1770-1783, “Petite perruche de l’isle de Luçon, 4ème ésp.” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Luzonian Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Loriculus philippensis).
● ex “Apiaster Philippensis minor” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Merops viridis americanus).
● ex “Little Woodcock” of Pennant 1785, and Latham 1785 (Microptera).
● ex “Troupiale de la Caroline” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 606, fig. 1, “Petit Troupiale noir” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Lesser black Oriole” of Latham 1782 (syn. Molothrus ater).
● ex “Lesser Bird of Paradise” of Latham 1783 (Paradisaea).
● ex “Barbican à ventre rose” of Levaillant 1806 (Pogonornis).
● ex “Porphyrio minor” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Porphyrula martinica).
● ex “Colymbus fluviatilis” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Tachybaptus ruficollis).
● ex “Huppe d’Afrique” of Audebert & Vieillot 1800-1802 (syn. Upupa africana).
● ex “Ringvia” of Brünnich 1764, and “Lesser Guillemot” of Pennant 1785 (syn. Uria aalge).

Red Crossbill (percna)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra percna
percna
Gr. περκνος perknos  dark-coloured, dusky.

Red Crossbill (grinnelli)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra grinnelli
grinnelli
Dr Joseph Grinnell (1877-1939) US ornithologist (subsp. Agelaius phoeniceus, ‡syn. Caracara plancus prelutosus, subsp. Glaucidium gnoma, syn. Haemorhous mexicanus frontalis, subsp. Lanius ludovicianus, subsp. Loxia curvirostra, syn. Poecile gambeli baileyae, subsp. Regulus calendula, ‡Spizaetus).

Red Crossbill (stricklandi)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra stricklandi
stricklandi / stricklandii
Hugh Edwin Strickland (1811-1853) British geologist, zoologist, co-ordinator of the Strickland Code, 1842 (?syn. Apalis rufogularis, syn. Ardenna grisea, syn. Cercomela tractrac albicans, Chrysocolaptes, syn. Fulica leucoptera, Gallinago, subsp. Kittacincla malabarica, Leuconotopicus, subsp. Lophostrix cristata, subsp. Loxia curvirostra (ex Loxia mexicana Strickland, 1851)).

Red Crossbill (Central American or type 11)
SCI Name: Loxia curvirostra mesamericana
mesamericana / mesamericanus
Gr. μεσος mesos  middle; Mod. L. Americanus  American.