Superb Fairywren

SCI Name:  Malurus cyaneus
Protonym:  Motacilla cyanea Gen.Syn.Birds 2 p.501
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Maluridae / Malurus
Taxonomy Code:  supfai1
Type Locality:  Adventure Bay, southern Tasmania, ex Ellis, 1782, Narrative Voyage Captain Cook, 1, p. 22.
Author:  Ellis
Publish Year:  1782
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MALURUS
(Maluridae; Ϯ Superb Fairy-wren M. cyaneus) Gr. μαλος malos (properly αμαλος amalos)  soft, delicate; ουρα oura  tail; "MÉRION ...  Queue longue, étagée, à rectrices minces à leur naissance, peu épaisses et dilatées à leur extrémité" (Vieillot 1831); "MÉRION, Malurus,  Silvia, Lath. Motacilla, Lin. Gm.  Bec très-grêle, droit, entier, très-court. — Bouche ciliée. — Tarses très-minces. — Doigts extérieurs réunis jusqu'à la deuxième phalange. — Ailes très-courtes. — Queue très-longue, grêle.   Esp. Motacilla aut Sylvia, Cyanea, Gm. Lath.   ...   Malurus [μαλος, tener, ουρα, cauda]." (Vieillot 1816); "Malurus Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 44. Type, by monotypy, Motacilla cyanea Latham." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 391). 
Var. Amalurus, Malacurus, Malums.
Synon. Devisornis, Leggeornis, Musciparus, Nesomalurus, Psitodos, Rosina, Ryania, Todopsis.

cyaneum / cyaneus
L. cyaneus  dark-blue, sea-blue, greenish-blue  < Gr. κυανεος kuaneos  dark-blue, glossy.
● ex “Blue Hawk” of Edwards 1758 (Circus).
● ex “Black and Blue Creeper” of Edwards 1751, and “Grimpereau bleu du Brésil” of Brisson 1760 (Cyanerpes).
● ex “Merle à tête noire du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 392 (syn. Donacobius atricapillus).

SUBSPECIES

Superb Fairywren (cyaneus)
SCI Name: Malurus cyaneus cyaneus
cyaneum / cyaneus
L. cyaneus  dark-blue, sea-blue, greenish-blue  < Gr. κυανεος kuaneos  dark-blue, glossy.
● ex “Blue Hawk” of Edwards 1758 (Circus).
● ex “Black and Blue Creeper” of Edwards 1751, and “Grimpereau bleu du Brésil” of Brisson 1760 (Cyanerpes).
● ex “Merle à tête noire du Cap de Bonne Espérance” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 392 (syn. Donacobius atricapillus).

Superb Fairywren (samueli)
SCI Name: Malurus cyaneus samueli
samueli
Capt. Samuel Albert White (1870-1954) Australian Army, explorer, collector, ornithologist (subsp. Acanthiza pusilla, subsp. Caligavis chrysops, subsp. Calyptorhynchus banksii, syn. Cinclosoma cinnamomeum, syn. Falco longipennis, syn. Lichenostomus cratitius, subsp. Malurus cyaneus, syn. Petroica boodang, syn. Stagonopleura bella).

Superb Fairywren (elizabethae)
SCI Name: Malurus cyaneus elizabethae
elizabeth / elizabethae
● Elizabeth Penhallurick (fl. 2011) wife of Australian ornithologist John M. Penhallurick (subsp. Heliobletus contaminatus).
● Elizabeth Melrose Campbell née Anderson (d. 1915) first wife of Australian ornithologist Archibald J. Campbell (subsp. Malurus cyaneus).
● Lady Elizabeth Margaret Elliott née Phillipson (1912-2007) wife of Sir Hugh Elliott, Bt. (d. 1989) British ornithologist, colonial civil servant, and first Administrator of Tristan da Cunha 1950-1952 (syn. Pelecanoides urinatrix dacunhae).
● Dr Elizabeth Macdonald (fl. 1969) British physician, explorer, wife of ornithologist James D. Macdonald (syn. Pterocles bicinctus).
● Elizabeth van Someren née Cunningham (fl. 1919) wife of ornithologist Dr Victor van Someren (subsp. Sarothrura rufa).
● (see elisabethae)

Superb Fairywren (cyanochlamys)
SCI Name: Malurus cyaneus cyanochlamys
cyanochlamys
Gr. κυανος kuanos  dark-blue, glossy; χλαμυς khlamus, χλαμυδος khlamudos  cloak.

Superb Fairywren (leggei)
SCI Name: Malurus cyaneus leggei
leggei
● Capt. Hon. Gerald Legge (1882-1915) British Army, explorer on the Ruwenzori Expedition 1905-1906 (subsp. Anthus brachyurus).
● Lt.-Col. William Vincent Legge (1841-1918) Australian Army, naturalist in Ceylon 1868-1883 (Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon), co-founder and first President of the RAOU 1901 (syn. Charadrius alexandrinus seebohmi, syn. Chlidonias hybrida, subsp. Hemipus picatus, subsp. Kittacincla malabarica, subsp. Malurus cyaneus, subsp. Otus sunia, subsp. Prinia hodgsonii, subsp. Treron bicinctus, subsp. Turnix suscitator).

Superb Fairywren (ashbyi)
SCI Name: Malurus cyaneus ashbyi
ashbyi
Edwin Ashby (1861-1941) English conchologist, ornithologist, settled in Australia, founder member of RAOU (syn. Aegintha temporalis, syn. Cacatua sanguinea gymnopis, syn. Calamanthus montanellus, syn. Epthianura aurifrons, syn. Falco hypoleucos, syn. Glossoptila pusilla, subsp. Malurus cyaneus, syn. Pachycephala pectoralis, subsp. Pomatostomus superciliosus, subsp. Sericornis frontalis, subsp. Sphecotheres vieilloti, subsp. Strepera graculina, syn. Sugomel niger).