Tufted Tit-Tyrant

SCI Name:  Anairetes parulus
Protonym:  Muscicapa Parulus Mem.Acad.Imp.Sci.St.Petersb. 1(1831) p.190 pl.9
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Tyrannidae / Anairetes
Taxonomy Code:  tuttyr1
Type Locality:  Concepcion and Valparaiso, Chile; type reported to be from Valparaiso, fide Chrostowski, 1921, Ann. Zool. Mus. Polonici Hist. Nat., 1, p. 17.
Author:  von Kittlitz
Publish Year:  1830
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ANAIRETES
(Tyrannidae; Ϯ Tufted Tit Tyrant A. parulus) Gr. αναιρετης anairetēs  destroyer (i.e. tyrant). Illustrated in Reichenbach 1850, plate LXVI, labelled Muscicapinae: Tyranninae, with other tyrant flycatchers, this epithet seems scarcely warranted for the small Tufted Tit Tyrant, although it does tend towards aggression during the breeding season; "Anairetes Reichenbach, 1850, Avium Syst. Nat., pl. 66. Type, by subsequent designation (Sclater, 1888, Cat. Birds. Brit. Mus., 14, p. 106), Anairetes parulus." (Traylor in Peters 1979, VIII, 45); G. Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds Brit. Mus., p. 50, treated this name under Serpophaga, and gave the type as S. albocoronata Gould, 1839 = Muscicapa straminea Temminck, 1822 (now a subsp. of S. subcristata), but Reichenbach's plate cannot be identified with this bird.  I have elsewhere suggested that the birds of this genus be given the substantive name of Cachudito (from the Spanish cachudito  little long-horn).
Var. Anaeretes.
Synon. Spizitornis, Yanacea.

parulus
Dim. < Late L. parus  tit, titmouse (cf. L. parrulus  small unidentified bird, perhaps a tit).
● "Its specific name is very well chosen, as I saw no bird in South America whose habits approach so near to those of our tom-tits (Parus)" (Gould in Darwin 1839) (Anairetes).

Parulus
● (syn. Parus Ϯ Great Tit P. major) Dim. < genus Parus Linnaeus, 1758, tit; "ADDITIONS ET CORRECTIONS.  ...  pag. 68. l. 21. — Ajoutez avant Parus L. - Parulus L." (Rafineseque 1815) (see Baristus).
● (syn. Synallaxis Ϯ Spix's Spinetail S. spixi) Dim. < Late L. parus  tit, titmouse; "GENUS IV. PARULUS.  Paro similis; alis brevissimis; cauda longiore, gradata; rostro tenui, brevi, ad apicem subarcuato; maxilla inferiore compressa, apice ascendente; naribus longitudinalibus, membrana obtectis.   SPECIES 1. PARULUS RUFICEPS" (von Spix 1840).   Var. Parrulus.

SUBSPECIES

Tufted Tit-Tyrant (aequatorialis)
SCI Name: Anairetes parulus aequatorialis
aequatoriale / aequatorialis
Late L. aequatorialis  equatorial  < aequator  equator  < L. aequare  to make equal  < aequus  equal. Frequently given to species with a distribution in the equatorial latitudes of Africa (e.g. subsp. Jynx ruficollis, Sheppardia), but more commonly applied to birds from Ecuador (Spanish ecuador  equator) (e.g. Momotus, Thamnistes, Xiphorhynchus).
● Erroneous TL. Guayaquil (= Panama City) (subsp. Dendroica petechia).
● Erroneous TL. Guayaquil (= interior of Ecuador) (subsp. Falco sparverius).
● Erroneous TL. Ecuador (= Bahia, Brazil) (syn. Heliothryx aurita auriculata).
● Erroneous TL. Bogotá (= San Lucas, Ecuador) (subsp. Rallus limicola).

Tufted Tit-Tyrant (patagonicus)
SCI Name: Anairetes parulus patagonicus
patagonica / patagonicus
Patagonia, Argentina. When Magellan wintered on the coast of Patagonia in 1520 he traded with Amerindians, probably the Tehuelche who wore animal skins on their feet, whom he called Patagones big-footed, the name gradually attaching itself to the area.
● Antarctic Sea = South Georgia; ex “Patagonian Pinguin” of Pennant 1768 (Aptenodytes).
● Tierra del Fuego; ex “Patagonian Warbler” of Latham 1783 (Cinclodes).

Tufted Tit-Tyrant (parulus)
SCI Name: Anairetes parulus parulus
parulus
Dim. < Late L. parus  tit, titmouse (cf. L. parrulus  small unidentified bird, perhaps a tit).
● "Its specific name is very well chosen, as I saw no bird in South America whose habits approach so near to those of our tom-tits (Parus)" (Gould in Darwin 1839) (Anairetes).