Verdin

SCI Name:  Auriparus flaviceps
Protonym:  Aegithalus flaviceps Oefv.Vet.-Akad.Forh. 7 p.129,note
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Remizidae / Auriparus
Taxonomy Code:  verdin
Type Locality:  'Sitka vel California''; probably vicinity of Loreto, long. 26° N., Baja California, Mexico, vide Grinnell, 1931, Condor, 33, pp. 163-168
Author:  Sundevall
Publish Year:  1850
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AURIPARUS
(Remizidae; Ϯ Verdin A. flaviceps) L. aurum, auri  gold; genus Parus Linnaeus, 1758, tit; "Although different from Paroides, as shown above, I prefer to continue it in this genus where it was originally placed, being unwilling to create a new one for it, in my ignorance as to whether some one already constructed upon foreign types may not include it   ...   Above, cinereous; head, all round, yellow; lesser wing coverts chestnut; beneath brownish white" (Baird 1860); "AURIPARUS, BAIRD.   Auriparus, BAIRD, n. g.  (Type Ægithalus flaviceps, SUND.)   In the "Birds of North America," p. 399, while defining the generic characters of Paroides, I showed that Ægithalus flaviceps, of Sundevall, differed very materially from the P. pendulinus, the type of the genus. The discrepancy, in fact, is too great to permit the two species to be associated, and I have consequently been obliged to establish a new generic name.  The peculiarities authorizing this course will be found detailed in the work cited above.  They consist, as compared with other American forms, in the long pointed quills, and the very small claws; the tarsi are much shorter than in Psaltriparus.  The single known species of the genus builds a covered nest of stiff, short pieces of grass, with a hole in the side, in bushes.  The eggs are spotted, as in the Black-headed Titmice, not white, as in Psaltriparus minimus." (Baird 1864); "Auriparus Baird, Rev. Amer. Bds., 1, p. 85, 1864—type, by orig. desig., Aegithalus flaviceps Sundevall." (Hellmayr, 1934, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. VII, p. 86). 

flaviceps
L. flavus  yellow; -ceps  -capped  < caput, capitis  head.
● ex “Tordo cabeza amarilla” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 66 (syn. Xanthopsar flavus).

SUBSPECIES

Verdin (acaciarum)
SCI Name: Auriparus flaviceps acaciarum
acaciae / acaciarum
Botanical genus Acacia Miller, 1754, acacia  < Gr. ακακια akakia  acacia, shittah-tree.

Verdin (ornatus)
SCI Name: Auriparus flaviceps ornatus
ornatum / ornatus
L. ornatus  ornate, adorned, decorated, splendid, embellished  < ornare  to adorn.
● ex “Choucador” of Levaillant 1801, pl. 86 (Lamprotornis).
● ex “Oiseau-mouche dit Hupecol de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 640, fig. 3 (Lophornis).
● ex “Oiseau-mouche dit Hupecol de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 640, fig. 3, “Hupecol” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Tufted-necked Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (syn. Lophornis ornatus).
● ex “Variegated Bee-eater” of Latham 1801 (Merops).
● ex “Aigle moyen de la Guiane” of Mauduyt de la Varenne 1784, and “Autour Huppé” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 26 (Spizaetus).
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  ornatus.  14. P. macrourus luteo-viridis, occipite gula pectoreque rubris, vertice auribusque cæruleis.  Psittacus minor e coccineo viridis. Edw. av. 174. t. 174.  Habitat in America." (Linnaeus 1758) (Trichoglossus).

Verdin (flaviceps)
SCI Name: Auriparus flaviceps flaviceps
flaviceps
L. flavus  yellow; -ceps  -capped  < caput, capitis  head.
● ex “Tordo cabeza amarilla” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 66 (syn. Xanthopsar flavus).

Verdin (lamprocephalus)
SCI Name: Auriparus flaviceps lamprocephalus
lamprocephalus
Gr. λαμπρος lampros  shining; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.

Verdin (sinaloae)
SCI Name: Auriparus flaviceps sinaloae
sinaloa / sinaloae / sinaloensis
Sinaloa, western Mexico.

Verdin (hidalgensis)
SCI Name: Auriparus flaviceps hidalgensis
hidalgensis
Hidalgo, Mexico.