West Indian Woodpecker

SCI Name:  Melanerpes superciliaris
Protonym:  Picus superciliaris Pl.Col. livr.73 pl.433
Taxonomy:  Piciformes / Picidae / Melanerpes
Taxonomy Code:  weiwoo1
Type Locality:  Cuba.
Author:  Temminck
Publish Year:  1827
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MELANERPES
(Picidae; Ϯ Red-headed Woodpecker M. erythrocephalus) Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; ἑρπης herpēs  creeper  < ἑρπω herpō  to crawl; "1. MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. (Sw.)  Red-headed Woodpecker.   GENUS, Melanerpes*, SWAINS.   Sub-genus, (Typical form) SWAINS.   ...   This Woodpecker, so well known in the United States for the havoc it commits in the orchards, ranges in summer from the northern shores of Lake Huron to the Gulf of Mexico.   ...   *Th. μελας, niger, et ερπο, repo" (Swainson 1832); "Melanerpes Swainson, Fauna Bor.-Am., 2, 1831 (1832), p. 316. Type, by monotypy, Picus erythrocephalus Linné." (Peters 1948, VI, 157).
Var. Melanoherpes, Malanerpes.
Synon. Asyndesmus, Balanosphyra, Cactocraugus, Centurus, Chryserpes, Colombpicus, Leuconerpes, Leucopicus, Linneopicus, Melampicos, Meropicus, Phymatoblepharus, Trichopicus, Trichopipo, Tripsurus, Zebrapicus.

superciliare / superciliaris
Mod. L. superciliaris  eye-browed  < L. supercilium  eyebrow.
● ex “Janfréderic” of Levaillant 1801-1804, pl. 111 (syn. Cossypha caffra).
● ex “Sourcirou” of Levaillant 1799 (syn. Cyclarhis gujanensis).
● ex “Ypacahá ceja blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 377 (syn. Hapalocrex flaviventer).
● ex “Hatí ceja blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 415 (Sternula).
● ex “White-browed Tern” of Latham 1824 (syn. Sternula superciliaris).

SUBSPECIES

West Indian Woodpecker (nyeanus)
SCI Name: Melanerpes superciliaris nyeanus
nyeanus
Willard Nye, Jr. (1851-1908) US naturalist, collector in the Bahamas (subsp. Melanerpes superciliaris).

West Indian Woodpecker (blakei)
SCI Name: Melanerpes superciliaris blakei
blakei
● Emmet Reid Blake (1908-1997) US ornithologist, collector (subsp. Buteo nitidus, subsp. Catharus dryas, Grallaria).
● Sir Henry Arthur Blake (1840-1918) British diplomat, Gov. of the Bahamas 1884-1887, Newfoundland 1887-1889, Jamaica 1889-1898, Hong Kong 1898-1903, Ceylon 1903-1907 (subsp. Melanerpes superciliaris).

West Indian Woodpecker (superciliaris)
SCI Name: Melanerpes superciliaris superciliaris
superciliare / superciliaris
Mod. L. superciliaris  eye-browed  < L. supercilium  eyebrow.
● ex “Janfréderic” of Levaillant 1801-1804, pl. 111 (syn. Cossypha caffra).
● ex “Sourcirou” of Levaillant 1799 (syn. Cyclarhis gujanensis).
● ex “Ypacahá ceja blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 377 (syn. Hapalocrex flaviventer).
● ex “Hatí ceja blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 415 (Sternula).
● ex “White-browed Tern” of Latham 1824 (syn. Sternula superciliaris).

West Indian Woodpecker (murceus)
SCI Name: Melanerpes superciliaris murceus
murceus
L. murceus slow, sluggish, inactive.

West Indian Woodpecker (caymanensis)
SCI Name: Melanerpes superciliaris caymanensis
caymanensis
Grand Cayman I., Cayman Is.