Yellow-fronted White-eye

SCI Name:  Zosterops flavifrons
Protonym:  Muscicapa flavifrons Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.944
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Zosteropidae / Zosterops
Taxonomy Code:  yfweye1
Type Locality:  Tanna, New Hebrides.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ZOSTEROPS
(Zosteropidae; Ϯ Madagascar White-eye Z. maderaspatanus) Gr. ζωστηρ zōstēr, ζωστηρος zōstēros  belt, girdle; ωψ ōps, ωπος ōpos  eye; "Genus. ZOSTEROPS*.   Rostrum mediocre, gracile, arcuatum; mandibula superiore vix emarginata; naribus basalibus, linearibus, longitudinalibus, membrana supra tectis, rictu inermi.  Alæ mediocres; remigibus prima et quinta fere æqualibus, secunda tertia et quarta paulo longioribus, fere æqualibus, primariis secundarias paululum longitudine superantibus.  Pedes subfortes, subelongati; acrotarsiis scutellatis.  Cauda æqualis.  Caput gracile, concinnum; plumulis periopthalmicis subsericeis albis cingulum subprominentem efformantibus.   ...   The true Sylvia, if we select the slenderly-formed Warblers of Europe, such as the Motacillæ hippolais, trochilus, &c. Linn., as the types of the genus, are set apart from almost all the other species by the formation of their wing, in which the first quill-feather is extremely short, in some instances, indeed, almost spurious.  Of the foreign groups of the family we have already observed that the New Holland genera Malurus and Acanthiza come nearest the European type by the same construction of the wing.  The present group essentially differs from it.  The first quill-feather is long, almost equal to the second, which together with the third and fourth,—all of them nearly of a length,—are the longest.  The nares also are linear and longitudinal, thus differing from the oval form of the European type.  In other respects the characters of these two groups have a general accordance.  Besides the disposition of the wing-feathers, we may also mention the scutellation of the tarsi, the even tail, and the unarmed rictus, as additional marks of distinction from the before-mentioned New Holland Sylviadæ.  From the genus Hylophilus of M. Temminck, which has lately been separated with much judgement from the Sylvia of Dr. Latham, and which also has the first quill-feather elongated and nearly even with the rest, our present group may readily be distinguished by a much more gracile and arcuated bill, in which the nares also are of a different construction.  The Motacilla Maderaspatana of Linnæus, (Sylvia Madagascariensis, Lath.), belongs to our group, which seems to have a very wide dispersion.    1. DORSALIS  ...  Sylvia annulosa, var. β.  Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 16.  ...  Orbitæ plumulis albis vestitæ.   ...   *Zωστηρ cingulum, and ωψ oculus." (Vigors & Horsfield 1826); "Zosterops Vigors and Horsfield, 1826, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 234. Type, by subsequent designation (Lesson, 1828 Man. Orn., 1, p. 286), Motacilla maderaspatana Linnaeus." (Mayr in Peters, 1967, XII, p. 290). The majority of white-eyes have a ring of white feathers around each eye.
Var. Fosterops, Fosterzops, Zostenops.
Synon. Cyclopterops, Luteozosterops, Malacirops, Nesozosterops, Oreosterops, Parinia, Sanfordia, Speirops, Tephras, Woodfordia, Zosteropisylvia.

zosterops
Gr. ζωστηρ zōstēr, ζωςτηρος zōstēros  belt, girdle; ωψ ōps,  ωπος ōpos  eye.

flavifrons
L. flavus  yellow, golden-yellow; frons, frontis  forehead, brow.
● ex “Carpintero vientre roxo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 255 (Melanerpes).
● ex "Barbu à Front d'Or" of Levaillant 1806 (Psilopogon).
● ex “Yellow-fronted Warbler” of Latham 1783, and Pennant 1785 (syn. Vermivora chrysoptera).
● ex “Yellow-fronted Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (Zosterops).
● ex “Yellow-fronted Honey-sucker” of Pennant 1773, and “Yellow-fronted Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Yellow-fronted White-eye (gauensis)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons gauensis
gauensis
Gaua I., Banks Group, New Hebrides (= Vanuatu).

Yellow-fronted White-eye (perplexus)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons perplexus
perplexa / perplexus
L. perplexus  confused, obscure, ambiguous  < plexus  plaited, interwoven.

Yellow-fronted White-eye (brevicauda)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons brevicauda
brevicauda
L. brevis short; cauda tail.
● ex “Beffroi de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 706, fig. 1 (syn. Myrmothera campanisona).
● ex “Merle des Philippines” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 89 (syn. Pitta sordida).

Yellow-fronted White-eye (macgillivrayi)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons macgillivrayi
macgillivraii / macgillivrayi
● William MacGillivray (1796-1852) Scottish ornithologist, author (subsp. Ammospiza maritima, syn. Geothlypis tolmiei).
● Alexander Sykes Macgillivray (1853-1907) Australian cattle rancher, field naturalist (subsp. Barnardius zonarius).
● Dr William David Kerr MacGillivray (1867-1933) Australian physician, naturalist, oologist (syn. Calamanthus campestris, syn. Cinnyris jugularis frenatus, subsp. Eclectus roratus, syn. Erythrura trichroa sigillifer, syn. Geoffroyus geoffroyi maclennani, subsp. Malurus coronatus, syn. Neochmia temporalis minor, syn. Ninox boobook ocellata, Pachyptila, subsp. Probosciger aterrimus, ‡syn. Rhipidura cervina).
● John MacGillivray (1821-1867) Scottish naturalist, collector in the South Pacific and Australia (subsp. Megapodius reinwardt, Pseudobulweria, subsp. Zosterops flavifrons).

Yellow-fronted White-eye (efatensis)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons efatensis
efatensis
Efate I., New Hebrides / Vanuatu.

Yellow-fronted White-eye (flavifrons)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons flavifrons
flavifrons
L. flavus  yellow, golden-yellow; frons, frontis  forehead, brow.
● ex “Carpintero vientre roxo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 255 (Melanerpes).
● ex "Barbu à Front d'Or" of Levaillant 1806 (Psilopogon).
● ex “Yellow-fronted Warbler” of Latham 1783, and Pennant 1785 (syn. Vermivora chrysoptera).
● ex “Yellow-fronted Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (Zosterops).
● ex “Yellow-fronted Honey-sucker” of Pennant 1773, and “Yellow-fronted Humming-bird” of Latham 1782 (unident.).

Yellow-fronted White-eye (majusculus)
SCI Name: Zosterops flavifrons majusculus
majuscula / majusculus
L. maiusculus  somewhat greater  < dim. maior, maioris  greater  < comp. magnus  great.