• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Search results

thxpress_search_the_forum Search Opus
  1. Gonçalo Elias

    The Ecology and Conservation of the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius Tenuirostris)

    Hello, I am looking for the following publication: The Ecology and Conservation of the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius Tenuirostris) Author: Adam Gretton Published by the ICBP - International Council for Bird Preservation, 1991 Any idea if it is (still) available somewhere? Thanks.
  2. Gonçalo Elias

    Mute Swan - original distribution?

    Hi all, Mute Swans have expanded in recent decades (or centuries), mainly as a result of domestic / feral / introduced popoulations. However, as far as I know, this species is native to Europe and nowadays it is not always easy to tell feral birds from wild ones. Is the original distribution...
  3. Gonçalo Elias

    Gannet breeding population in Ireland

    Hi everyone, I was looking at some figures about the Gannet population in Ireland and found some puzzling numbers. According to Birdlife's Birds in Europe 2 (published in 2004), the Irish population comprises 33,000 pairs. However, according to the European Red List of Birds (published in...
  4. Gonçalo Elias

    Ficedula hypoleuca sibirica / tomensis

    According to IOC and Clements / BOW, the Siberian race of the European Pied Flycatcher is Ficedula hypoleuca sibirica. However, the HANDBOOK OF WESTERN PALEARCTIC BIRDS (Shirihai and Svensson) uses tomensis instead of sibirica, and at the end of the text there is a taxonomic note saying this...
  5. Gonçalo Elias

    Atlantic Canary (Serinus canaria)

    Currently treated as monotypic by most (all?) authorities. However, Bannerman & Bannerman (1965) on the volume about Madeira refer to the local birds as Serinus canarius canarius. This suggests that some subspecies have been described in the past. I would appreciate any additional information /...
  6. Gonçalo Elias

    Robins on Madeira

    According to Bannerman and Bannerman (published in the mid-1960s), the local race of European Robin on Madeira is Erithacus rubecula microrhynchus. However, at present I am unable to find any reference to E. r. microrhynchus. I wonder whether it is still accepted by any authority? Attached is...
  7. Gonçalo Elias

    Azores Chaffinch, Madeira Chaffinch

    The Azores and Madeira populations of Chaffinch have been split by IOC and raised to full species. This means that Portugal has two "new" endemic species: Azores Chaffinch - Fringilla moreletti Madeira Chaffinch - Fringilla maderensis
  8. Gonçalo Elias

    Emberiza cirlus portucaliae

    Emberiza cirlus portucaliae - allegedly described by Floericke in 1922 (currenty not recognised) Any idea where I can find the original description?
  9. Gonçalo Elias

    Heliodoxa imperatrix

    Heliodoxa imperatrix - Empress Brilliant According to the Key, the name imperatrix means: imperatrix L. imperatrix, imperatricis empress, mistress < imperator, imperatoris emperor, commander < imperare to rule over. ● Eugénie Empress of the French, formerly Eugénia María de Montijo de...
  10. Gonçalo Elias

    Linnets on Madeira (guentheri / nana)

    Madeira is home to a local subspecies of Linnet Linaria cannabina. However, there seems to be some disagreement between IOC and Clements about its name: IOC (version 13.2) calls it L. c. guentheri (Wolters, 1953) and states it occurs in Madeira, Porto Santo and Desertas BOW (which follows...
  11. Gonçalo Elias

    A question about the use of brackets

    It is a well-known rule that when a species has been moved to a different genus from the one in which it was originally placed, the authority name is mentioned in brackets. I would like to know what is the rule for the case of subspecies that are upgraded to full species rank. Does the...
  12. Gonçalo Elias

    Miliaria and the precedence rule

    I would like to understand the taxonomic changes of the Corn Bunting concerning the precedence rule. This species was originally named by Linnaeus (Syst. Nat 10 ed., 1758). Later it was moved to genus Miliaria, whereas other species also named by Linnaeus as Emberiza in the same publication...
  13. Gonçalo Elias

    cabrerae

    I looked up in the Key to confirm the origin of the eponym on Turdus merula cabrerae and found this: ● Dr Ángel Cabrera y Latorre (1879-1960) Spanish zoologist, palaeontologist, emigrated to Argentina 1925 (syn. Periparus ater vieirae). ● Dr Anatael Cabrera y Diaz (1866-1943) Spanish physician...
  14. Gonçalo Elias

    Linnet (Linaria cannabina)

    Linaria comes from flax Cannabina comes from hemp I wonder if this is somehow related to the material used for nest construction. Any thoughts?
  15. Gonçalo Elias

    Cettia cetti + Bulweria bulwerii

    The Cetti's Warbler was originally described as Sylvia cetti, honouring Francesco Cetti. Later it was moved into its own genus. However, the genus name is slightly different, ending in -ia, so it is Cettia cetti and not Cetti cetti. Something similar happened with Bulwer's Petrel: originally...
  16. Gonçalo Elias

    Oriolus

    The Helm Dictionary of Bird Names by James Jobling states that the name Oriolus comes from Old French: oriolus Med. L. oryolus golden oriole (> Old French onomatopoeia Oriol or Oryol) (cf. L. aureolus golden > aurum gold); However, in The Key this reference to Old French is not included...
  17. Gonçalo Elias

    meridionalis

    Lanius meridionalis According to The Key, meridionale / meridionalis L. meridionalis southern < meridies south. I think that meridies means mid-day, which is considered equivalent to south, because at solar mid-day the sun is shining in the south. Does this make sense?
  18. Gonçalo Elias

    About the word "Nightjar"

    I have been wondering about this: in the common name "nightjar", what does the "jar" part mean, or what is it related to? Thanks!
  19. Gonçalo Elias

    What happened to genus Tantalus?

    As far as I understand, genus Tantalus was created by Linnaeus in 1766 in Sistema Naturae 12 for the Glossy Ibis, which was listed as Tantalus falcinellus. However, this genus is no longer used, something must have taken precedence over it, but I can't figure out what it was. Any hints?
  20. Gonçalo Elias

    Aristotle and Titmice

    While going through Aristotle's "Historia animalium" and reading about bees and bee-eaters I found the following statements: This is an English translation, online here. The text I quoted is part of section 40. Any idea what titmice could refer to in this context?
  21. Gonçalo Elias

    Periparus

    I am a bit confused about the meaning of the name Periparus. According to The Key, "Peri" comes from the greek and means very or around, while "Parus" is tit in Latin. So Periparus would mean something like "very tit" or "around tit"? Does not sound very logical. What am I missing here? By...
  22. Gonçalo Elias

    Tits and coal

    I have been trying to figure out the logic for using the word Coal in tit names, but it is not obivous at all. Let's take a look at what happens in various languages. Starting with English, the name Coal Tit is used for Periparus ater. The same happens with Portuguese, where chapim-carvoeiro...
  23. Gonçalo Elias

    "Perdrix-de-mer"

    The French name for the Collared Pratincole is Glaréole à Collier, but there is an alternative (old) name for the species: perdrix-de-mer (literally: sea partridge). The Portuguese name for this bird is perdiz-do-mar, which means the same as in French and is most likely the direct translation...
  24. Gonçalo Elias

    New book: Birding hotspots in the Alentejo - Portalegre district

    The Portalegre district (also known as Alto Alentejo) is located in the northern third of the Alentejo region. It is far less visited by foreign birdwatchers than the southern part that lies closer to the Algarve. Despite being less popular, this region holds a varied bird life, with lots of...
  25. Gonçalo Elias

    How to write the name of a hybrid

    Hi all, I have a question concerning the correct way of writing the name of a hybrid: should the "x" be in italic when we use the scientific names? Consider, for example, the hybrid Gadwall x Mallard. The scientific name of this hybrid would be Mareca strepera x Anas platyrhynchos. My...
Back
Top