Proposal (44) to South American Classification Committee
Change English name of Hylocryptus
rectirostris
Effect on South American CL: This proposal would change the
English name of a species on our list from a "Meyer de Schauensee"
name to newer "Ridgely-Tudor" name.
Background: Meyer de Schauensee (1966, 1970) changed the
English name of Hylocryptus (then Automolus) rectirostris from
Cory & Hellmayr's (1925) "Straight-billed Automolus" to
"Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner." This was followed by Sibley &
Monroe (1990). Sick (1993) used "Henna-capped Foliage-gleaner, as did
Ridgely & Tudor (1994), with the following note:
"In the recent literature (e.g., Meyer de Schauensee
1966, 1970), H. rectirostris has been called the Chestnut-capped
Foliage-gleaner. This name causes much confusion with the name of another
species, the Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner (Automolus rufipileatus)
of Amazonia. Given that H. rectirostris's closest relative, the
geographically distant H. erythrocephalus, is called Henna-hooded
Foliage-gleaner, and the color of their crowns and napes is the same, we feel
"Henna-capped" to be an appropriate and certainly less confusing
one."
Remsen (2003) stuck with "Chestnut-crowned."
Analysis: I am confused by the logic of the statement above. If there is
"confusion" between two species in different genera whose ranges do
not come within 1000 km, why is there not also comparable confusion between two
presumed allospecies whose names are nearly identical? I appreciate that Bob
was trying for "symmetry" in using "Henna" for the two
presumed sister taxa. However, I have no idea what color "henna"
really is, and I doubt many others do either. I do, however, know (roughly)
what "chestnut" is. Finally, side-by-side comparison of the two
species indicates to my eye that their crown colors are not the same, but
that rectirostris has a slightly darker, more chestnut crown.
Recommendation: I will vote "NO" on this proposal.
In contrast to many Ridgely-Tudor names, in my opinion this one is barely an
improvement if at all.
Literature Cited
CORY, C.
B., AND C. E. HELLMAYR. 1925. Catalogue of birds of the Americas Field Mus.
Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser., vol. 13, pt. 4.
MEYER DE
SCHAUENSEE, R. 1966. The species of birds of South America and their
distribution. Livingston Publishing Co., Narberth, Pennsylvania.
MEYER DE
SCHAUENSEE, R. 1970. A guide to the birds of South America. Livingston
Publishing Co., Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
REMSEN, J.
V., JR. 2003 (in press). Family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). Pp. #-# in
"Handbook of the Birds of the World," Vol. 8. Broadbills to Tapaculos
(del Hoyo, J. et al., eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
RIDGELY, R.
S., AND G. TUDOR. 1994. The birds of South America, vol. 2. Univ. Texas Press,
Austin.
SIBLEY, C.
G., AND B. L. MONROE, JR. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the
World. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
SICK, H.
1993. Birds in Brazil. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
Van Remsen, July 2003
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Comments from Schulenberg: "My vote is "No":
retain the name "Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner", on the general
principle of name stability. For what it is worth, I would agree that the color
of the crown in rectirostris is not the same as in erythrocephalus.
And I think "henna" is more of an orange-brown, which means that it
might be more appropriate for erythrocephalus."
Comments from Zimmer: "I vote "no" on
changing the English name of Hylocryptus from "Chestnut-capped
Foliage-gleaner" to "Henna-capped Foliage-gleaner", mainly to
maintain tradition. "Henna-capped" would bring a nice symmetry to the
genus, but as names go, I don't think it represents any major improvement, and
adopting it would be destabilizing."
Comments from Robbins: "I vote "no" for
changing the English name of Hylocryptus rectirostris as
the proposed new name isn't an improvement."
Comments from Jaramillo: "NO. Retain Chestnut-capped Foliage-Gleaner on
basis of name stability, and the fact that the new name is no less confusing or
an improvement than the old name."