[NatureNS] Re: Acadian Chickadee

From: Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:07:33 -0400
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Hi Randy,

On 15-Nov-10, at 9:51 AM, Randy Lauff wrote:

> I wonder if "Acadian Chickadee" implies that its first formal  
> description was based on a specimen from here somewhere? If I had  
> the time, I'd look it up myself, but work beckons.

A clever observation! :-> Work beckons here as well, but I took a  
moment to chase this down. It transpires that the Acadian Chickadee  
(Parus hudsonicus littoralis) was described by Dr. Henry Bryant (an  
M.D.) in 1865 based on a collection of five specimens (one male, one  
female, three juveniles) that he collected in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on  
July 7. The year would have been 1862 or 1863; its not indicated  
which. The paper describing this variety is:

Bryant, H. 1865. Description of a new variety of Parus from Yarmouth,  
Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 9:  
368-369.

Bryant gives a detailed description but its not really clear what  
characters he is using the differentiate this variety from specimens  
of Parus hudsonicus from Hudsons Bay with which he is comparing them.

In any event, this remained a "variety" until 1908 when the AOU  
elevated this to a subspecies, Penthestes hudsonicus littoralis  
(Bryant 1865) in:

American Ornithologists Union. 1908. Fourteen Supplement to the  
American Ornithologists Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk  
25(3): 343-399.

I don't know when this subspecies was subsequently synonymized with  
the nominate Poecile hudsonicus (Forster, 1722) [the current name of  
the species]. I'll let another ornitho-detective track this fact  
down. ;->

Cheers!

Chris


Christopher Majka  <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> | Halifax, Nova Scotia,  
Canada

* Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum | http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/research-asfr.htm
* Review Editor: The Coleopterists Bulletin | http://www.coleopsoc.org/
* Subject Editor: ZooKeys | http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index
* Associate Editor: Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society | http://www.acadianes.org/journal.html
* Editor: Atlantic Canada Coleoptera | http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html

"Whenever I hear of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like an old  
war-horse at the sound of a trumpet." - Charles Darwin


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<html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
-webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Randy,<div><br><div><div>On =
15-Nov-10, at 9:51 AM, Randy Lauff wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type=3D"cite">I wonder =
if "Acadian Chickadee" implies that its first formal description was =
based on a specimen from here somewhere? If I had the time, I'd look it =
up myself, but work beckons.</blockquote><br></div><div>A clever =
observation! :-&gt; Work beckons here as well, but I took a moment to =
chase this down. It transpires that the Acadian Chickadee (<i>Parus =
hudsonicus littoralis</i>) was described by Dr. Henry Bryant (an M.D.) =
in 1865 based on a collection of five specimens (one male, one female, =
three juveniles) that he collected in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on July 7. =
The year would have been 1862 or 1863; its not indicated which. The =
paper describing this variety is:</div><div><br></div><div>Bryant, H. =
1865. Description of a new variety of <i>Parus</i>
from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural
History 9: 368-369.</div><div><br></div><div>Bryant gives a detailed =
description but its not really clear what characters he is using the =
differentiate this variety from specimens of <i>Parus hudsonicus</i> =
from Hudsons Bay with which he is comparing =
them.</div><div><br></div><div>In any event, this remained a "variety" =
until 1908 when the AOU elevated this to a =
subspecies,&nbsp;<i>Penthestes hudsonicus littoralis</i> (Bryant 1865) =
in:</div><div><br></div><div>American Ornithologists Union. 1908. =
Fourteen
Supplement to the American Ornithologists Union Check-list of North =
American
Birds. Auk 25(3): 343-399.</div><div><br></div><div>I don't know when =
this subspecies was subsequently synonymized with the =
nominate&nbsp;<i>Poecile hudsonicus</i> (Forster, 1722) [the current =
name of the species]. I'll let another ornitho-detective track this fact =
down. =
;-&gt;</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers!</div><div><br></div><div>Chris</di=
v><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div apple-content-edited=3D"true"> =
<span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; =
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; =
font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; =
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auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style=3D"word-wrap: =
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after-white-space; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: =
'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: =
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auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style=3D"word-wrap: =
break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: =
after-white-space; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: =
'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: =
normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: =
normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: =
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style=3D"word-wrap: =
break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: =
after-white-space; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: =
'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: =
normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: =
normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: =
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style=3D"word-wrap: =
break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: =
after-white-space; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: =
'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: =
normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: =
normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: =
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style=3D"word-wrap: =
break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: =
after-white-space; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: =
'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: =
normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: =
normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: =
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style=3D"word-wrap: =
break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: =
after-white-space; "><div><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
size=3D"3"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; =
">Christopher Majka &nbsp;&lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</a>&gt; =
|&nbsp;Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada</span></font></div><div><font =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></div><div><font =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"font-size: 12px; ">* Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum =
|&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/research-asfr.htm">http://museum.gov.n=
s.ca/mnh/research-asfr.htm</a></span></font></div><div><font =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"font-size: 12px; ">* Review Editor: The Coleopterists Bulletin =
|&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.coleopsoc.org/">http://www.coleopsoc.org/</a></span></f=
ont></div><div><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; ">* Subject Editor: =
ZooKeys |&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index">http://p=
ensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index</a></span></font></div><d=
iv><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; ">* Associate =
Editor: Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society |&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.acadianes.org/journal.html">http://www.acadianes.org/jo=
urnal.html</a></span></font></div><div><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
size=3D"3"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; =
">* Editor: Atlantic Canada Coleoptera |&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html=
">http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html</a></=
span></font></div><div><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; =
"><br></span></font></div><div><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
size=3D"3"><font class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"3"><span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; "><i>"Whenever I =
hear of the capture of rare&nbsp;beetles, I feel like an old war-horse =
at the sound of a trumpet."</i></span></font><span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 12px; "><span =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>- =
Charles&nbsp;Darwin</span></font></div></div></span></div></span></div></s=
pan></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br></body></html>=

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