Fiji streaked fantail explained

The Fiji streaked fantail (Rhipidura layardi) is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae that is endemic to the islands of Fiji. It was formerly considered to be subspecies of the streaked fantail (now the New Caledonian streaked fantail). Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Taxonomy

The binomial name Rhipidura layardi was introduced in 1877 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori as a replacement name for Rhipidura albogularis.^[1] This earlier name had been introduced by the naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard in 1875 based on a specimen collected on the island of Ovalau in the Fiji islands.^{[2] [3]} The specific epithet albogulari was preoccupied as it had been used in 1831 in the combination Muscicapa (Muscylva) albogularis by the French naturalist René Lesson for the white-spotted fantail.^{[4] [5]}

Three subspecies are recognised:^[6]

• R. l. rufilateralis Sharpe, 1879 – Taveuni (central north Fiji)
• R. l. layardi Salvadori, 1877 – Viti Levu and Ovalau (Lomaiviti group; west Fiji)
• R. l. erythronota Sharpe, 1879 – Vanua Levu and Yanganga (north of northwest Vanua Levu; central north Fiji)

Notes and References

1. Salvadori . Tommaso . Tommaso Salvadori . 1877 . Notes on two birds from the Fiji Islands . Ibis . 142–796 [143] .
2. Layard . Edgar Leopole . Edgar Leopold Layard . 1875 . Orthological notes from Fiji, with descriptions of supposed new species of birds . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 1875 . 27–30 [29] .
3. Layard . Edgar Leopole . Edgar Leopold Layard . 1875 . Notes on Fijian birds . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 1875 . 423–442 [434] .
4. Book: Lesson, René P. . René Lesson . 1831 . Bélanger . Charles . Voyage aux Indes-orientales, par le nord de l'Europe . 3: Zoologie . French . Paris . Arthus Bertrand . 264–265 .
5. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Cottrell . G. William . 1986 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 11 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 548 .
6. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . December 2023 . Orioles, drongos, fantails . IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 15 January 2024.