Chloris_sinica_MHNT_226_Îles_Kouriles_HdB

The grey-capped greenfinch or Oriental greenfinch (''Chloris sinica'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

family

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

that breeds in broadleaf and conifer woodlands of the East Palearctic. The grey-capped greenfinch is a medium-sized finch in length, with a strong bill and a short slightly forked tail. It nests in trees or bushes, laying 3-5 eggs. In 1760 the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

included a description of the grey-capped greenfinch in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in China. He used the French name ''Le pinçon de la Chine'' and the Latin ''Fringilla sinencis''. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

updated his '' Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the grey-capped greenfinch. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Fringilla sinica'' and cited Brisson's work. The type locality was subsequently restricted to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

in eastern China. The specific name ''sinica'' is

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

for Chinese. The greenfinches were later placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Carduelis The genus ''Carduelis'' is a group of birds in the finch family Fringillidae. The genus ''Carduelis'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 by tautonomy based on Carl Linnaeus's specific epithet for the Europe ...

'' but when molecular phylogenetic studies found that they were not closely related to the other species in ''Carduelis'', the greenfinches were moved to the resurrected genus '' Chloris''. The genus had been introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800. The word ''Chloris'' is from the Ancient Greek ''khlōris'' for a European greenfinch; the specific epithet ''sinica'' is

Mediaeval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

for "Chinese". Five subspecies are now recognised: * '' C. s. ussuriensis'' Hartert, 1903 – northeastern China, Korea and eastern Siberia * '' C. s. kawarahiba'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

, 1836) –

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

and northeastern

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

* '' C. s. minor'' (Temminck &

Schlegel Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), former American football linebacker * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, older brother of Friedrich * Brad Schlege ...

, 1848) – Japan: southern Hokkaido to Kyushu * '' C. s. kittlitzi'' ( Seebohm, 1890) –

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic read ...

including Iwo Jima * '' C. s. sinica'' (Linnaeus, 1766) – central and eastern China to central Vietnam

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the grey-capped greenfinch
Chloris (bird) Birds of Japan Birds described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Fringillidae-stub