Saltator Maximus Bird

English Name:  Buff-throated Saltator
Latin Name:  Saltator maximus
Protonym:  Tanagra maxima Natursyst.Suppl. Suppl. p.159
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Thraupidae / Saltator
Taxonomy Code:  butsal1
Type Locality:  Cayenne.
Author:  Statius Muller
Publish Year:  1776
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SALTATOR
(Thraupidae; Ϯ Buff-throated Saltator S. maximus) L. saltator, saltatoris  dancer  < saltare  to dance (cf. Tupí name Tangara  dancer, one who turns and skips, for the manakins and various colourful finch-like birds (see Tangara)); "66. HABIA, de Azara. Saltator. Tanagra, Lin. Gm. Lath.  Bec épais à la base, court, robuste, convexe en dessus, un peu comprimé par les côtés, échancré vers le bout; mandibule supérieure un peu fléchie en arc et couvrant les bords de l'inférieure.   Esp. Grand Tangara, Buff." (Vieillot 1816) ; "Saltator Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 32. Type, by monotypy, "Grand Tanagra" Buffon = Tanagra maxima Müller." (Paynter in Peters 1970, XIII, 228). The saltators and their allies have also been placed with the finches Fringillidae, and the cardinals Cardinalidae, or treated as a separate family Saltatoridae.
Var. Salator, Sallator, Sattator, Staltator.
Synon. Cissurus, Pitylus, Pyrorhamphus, Saltatricula, Stelgidostomus.

saltator
L. saltator, saltatoris  dancer  < saltare  to dance  < salire  to jump.
● ex "Le Pavaneur" of Levaillant 1801-1804 (French pavaneur  strutter); "Gattung Calamoherpe.  ...  1. saltator Vaill. Afr. pl. 122. fig. 1. 2." (Boie 1828) (syn. Acrocephalus schoenobaenus).
● ex “Pingoin Sauteur” of de Bougainville 1771 (French sauteur  jumper) (syn. Eudyptes chrysocome) (see Chrysocoma).
● "56. SAXICOLA SALTATOR  ...  il va ordinairement par paires, et sautille continuellement; il se place volontiers sur les pointes de rochers, et là, il s'élève perpendiculairement en agitant fortement ses ailes, et faisant entendre un zri, zri, zri, très sonore; posé, il a un petit gazouillement très agréable" (Ménétries 1832) (French sautiller  to hop) (syn. Oenanthe hispanica melanoleuca).
● "Not unfrequently we are startled by a shrill scream in some lonely place, and out rushes the Hopping Dick, jumping with rapidity across the road, almost close to our horse's feet.  ...  At the break of day, if we pass along a wooded mountain road  ...  we see the Hopping Dicks bounding singly along the ground in every part  ...  many of these Merles were gliding from one thicket to another, and dashing across the road with that bounding run from which they derive their soubriquet of Hopping Dick  ...  Ouzel, which I would call Merula Saltator, as this name preserves his distinctive soubriquet of Hopping Dick, and refers to his characteristic length of legs, both at the tarsus and the thighs." (Gosse & Hill 1847) (syn. Turdus aurantius).

maximus
L. maximus greatest < super. magnus great.
● ex “Cayenne Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Grand Promérops de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Epimachus fastosus).
● ex “Tangara des grands bois de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 205, and “Grand Tangara” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Saltator).
● ex “Hirondelle de Mer de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 988 (Thalasseus).

SUBSPECIES

Buff-throated Saltator (gigantodes)
Latin Name: Saltator maximus gigantodes
gigantodes
Gr. γιγαντωδης gigantōdēs  gigantic  < γιγας gigas, γιγαντος gigantos  giant, the fabled monstrous race, sons of Earth and Tartarus.
● "ARDEA Lin.   ...   gigantodes    Senegal" (Lichtenstein 1854) (syn. Ardea goliath).
● "Gen. SALTATOR Vieill.   ...   734.  3. S. gigantodes n. sp. *)  Mexico.   ...   *) Dem Saltator atriceps äusserst ähnlich, aber von auffallend geringerer Grösse" (Cabanis 1853) (subsp. Saltator maximus). 
● "Im ferneren Verlauf der Sitzung legt Herr Cabanis eine grössere Zahl peruanischer Vögel des Berliner Museums vor, welche von Herrn Jelski gesammelt wurden und überraschend viel Neues darbieten.  Herr Cabanis charakterisirt die neuen, oder weniger bekannten Arten wie folgt:  Turdus gigantodes n. sp.  Abart des T. gigas Fras.  ...  Bei gigas, welchen das Berliner Museum von Merida (Neu-Granada) besitzt, zieht die Färbung überall in's Olivenbraune." (Cabanis 1873) (subsp. Turdus fuscater).

Buff-throated Saltator (magnoides)
Latin Name: Saltator maximus magnoides
magnoides
Specific name Tanagra magna J. Gmelin, 1789 (= syn. Saltator maximus); Gr. -οιδης -oidēs  resembling; "2. Gen. SALTATOR V.  Habia Azara.  Salt. magnoïdes Nob.  ...  Nous donnons à cet Habia du Mexique le nom de Magnoïde, à cause de ses grands rapports avec le Tanagra magna Lat. Gmel., grand Tangara Buff. enl., pl. 205, et dont Vieillot a eu le tort de changer le nom Linnéen en celui de Saltator olivaceus." (de La Fresnaye 1844) (subsp. Saltator maximus).

Buff-throated Saltator (intermedius)
Latin Name: Saltator maximus intermedius
intermedea / intermedia / intermedianus / intermedium / intermedius
L. intermedius  intermediate, that is between (cf. Late L. intermedium  intervention, between two others; Med. L. intermedium  interval).  These epithets are common in ornithology, highlighting forms considered to have intermediate plumage, size, distribution, etc.; only a few are shown below.
• “Genus Ardea.   ...   A. intermedia.  ...  Habitat in insula Java.  Simillima habitu ac colore Ardeae flavirostri, eadem dimidio fere minor.” (Wagler 1829) (Ardea).
• "73.  Coracina papuensis papuensis Gm.   ...   The birds from the Snow Mts. are exactly intermediate between C. p. papuensis from N. W. New Guinea and C. p. meekiana from S. E. New Guinea; so I propose to call the race found on the south side of the Central Range.   Coracina papuensis intermedia subsp. nov." (Rothschild 1931) (subsp. Coracina papuensis).
• "Ce tinamou présente, comme nous l'avons dit, des caractères de transition entre Calopezus elegans et Calopezus formosus.  Cette nouvelle espèce, ou peut-être race intermédiaire, qui paraît localisée dans les régions montagneuses du Nord-ouest de la République Argentine, nous la distinguerons avec le nom de:  Calopezus intermedius n. sp.   ...   Il est possible que Calopezus intermedius et Calopezus formosus représentent seulement des formes géographiques de Calopezus elegans" (Dabbene & Lillo 1913) ( subsp. Eudromia elegans).
• "Formicivora   ...   F. grisea  ...  Kommt in Brasilien, Cayenne und Guiana vor.   ...   F. rufatra  ...  Vaterland: Brasilien und Bolivien.   ...   F. intermedia.  ...  Vaterland: Columbien" (Cabanis 1847) (Formicivora).
• "Falco pondicerianus apud Horsfield is a race intermediate to Haliastur indus of India proper and H. leucosternum of Australia, having dark central streaks to the white portion of the plumage, but considerably less developed than (constantly) in the Indian bird..  ...  Of very many examples of the Indian race examined or beheld close, I certainly have never seen one that had the dark streaks or lines so little developed as in the Javanese bird, or most assuredly I should have remarked it.  To what extent the Indian and Australian races may thus grade into each other, in other intermediate localities, remains to be ascertained.  ...  Mr. Gurney informs me that he thinks the Javanese race should be distinguished by the name intermedius." (Blyth 1865) (subsp. Haliastur indus).
• "Then we have in Tenasserim, most abundant in the hills, but extending in the cold weather to the sea-board and the plains of Pegu, a race of melaschistus, which I will, for convenience sake, denominate VOLVOCIVORA  INTERMEDIA.  It is very close to melaschistus, and as such I originally identified it, but with 24 specimens before me I find that sex being ascertained no specimen of it can be mistaken for a specimen of the corresponding sex of melaschistus, but it is much the same size, and the old males are nearly as possible the same colour as the females of melaschistus.  ...  I am very doubtful whether this should be considered a subspecies or not, but it is a very distinguishable and perfectly constant race, and not one single specimen of true melaschistus has occurred to us throughout the region in which it is so abundant, and it may be best therefore to characterize it by a distinct name." (Hume 1877) (subsp. Lalage melaschistos).
• "5.  SETOPHAGA  INTERMEDIA, Nob.  ...  Espèce typique intermédiaire entre la S. vulnerata et la S. verticalis, Lafresn.  Elle diffère de la première par un bec plus grand et plus large, par la gorge cendrée, par le coloris de la queue, par la couleur de l'abdomen; la S. verticalis, Lafr. est jaune d'œuf en dessous." (Hartlaub 1852) (subsp. Myioborus miniatus).
• "3. CRYPTOLOPHA  INTERMEDIA  La Touche, sp. n.   Near C. tephrocephala (Anders.) and C. affinis (Hodgs.).  Differs from the former in having a much shorter bill, and the secondary coverts distinctly tipped with pale yellow, forming a well-marked bar; from C. affinis it differs in having a ring of feathers round the eye, yellow." (La Touche 1898) (Phylloscopus).
• “728. —  Pipreola viridis intermedia  ...  Forme intermédiaire entre la P. viridis de la Bolivie et la P. melanolæma de l’Ecuador, plus voisine de la dernière.” (Taczanowski 1884) (Pipreola).
• "Ploceus intermedius.  Sehr nahe mit meinem Ploceus larvatus verwandte Art.  Vorderkopf bis über den hintern Augenwinkel, Kehle, Oberhals und Ohrengegend schwarz, Hinterkopf und Nacken röthlich braungelb.  Mitte der Brust orangengelb, Seiten des Halses und Unterkörpers citrongelb.  Rücken gelbgrün, gegen den Schwanz hin citronengelb." (Rüppell 1845) (Ploceus).
• “This species is somewhat intermediate between Palaeornis schisticeps and P. cyanocephala in size and coloration, but is nearer P. schisticeps” (Rothschild 1895) (syn. Psittacula cyanocephala x Psittacula himalayana).
• "RHIPIDURA  INTERMEDIA, sp. nov.  ...  Dr. Sharpe's description of Rhipidura rufifrons in the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," vol. iv., p. 319 (1879), evidently applies to this species, for he describes the tail feathers as being "distinctly tipped with white."  The type of Rhipidura rufifrons characterized by Dr. Latham, was obtained in New South Wales, and has the tips of the tail feathers pale brown, not white.  In the latter respect Rhipidura intermedia agrees with R. torrida, described and figured (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 477, pl. xxviii.) by Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, from the island of Ternate, but R. torrida differs from R. intermedia in having the ear-coverts and upper breast black." (North 1902) (subsp. Rhipidura rufifrons).
• "Sp. intermedia n. sp.  ... Der [Sp.] hypoleuca im Schnabel und der ganzen Gestalt äusserst ähnlich, nur etwas kleiner, von dieser durch die nicht weisse, sondern graue Färbung der Kehle und Brust verschieden, mithin fast ganz so gefärbt wie Sp. plumbea, von welcher intermedia sich nur unterscheidet durch den grössern Schnabel und die kürzeren abgerundeteren, daher nicht so zugespitzten Flügel; auch sind Kehle und Brust etwas dunkler als in plumbea und fehlt das weisse Fleckchen an der Wurzel des Unterkiefers; der weisse Spiegel auf dem Flügel ist kleiner und versteckter" (Cabanis 1851) (Sporophila).
• "Thamnistes anabatinus intermedius subsp. nov.  ...  This form, based on but one specimen, is clearly an intermediate between T. æquatorialis of eastern Ecuador and southeastern Colombia, and the quite different T. anabatinus group of Panama to Mexico.  Its crown and back closely agree in color with those of æquatorialis while the underparts are similar to those of T. a. coronatus; the tail and wings externally are intermediate but nearer to those of coronatus." (Chapman 1914) (subsp. Thamnistes anabatinus).
• "33.  Thamnophilus intermedius, sp. nov.   SP. CHAR.—Adult male: Similar to that of T. nigricristatus LAWR., but bill larger, and feathers of crest largely white in middle portion; adult female similar to that of T. doliatus, but with larger bill." (Ridgway 1888) (subsp. Thamnophilus doliatus).
• "ZOSTEROPS  INTERMEDIA.  ...  Very near Z. flava, but a little larger, more yellow on the forehead and less on the upper tail-coverts, and the black subocular streak not extending so far forward  ...  Hab. Macassar and Lombock.   Remark.—Mr. G. R. Gray attached the MS. name of intermedius to my Macassar specimen." (Wallace 1864) (subsp. Zosterops chloris).

Buff-throated Saltator (iungens)
Latin Name: Saltator maximus iungens
iungens
L. iungens, iungentis  connecting, uniting, joining  < iungere  to unite.
● "Similar to S. m. maximus, but connecting it with S. m. intermedius, being intermediate in size and having the crissum yellower, less fulvous; differing from both its allies by duller, less yellowish green upper parts." (Griscom 1929) (subsp. Saltator maximus).

Buff-throated Saltator (maximus)
Latin Name: Saltator maximus maximus
maximus
L. maximus greatest < super. magnus great.
● ex “Cayenne Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Grand Promérops de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Epimachus fastosus).
● ex “Tangara des grands bois de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 205, and “Grand Tangara” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Saltator).
● ex “Hirondelle de Mer de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 988 (Thalasseus).