Corvidae (Crows 2)

The name of the crow family as Corvidae was mentioned by English zoologist William Elford Leach (as Corvidæ, which was preference in those days), who used it first in 1820 in the Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum (London: Richard and Arthur Taylor, 1820), 67. Leach was not named as author in the publication itself, though authorship has been assigned to him for being the Assistant Keeper of the Natural History Department of the British Museum, London.

The etymology of Corvidae points to Corvus – from Latin corvus = raven, and the Latin suffix -idae, which is a transliteration of Greek -ίδης (-ídēs), a patronymic suffix.

The IOC World Bird List itemizes the following genera:

• Platylophus = Broad-crest – from Greek πλατυς, platus = broad, wide, and Greek λοφος, lophos = crest – genus described by English ornithologist William John Swainson in his appendix ‘Characters of genera and sub-genera hitherto undefined’ in William Swainson and John Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana; Or the Zoology of the Northern Part of British America (London: John Murray, 1831), ii. 482, placed under Lanidae – the genus contains only one species, Crested Jay Platylophus galericulatus = great crested bird, from late medieval Latin galericulatus = hooded, which makes the species name in effect a tautological construct – World Bird List places Platylophus under Corvidae, others consider it part of shrikes Laniidae or of the monotypic Platylophidae – the specific epithet was mentioned by French naturalist George Cuvier in his Le règne animal distribué d’après son organisation (Paris: Deterville, 1817), i. 399, as Corvus galericulatus;
• Platysmurus = Flat-tail – from Greek πλατυσμα, platusma = flat object, and Greek suffix -ουρος, -ouros = -tailed – genus described by German ornithologist Ludwig Reichenbach in his Avium systema naturale (Dresden und Leipzig: Expedition der vollständigsten Naturgeschichte, 1850), pl. 80 – the genus contains only one species, Black Magpie Platysmurus leucopterus = white-winged flat-tail, from Greek λευκος, leukos = white, and Greek -πτερος, -pteros = -winged – the specific epithet was described by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in Coenraad Jacob Temminck and French ornithologist Guillaume Michel Jérôme Meiffren Laugier, Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d’oiseaux (Paris: Levrault, 1824), livr. 45, pl. 265, as Glaucopis leucoptera;
• Perisoreus = Burier – from Greek περισωρευω, perisōreuō = to heap up, bury beneath – genus mentioned by French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (as Carlo Luciano Bonaparte) in ‘Scienze’, Giornale arcadico di scienze, lettre ed arti, 49 (1831), 42 – 3 species;
• Cyanolyca = Dark-blue Jackdaw – from Greek κυανος, kuanos = dark-blue, and Greek λυκος, lukos = jackdaw – genus mentioned by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in his Museum Heineanum (Halberstadt: R. Frantz, 1851), i. 223 – 9 species;
• Cyanocorax = Dark-blue Raven – from Greek κυανος, kuanos = dark-blue, and Greek κοραξ, korax = raven – genus mentioned by German ornithologist Friedrich Boie in ‘Generalübersicht der ornithologischen Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen’, Isis von Oken, 1826, col. 975 – 17 species;
• Psilorhinus = Bare-nostrils – from Greek ψιλος, psilos = bare, and Greek ῥινος, rhinos = nostrils – genus described by German naturalist Eduard Rüppell in ‘Mittheilungen über einige zur Fauna von Europa gehörige Vögel, nebst Abbildung und Beschreibung eines neuen mexikanischen Vogels als Typus einer neuen Gattung’, Museum Senckenbergianum, 2 (1837), 187–190 – the genus contains only one species, Brown Jay Psilorhinus morio = dark-brown bare-nostrils, from Latin morio (or mormorion) = dark-brown crystal – the Handbook of the Birds of the World regards Brown Jay to be part of Cyanocorax still – the specific epithet was described by German ornithologist Johann Georg Wagler in ‘Beiträge und Bemerkungen zu dem ersten Bande seines Systema Avium‘, Isis von Oken, 22 (1829), col. 751, as Pica morio;
• Calocitta = Beautiful Jay – from Greek καλος, kalos = beautiful, and Greek κιττα, kitta = jay – genus mentioned by English zoologist George Robert Gray in his A List of the Genera of Birds, with Their Synonyma, and an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus (2nd edn., London: Richard and John E. Taylor, 1841), 50 – 2 species;
• Cyanocitta = Dark-blue Jay – from Greek κυανος, kuanos = dark-blue, and Greek κιττα, kitta = jay – genus described by English ornithologist Hugh Edwin Strickland in ‘On Cyanocitta, a proposed new genus of Garrulinæ, and on C. superciliosa, a new species of Blue Jay, hitherto confounded with C. ultramarina, Bonap.’, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 15/98 (1845), 260–261 – 2 species;
• Aphelocoma = Smooth-hair – from Greek αφελης, aphelēs = smooth, sleek, simple, and Greek κομη, komē = hair – genus described briefly by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in his Museum Heineanum (Halberstadt: R. Frantz, 1851), i. 221 – 7 species;
• Gymnorhinus = Bald-nostrils – from Greek γυμνος, gumnos = bare, naked, and Greek ῥινος, rhinos = nostrils – genus described by German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied in his Reise in das innere Nord-America in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834 (Coblenz: J. Hœlscher, 1841), ii. 21–22n1 – the genus contains one species, Pinyon Jay Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus = dark blue-headed bald-nostrils, from Greek κυανος, kuanos = dark-blue, and Greek -κεφαλος, -kephalos = -headed – the specific epithet was described with the genus;
• Garrulus = Babbler – from Latin garrulus = chattering, babbling, garrulous – genus described briefly by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (Paris: Cl. Jean-Baptiste Bauche, 1760), i. 30 – 3 species;
• Cyanopica = Dark-blue Magpie – from Greek κυανος, kuanos – dark-blue, and Latin pica = magpie – genus mentioned by French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (as Carolo Luciano Bonaparte) in Conspectus generum avium (Lugduni Batavorum: E.J. Brill, 1850), i. 382 – 2 species;
• Urocissa = Long-tailed Magpie – from Greek ουρα, oura = tail, and Greek κισσα, kissa = magpie – genus described briefly by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in his Museum Heineanum (Halberstadt: R. Frantz, 1851), i. 87 – 5 species;
• Cissa = Magpie – from Greek κισσα, kissa = magpie – genus mentioned by German ornithologist Friedrich Boie in ‘Generalübersicht der ornithologischen Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen’, Isis von Oken, 1826, 975 – 4 species;
• Dendrocitta = Tree Magpie – from Greek δενδρον, dendron = tree, and Greek κιττα, kitta = magpie – genus described by by English ornithologist John Gould in
  Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1 (1833), 57 – the description is part of a summary of a paper delivered by Gould entitled ‘On a new genus of the family Corvidæ‘ on 14 May 1833, interestingly the table of contents of the Proceedings lists the paper as ‘Characters of a new genus of incessorial birds‘ – 7 species;
• Crypsirina = Covered-nostrils – from Greek κρυπτω, kruptō = to conceal, and Greek ῥινος, rhinos = nostrils – genus described by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in his Analyse d’une nouvelle ornithologie élémentaire, ed. Howard Saunders (London: Taylor and Francis, 1883) 36 (first pub. 1816) – 2 species;
• Temnurus = Cut-tail – from Greek τεμνω, temnō = to cut, and Greek ουρα, oura = tail – genus described by French ornithologist René Lesson in his Traité d’ornithologie (Paris: F.G. Levrault, 1831), 341 – the genus contains only one species, Ratchet-tailed Treepie Temnurus temnurus = cut-tail, described by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in Coenraad Jacob Temminck and French ornithologist Guillaume Michel Jérôme Meiffren Laugier, Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d’oiseaux (Paris: Levrault, 1825), livr. 57, pl. 337, as Glaucopis temnura;
• Pica = Magpie – Latin pica = magpie – genus described briefly by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (Paris: Cl. Jean-Baptiste Bauche, 1760), i. 30 – 7 species;
• Zavattariornis = Zavattari’s Bird – patronym for Italian zoologist Edoardo Zavattari, and Greek ορνις, ornis = bird – genus described by Italian ornithologist Edgardo Moltoni in ‘Zavattariornis stresemanni novum genus et nova species Corvidarum’, Ornithologische Monatsberichte, 46 (1938), 80–83 – the genus contains only one species, Stresemann’s Bushcrow Zavattariornis stresemanni, described with the genus;
• Podoces = Quick-foot – from Greek ποδωκης, podōkēs = swift-footed, quick – genus described by Russian anatomist Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (as Gotthelf Fischer de Waldheim) in his Lettre adressee au nom de la Societe imperiale des naturalistes de Moscou: Contenant une notice sur un nouveaux genre d’oiseau et sur plusieurs nouveaux insectes (Moscou: Imprimerie d’Auguste Semen, 1821), 6–7 – 4 species;
• Nucifraga = Nutcracker – from Latin nux = nut, and Latin frangere = to shatter – genus described briefly by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (Paris: Cl. Jean-Baptiste Bauche, 1760), i. 30 – 3 species;
• Pyrrhocorax = Flame-coloured Raven – Greek πυρρος, purrhos = flame-coloured, red, and Greek κοραξ, korax = raven – genus mentioned by English ornithologist Marmaduke Tunstall in Ornithologia britannica, ed. Alfred Newton (London: J. Akerman, 1880), 2 (first pub. 1771) – 2 species;
• Ptilostomus = Feather-mouth – Greek πτιλον, ptilon = feather, and Greek στομα, stoma = mouth – genus described by English ornithologist William John Swainson in his On the natural history and classification of birds (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman and John Taylor, 1837), ii. 266 – the genus contains only one species, Piapiac Ptilostomus afer = African feather-mouth, from Latin afer = Africa, described by Carl Linnaeus (as Caroli a Linné) in his Systema naturae (12th edn., Holmiae: Impensis Laurentii Salvii, 1766), i. 157, as Corvus afer;
• Coloeus = Jackdaw – Greek κολοιος, koloios = jackdaw – genus described by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in his Skizzirte Entwickelungs-Geschichte und natürliches System der europäischen Thierwelt (Darmstadt: Carl Wilhelm Leske), i. 114; 2 species;
• Corvus = Raven – Latin corvus = raven – described by Carl Linnaeus (as Caroli Linnæi) in his Systema naturae (10th edn., Holmiae: Impensis Laurentii Salvii, 1758), i. 105; 46 species (see Crows 1).