Verdin

The verdin (Auriparus flaviceps) is a species of penduline tit. It is the only species in the genus Auriparus and the only representative of the Old World family Remizidae to be found in North America. == Taxonomy == The verdin was formally described in 1850 by the Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall under the binomial name Aegithalus flaviceps. It is now the only species placed in the genus Auriparus that was introduced in 1864 by the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird. The genus name combines the Latin aurum, auri meaning "gold" with the genus name Parus that was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for the tits. The specific epithet flaviceps combines the Latin flavis meaning "yellow" with -ceps meaning "-capped". Six subspecies are recognised: A. f. acaciarum Grinnell, 1931 – southwest USA to north Baja California, central Sonora, central Chihuahua and central Durango (northwest Mexico) A. f. ornatus (Lawrence, 1851) – south-central USA and northeast Mexico A. f. flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850) – central Baja California, south Sonora and north Sinaloa (northwest Mexico) A. f. lamprocephalus Oberholser, 1897 – south Baja California (northwest Mexico) A. f. sinaloae Phillips, AR, 1986 – northwest Sinaloa (northwest Mexico) A. f. hidalgensis Phillips, AR…