• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Riccordia ricordii (Gervais, 1835) (1 Viewer)

Taphrospilus

Well-known member
Riccordia ricordii (Gervais, 1835) OD v.5 (1835) [Incomplete] - [Mollusques] - Biodiversity Heritage Library
L'Oiseaux-Mouce Ricord a été découvert aux environs de Sant-Iago de Cuba, par Al. Ricord, don nous lui avons donné le nom.
Cathartes ricordi DesMurs, 1853 OD sér.2:t.5 (1853) - Revue et magasin de zoologie pure et appliquée - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Riccordia Reichenbach, 1854 OD Jahrg.1-2=no.1-12;Suppl.:Jahrg.1 (1853-1854) - Journal für Ornithologie - Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds:
Ricord's Hummingbird Chlorostilbon ricordii (Gervais, 1835) [Alt. Cuban Emerald]
Alexandre Ricord (1798–1876) was a French naval surgeon who qualified as a physician in Paris (1824), and became a corresponding member of the French Academy of Médecine (1838). He collected in Latin America (1826–1834). An Amphibian and two reptiles are named after him.

Alexandre Ricord (1798-1876) French surgeon-naturalist in tropical America 1826-1834 (syn. Cathartes aura, Riccordia).
(Trochilidae; Cuban Emerald R. ricordii) Specific name Ornismya ricordii Gervais, 1835; "Chlorestes RCHB. ... * δ. Riccordia RCHB. Ramondii (Orn. Riccordii RAM. DE LA SAGRA 1839.) RCHB. — Cuba. *—— Canivetii (Orn. — LESS. 1831.) RCHB. — Mex.: Jalapa, Kakamonka. *—— elegans (Tr. — AUD. VIEILL. 1802.) RCHB. — Brasil. *—— iolaimus (Tr. — NATTER. 1840.) RCHB. — Bras. —— verticeps (Tr. — GOULD 1851.)" (Reichenbach 1854); "Riccordia Reichenbach, 1854, Journ. für Ornith., I, Extraheft, Aufzählung der Colibris, p. 8. Type, by tautonymy, Chlorestes ramondii Reichenbach = Ornismya riccordii de La Sagra = Ornismya ricordii Gervais, 1835." (JAJ 2020).
Var. Ricordia.
Synon. Gmelinius, Marsyas, Myiornis.

Picture of him Docteur Alexandre Ricord, médecin de la Marine né en 1798, correspondant de l'académie de médecine, frère du chirurgien - Anonyme | Musée d'Orsay

So I assume https://archives.paris.fr/arkotheque/visionneuse/visionneuse.php?arko=YTo2OntzOjQ6ImRhdGUiO3M6MTA6IjIwMjQtMDEtMTEiO3M6MTA6InR5cGVfZm9uZHMiO3M6MTE6ImFya29fc2VyaWVsIjtzOjQ6InJlZjEiO2k6NDtzOjQ6InJlZjIiO2k6MjE1NzkwO3M6MTY6InZpc2lvbm5ldXNlX2h0bWwiO2I6MTtzOjIxOiJ2aXNpb25uZXVzZV9odG1sX21vZGUiO3M6NDoicHJvZCI7fQ==#uielem_move=-116,-459&uielem_rotate=F&uielem_islocked=0&uielem_zoom=153 p. 23 of 31 is his death record. If I am correct he was 84 when he died in 1876. So birth 1798 would be wrong. I tried to find his record in Archive en ligne Bordeaux but failed. But I search filae I would go for 1792 as birth year. But Léonore Recherche - Base de données Léonore is confusing me as it tells us born 24/06/1796 in Baltimore.

Cyclura ricordi (DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1837) OD Erpétologie générale:t.4 (1837) - Nouvelles suites à Buffon - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Anolis ricordii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1837 OD Erpétologie générale:t.4 (1837) - Nouvelles suites à Buffon - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Eleutherodactylus ricordii Duméril & Bibron, 1841 OD Erpétologie générale:t.8 (1841) - Erpétologie générale, ou, Histoire naturelle complète des reptiles - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Somehow the birds are discussed as well in context Ornismya riccordii de La Sagra
Sorry to come back on this but as usual I am a little bit confused about:



Where to find Ornismya riccordii de La Sagra, 1839? If not Riccordia ricordii (Gervais, 1835) what's Ornismya riccordii de La Sagra, 1839?

I assume here the plate t.8 (1855) - Historia fisica, politica y natural de la isla de Cuba - Biodiversity Heritage Library and the Zunzún is according my understanding the same as Riccordia ricordii (Gervais, 1835). No idea why Reichenbach thought a new name is required.

Anyway Reichenbach here Trochilinarum enumeratio - Biodiversity Heritage Library as Chlorestes (Riccordia) ramondi
Are there the plates online? If I look at https://verlag.nhm-wien.ac.at/KatalogeNHMW/2007_Katalog_Aves_1_scan.pdf p. 106 (in pdf 107/379) I am wondering about this claim The Key to Scientific Names - Birds of the World

Myiarchus sagrae (Gundlach, 1852) OD v.6 (1850-1857) - Boston journal of natural history - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Nothing to add about the person. It is just about my confusion about


As well I ask myself why Chlorostilbon elegans (Gould, 1860) is valid if this name was already used here t.1 (1802) - Oiseaux dorés ou à reflets métalliques - Biodiversity Heritage Library and probably earlier http://www.zoonomen.net/cit/RI/SP/Troc/troc00004a.jpg
 
Last edited:
So I assume https://archives.paris.fr/arkothequ...em_rotate=F&uielem_islocked=0&uielem_zoom=153 p. 23 of 31 is his death record. If I am correct he was 84 when he died in 1876. So birth 1798 wouldbe wrong. I tried to find his recoord in Archive en ligne Bordeaux but failed. But I search filae I would go for 1792 as birth year. But Léonore Recherche - Base de données Léonore is confusing me as it tells us born 24/06/1796 in Baltimore.

The death record certainly looks like it's his and, so far as his death is concerned, is consistent with what appears in the first two scans in Léonore.
The death record says born in Marseille, and 84 at death; Léonore indeed says born in Baltimore, USA, 24 June 1796 -- including on scans 4 and 5 which appear to be by his own hand -- thus he should have been 80 at death.
His brother Philippe Recherche - Base de données Léonore was also born in Baltimore.
 
This article gives a medical biography indicating a birth in Baltimore in 1798. This article states the brother Jean Baptiste was also a naturalist and died in the West Indies in 1837 (not 1827 as stated). Whilst the OD is unequivocal for the honoree of Riccordia ricordii I am unsure about Cathartes ricordi and indeed Riccordia itself. The Herps all state Alexandre.

The brother was Jean Baptiste Ricord (1777 1782 (Martinique) - 11 Nov 1837 (Buried 5 Dec 1837) • Guadalupe, West Indies). If Jean Baptist is honoured in any name this would be problematic. He was a "large slave owner" and he published research looking at pharmaceutical methods of keeping slaves subjugated. His estranged wife was a member of the New York Dutch elite and was prominent in the education and emancipation of women.

One passage from the book chapter describing Ricord's experiments on dogs and his slave boy stands out "The trail of vomit, urine, and corpses Ricord left in his wake illustrates a morbid scene with the reckless colonial physician at its center."
 
Last edited:
In pp. 2886-2887 here : G.H.C. Bulletin 127 : juin 2000 sommaire , it is suggested that Alexandre and Philippe were lying about their birth (for an unknown reason).
According to this source, Alexandre would actually be born as Jean Baptiste Alexandre André Esprit Ricord, on 9 Jan 1792 in Marseille -- which is consistent with his death record. Baptism on 11 Jan 1792, parish of Notre-Dame des Accoules : here.
(Philippe, OTOH, would be born as Philippe Simon Charles Alexandre Ricord, on 29 Jul 1799, also in Marseille.)

These births are also accepted here.

(Philippe died on 22 Oct 1889 in Paris, 6e Arr.; death record here, 16/31. There he is presented as 88 years old and born in Baltimore, to parents whose names where not known to the officer who wrote the record.)
 
Last edited:
This article states the brother Jean Baptiste was also a naturalist and died in the West Indies in 1837 (not 1827 as stated).

He died on 11 Nov 1837 in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Death record here, 49/63. (Claims he was born in Martinique [instead of Paris, which is found elsewhere] and was about 56.)
 
I have some major issues with the G.H.C. Bulletin 127 article. They did not flee the revolution they had been in the Caribbean for generations. Yes, the doctors lied about their birthplace but not because of anything dodgy - because of racism from the establishment of the US and France. Jean Baptiste was born on 1 April 1782 at Le Mouillage, Martinique here page 8 thus I see no reason to believe the Marseille connection of Alexandre - this is a different family with different parents. Alexandre's parents were married in Martinique in 1777 and their eldest sister was born in Nov 1778 on Martinique. Indeed the Ricord family is recorded in Martinique and Guadalupe in the early 17th century and thus it is possible the name bearing Ricord ancestors do not have any mainland French connection at all (yes Jean Baptiste and Alexandre's mother was from Marseille no doubt but not the father). Jean-Baptist added the suffix Madiana to his name and this has nothing to do with France as often stated - it is the Kalinago Indian name for Martinique. I suspect in changing his name, Jean Baptiste was acknowledging his Indian roots.
 
Last edited:
Jean Baptiste was born on 1 April 1782 at Le Mouillage, Martinique here page 8 thus I see no reason to believe the Marseille connection of Alexandre - this is a different family with different parents.

(Baptized on 1 April 1782, but born "le vingt-cinq du mois dernier", i.e., on 25 March, in Saint-Pierre le Mouillage.)

Great find, I had looked for this record to no avail yesterday. However, I cannot agree with the conclusion -- although I was a bit uncertain at first too, I now have no doubt that it was indeed the same family.

The parents are the same -- Jean Alexandre Ricord and his wife Jeanne Aubert.
The elder brother and sister acted as godfather and godmother at Alexandre's baptism in Marseille, and they are also the same -- Jean Baptiste Alexandre and Françoise Esprit Aimée (as "Francoise Esprit Emé" [sic!] in Alexandre's baptism record, but she signed the record "Aimée Ricord"; she had been baptized on 30 Nov 1778, in Saint-Pierre le Mouillage, Martinique : here, p. 12).
This makes far too many identical names to be a mere coincidence.

All the records from Martinique concur that the mother was born in Marseille (parish of Saint-Martin), the father in Aix-en-Provence (parish of "la Magdeleine" -- nowadays la Madeleine) -- they were both from metropolitan France, thus. They were married on 10 Jun 1777, also in St-Pierre le Mouillage, Martinique : here, p. 8; at the time of the marriage, the father resided in Saint-François de la Basseterre in Guadeloupe.
 
Last edited:
Whilst the OD is unequivocal for the honoree of Riccordia ricordii I am unsure about Cathartes ricordi and indeed Riccordia itself. The Herps all state Alexandre.
Regarding Riccordia I would go for him as well:

(Orn. Riccordii RAM. DE LA SAGRA 1839.) RCH. - Cuba

Not that sure what sér.2:t.5 (1853) - Revue et magasin de zoologie pure et appliquée - Biodiversity Heritage Library Vultur urbis incola, Riccord, Chatartes urbis incola Lesson means. Neverless I would go for him. In the text we can find Ricord dans ses voyages and similar.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top