Relationship with Humans

The genus name, Chrysocorythus, derives from the Greek for “gold helmet”; subspecies vanderbilti is named for George Washington Vanderbilt III (1914–1961) (see 36 Meyer de Schauensee, R., and S. D. Ripley (1940). Zoological results of the George Vanderbilt Sumatran Expedition, 1936–1939. Part 1. Birds from Atjeh. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 91:311–368. Close ); estherae was named for Esther Finsch, the daughter of the German diplomat, colonial administrator, ornithologist, and collector (and original describer of Chrysocorythus estherae) Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (1839–1917); subspecies renatae is named after Dr Renate van den Elzen (b. 1947), an Austrian ornithologist, who was a former curator of birds at ZFMK (37 Jobling, J. A. (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. A. & C. Black, London, UK. Close ). The replacement name chaseni honors Frederick Nutter Chasen (1897–1942), Director of the Raffles Museum, Singapore, from 1932 until his death, and author of the original name, orientalis, for birds in eastern Java.

When this species and Mindanao Serin (Chrysocorythus mindananensis) were treated as a single species they were usually known as the Mountain Serin (e.g., 1 Clement, P., A. Harris, and J. Davis (1993). Finches and Sparrows: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 8 Dickinson, E. C., Editor (2003). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Third edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) or Sunda Serin (24 Bishop, K. D., and B. King (1986). The Sunda Serin Serinus estherae in Sulawesi. Kukila 2(4):90–92. Close ). On the other hand, del Hoyo and Collar (17 del Hoyo, J., and N. J. Collar (2016). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), who recognized two species as we do here, continued to refer to Chrysocorythus estherae as the Mountain Serin.