Editing Surfbird (section)

==Taxonomy==
The surfbird was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1789 by the German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] in his revised and expanded edition of [[Carl Linnaeus]]'s ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He placed it with the other sandpipers in the [[genus]] ''[[Tringa]]'' and coined the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Tringa virgata''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=674 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25750052 }}</ref> Gmelin based his description on the "streaked sandpiper" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist [[John Latham (ornithologist)|John Latham]] from a specimen collected in 1778 from Sandwich Sound (now [[Prince William Sound]], Alaska) on [[James Cook]]'s [[Third voyage of James Cook|third voyage]] to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1785 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=3, Part 1 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | page=180, No. 26 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40078947 }}</ref> The species was moved to the monotypic genus ''Aphriza'' by [[John James Audubon]] in 1839.<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=271 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483084 }}</ref> It is now one of 24 species placed in the genus ''[[Calidris]]'' that was introduced in 1804 by the German naturalist [[Blasius Merrem]].<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Merrem | first=Blasius | author-link=Blasius Merrem | date=8 June 1804 | title=Naturgeschichte | language=German | journal=Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung | volume=168 | at=Col. 542 | url=https://api.digitale-sammlungen.de/iiif/presentation/v2/bsb10502034/canvas/453/view }} Published anonymously.</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=August 2022 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=5 November 2022}}</ref> The genus name is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by [[Aristotle]] for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific epithet ''virgata'' is from [[Latin]] ''virgatus'' meaning "striped" or "streaked".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n84/mode/1up 84], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n403/mode/1up 403]}}</ref> The species is treated as [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>

The species was long thought to be allied to the turnstones, and placed in the subfamily Arenariinae.<ref name="Jehl">{{cite journal|last1=Jehl|first1=Joseph R.|title=The Systematic Position of the Surfbird, Aphriza virgata|journal=The Condor|date=1968|volume=70|issue=3|pages=206–210|doi=10.2307/1366692|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v070n03/p0206-p0210.pdf|jstor=1366692}}</ref><ref name="HBW">{{cite web |last1=Van Gils|first1=J.|last2=Wiersma|first2=P.|last3=Kirwan|first3=G. M.|editor1-last=del Hoyo |editor1-first=Josep |editor2-last=Elliott |editor2-first=Andrew |editor3-last=Sargatal |editor3-first=Jordi |editor4-last=Christie |editor4-first=David A. |editor5-last=de Juana |editor5-first=Eduardo |year=2017 |title=Surfbird (''Calidris virgata'')|work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive |url=http://www.hbw.com/species/surfbird-calidris-virgata |publisher=Lynx Edicions |location=Barcelona, Spain |access-date=23 July 2017 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> With the turnstones it has even been treated as its own family.<ref name="Jehl"/> More recent data suggests it is very close genetically to the [[Red knot|red]] and [[great knot]]s and should be included in ''Calidris''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Gavin H. |last2=Wills |first2=Matthew A. |name-list-style=amp |last3=Székely |first3=Tamás |year=2004 |title=A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny |journal=[[BMC Evolutionary Biology|BMC Evol. Biol.]] |volume=4 | page=28 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 |pmid=15329156 |pmc=515296 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last=Banks | first=R.C. | year=2012 | title=Classification and nomenclature of the Sandpipers (Aves: Arenariinae) | journal=Zootaxa | volume=3513 | pages=86–88 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3513.1.6}}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Gibson | first1=R. | last2=Baker | first2=A. | year=2012 | title=Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=64 | issue=1 | pages= 66–72 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.03.008 | pmid=22491071 | bibcode=2012MolPE..64...66G }}</ref> Indeed, the great knot looks very much like a larger, longer-billed, and somewhat darker surfbird.<ref name="HBW" />
[[File:Surfbird-26MAR2016.jpg|alt=Surfbird|right|thumb|286x286px|Surfbird in [[Humboldt County, California]].]]