 Gould's "Handbook to the Birds of Australia" (1865) names the bird "Zonæginthus oculeus" with a citation to Cabanis' 1853 description under the same name.The specific epithet (marked with eyes, conspicuous) is a Latin term derived from (eye) that was later interpreted by authors (Gould, Cayley) to refer to the white spots as eye-like; however, Quoy and Gaimard seem to have meant "conspicuous" since they named the bird which refers to the highly noticeable, eye-adjacent red ear patch.No infraspecific variation for the species is cited in avicultural or ornithological literature.