Mouse-gray flycatcher
| Mouse-gray flycatcher | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Myiophobus |
| Species: | M. crypterythrus
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| Binomial name | |
| Myiophobus crypterythrus (Sclater, PL, 1861)
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The mouse-gray flycatcher or mouse-grey flycatcher (Myiophobus crypterythrus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in southwest Colombia, western Ecuador, and northwestern Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Taxonomy[edit]
The Mouse-gray flycatcher was originally described by English ornithologist Philip Sclater in 1861 from a specimen sent to him from Pallatanga, Ecuador.[2] Sclater originally placed it in the genus Myiobius,[3] but it was later placed in Myiophobus. Its specific epithet crypterythrus comes from the Greek crypto meaning hidden, and erythrus meaning reddish, a reference to its subtle reddish wing bars that aren't obviously apparent at first glance. Sclater noted its similarity to the Bran-colored flycatcher (then under the name Myiobius naevius) but identified its difference in size and morphology. It was later considered to be a subspecies of the Bran-colored flycatcher by Carl Eduard Hellmayr under the name Myiophobus fasciatus crypterythrus.[4] Some publications used the name Western Banded Flycatcher for the subspecies during the 20th century.[5] Although its distinct appearance was apparent, some believed that it didn't even warrant a subspecies, with Zimmer considering it conspecific with M. f. rufescens due to a confusing female specimen from where the ranges overlap.[5] In 2023 a proposal to the South American Classification Committee by J.I. Areta and T.S. Schulenberg to split the subspecies M. f. crypterythrus and M. f. rusfescens from the Bran-colored flycatcher was approved unanimously, leading to the split of the Mouse-gray and Rufescent flycatchers as new species.[6]
Description[edit]
The Mouse-gray flycatcher is a small brownish-grey bird weighing 9.9g. It has a brown back, neck, and crown with a pale belly, throat, and supercilium and greyish-brown breast streaks and cheek. It's wings and tail are a darker brown with the coverts, the sides of the secondaries and tertials, and the tips of the primaries being a rufous color that varies from being a subtle tinge to a very bold ochre. It can be told from the Bran-colored by its darker sepia brown back and paler and more obvious supercilium. The related Rufescent flycatcher is easily differentiated by its rufous unstreaked belly and breast.
Distribution[edit]
It has a rather restricted range compared to its relatives, being found from extreme southwestern Colombia, Ecuador west of the Andes into Peru reaching its southern terminus in La Libertad Department.
References[edit]
- ^ BirdLife International (2021). "Myiophobus crypterythrus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T103682414A168376064. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ Cottrell, G. Williams Jr.; Greenway, James Cowan; Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr.; Peter, James Lee; Traylor, Melvin Alvah (1979). Check-list of birds of the world (VIII ed.). Cambridge: Harvard University. pp. 122–123. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ Sclater, Philip Lutley (1861). "Characters of Ten New Species of American Birds". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 28 (3): 464. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ Hellmayr, Carl Eduard (1942). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands (V ed.). Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. pp. 253–254. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ a b Koepcke, Maria; Koepcke, Hans Wilhelm (1961). Birds of the western slope of the Andes of Peru. New York City: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 17–18. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "Split Myiophobus fasciatus into three species". LSU Museum of Natural History. Louisiana State University. Retrieved 1 June 2024.