Conebills
Chestnut-vented conebill (Conirostrum speciosum)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Conirostrum
d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838
Type species
Conirostrum cinereum
Species

See text

Typical conebills belong to the tanager genus Conirostrum. They are small tanagers (9–14 cm) found in the forests of South America. They feed in pairs or small flocks by gleaning insects from foliage.

The genus consists of two rather distinct subgenera:[1] The first, Ateleodacnis, possibly deserving full generic status, is confined to lowland areas. They are mostly grey in colour and inhabit deciduous woodlands, mangroves or riverbank habitats. The second group, the nominate Conirostrum subgenus, inhabits the forests of the Andes. They are somewhat more colourful combining grey or blue backs with rufous underparts. Their thin bills led to them being formerly classified as wood-warblers or honeycreepers but genetic data places them in the tanager family Thraupidae.[2]

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Conirostrum was introduced in 1838 by the French naturalists Alcide d'Orbigny and Frédéric de Lafresnaye with the cinereous conebill (Conirostrum cinereum) as the type species.[3][4] The genus name combines the Latin conus meaning "cone" and rostrum meaning "bill".[5] There are now 11 species placed in the genus.[6]

Image Common name Scientific name Distribution
Pearly-breasted conebill Conirostrum margaritae Brazil and Peru
Bicolored conebill Conirostrum bicolor Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad south and east to the Guianas, northeast Peru and Brazil
Chestnut-vented conebill Conirostrum speciosum Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela
White-eared conebill Conirostrum leucogenys Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela
Capped conebill Conirostrum albifrons Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Giant conebill Conirostrum binghami (formerly Oreomanes fraseri) Colombia to Ecuador, and Peru to Bolivia
Blue-backed conebill Conirostrum sitticolor Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
White-browed conebill Conirostrum ferrugineiventre Bolivia and Peru
Tamarugo conebill Conirostrum tamarugense northern Chile and is a vagrant to southern Peru
Rufous-browed conebill Conirostrum rufum Colombia and far western Venezuela
Cinereous conebill Conirostrum cinereum Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

References

  1. ^ Ridgely & Tudor (1989), pp. 208–212, 222–224
  2. ^ Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75: 41–77. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006. PMID 24583021.
  3. ^ d'Orbigny, Alcide; Lafresnaye, Frédéric de (1838). "Synopsis avium". Magasin de Zoologie (in Latin). 8 (2): 1–34 [25–26, Plates 77–79]. The copy available from BHL lacks the plates.
  4. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 82.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 October 2020.


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