Myiozetetes
Social flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Myiozetetes
P.L. Sclater, 1859
Type species
Muscicapa cayanensis
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

see text

Myiozetetes is a small genus of passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family. The four species occur in tropical Central and South America.

Taxonomy

The genus Myiozetetes was introduced by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1859 with the rusty-margined flycatcher as the type species.[1] The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek muias "fly" and zētētēs "searcher".[2]

Species

The genus contains four species:[3]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Myiozetetes cayanensis Rusty-margined flycatcher Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela; also eastern Panama.
Myiozetetes similis Social flycatcher from northwestern Mexico south to northeastern Peru, southern Brazil and northwestern Argentina
Myiozetetes granadensis Grey-capped flycatcher eastern Honduras south to northwestern Peru, northern Bolivia and western Brazil
Myiozetetes luteiventris Dusky-chested flycatcher Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela

Description

The adult Myiozetetes flycatcher is 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long and weighs 24–30 g (0.85–1.06 oz). The upperparts are olive-brown, and the wings and tail are brown with only faint rufous fringes. The underparts are yellow and the throat is white. Young birds lack the red-orange crown stripe of the adult, and have chestnut fringes to the wing and tail feathers. The best distinction between the species is the head pattern: Vermilion-crowned, social and rusty-margined flycatchers have strong black-and white head markings like the great kiskadee, whereas grey-capped and dusky-chested flycatchers have greyish heads, with a short weak eyestripe in the former.

Myiozetetes flycatchers sally out from an open perch in a tree to catch insects in flight. They sometimes hover to take small berries. They breed in cultivation, pasture, and open woodland with some trees, building a large roofed nest from stems and in a bush, tree or on a building. The nest is often constructed near a wasp, bee or ant nest, or the nest of another tyrant flycatcher. The nest site is often near or over water. The typical clutch is two to four brown or lilac-blotched cream or white eggs, laid between February and June.

References

  1. ^ Sclater, Philip Lutley (1859). "Descriptions of new species of the American family Tyrannidae". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 27 (1): 40–46 [45, 46].
  2. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Tyrant flycatchers". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
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