Myiozetetes

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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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

  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.