| Elaenia | |
|---|---|
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| Yellow-bellied elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Elaenia Sundevall, 1836 |
| Type species | |
| Pipra flavogaster Thunberg, 1822 | |
| Species | |
| see text | |
Elaenia is a genus of passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family which occur in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Except by voice, specific identification is often difficult since many species are very similar.
Elaenia flycatchers are typically brownish, greyish or olive above, and off-white and/or pale yellow on the belly, with a white or pale yellowish eye-ring of variable strength and two or three wing bars. Some species show a crest; often with a semi-concealed white patch/streak.
Taxonomy
The genus Elaenia was introduced by the Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1836.[1] The type species was subsequently designated as the yellow-bellied elaenia.[2] The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek ελαινεος elaineos "of olive-oil" or "oleaginous".[3]
The genus contains 22 species:[4]
- Yellow-bellied elaenia, Elaenia flavogaster
- Caribbean elaenia, Elaenia martinica
- Large elaenia, Elaenia spectabilis
- Noronha elaenia, Elaenia ridleyana
- White-crested elaenia, Elaenia albiceps
- Chilean elaenia, Elaenia chilensis
- Small-billed elaenia, Elaenia parvirostris
- Olivaceous elaenia, Elaenia mesoleuca
- Slaty elaenia, Elaenia strepera
- Mottle-backed elaenia, Elaenia gigas
- Brownish elaenia, Elaenia pelzelni
- Plain-crested elaenia, Elaenia cristata
- Lesser elaenia, Elaenia chiriquensis
- Coopman's elaenia, Elaenia brachyptera
- Rufous-crowned elaenia, Elaenia ruficeps
- Mountain elaenia, Elaenia frantzii
- Highland elaenia, Elaenia obscura
- Small-headed elaenia, Elaenia sordida
- Great elaenia, Elaenia dayi
- Sierran elaenia, Elaenia pallatangae
- Tepui elaenia, Elaenia olivina
- Greater Antillean elaenia, Elaenia fallax
See also
- Myiopagis, another genus of tyrant flycatchers commonly known as elaenias
References
- ^ Sundevall, Carl Jakob (1836). "Elaenia". Kungl. Svenska vetenskapsakademiens handlingar. series 3 (in Latin). 23: 89.
- ^ Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 26–27.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Tyrant flycatchers". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4