Northern royal flycatcher
The northern royal flycatcher (Onychorhynchus mexicanus) is a passerine bird in the family Tityridae according to the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). It is found in Mexico, south through most of Central America, to northwestern Colombia and far western Venezuela.[2]
| Northern royal flycatcher | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tityridae |
| Genus: | Onychorhynchus |
| Species: | O. mexicanus |
| Binomial name | |
| Onychorhynchus mexicanus (Sclater, PL, 1857) | |
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Taxonomy and systematics
The IOC considers the northern royal flycatcher and three other royal flycatcher taxa to be separate species and places them in the family Tityridae. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC-AOS) and the Clements taxonomy consider the four to be subspecies of the widespread royal flycatcher (Onychorhynchus coronatus sensu lato). SACC-AOS places O. coronatus in family Onychorhynchidae and includes four other flycatcher species in that family. Clements places it in family Oxyruncidae and includes those four, one other flycatcher, and the sharpbill. IOC considers all of them to be in Tityridae.[2][3][4]
The northern royal flycatcher has two subspecies, the nominate Onychorhynchus mexicanus mexicanus and O. m. fraterculus.[2]
Description
The northern royal flycatcher is 16.5 to 18 cm (6.5 to 7.1 in) long. It is brown above with small buffy spots on its wing-coverts and buffy yellow below. The rump and tail are buffy cinnamon. The bill is long and broad. It has an erectile fan-shaped crest that is orange-red in the male and yellow-orange in the female.[5]
Distribution and habitat
The northern royal flycatcher occurs from southern Mexico into South America. However, it appears to have been extirpated from El Salvador. The nominate subspecies is found from Mexico to Panama and O. m. fraterculus in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. In Mexico and northern Central America it ranges in elevation from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft). On the Pacific side of Costa Rica it ranges up to 750 m (2,460 ft) but on the Caribbean side only to 400 m (1,300 ft).[5]
The northern royal flycatcher inhabits humid lowlands, both primary evergreen and second growth forests. It is a bird of the midstory, often along streams and in seasonally flooded várzea forest.[5]
Behavior
Feeding
All of the royal flycatchers are insectivorous.[5]
Breeding
The northern royal flycatcher breeds between April and July in Guatemala and between March and May or June in Costa Rica. The nest is long and narrow and is suspended from a branch or vine, usually above water. The clutch is two eggs; only the female incubates them and broods and feeds the nestlings.[5]
Vocalization
The northern royal flycatcher is usually inconspicuous and quiet. Its song is "a descending, slowing series of plaintive whistles" and its call a repeated "keeeyup or keee-yew". In this example the song is faintly heard among the calls. [5]
Sleep
The northern royal flycatcher sleeps at night.
References
- BirdLife International (2019). "Onychorhynchus mexicanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22729313A140051796. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22729313A140051796.en. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (January 2021). "IOC World Bird List (v 11.1)". Retrieved January 14, 2021.
- Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 15, 2019
- Sample, R., B. Shackelford, and R. Kannan (2020). Royal Flycatcher (Onychorhynchus coronatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.royfly1.01 retrieved May 8, 2021
Further reading
- Skutch, Alexander F. (1960). "Royal flycatcher" (PDF). Life Histories of Central American Birds II. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 34. Berkeley, California: Cooper Ornithological Society. pp. 516–533.