Genus of birds
Polioptila is a genus of small insectivorous birds in the family Polioptilidae . They are found in North and South America.
The genus Polioptila was introduced by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1855. Although he listed several members, he did not specify a type species .[ 2] This was designated by the American ornithologist Spencer Baird in 1864 as Montacilla caerulea , Linnaeus , now the blue-grey gnatcatcher , Polioptila caerulea .[ 3] [ 4] The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek words πολιος polios "grey" and πτιλον ptilon "plumage".[ 5]
The genus contains 18 species:[ 6]
Rio Negro gnatcatcher , Polioptila facilis – split from P. guianensis
Guianan gnatcatcher , Polioptila guianensis
Slate-throated gnatcatcher , Polioptila schistaceigula
Para gnatcatcher , Polioptila paraensis – split from P. guianensis
Iquitos gnatcatcher , Polioptila clementsi – described in 2005
Inambari gnatcatcher , Polioptila attenboroughi – described in 2013
Marañón gnatcatcher , Polioptila maior – split from P. plumbea
Tropical gnatcatcher , Polioptila plumbea
Creamy-bellied gnatcatcher , Polioptila lactea
Masked gnatcatcher , Polioptila dumicola
Cuban gnatcatcher , Polioptila lembeyei
Yucatan gnatcatcher , Polioptila albiventris
White-browed gnatcatcher , Polioptila bilineata – split from P. plumbea
Blue-grey gnatcatcher , Polioptila caerulea
Black-tailed gnatcatcher , Polioptila melanura
California gnatcatcher , Polioptila californica
Black-capped gnatcatcher , Polioptila nigriceps
White-lored gnatcatcher , Polioptila albiloris
^ "Polioptilidae" . aviansystematics.org . The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15 .
^ Sclater, P.L. (1855). "On the genus Culicivora of Swainson, and its component species" . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . 23 : 11–12.
^ Baird, Spencer Fullerton (1864). Review of American birds, in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution . Vol. Part 1, North and Middle America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. p. 67.
^ Mayr, Ernst ; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World . Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 448.
^ Jobling, J.A. (2019). 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 28 January 2019 .
^ Gill, Frank ; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela , eds. (July 2024). "Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, Elachura, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers" . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 October 2024 .