Kinglet Calyptura is a Tyrant Flycatcher

Kinglet Calyptera is not a Cotinga. It is a Tyrant Flycatcher. This painting by Tomasz Cofta of a Kinglet Calyptera won 1st prize in the Rare bird competition in 2009.

by Rich Hoyer on June 30, 2012 · 0 comments

in Birding News

The world’s largest bird family just got one bigger, now about 415 species.

The enigmatic Kinglet Calyptura, best known from specimens over a hundred years old, seems to be close to extinction in the wet forests of southeastern Brazil. It’s been long touted as an example of the bizarre diversity within the neotropical suboscine family Cotingidae – with some of the largest, smallest, loudest, quietest, most colorful, and most drab members of the order Passeriformes. But a paper just published in the July 2012 issue of Ibis reveals that DNA analyzed from a very old specimen shows that its closest relatives are in the family Tyrannidae – namely, the spadebills (Platyrinchus) and the Cinnamon Manakin-Tyrant (Neopipo cinnamomea).

Jan Ohlson, Martin Irestedt, Jon Fjeldså, and Per G. P. Ericson. July 2012. Nuclear DNA from a 180-year-old study skin reveals the phylogenetic position of the Kinglet Calyptura Calyptura cristata (Passeriformes: Tyrannides). Ibis Vol. 154, Issue 3, pages 533-541. First published online 21 June, 2012.

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Tagged as: BIrding Brazil, Birding South America, Cotingidae, Kinglet Calyptura, taxonomy, Taxonomy and splits, Tyrannidae

Article by Rich Hoyer

Rich Hoyer is first and foremost a birder whose subconscious registers and identifies every bird he hears, even when he isn't birding. But he actually started keying out wildflowers , catching reptiles, and raising butterflies before he discovered birding at age 14, and has since branched out to enjoy photographing and identifying dragonflies, grasshoppers, spiders and almost anything else alive. For the past 13 years he has been leading birding and natural history tours for WINGS. Among his regular destinations are Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Jamaica. Originally from Oregon, he currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Rich has written 79 awesome articles for us.

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