A becard is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

of the genus ''Pachyramphus'' in the family

Tityridae Tityridae is family of suboscine passerine birds found in forest and woodland in the Neotropics. The 45 species in this family were formerly spread over the families Tyrannidae, Pipridae and Cotingidae (''see Taxonomy''). As yet, no widely ac ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Pachyramphus'' was introduced in 1839 by the English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother ...

in the volume on birds by

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

that formed part of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

's '' Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle''. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

was designated by Gray in 1840 as the green-backed becard (''Pachyramphus viridis''). The generic name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''pakhus'' meaning "stout" or "thick" and ''rhamphos'' meaning "bill". The genus had traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or

Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 species. They are the most dive ...

, but evidence strongly suggests that it is better placed in the family

, where it is now placed by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Extant species

The genus contains seventeen

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

Former species

Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus ''Pachyramphus'' including: * Rusty-vented canastero (as ''Bathmidura Dorbignyi'')

Description

The becards are characterized by their large heads with a slight

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

. The smaller members of this genus have graduated tails and most members are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, although the

cinnamon becard The cinnamon becard (''Pachyramphus cinnamomeus'') is a passerine bird found in Latin America. Taxonomy It has been placed with the tityras in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher families by various authors, but the evidence strongly suggest ...

and the

chestnut-crowned becard The chestnut-crowned becard (''Pachyramphus castaneus'') is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae,Articlewww.eln.go ...

have similar plumages for the males and females. Juvenile becards resemble the adult females in plumage and, as far as known, obtain their adult plumage after about a year. The bills of the becards are grey, and many (but not all) have a black culmen or upper mandible. Their legs are dark gray.

Distribution and habitat

They are primarily found in Central and South America, but the rose-throated becard occurs as far north as southern United States and, as suggested by its common name, the Jamaican becard is restricted to Jamaica. Depending on the species, they are found in wooded habitats ranging from open woodland to the dense

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

of rainforests.

Breeding

The nest of a becard is a bulky globular mass of dead leaves, mosses, and fibers with the entrance near the bottom of the nest. Nests are typically wedged or slung from the outer branches of trees at the mid or upper levels.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q536789 * Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot