''Phylloscartes'' is a genus of small birds in the family Tyrannidae. They are found in wooded habitats of

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and South America. They mainly feed on small arthropods, and most commonly take part in

mixed species flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These are ...

s. The mottled-cheeked tyrannulet is among the commonest birds in its range, but several other species are rare and threatened. Their

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is predominantly green, yellow, white and grey, and many have contrasting facial patterns and wing-bars. They have thin, pointed bills, and relatively long tails. Most frequently cock their tail, perch relatively horizontally and are very active. The genus ''

Pogonotriccus ''Pogonotriccus'' is a genus of small passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. They are found in wooded habitats of Central America, Central and South America. Taxonomy The genus was erected by the German ornithologists Jean C ...

'' has usually been merged into ''Phylloscartes''. In 2004 John Fitzpatrick in the ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

'' chose to treat ''Pogonotriccus'' as a separate genus based on the slight differences in behaviour of the birds in the two genera. Frank Gill and David Donsker then also recognised ''Pogonotriccus'' in the list of bird species that they maintain on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee. The evidence for splitting the genus is weak: a 2009

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study that included one species from ''Pogonotriccus'' and three from ''Phylloscartes'', found that the genetic differences were small.

Species

The genus contains 16 species:

Conservation

Four species in this genus are endangered according to the IUCN. These are: ''Phylloscartes roquettei'', ''Phylloscartes beckeri'', ''Phylloscartes ceciliae'' and ''Phylloscartes lanyoni''.

References

Tyrannidae Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tyrannidae-stub