The royal flycatchers are a
genus, ''Onychorhynchus'', of
passerine birds in the family
Tityridae.
Names
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
of the
type species, ''coronatus'', and the
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
of all the species in this genus, royal flycatcher, refer to the striking, colourful
crest,
which is seen displayed very rarely,
except after mating, while preening, in courtship as well as being handled.
The genus name ''Onychorhynchus'' comes from the Greek words ''onyx'' "nail" and ''rhynkhos'' "bill".
Species
The
International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
's ''
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 ...
'' (HBW) places four species in the genus:
[HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021]
The North American and South American Classification Committees of the
American Ornithological Society (AOS) treat the genus as having one species, royal flycatcher (''Onychorhynchus coronatus''), with four subspecies. They place it in family Onychorhynchidae with four other species of two genera that the IOC and HBW include in Tityridae. The
Clements taxonomy also treats the royal flycatcher as one species with four subspecies. It places that species, the same four additional species as the AOS, and the
sharpbill
The sharpbill (''Oxyruncus cristatus'') is a small passerine bird in the family Tityridae. Its range is from the mountainous areas of tropical South America and southern Central America (Panama and Costa Rica).
It inhabits the canopy of wet fore ...
(''Oxyruncus cristatus'') in family Oxyruncidae, which the AOS reserves for the sharpbill alone.
[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 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021][Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q631905
Onychorhynchus
Bird genera