Chestnut-crowned Becard

About the Chestnut-crowned Becard

The chestnut-crowned becard (Pachyramphus castaneus) is a species of bird in the family Tityridae, the tityras, becards, and allies. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, and Venezuela.

The chestnut-crowned becard was originally described in 1827 as Tityra castenea. It was eventually reassigned to genus Pachyramphus that the English zoologist George Robert Gray erected in 1839. The genus Pachyramphus has variously been assigned to the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae and the cotinga family Cotingidae. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed the placement of Pachyramphus in Tityridae and taxonomic systems made the reassignment. In 1998 the American Ornithological Society was unsure where to place the genus and listed its members as incertae sedis but in 2011 moved them to Tityridae.

The chestnut-crowned becard and the cinnamon becard (P. cinnamomeus) are sister species and form a superspecies. The chestnut-crowned becard has these five subspecies: P. c. saturatus Chapman, 1914 P. c. intermedius Berlepsch, 1879

P. c. parui Phelps, WH & Phelps, WH Jr, 1949 P. c. amazonus Zimmer, JT, 1936 P. c. castaneus... Wikipedia →