Guianan Red-Cotinga

About the Guianan Red-Cotinga

The Guianan red cotinga (Phoenicircus carnifex) is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae, the cotingas. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the Guianan red cotinga in the first volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Red Bird from Surinam". Edwards based his hand-colored etching on a specimen in the collection of the Duke of Richmond. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the Guianan red cotinga with the shrikes in the genus Lanius. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Lanius carnifex and cited Edwards' work. The Guianan red cotinga is now placed in the genus Phoenicircus that was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist William Swainson. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek phoinikeos meaning "crimson" or "dark red" with kerkos meaning "tail". The specific epithet carnifex is Latin meaning "executioner" or "murderer".

The Guianan red cotinga shares genus Phoenicircus with... Wikipedia →