Foothill Schiffornis

About the Foothill Schiffornis

The foothill schiffornis, or foothill mourner, (Schiffornis aenea) is a Neotropical species of bird in the family Tityridae, the tityras, becards, and allies. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. For much of the twentieth century genus Schiffornis was placed in the manakin family Pipridae and its species were called manakins. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed the placement of Schiffornis 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 foothill schiffornis was originally described in 1936 as Schiffornis turdinus aeneus, a subspecies of what was then called the thrush-like manakin and later called the thrush-like schiffornis. Since at least the late twentieth century taxonomists had suspected that several species were embedded within what was by then Schiffornis turdina. Studies published in 2007 and 2011 confirmed that S. turdina was polyphyletic. Following these studies taxonomists separated the foothill schiffornis and three other species from S. turdina, and... Wikipedia →