Royal Flycatcher
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyTyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers)
- GenusOnychorhynchus (Royal Flycatchers)
- SpeciesOnychorhynchus coronatus (Royal Flycatcher)
About the Royal Flycatcher
The tropical royal flycatcher (Onychorhynchus coronatus) is a passerine bird that most taxonomic systems place in family Onychorhynchidae. It is found in Mexico, south through most of Central America, and in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The tropical royal flycatcher was formally described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Statius Müller under the binomial name Muscicapa coronata. Müller based his account on a hand-colored illustration of the "Tyran hupé de Cayenne" that had been engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet. The specific epithet is from Latin coronatus meaning "crowned". The tropical royal flycatcher is now placed together with Atlantic royal flycatcher in the genus Onychorhynchus that was introduced in 1810 by the German naturalist Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim.
After a complicated history (which see here), the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy placed the tropical royal flycatcher and the Atlantic royal flycatcher (O. swainsoni) in family Onychorhynchidae.
However, the tropical royal flycatcher's taxonomy remains unsettled. The North and South American Classification... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Royal Flycatcher in Cordillera Azul National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Cordillera Azul National Park
Tropical Kingbird
Tyrannus melancholicus
Social Flycatcher
Myiozetetes similis
Great Kiskadee
Pitangus sulphuratus
Peruvian Tyrannulet
Zimmerius viridiflavus
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Todirostrum cinereum
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Megarynchus pitangua
Long-tailed Tyrant
Colonia colonus
Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant
Hemitriccus margaritaceiventer
Yellow-breasted Flycatcher
Tolmomyias flaviventris
Slaty-capped Flycatcher
Leptopogon superciliaris
Mouse-Coloured Tyrannulet
Phaeomyias murina
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Elaenia flavogaster
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.