Riverside Tyrant

About the Riverside Tyrant

The riverside tyrant (Knipolegus orenocensis) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The riverside tyrant was formally described in 1884 as Cnipolegus orenocensis. The genus' spelling was later changed to the current Knipolegus.

The riverside tyrant's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society assign it these three subspecies: K. o. orenocensis Berlepsch, 1884

K. o. xinguensis Berlepsch, 1912 K. o. sclateri Hellmayr, 1906 However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats K. o. sclateri as a separate species, "Sclater's black-tyrant". Clements supports some level of differentiation by calling it the "riverside tyrant (Sclater's)" within the larger species. Some authors suggest that K. o. xinguensis also deserves species status.

This article follows the one-species, three-subspecies model. The riverside tyrant is 15 to 15.5 cm (5.9 to 6.1 in) long and weighs 18 to 21 g (0.63 to 0.74 oz). Adult males of the... Wikipedia →