Peruvian Tyrannulet

About the Peruvian Tyrannulet

The Peruvian tyrannulet (Zimmerius viridiflavus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in southwestern Ecuador and Peru. The Peruvian tyrannulet was formally described in 1844 as Elaenia viridiflava by the Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi. The specific epithet combines the Latin viridis meaning "green" with flavus meaning "yellow". Tschudi gave the locality as Peru, but this has been restricted to the Río Tulumayo in the Department of Junín. The Peruvian tyrannulet is now one of 13 species placed in the genus Zimmerius that was introduced in 1977 by the American ornithologist Melvin Alvah Traylor Jr..

Two subspecies are recognised: Z. v. flavidifrons (Sclater, PL, 1860) – southwestern Ecuador (southeastern Guayas to western Loja Province and El Oro) to far northern Peru Z. v. viridiflavus (Tschudi, JJ, 1844) – east slope of Andes of Peru (Huánuco to Junín)

The subspecies Z. v. flavidifrons was formerly considered as a subspecies of the golden-faced tyrannulet (Zimmerius chrysops), but based on analyses of genetic, morphological and vocal differences by Frank Rheindt and collaborators, flavidifrons was moved to be... Wikipedia →