Gray Elaenia (Gray-headed)

About the Gray Elaenia (Gray-headed)

The grey-headed elaenia or Atlantic grey elaenia (Myiopagis caniceps) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. What is now the grey-headed elaenia was originally called the "straw-crested flycatcher" (Tyrannula caniceps). It was later moved into genus Myiopagis and called the grey elaenia. Soon thereafter Myiopagis was merged into genus Elaenia and other taxa were moved from species status to become subspecies of it. The move into Elaenia was reversed in the mid-twentieth century, and Myiopagis was confirmed by genetic analysis to be the grey elaenia's proper genus.

The grey-headed elaenia's further taxonomy is unsettled. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World split all but the nominate subspecies M. c. caniceps from it in December 2016, calling the resulting species the Atlantic grey, Choco grey, and Amazonian grey elaenias. The Clements taxonomy recognized the split in November 2022 and the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) followed suit in January 2023. These systems named the three species the grey(gray)-headed... Wikipedia →