Long-billed Gnatwren

About the Long-billed Gnatwren

The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia. The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus. The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάµϕος, "beak") and cænos (καινός, "strange"). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade. The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".

Thirteen subspecies are recognised: R. m. rufiventris (Bonaparte, 1838) – south Mexico to west Ecuador R. m. ardeleo Van Tyne & Trautman, 1941 – Yucatán Peninsula (southeast Mexico) and north Guatemala R. m. panamensis Phillips, AR, 1991 – central and east Panama

R. m. sanctaemarthae Sclater, PL, 1862 – north... Wikipedia →