Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant

About the Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant

The black-billed shrike-tyrant (Agriornis montanus) is a bird species in the Tyrannidae family, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and possibly has occurred as a vagrant to the Falkland Islands.

The black-billed shrike-tyrant was formally described in 1837 as Pepoazae montana. It was later transferred to the genus Agriornis that was erected in 1839. The black-billed shrike-tyrant's taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC recognizes these six subspecies:

A. m. solitarius Sclater, PL, 1859 A. m. insolens Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1869 A. m. intermedius Hellmayr, 1927 A. m. montanus (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) A. m. maritimus (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) A. m. fumosus Manuel Nores & Dario Yzurieta, 1983

However, the Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World include A. m. fumosus within A. m. maritimus. This article follows the six-subspecies model. The black-billed shrike-tyrant is 22 to 24 cm (8.7 to 9.4 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. m. montanus have a whitish stripe above the lores, a buffish white... Wikipedia →