Black-and-white Tody-Flycatcher

About the Black-and-white Tody-Flycatcher

The black-and-white tody-flycatcher (Poecilotriccus capitalis) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The black-and-white tody-flycatcher was originally described in 1857 as Todirostrum capitale. The species eventually received the English name "black-and-white tody-tyrant" and the specific epithet capitalis. Following a 1988 publication, taxonomic systems moved capitalis and several other species from Todirostrum to genus Poecilotriccus. By the early twenty-first century genus Poecilotriccus had species called both "tody-tyrant" and "tody-flycatcher" so taxonomic systems began renaming the "tyrants" to "flycatcher".

The black-and-white tody-flycatcher is monotypic. However, for a time in the twentieth century it and what is now the white-cheeked tody-flycatcher (P. albifascies) were considered conspecific. In addition, a form named P. tricolor was at times considered a subspecies but it is now not considered to be a valid taxon.

The black-and-white tody-flycatcher is about 9 to 9.5 cm (3.5 to 3.7 in) long and weighs 5.6 to 8 g (0.20 to 0.28 oz). Adult... Wikipedia →