Polioptila

Polioptila is a genus of small insectivorous birds in the family Polioptilidae. They are found in North and South America.

Polioptila
California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Polioptilidae
Genus:	Polioptila Sclater, PL, 1855
Type species
Motacilla caerulea[1] Linnaeus, 1766

The genus Polioptila was introduced by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1855. Although he listed several members, he did not specify a type species.^[2] This was designated by the American ornithologist Spencer Baird in 1864 as Montacilla caerulea, Linnaeus, now the blue-grey gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea.^[3][4] The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek words πολιος polios "grey" and πτιλον ptilon "plumage".^[5]

The genus contains 18 species:^[6]

• Rio Negro gnatcatcher, Polioptila facilis – split from P. guianensis
• Guianan gnatcatcher, Polioptila guianensis
• Slate-throated gnatcatcher, Polioptila schistaceigula
• Para gnatcatcher, Polioptila paraensis – split from P. guianensis
• Iquitos gnatcatcher, Polioptila clementsi – described in 2005
• Inambari gnatcatcher, Polioptila attenboroughi – described in 2013
• Marañón gnatcatcher, Polioptila maior – split from P. plumbea
• Tropical gnatcatcher, Polioptila plumbea
• Creamy-bellied gnatcatcher, Polioptila lactea
• Masked gnatcatcher, Polioptila dumicola
• Cuban gnatcatcher, Polioptila lembeyei
• Yucatan gnatcatcher, Polioptila albiventris
• White-browed gnatcatcher, Polioptila bilineata – split from P. plumbea
• Blue-grey gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea
• Black-tailed gnatcatcher, Polioptila melanura
• California gnatcatcher, Polioptila californica
• Black-capped gnatcatcher, Polioptila nigriceps
• White-lored gnatcatcher, Polioptila albiloris

References

1. "Polioptilidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
2. Sclater, P.L. (1855). "On the genus Culicivora of Swainson, and its component species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 23: 11–12.
3. Baird, Spencer Fullerton (1864). Review of American birds, in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Vol. Part 1, North and Middle America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. p. 67.
4. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 448.
5. Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2024). "Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, Elachura, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 October 2024.