Microcerculus

Microcerculus is a genus of birds in the wren family Troglodytidae that are endemic to Central America and tropical regions of South America.

Microcerculus
Southern nightingale-wren
(M. marginatus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Troglodytidae
Genus: Microcerculus
Salvin, 1861

These are small wrens with very short tails, long legs and a long bill. They forage on or near the ground in humid forests.[1]

The genus was first mentioned in print by the English naturalist Osbert Salvin in 1861. Salvin credits the zoologist Philip Sclater for coining the name but Sclater's book on American birds was not published until 1862.[2][3] Some taxonomists credit Sclater for erecting the genus in 1862.[4][5] The type species was subsequently designated as the wing-banded wren (Microcerculus bambla) by the American naturalist Spencer Baird in 1864.[6] The genus name is a diminutive of the Ancient Greek mikros meaning "small" and kerkos meaning "tail".[7]

The genus contains the following species:[8]

References
  1. Ridgely, Robert S.; Tudor, Guy (2009). Birds of South America: Passerines. Helm Field Guides. London: Christopher Helm. p. 535. ISBN 978-1-408-11342-4.
  2. Salvin, Osbert (1861). "Descriptions of three new species of bird from Guatemala". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 202-203 [202].
  3. Sclater, P.L. (1862). Catalogue of a Collection of American Birds. London: N. Trubner and Co. p. 19.
  4. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 435.
  5. Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 556. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.
  6. Baird, S.F. (1864). Review of American Birds in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1, North and Middle America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. p. 113.
  7. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  8. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 31 August 2019.


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