Phoebe (bird)

The genus Sayornis is a small group of medium-sized insect-eating birds, known as phoebes, in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae.

Phoebes
Sayornis phoebe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Sayornis
Bonaparte, 1854
Type species
Tyrannula nigricans
Swainson, 1827
Species

See text.

Taxonomy

The genus Sayornis that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854 with black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) as the type species.[1][2] The genus name is constructed from the specific part of Bonaparte's name for Say's phoebe, Muscicapa saya, and Ancient Greek ornis meaning "bird".[3] The English Phoebe is a name for the Roman moon-goddess Diana.[4]

Description

They are native to North and South America.

They prefer semi-open or open areas. These birds wait on a perch and then catch insects. Their nest is an open cup sometimes placed on man-made structures.

They often slowly lower and raise their tails while perched.

Species

The genus contains three species:[5]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Sayornis phoebeEastern phoebeeastern North America
Sayornis nigricansBlack phoebeUnited States, Mexico and Central America, and parts of South America
Sayornis sayaSay's phoebeUnited States and Canada

References

  1. Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1854). "Notes sur les collections rapportées en 1853, par M. A. Delattre, de son voyage en Californie et dans le Nicaragua". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. 38: 1–11, 53–67, 258–266, 378–389, 533–541, 650–665 [657].
  2. Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 147.
  3. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 349. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. "Phoebe". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Tyrant flycatchers". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
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