Saltator

Saltator is a genus of passerine birds in the tanager family Thraupidae that are found in Central and South America. They have thick bills, relatively long tails and strong legs and feet. Before the introduction of molecular genetic methods in the 21st century these species were placed in the cardinal family Cardinalidae.

Saltator
Greyish saltator
Saltator coerulescens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Saltator
Vieillot, 1816
Type species
Saltator maximus
Species

Presently some 14, but see text.

Greyish saltator on a Jacaranda Tree.

Taxonomy
Greyish saltator eating a morning glory

The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816 with the buff-throated saltator as the type species.[1][2] The name is from the Latin saltator, saltatoris meaning "dancer".[3]

The saltators were traditionally grouped with the cardinals, either in the subfamily Cardinalinae within an expanded Emberizidae[4] or in a separate family Cardinalidae.[5] Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the saltators are embedded within the tanager family Thraupidae. Within the Thraupidae the genus Saltator is now placed with the genus Saltatricula in the subfamily Saltatorinae. The relationship of the subfamily to the other subfamilies within the Thraupidae is uncertain.[6][7]


Species

The genus contains 14 species:[7]

ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Orinoco saltatorSaltator orenocensisVenezuela
Green-winged saltatorSaltator similisArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Greyish saltatorSaltator coerulescensfrom Mexico through Central America into southern South America, south to Peru and the Paraná River region in northern Argentina.
Streaked saltatorSaltator striatipectusColombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
Lesser Antillean saltatorSaltator albicollisDominica, Martinique, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia.
Buff-throated saltatorSaltator maximussoutheastern Mexico to western Ecuador and northeastern Brazil.
Black-winged saltatorSaltator atripennisColombia and Ecuador.
Black-headed saltatorSaltator atricepscentral Mexico to eastern Panama.
Black-cowled saltatorSaltator nigricepsEcuador and the northern border region of Peru.
Black-throated grosbeakSaltator fuliginosusAtlantic Forest in far northeastern Argentina (Misiones), eastern and southeastern Brazil, and far eastern Paraguay
Slate-coloured grosbeakSaltator grossusthe Amazon in South America, but it is also found in forests of the Chocó in Ecuador and Colombia, and southern Central America from Panama to Honduras.
Masked saltatorSaltator cinctussouthern Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Thick-billed saltatorSaltator maxillosusAtlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil, far northeastern Argentina (only Misiones Province), and perhaps far eastern Paraguay.
Golden-billed saltatorSaltator aurantiirostrisArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay

The rufous-bellied mountain saltator was formerly a member of this genus. It is now placed in the subfamily Thraupinae and is the only member of the genus Pseudosaltator. Its common name has been changed to rufous-bellied mountain tanager.[7] The black-throated saltator was also formerly assigned to this genus. It is now placed together with the many-colored Chaco finch in the genus Saltatricula as the two species form a divergent clade that is sister to the other members of Saltator.[7]

References
  1. Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1816). Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 32.
  2. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 228.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 346. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 228.
  5. Committee on Classification and Nomenclature (1998). Check-list of North American Birds (PDF) (7th ed.). Washington, DC: American Ornithologist's Union. p. 631. ISBN 1-891276-00-X.
  6. Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75: 41–77. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006.
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 November 2020.

Further reading
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