Trilling gnatwren

The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia.

Trilling gnatwren
Call recorded in Ecuador
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Polioptilidae
Genus: Ramphocaenus
Species:
R. melanurus
Binomial name
Ramphocaenus melanurus
Vieillot, 1819

Taxonomy

The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus.[2] The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάµϕος, "beak")[3] and cænos (καινός, "strange").[4] The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail".[5] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade.[6] The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".[7]

Thirteen subspecies are recognised:[7]

  • R. m. rufiventris (Bonaparte, 1838) – south Mexico to west Ecuador
  • R. m. ardeleo Van Tyne & Trautman, 1941 – Yucatán Peninsula (southeast Mexico) and north Guatemala
  • R. m. panamensis Phillips, AR, 1991 – central and east Panama
  • R. m. sanctaemarthae Sclater, PL, 1862 – north Colombia and northwest Venezuela
  • R. m. griseodorsalis Chapman, 1912 – west Colombia
  • R. m. pallidus Todd, 1913 – Zulia Valley (north central Colombia) and west Venezuela
  • R. m. trinitatis Lesson, R, 1839 – east Colombia to north Venezuela, Trinidad
  • R. m. albiventris Sclater, PL, 1883 – east Venezuela, the Guianas and north Brazil
  • R. m. duidae Zimmer, JT, 1937 – northeast Ecuador to south Venezuela
  • R. m. badius Zimmer, JT, 1937 – northeast Peru and southeast Ecuador
  • R. m. amazonum Hellmayr, 1907 – east Peru to north central Brazil
  • R. m. austerus Zimmer, JT, 1937 – east Brazil south of the Amazon
  • R. m. melanurus Vieillot, 1819 – east central Brazil

Description

Adult trilling gnatwrens are 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in) in length and weigh 8–11 g (0.28–0.39 oz).[8] They have a long, thin bill and a short cocked tail. The upperparts are grey-brown, with rufous on the sides of the head. The throat is white, shading to buff on the rest of the underparts. The tail is black with white tips to all but the central feathers, and is frequently wagged. R. m. trinitatis, of eastern Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad has paler underparts, and buff flanks and head sides. The call is a trilled drdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdr.

Habitat

It is found in the undergrowth and vines of dry forest and secondary woodland from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, and on Trinidad.

Behaviour

Breeding

Trilling gnatwrens build a deep cup nest very low in a small plant or sapling. The two white eggs are incubated by both parents for 16–17 days to hatching, with a further 11–12 days to fledging.

Feeding

Trilling gnatwrens forage actively in vegetation, eating mainly insects, insect eggs and spiders. They usually occur in pairs or family groups.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Ramphocaenus melanurus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22711578A132099134. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22711578A132099134.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1819). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc (in French). Vol. 29. Paris: Deterville. p. 188.
  3. "rhamphoid". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. A & C Black. p. 330. ISBN 978-1-4081-2878-7. Gr. rhamphos bill; kainos novel, strange.
  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 26 January 2019.
  6. Smith, B.T.; Bryson, R.W. Jr; Mauck, W.M.; Chaves, J.; Robbins, M.B.; Aleixo, A.; Klicka, J. (2018). "Species delimitation and biogeography of the gnatcatchers and gnatwrens (Aves: Polioptilidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 126: 45–57. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.012. PMID 29551521. S2CID 3975237.
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  8. Atwood, J.; Lerman, S. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Long-billed Gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 27 January 2019.

Further reading
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