Family Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Least Concern
Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua)
Taxonomy
French: Tyran pitangua German: Starkschnabel-Maskentyrann Spanish: Bienteveo pitanguá
Taxonomy:
[Lanius] Pitangva
[sic] Linnaeus
, 1766,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
.
Subspecies and Distribution
M. p. tardiusculus
R. T. Moore, 1941 – W Mexico (SW Sinaloa, W of main Sierra Madre, S to W Nayarit).
M. p. caniceps
Ridgway, 1906 – W Mexico (SW Jalisco).
M. p. mexicanus
(Lafresnaye, 1851) – Northern Boat-billed Flycatcher – E & S Mexico (from S Tamaulipas in E, from Guerrero in W) S to Panama and NW Colombia (NW Chocó S to R Juradó).
M. p. deserticola
Griscom, 1930 – arid valley of R Negro, in C Guatemala.
M. p. chrysogaster
P. L. Sclater, 1860 – Tumbes Boat-billed Flycatcher – W Ecuador (S from W Esmeraldas) and extreme NW Peru (Tumbes, N Piura), possibly crossing Andes into S Ecuador.
M. p. pitangua
(Linnaeus, 1766) – Southern Boat-billed Flycatcher – N, C & E Colombia (Caribbean lowlands, Magdalena Valley S to Huila, and throughout E of Andes), Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guianas, E Ecuador (except Zamora area), E Peru, Brazil (S to Rio Grande do Sul), N & E Bolivia, Paraguay and NE Argentina (S to E Formosa and Corrientes).
Descriptive notes
21·5–24 cm; 53–70 g. Nominate race has blackish-brown or dull sooty-black crown, yellow to orange-rufous coronal patch (semi-concealed); long, broad and... read more
Voice
Common calls, sometimes accompanied by head-bobbing, varied, loud, rather harsh and slightly... read more
Habitat
Variety of woodland and forest habitats, from humid to arid and deciduous, but most often observed... read more
Food and feeding
Invertebrates, especially cicadas (Cicadidae) and other very large insects; also known to consume small vertebrates, and figs (Ficus... read more
Breeding
Feb–Jun in Trinidad; in Colombia, nest-building in Jul and Oct, incubation in Aug in extreme SW (Leticia), males in breeding... read more
Movements
Not very well understood. Some populations of nominate race in S Brazil and NE Argentina considered... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Uncommon to common. Occurs in numerous national parks and other protected areas throughout its very large range. Adaptable; found in wide variety of... read more
Nominate race has structurally very different daytime “rattle” call involving alternations of a very burry nasal note and a more whistled nasal note (latter flat or upslurred), without an obvious long note at end (score 2–3) (other taxa have burry or flat rattling notes ending with longer, usually emphasized note); chrysogaster fairly distinct, a short series of burry downslurred notes ending with longer note, quite similar to calls in W Mexico (“mexicanus group”); race mexicanus stands apart, with higher number of notes, shorter note length and faster pace (all scoring 2–3, giving total score of about 5)#R; more research needed on taxonomic implications. Trinidad birds described as race parvirostris, supposedly with smaller bill, but otherwise indistinguishable from South American birds. Some races seem readily distinguishable, others less so; populations of nominate from S Brazil and Paraguay appear somewhat larger and darker on average than those in N, but much individual variation; critical re-evaluation of races is needed. Six subspecies currently recognized.