Elaenia
| Elaenia | |
|---|---|
| Yellow-bellied elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Elaenia Sundevall, 1836 |
| Type species | |
| Muscicapa pagana[1] = Pipra flavogaster Sundevall, 1836
| |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
Elaenia is a genus of passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family which occur in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Except by voice, specific identification is often difficult since many species are very similar. They are also known by the common name elaenia, which they share with the similar tyrant flycatchers of the genus Myiopagis.
Elaenia flycatchers are typically brownish, greyish or olive above, and off-white and/or pale yellow on the belly, with a white or pale yellowish eye-ring of variable strength and two or three wing bars. Some species show a crest; often with a semi-concealed white patch/streak.
Taxonomy
The genus Elaenia was introduced by the Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1836.[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the yellow-bellied elaenia.[3] The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek ελαινεος elaineos "of olive-oil" or "oleaginous".[4]
The genus contains 22 species:[5]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow-bellied elaenia | Elaenia flavogaster | Central and South America as far as northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. | |
| Caribbean elaenia | Elaenia martinica | West Indies and parts of Central America. | |
| Large elaenia | Elaenia spectabilis | western Amazonia to eastern Brazil and central Bolivia. | |
| Noronha elaenia | Elaenia ridleyana | Fernando de Noronha | |
| White-crested elaenia | Elaenia albiceps | Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and northernmost Chile. | |
| Small-billed elaenia | Elaenia parvirostris | Paraguay and neighbouring regions winters to northern half of South America | |
| Olivaceous elaenia | Elaenia mesoleuca | Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. | |
| Slaty elaenia | Elaenia strepera | western Amazon Basin, Colombia and Venezuela. | |
| Mottle-backed elaenia | Elaenia gigas | Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. | |
| Brownish elaenia | Elaenia pelzelni | Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. | |
| Plain-crested elaenia | Elaenia cristata | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. | |
| Lesser elaenia | Elaenia chiriquensis | northern half of South America | |
| Coopmans's elaenia | Elaenia brachyptera | southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador | |
| Rufous-crowned elaenia | Elaenia ruficeps | Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela | |
| Mountain elaenia | Elaenia frantzii | Guatemala to Colombia and western Venezuela | |
| Highland elaenia | Elaenia obscura | southeastern Ecuador to Bolivia and northwestern Argentina | |
| Small-headed elaenia | Elaenia sordida | southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina | |
| Great elaenia | Elaenia dayi | Venezuela and far northern Brazil, and may also occur in Guyana. | |
| Sierran elaenia | Elaenia pallatangae | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela | |
| Tepui elaenia | Elaenia olivina | Guyana and Venezuela | |
| Blue Mountain elaenia | Elaenia fallax | montane forest of Jamaica | |
| Hispaniolan elaenia | Elaenia cherriei | montane forest of Hispaniola |
See also
- Myiopagis, another genus of tyrant flycatchers commonly known as elaenias
References
- ^ "Tyrannidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ Sundevall, Carl Jakob (1835). "Ornithologiskl System". Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar. Series 3 (in Swedish). 23 (published 1836): 43-130 [89].
- ^ Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 26–27.
- ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). 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 1 July 2018.
- ^ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
- Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4