Willisornis Explained

Willisornis is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. These small, strongly sexually dichromatic birds are native to the Guianas and Amazon rainforest in South America, and often follow army ants.

Taxonomy

The genus Willisornis was erected by the Brazilian ornithologists Carlos Agne and José Fernando Pacheco in 2007. The genus is named after the American ornithologist Edwin O'Neill Willis.^[1] The common scale-backed antbird had traditionally been included in the genus Hylophylax, but is now known to belong to a different clade. The name Dichropogon was used briefly instead, but this name is preoccupied by a genus of asilid flies (Dichropogon Bezzi, 1910).^{[1] [2] [3]}

The two species are:^[4]

• Common scale-backed antbird (Willisornis poecilonotus)
• Xingu scale-backed antbird (Willisornis vidua)

The two species were previously considered conspecific. They were split based on the differences in their vocalization.^{[5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Agne . C.E.Q. . Pacheco . J.F. . 2007 . A homonymy in Thamnophilidae: a new name for Dichropogon Chubb . Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia . 15 . 3 . 484–485 .
2. Web site: Brumfield . R.T. . Proposal (286): Revive the genus Dichropogon . South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society . June 2007 . 6 February 2018 .
3. Web site: Agne . Carlos Eduardo. Pacheco . Jose Fernando . Proposal (340): Reassign Dichropogon to Willisornis . South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society . March 2008 . 6 February 2018 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2018 . Antbirds . World Bird List Version 8.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 4 February 2018 .
5. Isler . M.L. . Whitney . B.M. . 2011 . Species limits in antbirds (Thamnophilidae): the Scale-Backed Antbird (Willisornis poecilinotus) complex . Wilson Journal of Ornithology . 123 . 1 . 1–14 . 10.1676/10-082.1 . free .
6. Web site: Zimmer . Kevin . Proposal (495): Split Willisornis vidua from Willisornis poecilinotus . South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society . September 2011 . 6 February 2018 .