Lesser kiskadee explained

The lesser kiskadee (Philohydor lictor) is a species of passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is the only species in the genus Philohydor. It is found in Brazil, Bermuda, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, Guatemala, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and swamps.

The lesser kiskadee was described by the German naturalist and explorer Hinrich Lichtenstein in 1823 and given the binomial name Lanius lictor.^[1] The present genus Philohydor was introduced by the American ornithologist Wesley Edwin Lanyon in 1984.^[2] The word Philohydor is from Ancient Greek philos for "-loving" and hudōr, "water". The specific epithet lictor is the Latin word for a magistrate's bodyguard who carried out sentences.^[3] It is sometimes placed in the genus Pitangus with the great kiskadee.^[4]

There are two subspecies:^[5]

• P. l. panamensis (Bangs & Penard, TE, 1918) – east Panama and north Colombia
• P. l. lictor (Lichtenstein, MHK, 1823) – east Colombia through the Guianas south to Bolivia, east and central Brazil

The lesser kiskadee is in length and weighs around . It lives in eastern Panama and throughout the northern parts of South America, usually near water.^[6]

Further reading

• Dyrcz . Andrzej . 2000 . Observations at nests of the Lesser Kiskadee (Philohydor lictor) on Barro Colo Rado Island (Republic of Panama) . Ornitologia Neotropical . 11 . 359–362 .
• Lopes . L.E . 2007 . On the range of the Lesser Kiskadee Philohydor lictor (Tyrannidae) in central-eastern Brazil . Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia . 15 . 3 . 433–435 .

External links

• • Photo(bird on nest, forest), & Article Birds of Ecuador gallery at chandra.as.utexas.edu (photo)

Notes and References

1. Book: Lichtenstein, Hinrich . Hinrich Lichtenstein . 1823 . Verzeichniss der Doubletten des Zoologischen Museums der Königl . de . Berlin . T. Trautwein . 49 .
2. Book: Lanyon, Wesley Edwin . 1984 . A phylogeny of the kingbirds and their allies . American Museum Novitates, Number 2797 . New York . American Museum of Natural History . 23 . 2246/5271 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 226, 303 .
4. Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Christidis . L. . Leslie Christidis . 2014 . The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 2: Passerines . 4th . Eastbourne, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-2-2 . 48 .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2017 . Tyrant flycatchers . World Bird List Version 7.3 . International Ornithologists' Union . 17 January 2018 .
6. Web site: Mobley . J. . 2018 . Lesser Kiskadee (Philohydor lictor) . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Christie . D.A. . de Juana . E. . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions . 17 January 2018 . subscription .