White-browed gnatcatcher explained

The white-browed gnatcatcher (Polioptila bilineata) is a species of bird in the gnatcatcher family Polioptilidae. It is native to central and South America.

This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the tropical gnatcatcher (Polioptila plumbea).

Taxonomy

The white-browed gnatcatcher was formally described in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte and given the binomial name Sylvia bilineata. Bonaparte specified the locality as Cartagena, a city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.^{[1] [2]} This species was formerly considered as a subspecies of the tropical gnatcatcher (Polioptila plumbea). The white-browed gnatcatcher was split from the tropical gnatcatcher based on morphology and phylogenetic data.^{[3] [4] [5]}

Five subspecies are recognised:^[4]

• Polioptila bilineata brodkorbi Parkes, 1979 – south Mexico to north Costa Rica
• Polioptila bilineata superciliaris Lawrence, 1861 – north-central Costa Rica to north Colombia
• Polioptila bilineata cinericia Wetmore, 1957 – Coiba (island off south Panama)
• Polioptila bilineata bilineata (Bonaparte, 1850) – northwest Colombia to northwest Peru
• Polioptila bilineata daguae Chapman, 1915 – west-central Colombia

Notes and References

1. Book: Bonaparte, Charles Lucien . Charles Lucien Bonaparte . 1850 . Conspectus Generum Avium . 1 . Latin . E.J. Brill . Leiden . 316 .
2. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1964 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 10 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 452 .
3. 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 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.012 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2021 . Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, Elachura, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers . IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 3 June 2021 .
5. Chesser . R.T. . Billerman . S.M. . Burns . K.J. . Cicero . C. . Dunn . J.L. . Hernández-Baños . B.E. . Kratter . A.W. . Lovette . I.J. . Mason . N.A. . Rasmussen . P.C. . Remsen . J.V.J. . Stotz . D.F. . Winker . K. . 2021 . Sixty-second Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds . Ornithology . ukab037 . 10.1093/ornithology/ukab037 . free .