Crescentchest
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Melanopareia
|image = Melanopareia torquata - Collared Crescentchest.JPG
|image_caption = Collared crescentchest (Melanopareia torquata)
| parent_authority = Ericson et al 2010
| taxon = Melanopareia
| authority = Reichenbach, 1853
| type_species = Synallaxis maximiliani{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=208 |title= Melanopariidae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-16}}
| type_species_authority = d'Orbigny, 1835
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
5, see text
}}
The crescentchests are a genus, Melanopareia, of suboscine passerine birds from South America. The genus has long been placed with the tapaculos in the family Rhinocryptidae. Their placement there has been questioned and in 2007 the genus was placed in its own family, Melanopareiidae, by the South American Classification Committee.Cadena, C (2006) [http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop239.html Proposal #239) to South American Classification Committee: Remove Melanopareia from the Rhinocryptidae and create family Melanopareiidae] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516000914/http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop239.html |date=2008-05-16 }}. Downloaded 9 October 2008 Subsequently, the family was accepted by the International Ornithological Congress Bird List and the Clements Checklist.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/n-antbirds.html|title=IOC World Bird List|last=IOC|year=2009|accessdate=29 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324122643/http://www.worldbirdnames.org/n-antbirds.html|archive-date=24 March 2010|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/corrections/updates-corrections-dec-2009|title=Updates & Corrections – Dec 2009|last=Clements Checklist team|year=2009|work=The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World|accessdate=29 December 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127164734/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/corrections/updates-corrections-dec-2009|archivedate=27 January 2010}} The family Melanopareiidae was formally erected in 2009.{{cite journal|last1=Ericson|first1=Per|last2=Olson |first2 = Storrs L. | last3= Irestedt | first3=Martin |last4 = Alvarenga | first4=Herculano |first5= Jon |last5=Fjeldså|year=2010|title=Circumscription of a monophyletic family for the tapaculos (Aves: Rhinocryptidae): Psiloramphus in and Melanopareia out |journal=Journal of Ornithology| volume = 151| issue = 2| pages = 337–345| doi = 10.1007/s10336-009-0460-9|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00568355/file/PEER_stage2_10.1007%252Fs10336-009-0460-9.pdf}}
Taxonomy
The genus Melanopareia was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.{{ cite book | last=Reichenbach | first=Ludwig | author-link=Ludwig Reichenbach | year=1853 | chapter=Icones ad synopsin avium No. 10 Scansoriae A | title=Handbuch der speciellen Ornithologie | language=German | location=Dresden und Leipzig | publisher=Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte | pages=145–218 [146, 164] | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47722847 }} He listed two species in the genus but did not specify the type; in 1855 the English zoologist George Gray selected Synallaxis maximiliani D'Orbigny, (olive-crowned crescentchest) as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1855 | title=Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum | location=London | publisher=British Museum | page=27 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/17136647 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1951 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=7 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=281 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480618 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek μελας/melas, μελανος/melanos meaning "black" with παρηιον/parēion meaning "cheek".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Melanopareia | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Melanopareia | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=11 March 2025 }}
The crescentchests range in length from {{convert|14|to(-)|16|cm|in|abbr=on}}, in weight from {{convert|16|to(-)|23|g|oz|abbr=on}} and have relatively long tails compared to the tapaculos. The plumage is striking with a distinctive band across the chest that gives the group their name.
The crescentchests are birds of arid scrub. They generally forage on the ground, but their diet has not yet been recorded. Two species, the collared crescentchest and olive-crowned crescentchest, are widely distributed across central and southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. The other two species, the elegant crescentchest and Marañón crescentchest, have a more restricted distribution in Peru and Ecuador.{{ cite book | last1=Krabbe | first1=N.K. | last2=Schulenberg | first2=T.S. | year=2003 | chapter=Rhinocryptidae (Tapaculos) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Christie | editor3-first=D.A. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=8: Broadbills to Tapaculos | location=Barcelona | publisher=Lynx Edicions | pages=748-788 | isbn=978-84-87334-50-4 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0008unse/page/748/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}
Little is known about the behaviour of the crescentchests. The only species about which anything is known about the breeding behaviour is the olive-crowned crescentchest. That species is a seasonal breeder. The nest of that species is a 15 cm high cup made of vegetable fibres and palm fronds, hidden in grasses or low shrubs close to the ground. The clutch size is two to three eggs, the eggs are white with blotches or black spots.
No species of crescentchest is considered by the IUCN to be threatened by human activities, but the Marañón crescentchest is listed as near threatened. Although the species is apparently tolerant of some disturbance it has a tiny global range and is uncommon even within that range.
Species
{{Species table |genus= Melanopareia |authority-name=Reichenbach |authority-year=1853 |species-count=four|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}
{{Species table/row
|name= Collared crescentchest|binomial=Melanopareia torquata
|image=File:Melanopareia torquata - Collared Crescentchest.JPG|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Wied |authority-year=1831 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= northeastern Bolivia, central Brazil, and northern Paraguay.
|range-image=File:Melanopareia torquata map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
|M. t. torquata.
|M. t. rufescens.
|M. t. bitorquata.
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name= Olive-crowned crescentchest|binomial=Melanopareia maximiliani
|image=File:Melanopareia maximiliani - Olive-crowned crescentchest.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=D'Orbigny |authority-year=1835 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.
|range-image=File:Melanopareia maximiliani map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
|M. m. maximiliani.
|M. m. argentina.
|M. m. pallida.
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Marañón crescentchest |binomial=Melanopareia maranonica
|image=File:Marañón Crescentchest imported from iNaturalist photo 114835231 on 5 August 2024.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Chapman |authority-year=1924 |authority-not-original=
|range= southern Ecuador and northern Peru.
|range-image=File:Melanopareia maranonica map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name= Elegant crescentchest|binomial=Melanopareia elegans
|image=File:Elegant Crescent-chest - South Ecuador S4E9216 (16644372590).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Lesson |authority-year=1844 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Ecuador and Peru.
|range-image=File:Melanopareia elegans map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
|M. e. elegans
|M. e. paucalensis.
}}
}}
{{Species table/end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Melanopareia}}
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Crescentchest|Crescentchest}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081013014025/http://montereybay.com/creagrus/crescentchests.html Crescentchests] Don Roberson's Bird Families of the World.
{{Passeriformes|T.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2080466}}
Category:Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach