Lesser kiskadee

{{Short description|Species of bird}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Lesser kiskadee (Pitangus lictor panamense).jpg

| image_caption = Philohydor lictor panamense
Chagres River, Panama

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=Philohydor lictor |volume=2016 |page=e.T22700599A93787064 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22700599A93787064.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}

| parent_authority = Lanyon, W, 1984

| taxon = Philohydor lictor

| authority = (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823) Lichtenstein, 1823. L[anius] Lictor (protonym). Verz. Doubl. Zool. Mus. Berlin, p. 49. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28229297 BHL]

| synonyms = * L[anius] Lictor (protonym)

• Pitangus lictor

| range_map = Philohydor lictor map.svg

}}

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.{{ cite book | last=Lichtenstein | first=Hinrich | author-link=Hinrich Lichtenstein | year=1823 | title=Verzeichniss der Doubletten des Zoologischen Museums der Königl | language=de | place=Berlin | publisher=T. Trautwein | page=49 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28229297 }} The present genus Philohydor was introduced by the American ornithologist Wesley Edwin Lanyon in 1984.{{ cite book | last=Lanyon | first=Wesley Edwin | year=1984 | title=A phylogeny of the kingbirds and their allies | series=American Museum Novitates, Number 2797 | place=New York | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | page=23 | hdl=2246/5271 | url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/5271 }} 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.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n226 226], 303 }} It is sometimes placed in the genus Pitangus with the great kiskadee.{{ cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Christidis | editor-first2=L. | editor2-link=Leslie Christidis | year=2014 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=2: Passerines | edition=4th | place=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-2-2 | page=48 }}

There are two subspecies:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title= Tyrant flycatchers | work=World Bird List Version 7.3 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/flycatchers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 January 2018 }}

• 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 {{cvt|15|-|18|cm}} in length and weighs around {{cvt|25|g}}. It lives in eastern Panama and throughout the northern parts of South America, usually near water.{{cite web | last=Mobley | first=J. | year=2018 | title=Lesser Kiskadee (Philohydor lictor) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/node/57462 | access-date=17 January 2018 |url-access=subscription }}