Trilling gnatwren
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Trilling gnatwren
| image = Long-billed Gnatwren.jpg
| image2 = Ramphocaenus melanurus - Long-billed Gnatwren XC243023.mp3
| image2_caption = Call recorded in Ecuador
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Ramphocaenus
| species = melanurus
| authority = Vieillot, 1819
| range_map = Ramphocaenus melanurus map.svg
}}
The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia.
Taxonomy
The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus.{{ cite book | last=Vieillot | first=Louis Pierre | author-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot | year=1819 | title=Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc. | volume=29 | place=Paris | publisher=Deterville |page=188 | language=fr | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19430563 }} The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek {{Transliteration|grc|rhamphos}} ({{lang|grc|ῥάµϕος}}, "beak"){{OED|rhamphoid}} and {{Transliteration|grc|cænos}} ({{lang|grc|καινός}}, "strange").{{cite book|last=Jobling|first=James A.|title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names|date=2010|publisher=A & C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-2878-7|page=330|quote=Gr. rhamphos bill; kainos novel, strange.}} The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail".{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2019 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | 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/dictionary/definition/melanurum-melanurus | access-date=26 January 2019 }} A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade.{{ cite journal | last1=Smith | first1=B.T. | last2=Bryson | first2=R.W. Jr | last3=Mauck | first3=W.M. | last4=Chaves | first4=J. | last5=Robbins | first5=M.B. | last6=Aleixo | first6=A. | last7=Klicka | first7=J. | year=2018 | title=Species delimitation and biogeography of the gnatcatchers and gnatwrens (Aves: Polioptilidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=126 | pages=45–57 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.012 | pmid=29551521| s2cid=3975237 | doi-access=free }} The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sugarbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=26 January 2019 }}
Thirteen subspecies are recognised:
- R. m. rufiventris (Bonaparte, 1838) – south Mexico to west Ecuador
- R. m. ardeleo Van Tyne & Trautman, 1941 – Yucatán Peninsula (southeast Mexico) and north Guatemala
- R. m. panamensis Phillips, AR, 1991 – central and east Panama
- R. m. sanctaemarthae Sclater, PL, 1862 – north Colombia and northwest Venezuela
- R. m. griseodorsalis Chapman, 1912 – west Colombia
- R. m. pallidus Todd, 1913 – Zulia Valley (north central Colombia) and west Venezuela
- R. m. trinitatis Lesson, R, 1839 – east Colombia to north Venezuela, Trinidad
- R. m. albiventris Sclater, PL, 1883 – east Venezuela, the Guianas and north Brazil
- R. m. duidae Zimmer, JT, 1937 – northeast Ecuador to south Venezuela
- R. m. badius Zimmer, JT, 1937 – northeast Peru and southeast Ecuador
- R. m. amazonum Hellmayr, 1907 – east Peru to north central Brazil
- R. m. austerus Zimmer, JT, 1937 – east Brazil south of the Amazon
- R. m. melanurus Vieillot, 1819 – east central Brazil
Description
Adult trilling gnatwrens are {{cvt|12|-|13|cm}} in length and weigh {{cvt|8|-|11|g}}.{{cite web | last1=Atwood | first1=J. | last2=Lerman | first2=S. | year=2019 | title=Long-billed Gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus) | 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/58979 | access-date=27 January 2019 |url-access=subscription }} They have a long, thin bill and a short cocked tail. The upperparts are grey-brown, with rufous on the sides of the head. The throat is white, shading to buff on the rest of the underparts. The tail is black with white tips to all but the central feathers, and is frequently wagged. R. m. trinitatis, of eastern Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad has paler underparts, and buff flanks and head sides.
The call is a trilled drdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdr.
Habitat
Behaviour
=Breeding=
Trilling gnatwrens build a deep cup nest very low in a small plant or sapling. The two white eggs are incubated by both parents for 16–17 days to hatching, with a further 11–12 days to fledging.
=Feeding=
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- {{ cite book | last=Skutch | first=Alexander F. | author-link=Alexander Skutch | date=1960 | chapter=Long-billed gnatwren | title=Life Histories of Central American Birds II | series=Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 34 | location=Berkeley, California | publisher=Cooper Ornithological Society | chapter-url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/pca/pca_034.pdf#page=55 | pages=54–61 | ref=none }}
{{refend}}
External links
- [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=6403 Long-billed Gnatwren videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
- [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=long-billed+gnatwren&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Long-billed Gnatwren photo gallery] VIREO
{{Taxonbar|from=Q377733}}
Category:Birds of the Amazon rainforest
Category:Birds of the Atlantic Forest
Category:Birds of Central America
Category:Birds of the Guiana Shield