Brown-winged schiffornis

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Brown-winged schiffornis
Schiffornis turdina - Brown-winged schiffornis.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tityridae
Genus: Schiffornis
Species:
S. turdina
Binomial name
Schiffornis turdina
(Wied-Neuwied, 1831)
Schiffornis turdina map.svg
Synonyms
  • Muscicapa turdina (protonym)
  • Schiffornis turdinus

The brown-winged schiffornis, or brown-winged mourner, (Schiffornis turdina) is a species of Neotropical bird in the family Tityridae, the tityras, becards, and allies. [2] It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia. Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. [3]

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

The brown-winged schiffornis was originally described as Muscicapa turdina, erroneously placing it among the Old World flycatchers. [4] For much of the twentieth century Schiffornis was placed in the manakin family Pipridae and its species were called manakins. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed the placement of Schiffornis in Tityridae and taxonomic systems made the reassignment. [5] In 1998 the American Ornithological Society was unsure where to place the genus and listed its members as incertae sedis but in 2011 moved them to Tityridae. [6]

The brown-winged schiffornis' binomial Schiffornis turdina long applied to a species called the thrush-like manakin and later the thrush-like schiffornis. Since at least the late twentieth century taxonomists had suspected that several species were embedded within it. [5] Studies published in 2007 and 2011 confirmed that Schiffornis turdina was polyphyletic. [7] [8] Following these studies taxonomists separated the northern schiffornis (S. veraepacis), russet-winged schiffornis (S. stenorhyncha), Guianan (or olivaceous) schiffornis (S. olivacea), and foothill schiffornis (S. aenea) from S. turdina, and gave the reduced species its current English name. The process began in 2012 and took at least until 2016 for the major taxonomic systems to implement. [9] [10] (BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World calls all of the five species "mourner" rather than "schiffornis". [11] )

The splits left the brown-winged schiffornis with these five subspecies: [2]

Description

The brown-winged schiffornis is 15.5 to 16.5 cm (6.1 to 6.5 in) long and weighs about 22 to 38 g (0.78 to 1.3 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies S. t. turdina have an indistinct pale ring around the eye on an otherwise brownish olive face. Their upperparts and tail are dull brownish olive. Their wings are dull brownish olive with rufescent feather edges. Their breast is a lighter brownish olive-gray and their belly and vent pale olive-gray. [12]

The other subspecies of the brown-winged schiffornis differ from the nominate and each other thus: [12]

All subspecies have a brown to dark brown iris, a blackish bill, and olive grayish legs and feet. [12]

Distribution and habitat

The brown-winged schiffornis has a disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus: [12]

The brown-winged schiffornis primarily inhabits the interior of humid forest; it also is found, though rarely, at the forest edge, in secondary forest, and in drier forest. [12] It elevation it reaches 800 m (2,600 ft) in Venezuela, 300 m (1,000 ft) in Ecuador, 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Peru, and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Brazil. [13] [14] [15] [16]

Behavior

Movement

The brown-winged schiffornis is "almost certainly sedentary". [12]

Feeding

The brown-winged schiffornis feeds on fruits and insects, though details are lacking. It usually forages singly and only rarely joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It forages mostly in the forests's understory, often clinging to a low-level vertical stem, and takes food from vegetation with short sallies from a perch. [12] [14]

Breeding

The brown-winged schiffornis' breeding season has not been defined but includes February in eastern Brazil and April in Colombia and Venezuela. Its one known nest was made from plant fibers and dry leaves in a partially rotted tree stump. It held two eggs that were pale yellowish white with a few blackish markings. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known. [12]

Vocalization

The brown-winged schiffornis' song is a variable "sequence of normally 2–4 clear, rich musical whistles, last one sharply upslurred". It has been written as "teeeeu, weee, tu-weeeé", "weeeeee … PREE, a-weET", and "teeuu, yoowée, tu, tu-wee". The species also makes a "short rattling chatter". [12]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the brown-winged schiffornis as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its population size and trend are not known. No immediate threats have been identified. [1] It is considered "locally fairly common" in Colombia, uncommon in Peru, fairly common in Venezuela, and "frequent to uncommon" in Brazil. [17] [15] [13] [16] It occurs in many protected areas though few of them are within the southeastern Brazilian range of the nominate subspecies. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2025). "Brown-winged Mourner Schiffornis turdina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2025 e.T103677312A281031771. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (March 2025). "Cotingas, manakins, tityras, becards". IOC World Bird List. v 15.1. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  3. ↑ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 29 September 2025. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithological Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved September 29, 2025
  4. ↑ Wied, Maximilian (1830). Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien (in German). Vol. III. Im Verlage des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs. pp. 817–819. Retrieved October 23, 2025. Though the book is dated 1830 the species description is credited to 1831.
  5. 1 2 Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 29 September 2025. A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithological Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved September 29, 2025
  6. ↑ R. Terry Chesser, Richard C. Banks, F. Keith Barker, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Fifty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk 2011, vol. 128:600–613 retrieved October 22, 2025
  7. ↑ Nyári, Á.S. (2007). "Phylogeographic patterns, molecular and vocal differentiation, and species limits in Schiffornis turdina (Aves)". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 44(1): 154–164.
  8. ↑ Donegan, T., Quevedo, A., McMullan, M. and Salaman, P. (2011). "Revision of the status of bird species occurring or reported in Colombia 27811". Conserv. Colombiana 15: 4–21.
  9. ↑ "Split Thrush-like Manakin Schiffornis turdina into five species (Proposal 505)". South American Classification Committee. 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2025. The proposal was accepted in April 2012.
  10. ↑ BirdLife International (2016) "Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world". [Old] Version 9. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/BirdLife_Checklist_Version_90.zip
  11. ↑ HBW and BirdLife International (2025). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 10. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy#birdlife-s-taxonomic-checklist retrieved October 12, 2025
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Snow, D. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Brown-winged Schiffornis (Schiffornis turdina), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.thlsch3.01 retrieved October 23, 2025
  13. 1 2 Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela (second ed.). Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 639.
  14. 1 2 Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 562–563. ISBN   978-0-8014-8721-7.
  15. 1 2 Schulenberg, T.S.; Stotz, D.F.; Lane, D.F.; O'Neill, J.P.; Parker, T.A. III (2010). Birds of Peru. Princeton Field Guides (revised and updated ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 496. ISBN   978-0691130231.
  16. 1 2 van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 286–287. ISBN   978-0-19-530155-7.
  17. ↑ McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 175. ISBN   978-0-9827615-0-2.
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