Empidonomus

Empidonomus
Variegated flycatcher (Empidonomus varius)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrannidae
Genus:	Empidonomus Cabanis & Heine, 1860
Type species
Muscicapa varia Vieillot, 1818

Empidonomus is a genus of small passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae that are found in South America. The genus contains two species.

Taxonomy

The genus Empidonomus was introduced in 1860 by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine to accommodate a single species, Muscicapa varia Vieillot, the variegated flycatcher. ^[1] This is the type species. ^[2] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek εμπις/empis, εμπιδος/empidos meaning "gnat" or "mosquito" with -νομος/-nomos meaning "-ruling". ^[3]

The genus contains two species: ^[4]

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Variegated flycatcher	Empidonomus varius	widespread across South America
	Crowned slaty flycatcher	Empidonomus aurantioatrocristatus	Amazonia, central south, southeast South America

References

1. Cabanis, Jean; Heine, Ferdinand (1860). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German). Vol. 2. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 76.
2. Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 220.
3. Jobling, James A. "Empidonomus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
4. AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi: 10.2173/avilist.v2025 . Retrieved 11 November 2025.