Leucoptilon

Sangster, George, Alström, Per, Gaudin, Jimmy & Olsson, Urban, 2021, - A-new-genus-for-the-White-tailed-Flycatcher-Cyornis-concretus- (Aves: - Muscicapidae), Zootaxa 5072 (6), pp. 599-600 : 599

Leucoptilon ­new­genus

Type­species: Muscicapa concreta Müller, 1836 .

Differential­ diagnosis: ­ Males and females differ from all other members of Niltavinae (i.e. the genera Niltava , Cyornis , Cyanoptila , Eumyias and Anthipes ) by the presence of distinctive white inner webs on the outer tail feathers, giving the impression of white lines running down the whole length of the outer tail-feathers ( Müller 1836; Robson 2000; Clement 2020). In male L. c. everetti, the white is restricted to the central and terminal parts of the tail feathers.

Description: Large forest flycatcher (18–19 cm body length) with, in adult males of the nominate subspecies, ashy cobalt-blue rear crown/nape, upperparts and secondary coverts, pale and bright blue forehead/forecrown, black lores and chin, black flight-feathers with blue edges and dark gray-blue tail with white longitudinal stripes on the feathers formed by broad white feather edges, mainly to the inner webs. The blue of the ear-coverts, throat and breast is paler than on the upperparts, greying on the flank. The rest of the belly and undertail-coverts are greyish-white. Dark brown iris, pinkish to grey feet and black, thick, slightly hook-tipped bill. Females are mostly brown above and on the breast and flanks, with more rufous edges to the flight-feathers and greyish-white belly and undertail-coverts. The lores, upper throat and thin eye-ring are paler, and there is a broad transverse white crescent on the lower throat.

Included­taxa: Leucoptilon c. concretum ­comb.­nov. ( Müller, 1836), L. c. cyaneum comb.­nov. ( Hume, 1877) and L. c. everetti comb.­nov. ( Sharpe, 1890).

Etymology: Derived from the Greek λευκός (leucos, white) and πτίλον (ptilon, feather), referring to the white on the tail feathers. The gender is neuter.

Comment: White-tailed Flycatcher and its subspecies have previously been placed in the genera Muscicapa (S. Müller 1836; Ali & Ripley 1996), Muscitrea ( Hume 1877), Siphia ( Sharpe 1890) , Niltava ( Wolters 1980; Watson et al. 1986) and Cyornis ( Sibley & Monroe 1990; Dickinson & Christidis 2014).