Euscarthmus fulviceps Sclater, 1871

Franz, Ismael, Alvares, Diego Janisch & Borges-Martins, Márcio, 2020, Species limits in the Tawny-crowned Pygmy-tyrant Euscarthmus meloryphus complex (Aves: Passeriformes: Tyrannidae), Zootaxa 4809 (3), pp. 475-495 : 485-489

Euscarthmus fulviceps Sclater, 1871

Tawny-fronted Pygmy-tyrant (sensu del Hoyo et al. 2019) or Fulvous-headed Pygmy-tyrant (sensu Cory & Hellmayr 1927)

Euscarthmus meloryphus fulviceps Sclater, 1871: 497 .

Hapalocercus fulviceps— Taczanowski 1884: 235.

Hapalocercus meloryphus fulviceps— BERLEPSCH 1907: 487.

Holotype: MNH 1888.1 .13.316, sex?, Babahoyo , Ecuador.

Diagnosis: Euscarthmus fulviceps can be diagnosed from Euscarthmus meloryphus (including E. meloryphus paulus ) by the upperparts coloration, Cinnamon-Brown (33) (vs. Brownish Olive [29]), chest plain light Cream Color (54), in some individuals contrasting with the belly (vs. chest with gray sides, brownish Glaucous [79]) ( Figure 4 ), absence of a conspicuous rufous crown, only a few fulvous/rufous feathers continuing to forehead (vs. a conspicuous rufous crown between Tawny [38] and a dark tone of orange) ( Figure 5 ), presence of a fulvous “mask” (Buff-Yellow [53] of light Buff [24]) occupying lore, eye ring, auriculars, superciliary, and forehead encroaching on the crown until at least the position of the eye (vs. fulvous completely absent or, when present, restricted to the eye ring, rarely to the forehead and auriculars; superciliary region between the eye and the crown of the same color as the upperparts), shorter tail (but with overlap), loud song composed by 8–11 notes (vs. 16–36), pace of 11–15 notes/second (vs. 25–37), 2–5 introductory rattle notes (vs. 7–27) with larger intervals, and other variables of duration and frequency of particular notes of the repertoire.

Distribution: Western Ecuador, north to west Esmeraldas and in Río Marañon drainage in south Zamora- Chinchipe, and west Peru on Pacific slope from Tumbes to Lima, upper Río Marañon valley of Amazonas, Cajamarca, and La Libertad ( Figure 1 ).

Remarks: Intraspecific/individual variation in plumage is almost nonexistent. The majority of the specimens have plain light yellow bellies, and the most variable character is the extension of the fulvous/rufous on the head, with individuals having the color restricted to the forehead, and others with the coloration encroaching on the crown. We recommend use of the English name that appears in Cory & Hellmayr (1927), which perfectly describes the taxon and its main diagnostic character, considering that the head/front color is different from the “tawny” in the crown of the nominate form.

Lepturus ruficeps Swainson, 1838 (p. 181, pl. 20) has been considered since the first revisions and catalogues from the description as a synonym of Euscarthmus meloryphus (e.g. Cory & Hellmayr 1927; Zimmer 1955; Traylor 1979). Of the several morphological characteristics presented and illustrated by Swainson (1838) in his description, some fit with both species of the genus Euscarthmus , but three define only E. rufomarginatus : (1) “ the upper plumage is of a light drab-brown, inclining to fulvous on the rump ” (no form of the E. meloryphus complex presents differences between the color of the rump and the rest of the back, while E. rufomarginatus does); (2) “ over the eye, and on the lores, is a dirty white stripe ” (absent in the E. meloryphus complex, present in E. rufomarginatus ); (3) “ the under plumage is white, but straw-coloured from the breast, having the sides ferrugineous ” (flanks in the E. meloryphus complex are of the same color of the belly, white or light yellow, or at most slightly greyish; ferruginous in E. rufomarginatus ). Thus, it is clear that Lepturus ruficeps is a synonym of E. rufomarginatus rather than E. meloryphus , despite all authors having following the erroneous synonymy of Cory & Hellmayr (1927), here corrected.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Localities in South America of the 245 skin specimens (squares), and 94 voice recordings (circles) of Euscarthmus m. meloryphus (orange), E. meloryphus paulus (yellow), and E. meloryphus fulviceps (red), examined in this study.

FIGURE 4. Ventral and dorsal views of Euscarthmus m. meloryphus (from left to right: AMNH 796106, 498921, 243777), E. meloryphus fulviceps (AMNH 185827, 185828, 185830), and E. meloryphus paulus (AMNH 150462, 150458, 150461).

FIGURE 5. Dorsal and lateral detail of the head of Euscarthmus m. meloryphus (left and bottom; AMNH 243783), and E. meloryphus fulviceps (right and top; AMNH 185827).