Andean laniisoma
The Andean laniisoma is a species of passerine bird in the family Tityridae, the tityras, becards, and allies. It is found Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Andean laniisoma was originally described in 1880 as Ptilochloris buckleyi in the family Cotingidae. It was later reassigned to genus Laniisoma that William Swainson had erected in 1832. Well into the twentieth century authors kept Laniisoma in Cotingidae. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed its placement in Tityridae and taxonomic systems made the reassignment.The Andean laniisoma's further taxonomy is unsettled. It was long treated as a subspecies of L. elegans, which had the English name "shrike-like cotinga" and now is called by most the Brazilian laniisoma. In the 2010s taxonomists began separating L. buckleyi from L. elegans, leaving the latter as a monotypic species. The IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and AviList have all recognized the split. They assign the Andean laniisoma these three subspecies:L. b. venezuelense Phelps, WH & Gilliard, 1941L. b. buckleyi L. b. cadwaladeri Carriker, 1935
BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World also recognizes the split, but treats L. buckleyi as monotypic. The South American Classification Committee has not recognized the split and retains the name "shrike-like cotinga" for L. elegans ''sensu lato. However, the committee recognizes that L. elegans'' is probably not monotypic and is seeking a proposal to revise its treatment. It further recognizes that the name "cotinga" is no longer appropriate but rejected a proposal to change it.
This article follows the IOC et al. treatment with three subspecies.
Description
The Andean laniisoma is about long and weighs about. The sexes have similar plumage. They have a long bill with a hooked tip. Adult males of the nominate subspecies L. b. buckleyi have a black cap and a pale greenish yellow eye-ring on an otherwise olive-green face. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are olive-green. Their underparts are mostly yellow with a few black spots on the throat and black bars along the sides and flanks. Adult females have a lighter dusky olive-green cap than males and their undersides are almost completely covered with black bars. Males of subspecies L. b. cadwaladeri are much like the nominate but with less barring on their undersides. Males of L. b. venezuelense have even less barring than cadwaladeri. Both sexes of all subspecies have a dark red to blackish iris, a blackish or dark steel gray maxilla, a greenish, pale horn, or gray-green mandible, and olive-green to plumbeous legs.Distribution and habitat
The Andean laniisoma is found intermittently along the eastern side of the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Subspecies L. b. venezuelense is the northernmost. It is found from Barinas and Táchira states in northwestern Venezuela south into northeastern Colombia. The nominate subspecies is found from central Colombia south through eastern Ecuador to central Peru. L. b. cadwaladeri is found in northwestern Bolivia.The Andean laniisoma inhabits humid primary forest and mature secondary forest where it favors small ravines and streams and areas heavy with moss and vines. In elevation it is found between in Venezuela, between in Colombia, between in Ecuador, and between in Peru.