Rhynchocyclus


Rhynchocyclus is a genus of passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae.

Taxonomy

The genus Rhynchocyclus was introduced in 1860 by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine as a replacement name for Cyclorhynchus that had been introduced in 1836 by Carl Jakob Sundevall. The name Cyclorhynchus was preoccupied by Cyclorrhynchus that had been introduced in 1829 by Johann Jakob Kaup. The type species is Cyclorhynchus olivaceus Desmarest which is a junior synonym of Platyrhynchos olivaceus Temminck, the eastern olivaceous flatbill. The genus name Rhynchocyclus is an anagram of the original name Cyclorhynchus. The latter combines the Ancient Greek κυκλος/kuklos meaning "circle" or "shield" with ῥυγχος /rhunkhos meaning "bill".
The genus contains five species:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Rhynchocyclus brevirostrisEye-ringed flatbillBelize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama, with a slight incursion into Colombia
Rhynchocyclus pacificusPacific flatbillColombia and Ecuador.
Rhynchocyclus olivaceusEastern olivaceous flatbillBrazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Rhynchocyclus aequinoctialisWestern olivaceous flatbillBolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
Rhynchocyclus fulvipectusFulvous-breasted flatbillBolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.