White-crested spadebill
The white-crested spadebill is a species of passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The white-crested spadebill was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the todies in the genus Todus and coined the binomial name Todus platyrhynchos. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek platurrhunkhos meaning "broad-billed" or "broad-beaked". Gmelin based his description on the "Todi Leucocephali" that had been described and illustrated in 1769 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas. Pallas did not specify a locality but this was subsequently designated as Suriname. The white-crested spadebill is now one of seven spadebills placed in the genus Platyrinchus that was introduced in 1805 by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest.The white-crested spadebill has these four subspecies:P. p. platyrhynchos P. p. senex Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1880P. p. nattereri Hartert, EJO & Hellmayr, 1902P. p. amazonicus Berlepsch, 1912
Description
The white-crested spadebill is long and weighs. It has a large head and a stubby tail; its bill is the widest of all Platyrinchus spadebills. The sexes have almost the same plumage. Adult males of the nominate subspecies P. p. platyrhynchos have a mostly gray head with a darker crown, a partially hidden white patch in the center of the crown, and a pale buffy spot above the lores. Females have a smaller white patch than males. Both sexes' upperparts are russet-brown and their wings and tail are dusky brown. Their throat is white and their underparts bright ochraceous. Subspecies P. p. senex has a paler crown and lighter and less rich upperparts than the nominate. P. p. nattereri has a slightly paler and yellower belly than the nominate. P. p. amazonicus has less bright underparts than the nominate; the ochraceous color is limited to the breast and the belly is much paler and yellower. All subspecies have a dark iris, a very wide flat bill with a black maxilla and a pale mandible, and pinkish yellow legs and feet.Distribution and habitat
The subspecies of the white-crested spadebill are found thus:P. p. platyrhynchos: from Vichada, Guainía, and Vaupés departments in eastern Colombia east through much of southern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil north of the Amazon to the Branco River and northern ParáP. p. senex: eastern Ecuador south through eastern Peru into the northern half of Bolivia and east to the Juruá River in extreme western Brazil P. p. nattereri: south-central Brazil south of the Amazon between the lower Purus River and the upper Madeira and Jiparaná riversP. p. amazonicus: eastern Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon from the Tapajós River east to northern MaranhãoThe white-crested spadebill inhabits the understory of humid terra firme forest, especially those on sandy soils. In elevation it ranges between sea level and in Brazil and reaches in Colombia and Ecuador and in Peru.