Yellow-cheeked becard
The yellow-cheeked becard is a passerine bird in the family Tityridae, the tityras, becards, and allies. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The genus Pachyramphus has variously been assigned to the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae and the cotinga family Cotingidae. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed the placement of Pachyramphus in Tityridae and taxonomic systems made the reassignment.The yellow-cheeked becard's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treat it as a species and assign it two subspecies, the nominate P. x. xanthogenys and P. x. peruanus. The Clements taxonomy, AviList, and the independent South American Classification Committee treat the two as subspecies of the green-backed becard. Clements recognizes the two taxa as the "green-backed becard ". The SACC recognizes that xanthogenys and peruanus may represent a species and is seeking a proposal to evaluate their status.
Description
The yellow-cheeked becard is about long. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a glossy black crown, white lores, and a broken yellow eye-ring. Their face is bright yellow to greenish yellow and their nape is bright olive. Their upperparts are mostly bright olive. Their wings are blackish with wide pale olive edges on the coverts and inner flight feathers. Their tail is dusky olive. The sides of their throat are yellowish olive and the center bright yellow. Their upper breast is bright yellow, their lower breast more yellowish olive, and their belly whitish. Adult females have a similar pattern to males. However, their forecrown is blackish and the rest of the crown and nape are grayish olive. Their lores are grayish olive and their face pale grayish. Their lesser wing coverts are rufous chestnut. Their throat is grayish, their upper breast greenish, their lower breast more pale olive, and their belly white with a grayish wash on the sides and flanks. Subspecies P. x. peruanus is essentially the same as the nominate; males have a slightly brighter face and breast. Both sexes of both subspecies have a dark iris, a pale bluish horn bill, and dusky or grayish legs and feet.Distribution and habitat
The yellow-cheeked becard is found intermittently along the eastern side of the Andes from far southern Colombia to southeastern Peru, though more nearly continuously through Ecuador. The nominate subspecies is the more northerly of the two. It is found from eastern Cauca and Putumayo departments south through eastern Ecuador into central Peru to San Martín Department. Subspecies P. x. peruanus is found in central and southeastern Peru from Huánuco Department and barely into west-central Brazil's Acre state.The yellow-cheeked becard primarily inhabits humid to moist forest in the subtropical and lower montane zones, and favors broken and somewhat open areas. It also is found in riparian forest, terra firme forest, and the ecotone between them. In elevation it is found between in Colombia, between in Ecuador, and between in Peru.