Establish English names for Camptostoma complex

Proposal (1062.1) to South American Classification Committee

Establish English names for Camptostoma complex

The first round of voting and all previous discussion is below. Three of the six names were endorsed unanimously:

A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre

B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae

E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum

Three others were not

C. Brown-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum (4-6)

D. Long-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma sclateri (3-7)

F. Cinnamon-banded Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum (5-5)

If the 7 NO votes on D had all been for the same competing name before any alternatives had been suggested, then we could have just adopted that name.

So, off we go to ranked choice votes on C, D, and F. The choices are listed below – rank them starting with “1” for your first choice and so on. I have tossed in a few choices that came up subsequent to the original proposal.

C. Camptostoma pusillum (4-6)

1. Brown-crested (4 votes)

2. Caribbean (4 votes)

3. Venezuelan (2 votes, but suggested after 5 votes had been cast)

D. Camptostoma sclateri (3-7)

1. Long-crested (3 votes)

2. Pacific (7 votes)

3. Peruvian

4. Ecuadorean

5. Tumbes

F. Camptostoma obsoletum (5-5)

1. Cinnamon-banded (5 votes)

2. Austral (3)

3. Meridional (1 vote)

4. Brazilian (1)

5. Southernmost

6. Argentine (this is getting traction in the comments so it’s a late addition to the candidates

Van Remsen, September 2025

Addendum from Pam Rasmussen: “To tackle the ranked choice voting for Camptostoma obsoletum split, I adapted the Lima and Vaz samples map to include photos of what I think are typical images of each (2 for obsoletum). I included Northern, since this may well be split at some point, and new names of Southern should take them into consideration as well.

A map of birds with different colors

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Vote tracking chart:

https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart1044+.htm

Comments from Remsen: “In general, I am sympathetic to the desire to have symmetry among the names, i.e., either all plumage features or all geonyms, but not at the cost of misleading names of either flavor. Also, this is clearly one of those cases in which it is easy to find fault with every name, so I think we have to settle for the “least worst” in most case and just move on. The planet will remain round.

“(C.) pusillum

1. Venezuelan. Not great but not any different in the Camptostoma context than Panama or Cauca.

2. Brown-crested. I understand the reluctance on a subtle fieldmark, but it does draw attention to “matters of the crest” in terms of the way Camptostoma differ.

3. Caribbean. For perhaps the first time ever, I thought how nice it would be to have a veto. As far as I can tell, only three birds have the name “Caribbean”, and all three refer to insular distributions in Caribbean islands: Caribbean Dove, Caribbean Elaenia, and Caribbean Martin … except for “Caribbean Hornero”, which I didn’t realize had been split by Clements and AviList without ever asking SACC for input, not only on the taxonomy but also the English name, which evidently owes its origin to Hilty’s 2003 Venezuelan guide. If SACC is not consulted on such things, the relationship between AviList and SACC might be Dead in the Water. This is insulting. First, the evidence for the split is based mostly on anecdote and a Boesman analysis that does not even specify sample size and anchors its decision on note shape in an unspecified number of sonograms of birds in unspecified contexts. Indications are that a proper analysis would favor species rank, but that’s not the point. If this is way AviList is going to make decisions that are supposedly anchored in science, then this will force me to reconsider our association with that process. Second, as for the name, not only would this be the first non-insular species on any list with the name Caribbean, but it is doubly bad because it implies that the Furnariidae occurs in the Caribbean, which of course their absence from that region is one of the notable features of their biogeography! There are no Furnariidae on any oceanic islands in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, what Caribbean has going for it is two decades of use, but continuing to use it represents classic “Concorde Fallacy” reasoning in my opinion, like continuing to call Anthus chacoensis “Chaco Pipit” just because it had that name for three decades. Finally, SACC already rejected this split once, and no new data have appeared in the intervening decades except for Boesman’s sonogram. This split has been on everyone’s radar for at least 30 years, so why the rush to split without a proper analysis?

“(D.) sclateri

1. Long-crested. Not a great name, but we’re looking for “lesser of evils” among a roster of imperfect names, and as with Brown-crested, I like the attention that this draws to crests in the genus as an axis of differentiation. That it is not evident in the field doesn’t make much difference to me, as long as it is accurate – field people aren’t the only ones who use bird names.

2. Tumbes. This one was cooked up by Pam and me in a private discussion. Pam suggested Tumbesian, which is a fair description of its biogeography, but there already a Tumbesian Tyrannulet (Nesotriccus tumbezanus), and that’s just too close for comfort. So, I suggested shortening it to Tumbes to be analogous, sort of, with the names Cauca and Panama, but Tumbes Beardless-Tyrannulet is still perilously close to Tumbesian Tyrannulet. Also, its distribution extends farther beyond the Tumbesian region that do most species with that name (Tumbes Hummingbird, Tumbes Tyrant, Tumbes Swallow, Tumbes Sparrow) but not all of them (Tumbes Pewee, Tumbesian Tyrannulet).

3. Peruvian -- I don’t like this one because more than one Camptostoma occurs there.

4. Ecuadorean – I don’t like this one because more than one Camptostoma occurs there, and more of its distribution is in Peru

5. Pacific – I don’t have the visceral negative reaction to this as I do to Caribbean, but I still to avoid ocean names for terrestrial birds where possible. There are six species of Pacific “Somethings” on the SACC list. One of them, Pacific Golden-Plover is fairly appropriate. The other five are landbirds. Three are associated with humid habitats (Pacific Antwren, Pacific Tuftedcheek, Pacific Flatbill), which for some reason doesn’t bother me as much as the two associated with dry habitats (Pacific Parrotlet, Pacific Elaenia), the latter of which pave the way for a Pacific B-T, I suppose.

“(F.) obsoletum

1. Cinnamon-banded. I recognize the problems with the name, but I rank it first just because the others are so much worse, in my opinion.

2. Argentine. Belated addition, not previously discussed, but it seems much better than Brazilian in that at least it’s the only Camptostoma in the country, which comprises a major portion of its range. My ranking is tentative pending reactions from Nacho and Mark Pearman.

3. Meridional. My first reaction was strongly negative just because the word is obscure. But indeed, it refers to “of the south” or “southern”, and so is appropriate. Yes, a little radical but not misleading. What’s the harm in bringing a new but accurate word into the lexicon of bird names? It certainly is memorable

4. Southernmost. My first reaction was also strongly negative just because it would be the first time such a construction would be used in bird names. I don’t like it per se, but it is accurate.

5. Brazilian. Not the only Camptostoma in Brazil, and Argentine might be a better name if we go that route.

6. Austral. I rank this last because it is the most misleading of the names by far, in my opinion. We have 7 species on the SACC list that are Austral Something: Austral Rail, Austral Pygmy-Owl, Austral Parakeet, Austral Canastero, Austral Negrito, Austral Thrush, and Austral Blackbird. What do these species have in common? They aren’t just the southernmost representatives of the group, but they are also truly “austral” in their distribution in the context of South American biogeography. Look at some distribution maps. They are mostly completely farther south that the southernmost C. obsoletum. The distribution of the latter is mostly north of the Tropic of Capricorn, i.e. this species is largely a subtropical and tropical taxon. With subspecies cinerascens is a member of this species, then its distribution actually extends within 5 degrees of the Equator.

Comments from Andrew Spencer (voting for Claramunt):

“(C.) pusillum

1. Venezuelan. I am persuaded by the rationale of Van and others in previous comments and agree that "Caribbean" is misleading for this species.

2. Caribbean. Despite what I just said above, I still would prefer geographic based names for the whole group and prefer this over a plumage based name.

3. Brown-crested.

“(D.) sclateri

1. Pacific. I'm sticking with my original vote here. For whatever reason, I don't particularly have any issues with this as either a humid or dry forest name for landbirds in western South America. And I have a slight preference for the more broadly applicable name for this bird as opposed to the other more narrowly defined geographic options.

2. Peruvian. Only ahead of Ecuadorian because the range is slightly larger in Peru than Ecuador.

3. Ecuadorian. As an aside, the normal spelling would be with an -ian rather than an -ean here, right?

4. Tumbes. While not strictly tied to the Tumbes bioregion, in a world of less than perfect options I'm not too bothered by that. This is only listed below the above options because of the existence of Tumbesian Tyrannulet; otherwise it would be my first choice for this taxon.

5. Long-crested.

“(F.) obsoletum

1. Brazilian. Even though I rejected this as a name option in my first vote, I've come around on it after some more thought. It's the most widespread Camptostoma in Brazil, and far and away the most seen one by birders.

2. Argentinian/Argentine, whatever the appropriate formatting would be. Not an official option given in the proposal but listing this here because Van mentioned it on his vote, and because I prefer it to any of the other options given below.

3. Meridional. A distant second (or third) preference for me. If this was for a bird without the already unwieldy "Beardless-Tyrannulet" appended, I'd be all for a cool new word that hasn't been used in a common name before, but it's just a bit more of a mouthful than I like given easier to pronounce names available.

4. Cinnamon-banded. Only listed fourth because I'm not a fan of the other two options.

5. Austral. Nothing about this bird says "Austral" to me, and I think it's a really bad choice here.

6. Southernmost. Just too contrived for me.”

Comments from Josh Beck (guest voter):

“I still prefer a homogenous group of geographic descriptors. Also, I really want to reiterate the idea that keeping Beardless-Tyrannulet and the lack of overlap means that these names are really not critical for ID. In this case it seems to me it is better that they be sensical and concise even if they're not perfect. In that regard I am going more with names like Brazilian and Venezuelan as they are less problematic than Caribbean or Austral, for instance.

“My votes on the second part of this proposal:

“(C.) pusillum

1. Venezuelan. I haven't seen or thought of a better option and prefer it to Caribbean for the reasons others have given.

2. Caribbean.

3. Brown-crested.

“(D.) sclateri

1. Pacific. I still see no problem with this but any of the first four names are realistically pretty similar.

2. Peruvian. Preferred to Ecuadorian and Tumbes due to the existence of Ecuadorian and Tumbes Tyrannulets.

3. Ecuadorian. I believe Andrew is right that Ecuadorian is the more common spelling. Certainly, it's the spelling in use in Clements/eBird.

4. Tumbes.

5. Long-crested.

“(F.) obsoletum

1. Brazilian. I have also warmed to this option. I prefer it for the same reason I prefer Venezuelan. It's concise, easy, and it might not be perfect but the arguments against are only that it does not encompass the whole range.

2. Meridional. If it were quicker to pronounce I'd like it more but nothing else really wrong with this name. I just like Brazilian more, personally.

3. Austral. Begrudgingly, and a distant third. I'd prefer Paraguayan or Bolivian or Argentine or Uruguayan to this to be fair.

4. Cinnamon-banded.

5. Southernmost.”

Comments from Rasmussen (voting for Robbins):

(C.) Camptostoma pusillum

1. Venezuelan

In retrospect, this seems like a pretty good name for this taxon, better than a plumage name that isn’t that prominent and doesn’t distinguish it from all others. And, like Panama, it encapsulates much of the range.

2. Caribbean

This is how the Wikipedia account for Caribbean South America starts out: “Caribbean South America is a subregion of South America that borders the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the Caribbean region of Colombia and the Venezuelan…”. So, I am OK with it, although I don’t prefer it because of the implication that it is in the West Indies. Also, this usage of Caribbean has become quite ingrained in multiple sources over the years for the hornero.

3. Brown-crested

I favored this last time, but it’s just not that helpful.

(D.) Camptostoma sclateri

I don’t really have a clear preference here, as all the choices seem roughly equal in advantages and disadvantages.

1. Long-crested

The crest seems pretty obviously long and oft-erected in this taxon, more so than is usual in the others. If all the other names turn out to be geographic, then I would not favor this name, however.

2. Peruvian

This would be my choice if all other names are geographic. Not ideal, of course, but encompasses most of the range.

3. Tumbes

Only ranked third because I can see it being confused with other similarly named taxa. And although that bioregion forms a fair percentage of the species’ range, it’s also found in the Marañón, etc.

4. Pacific

IF Caribbean makes it to the top for pusillum, then I think this would be appropriate. But it’s a pretty big, mostly very wet, area. That it has been used for so many landbird species indicates a lack of good alternatives, I think.

5. Ecuadorian

Ecuador is where I’ve seen this, but all the several other species currently named “Ecuadorian” have their range entirely or primarily in Ecuador (except for Ecuadorian Cacique).

(F.) Camptostoma obsoletum

1. Cinnamon-banded

I would still prefer this unless all the others have geographic names. True, it’s not completely distinctive, but it often is, and that’s all one can hope for in this group.

2. Argentine

With all its endemics and near-endemics, it’s somewhat shocking that no bird is currently named for Argentina! Even though the country forms only a small part of its range, I still prefer that over any other, because it’s the only one that does occur there, and to many “Brazilian” will suggest an Amazonian distribution. And the part of Argentina in which the occur excludes the austral region. NACC recently decided on Salvadoran Flycatcher, despite that country forming a relatively small part of the range of flavidior, and this bears some similarities. I’d prefer “Argentine” over “Argentinian”, due to its fewer syllables.

3. Meridional

I rather like this, and don’t mind introducing a new name when appropriate. It’s much less specific than Argentine, though.

4. Austral

Not a fan, given the far southern implication.

5. Brazilian

Too confusing with “Amazonian”.

6. Southernmost

Nice try but doesn’t sound like a bird name.

Comments from Zimmer: “As much as I like the idea of symmetry of English names within species-groups, I don’t think we need to force poor choices, just to retain symmetry for all species in the group. In the case of the three remaining Camptostoma species for which we still need to establish an English name, I think the descriptive names are the best choices for reasons that I elaborated on in the first round of voting. These hyphenated descriptive names do make an already long group name even longer, so in the rankings below, I have ordered my preferences for geographic-based names accordingly.

“C. Camptostoma pusillum.

1. Brown-crested.

2. Venezuelan. - Even if not exclusive to Venezuela, I agree that this one is preferable to “Caribbean” for reasons listed by Van.

3. Caribbean.

“D. Camptostoma sclateri.

1. Long-crested.

2. Pacific. – I’m okay with this, since there is already some precedent (including, besides the ones Van mentioned, “Pacific Royal-Flycatcher”, if you were to treat occidentalis as a distinct species, as has been done or suggested in some references).

3. Tumbes. – I would place this one at #2 except for the possible confusion with Tumbesian Tyrannulet alluded to by others.

4. Peruvian. – I don’t care for either this name or the next one, given that neither one reflects the true distribution, and, that neither country encompasses a clear preponderance of the species’ range.

5. Ecuadorian.

“F. Camptostoma obsoletum.

1. Cinnamon-banded.

2. Brazilian. – I like this one best of the geography-based names, but I can see the case for “Argentine” as well. I still prefer “Cinnamon-banded” because it does call attention to the one plumage character that most distinguishes this species from others in the group.

3. Argentine.

4. Meridional. -- This one really is a mouthful, especially when combined with “Beardless-Tyrannulet”.

5. Southernmost - Too awkward and contrived in my opinion.”

6. Austral

Proposal (1062) to South American Classification Committee

Establish English names for Camptostoma complex

This is a follow-up to the vote to split Camptostoma obsoletum into six daughter species. First, I think it should be borne in mind that “Beardless-Tyrannulet” already has six syllables. An alternative of course would be to adopt “Camptostoma” as the group name.

The eBird/Clements v2025 checklist has tentatively adopted geographic group names for all six species to be split. As an alternative, however, with a view to the utility of names based on vocalizations, I listened to each of the day songs referred to and depicted as sonagrams in Lima and Vaz (2025). This proved unsatisfactory, in my opinion, although I will list the names I came up with anyway, in the near-certainty that few if any will find favor. Finally, I viewed and compared images from each geographic area, taking care not to be influenced by the many misidentified photos of various flycatcher species that have not been reported or caught by eBird reviewers.

1) Camptostoma flaviventre: Included in this discussion because it seems very likely to occur in northwestern Colombia. In fact, I wondered if ML261221 might be this, since it is from very close to the Panama border.

· eBird/Clements group name for flaviventre:

o Central American

§ Cons: Northern also occurs in Central America, though not as widely, and it’s long (another six syllables).

o Panama

§ Pros: Covers much of its range, and it is the only one in Panama as far as known.

§ Cons: Also very widespread and well-known in western Costa Rica.

· Vocal name for flaviventre:

o Emphatic

§ Cons: sounds a bit odd, not used for any other bird species, and could be applied to some other species in the complex.

· Descriptive name for flaviventre:

o Dark-billed

§ Pro: Distinguishes it from Northern.

§ Con: Does not distinguish it from all Southern daughter species.

· Note: I am not sure how the determination that orphnum of Coiba, which has a darker crown, and majus of the Pearl Islands, which is “much larger”, was made for their assignment to C. flaviventre, except by geographical inference. I did not find any recordings of either orphnum or majus on xc or ML. However, unless there are documented records of flaviventre from the SACC region, this may not be that relevant here.

2) Camptostoma caucae:

· eBird/Clements group name for caucae:

o Colombian

§ Pro: Endemic to Colombia.

§ Cons: Other daughter species of C. obsoletum (pusillum and napaeum) occur widely in Colombia, and C. sclateri just makes it in, too, plus it seems likely that flaviventre might as well.

· Alternative geonym:

o Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet

§ Pro: Mirrors the specific epithet.

§ Con: Also occurs in Magdalena Valley and Colombian Andes.

· Vocal name for caucae:

o Whirring

§ Pro: Somewhat descriptive.

§ Cons: Some doubt was voiced about the identity of this vocal type, and it isn’t used for any other bird species.

· Descriptive names for caucae:

o Yellow-bellied

§ Pro: This is generally the brightest yellow below of all taxa.

§ Con: Not always different in this respect from some others.

· Notes: this seems to be relatively short-crested, and thus to look much like several other small flycatchers. There are many misidentified photos of other flycatchers mixed in with this on ML that hopefully will get taken care of soon (can Merlin please help?).

3) Camptostoma pusillum:

· eBird/Clements group name for pusillum:

o Caribbean

§ Pro: occurs primarily near the Caribbean coast and is the only Camptostoma that does so.

§ Cons: “Caribbean” is synonymous in many people’s minds with the West Indies, and the species is by no means strictly coastal.

· Vocal name for pusillum:

o Exclamatory

§ Pro: Finally, a vocal name that has been used for a bird (Vidua interjecta).

§ Con: Another five syllables, and perhaps could describe the vocalizations of some other Camptostoma.

· Descriptive names for pusillum:

o Brown-crested

§ Pro: It does have a pretty obvious brown crown/crest that helps distinguish it from the other Camptostoma, except perhaps Coiba orphnum.

§ Con: Others do have somewhat brown crowns.

o Pale-browed

§ Pro: Also a fairly obvious plumage feature, generally more so than in other Camptostoma.

§ Con: It’s not all that striking.

4) Camptostoma sclateri:

· eBird/Clements group name for sclateri:

o Peruvian

§ Pro: Occurs widely in Peru.

§ Cons: Not the only Camptostoma in Peru, and also occurs very widely in western Ecuador, even (barely) reaching Colombia.

· Alternative geonyms:

o Ecuadorian

§ Pro: Occurs widely in Ecuador.

§ Con: Not the only Camptostoma in Ecuador, and also occurs in western Peru (and southwestern Colombia).

o Pacific

§ Pro: Occurs mainly near the Pacific Coast.

§ Cons: Also occurs in the Marañón Valley; flaviventre is also broadly Pacific in distribution; and it’s not a seabird.

o Trans-Andean

§ Pro: Apt, and more helpful than the other geonyms.

§ Con: Not used in bird names as far as I know.

o Western

§ Pro: Used in Hilty (2021) for this alone and isn’t wrong.

§ Cons: “Western” is ambiguous and many consider it boring.

· Vocal name for sclateri:

o Chiming

§ Pro: Reasonably evocative and is used as a bird name (Psophodes occidentalis).

§ Con: As with any vocal name, not useful except when heard.

· Descriptive names for sclateri:

o Gray

§ Pro: All three subspecies are notably gray overall.

§ Cons: Some other taxa also are at least partly gray.

o Long-crested

§ Pro: Seems to be the longest-crested of all taxa, and usually flaunts it.

§ Con: I haven’t actually measured their crests.

o Pallid

§ Pro: Apt.

§ Con: Boring and somewhat unflattering.

5) Camptostoma napaeum:

· eBird/Clements group name for napaeum:

o Amazonian

§ Pro: Apt and unique to the group.

§ Con: Adds another five syllables.

· Vocal name for napaeum:

o Bubbling

§ Pros: Descriptive and is used for another bird (Cisticola bulliens).

§ Con: Not useful unless bird is vocalizing.

· Descriptive names for napaeum:

o Olive

§ Pro: Used by Hilty (2021).

§ Con: Used for olivaceum as a monotypic group, not in combination with napaeum. Also, not very distinctive in the group.

o Forest

§ Evidently more of a rainforest canopy bird than the other taxa.

§ Con: Not useful unless seen in its habitat.

6) Camptostoma obsoletum:

· eBird/Clements group name for obsoletum:

o Southern

§ Pro: Geographically informative.

§ Cons: Risks confusion with other members of former Southern Beardless.

· Alternative geonyms:

o Austral

§ Pro: Geographically informative.

§ Con: Usually refers to taxa with an even more southerly distribution.

· Vocal name for obsoletum:

o Churring

§ Pros: Descriptive and is used for another bird (Cisticola njombe).

§ Con: Not useful unless bird is vocalizing.

· Descriptive names for obsoletum:

o Cinnamon-banded

§ Pro: At least most of the time has the brightest cinnamon wingbars of any Camptostoma.

§ Cons: Cinnamon color seems subject to wear, at least.

Well, hopefully this is a useful starting point for discussion. I personally prefer the following:

A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre

B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae

C. Brown-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum

D. Long-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma sclateri

E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum

F. Cinnamon-banded Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum

Keep in mind that the northernmost species in the group goes by Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet (C. imberbe)

Pam Rasmussen, August 2025

Note from Remsen on voting structure: Let’s start out by a simple YES/NO on Pam’s preferences. A YES means you also vote for Pam’s choice. A NO means you like something else better, and please elaborate. We can see how this goes to see whether we need a more complex ranked-choice scheme.

Vote tracking chart:

https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart1044+.htm

Comments from Zimmer: “YES. Pam has done a nice job of breaking this all down and devising a suite of potential names for this complex group of pretty drably plumaged little flycatchers. One general point first: 1) Although, in theory, I like the idea of vocalization-based names for birds that are being split largely on the basis of vocal differences, in practice, it is often too difficult to capture vocal distinctions in a concise name. Such, I think, is the case with Camptostoma. See my comments on each of her proposed choices below:

“A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre - The geographic modifier “Central American” does not distinguish the species from Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and the descriptive modifier “Dark-billed” does not distinguish it from any of the South American Camptostoma. Although it’s range is not exclusive to Panama, it is the only Camptostoma there, and it occurs throughout the country, being more or less replaced by Northern Beardless from Carara north on the Pacific Slope of Costa Rica. Panama is certainly the epicenter of its range. I think “Yellow-bellied” would be a good descriptive modifier for this species, given that it is consistently brighter yellow-bellied than Northern Beardless and most South American taxa in the complex, but it shares this character with C. caucae, so I think geographic-based names would better suit both species.

“B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae – I definitely prefer this more specific geographic modifier to “Colombian” for reasons spelled out by Pam in the Proposal. I think flaviventre is just as yellow-bellied as caucae, so I don’t think “Yellow-bellied” works as an English name for the latter, particularly since it would seem odd to have a “Yellow-bellied Beardless-Tyrannulet” when one of the other species in the complex has the specific epithet of “flaviventre”!

“C. Brown-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum - I would actually be okay with “Caribbean” for this species, but “Brown-crested” is appropriate as a descriptive name.

“D. Long-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma sclateri - Good descriptive name, and I agree, they are longer-crested than all of the others. “Gray” or “Grayish” would probably work too, but I think the crest is more distinctive.

“E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum - I don’t think there’s much of anything about the plumage of napeum that really distinguishes it from any of its congeners. Therefore, “Amazonian” best sums up its distribution relative to everything else in the complex.

“F. Cinnamon-banded Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum - This one is a mouthful, but we shouldn’t retain “Southern “ for one of the daughters of the split. Also, the wingbars are typically richer cinnamon-rufous in this species than in any of the others. “Austral” would probably be my close second choice, since it would mean 3 fewer syllables (also, -banded Beardless back-to-back doesn’t roll off the tongue very well).”

Comments from Andrew Spencer (voting for Claramunt): “NO in the context of a binary voting for/against Pam's suggested names as a whole. That said, I don't have a ton of conviction behind this vote, and if the general mood is to go with those names I could be persuaded to switch to a yes.

“While I am generally a huge proponent of vocalization-based names for birds often identified by their vocalizations, I don't think this group is a good test case for such names, for many reasons. The various suggested plumage-based names don't really speak to me either, but I do see how they may be the best option in some cases. Even so, I'd prefer geographic names whenever possible here, with the understanding that many of them aren't ideal. Since basically any alternative for each of these also isn't ideal though, I feel somewhat ok with that. The one caveat to what I just said is that I can't come up with anything better for obsoletum sensu stricto.

“Without further ado, here are my preferences:

“A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre

“B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae

“C. Caribbean Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum (we have Caribbean Hornero, which has at least a somewhat similar range, so I'm ok with using the name for the Camptostoma too)

“D. Pacific Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma sclateri (at least to me, in an Americas context, "Pacific" can correspond fairly well to the range of this bird. Yeah, it's also in the Marañon, but I guess I'm ok with a bit of a stretch here)

“E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum

“F. Cinnamon-banded Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum (this is the one member here that I can't come up with a geographic name I'm happy with. It's just too widespread for options such as Atlantic Beardless-Tyrannulet, too far north for Austral Beardless-Tyrannulet, both too widespread and with too many others in-country for Brazilian Beardless-Tyrannulet, and Southern is a nonstarter for me given the chaos that would cause due to confusion with the former common name. I am really hoping someone smarter than I can come up with an acceptable geographic name for this bird, and if they do I would be more than pleased to change to that option).”

Comments from Areta: “To have a comparative perspective, I think that we should choose names that focus on a feature (either plumage, distribution, or vocalizations). Given the lack of a thorough comparative work on plumages, I would not endorse this venue. Vocalizations are complicated, and (to me at least) some species are not such, and so I would be at loss to define names based on their vocalizations. This leaves us with geographic names which, although sometimes imperfect, seem to be easier to apply. My votes are like those of Andrew for the first five species (in order to strive for consensus):

“A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre

“B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae

“C. Caribbean Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum --- not fantastic, given that this one occurs well outside the Caribbean; however, if one day flaviventre and pusillum are merged (as I advocated in my vote), it would still be a good name for the collective taxon.

“D. Pacific Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma sclateri

“E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum

“F. Meridional Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum --- I don´t want to name this species based on a plumage feature, as it breaks the comparative stance. Austral refers to the south in general terms (Magellanic does refer to the far south of South America), but if Austral is deemed as problematic, then Meridional (which also refers to the south) can be used. This also has the advantage of retaining a connection to the namesake Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet.”

Comments from Donsker (voting for Bonaccorso): “Kudos to Pam for tackling this exhausting problem. In general, I think that she did a terrific job in addressing the many pathways by which these taxa could be named and for her final conclusions.

“I am in general alignment with her proposal to use useful geographic names where possible. Like Andrew, I would have preferred to exclusively use geographic names for all of these daughter species but agree that there is no established (or even good) geographic name for the broad South American distribution of C. obsoletum. So, that opens the gates to vote for a mixture of name constructions.

“Here are my votes:

A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre

B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae

C. Brown-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum

D. Pacific Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma sclateri

E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum

F. Cinnamon-banded Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum

“I suspect we're on a path to a ranked choice vote.”

Comments from Remsen: “I agree with the principle of being consistent among the daughter species with respect to descriptive vs. geographic names, and that would be the way I would vote if there were acceptable names for each sister in each category. But I don’t think there are. “Caribbean” has too many associations with insular distributions for my taste; I think the reasonable expectation for anyone with respect to a “Caribbean B-T” would be that it has an insular distribution, like the other tyrannid with that name, Caribbean Elaenia. “Pacific” already has plenty of analogs for non-oceanic birds, but I think it should be a “last resort” name. “Meridional” is an interesting idea, but usage of that term on bird names would be novel and likely unpopular. So, I would vote YES for all the names proposed, despite them being a mix of descriptive and geographic.

“Tangentially, concerning voice-based names, I recognize all the good points made here and in other proposals with respect to the problems of word-based interpretations of voices, but I think names using voice descriptions accomplish an important goal, namely alerting users to the importance of voice in distinguishing species in the complex.”

Comments from Josh Beck (guest voter): “NO, but only because that’s the way the proposal is structured. A really good proposal and a good set of options and analysis of them.

“I greatly prefer a more homogenous set of descriptors rather than mixing geographic and plumage. The lack of range overlap and the preservation of Beardless-Tyrannulet does fortunately mean that there shouldn’t be any resulting confusion, so it is not really critical that these names be “perfect” so long as they are reasonably concise and sensical.

“My preference is for the geographic descriptors in this group.

A. Panama, this seems easy and non-controversial.

B. Cauca. I consulted a couple Colombian friends, and they all preferred Cauca to Colombian as well.

C. I personally don’t mind Caribbean but agree it is more tied to W Indian taxa. I would suggest Venezuelan. Off the top of my head it mirrors the ranges, roughly, of at least Venezuelan Flycatcher and Venezuelan Troupial.

D. Pacific. Peruvian or Ecuadorian would be equally fine for me. They are all perfectly serviceable and I have no problem with any of them.

E. Amazonian.

F. The more challenging taxon. I dislike breaking with the geographic theme so I would go with Meridional over Austral as Austral seems borderline misleading compared to Austral’s use in other birds and contexts in S America. If that doesn’t prove popular I suggest we keep brainstorming and soliciting ideas. I wouldn’t have a problem with a quite imperfect yet serviceable name like Paraguayan or Brazilian or the like. It goes without saying but just to reiterate, reuse of Southern must be avoided in this case.”

Comments from Lane: “This is a group that will test our wills with regard to English names. That said, here are my preferred options (and alternates where necessary). Basically, I think geographic names work the best as there are few solid characters distinguishing the members of this allopatric complex:

“A) C. flaviventre: Panama B-Ty.

“B) C. caucae: Cauca B-Ty. (since several other species occur widely in Colombia, this seems a better choice than “Colombian”).

“C) C. pusillum: Venezuelan B-Ty. (with Caribbean B-Ty as an alternative).

“D) C. sclateri: Pacific B-Ty (I am not bothered with using “Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic” as modifiers for species that live at the margins of those bodies of water if it is the best geographic descriptor within a complex that is largely allopatric. I could also live with Peruvian B-Ty as an alternative. I will point out that C. napaeum olivaceum and C. imberbe are both quite long-crested, so I don’t think “Long-crested” fits exclusively to C. sclateri).

“E) C. napaeum: Amazonian B-Ty. (I could go with Varzea B-Ty as an alternative, as most populations are found in riparian habitat, although in San Martín, Peru, it is not… a pattern matching the similarly-named Varzea Thrush!).

“F) C. obsoletum: Austral B-Ty. (I really can’t get around using some term that indicates that this is the southernmost member of the complex but agree that “Southern B-Ty” would be a mistake. Furthermore, there are at least some populations that are migratory—as far as I know, it is only found in SE Peru seasonally—and thus they are Austral migrants. A quick check of specimens at LSU show that there are some with white wingbars, so Cinnamon-banded is not that helpful).”

Comments from Gary Rosenberg (voting for Naka): “My preference would be to be consistent with names and stick with geographic modifiers (as opposed to a mix) - especially given the variation in things like crest length, underpart coloration, or wing-bar coloration depending on state of wear, lighting conditions, etc… Length of the crest seems to be a subjective character - not easily seen in the field, Wing-bar coloration is also tricky - birds that are supposed to have “cinnamon” wing-bars often look white in the field - either due to wear, or lighting. I often think this every time I see “Orange-banded Flycatcher” in Ecuador! With that in mind, my choices are as follows:

“A. YES . Panama - Although this form makes it into sw Costa Rica, the majority of the range is in Panama.

“B. YES. Cauca - Given that other forms occur in Colombia, using “Colombia” seems to be a bit confusing - and I like narrowing down a regional modifier - so even though it occurs outside the Cauca region, this seems to be the best choice.

“C. [NO]. Caribbean - This seems logical given it is the only one along the Caribbean coast - although using “Venezuelan” would also be acceptable - which would eliminate the confusion with birds actually found on the Caribbean islands as opposed to the Caribbean coast. Using Brown-crested seems problematic given the subjective nature of the color brown.

“D. [NO]. Pacific - this seems to be a good compromise as it is found on the Pacific slope in both Ecuador and Peru - so using one of those names seems unfair - especially since the two countries are often at war! Pacific-slope might also work - although adds another syllable and a hyphen - I used to joke it wasn’t a tropical bird unless it had two hyphens.

“E. YES. Amazonian - This one seems obvious.

“F. [NO]. Austral - like others, I am struggling with this form - coming up with a name that infers that it is the southern form, while not using “Southern” - Austral seems like the best choice, especially given that some populations are austral migrants - although most of the other species that are named “Austral” occur much further south. Maybe using “Southeastern” as a modifier would be more accurate. I personally don’t like “Meridional” - which is a bit of a tongue-twister - and the definition indicates that it refers to the ‘South of France’.”

Comments from Stiles: “Here are my choices for E-names in the South American BLTs: In general, I too came to the conclusion that geography is the best way to go: too much ambiguity in plumage-based names, and use of vocal-based names has many drawbacks. Aside from the obvious problem that these birds are not conspicuously vocal, such names lead us into a morass of subjectivity in describing these features, including having to invent names for the distinctive features of their voices. In most cases, the geography-based names work well. For most of these, the previous votes have chosen the best alternative, which in nearly all cases includes at least the central part of the distributions, so I won't go into details on these. So, here goes:

“A. flaviventre- Panama

“B. caucensis- Cauca (note that this department includes both slopes of the Western Andes)

“C. pusillum- Caribbean (this describes well the center of its distribution (where it is the only BLT) and being a continental species, no confusion with the insular avifauna.

“D. sclateri- Pacific

“E. napaeum- Amazonian

“F. obsoletum- here, I will depart from the previously expressed possibilities, Southern and Austral. The former, because it might cause confusion with previous literature, which applied it to all of the above species as well. I find Austral misleading: it is mostly used for species whose distributions are centered in the southern third of the continent (towards or including part or all of the southern cone): obsoletus is neither. It is broadly distributed over much of the eastern part of the continent, with its center of distribution definitely further north, closer to the center of Brazil. Over most of this wide area it is the only BLT present, and the great majority of its range is in fact within Brazil: its occurrence in other countries (like Uruguay and Paraguay) is marginal by comparison. Hence, my opinion is that the best descriptive name for its distribution is clearly Brazilian.”

Comment from Dan Zimberlin: “Just throwing this out there for C. obsoletum, while close to Southern and the drawback being probably too close. What about Southernmost Beardless Tyrannulet?”

A. Panama Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma flaviventre - The geographic modifier “Central American” does not distinguish the species from Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and the descriptive modifier “Dark-billed” does not distinguish it from any of the South American Camptostoma. Although it’s range is not exclusive to Panama, it is the only Camptostoma there, and it occurs throughout the country, being more or less replaced by Northern Beardless from Carara north on the Pacific Slope of Costa Rica. Panama is certainly the epicenter of its range. I think “Yellow-bellied” would be a good descriptive modifier for this species, given that it is consistently brighter yellow-bellied than Northern Beardless and most South American taxa in the complex, but it shares this character with C. caucae, so I think geographic-based names would better suit both species.

“B. Cauca Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma caucae - Definitely prefer this more specific geographic modifier to “Colombian” for reasons spelled out by Pam in the Proposal. I think flaviventre is just as yellow-bellied as caucae, so I don’t think “Yellow-bellied” works as an English name for the latter, particularly since it would seem odd to have a “Yellow-bellied Beardless-Tyrannulet” when one of the other species in the complex has the specific epithet of “flaviventre”!

“C. Brown-crested Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma pusillum - I would actually be okay with “Caribbean” for this species, but “Brown-crested” is appropriate as a descriptive name.

“E. Amazonian Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma napaeum - I don’t think there’s much of anything about the plumage of napaeum that really distinguishes it from any of its congeners. Therefore, “Amazonian” best sums up its distribution relative to everything else in the complex.