Proposal (420) to South American Classification Committee
Separate
Pseudocolopteryx flaviventris into
two species
Effect on South American CL: this proposal would add a new species to our list, Pseudocolopteryx citreola.
Background: There is almost no background on this; much of
it is new information. However, it bears noting that there are four species
presently in the genus Pseudocolopteryx.
On the whole they are a group with their center of abundance and diversity in
the southern cone, Argentina specifically. All are yellow below, and either
brownish, greenish, or olive above. Plumage differences among species are
slight, but vocally all can be distinguished (i.e. Bostwick & Zyskowski
2001). On the whole, taxonomy in this group has been stable - no great
upheavals or controversies have occurred.
One
other member of the genus was described from central Chile by Landbeck (1864),
as Arundinicola citreola. Wetmore (1926) mentioned and described citreola from Argentina as well, including
its voice. Later Hellmayr (1927) subsumed citreola
into flaviventris based on similarity
in plumage and measurements, although citreola
averages larger and longer-winged than flaviventris.
He did not give it subspecies status; the name essentially was then lost in the
literature and never heard from again.
New information: In the late 80s Bret Whitney was scouting for an upcoming
birding tour to Chile when he heard and tracked down an unknown song near
Renaico, in the Bio-Bio Region. The bird was recorded and observed and appeared
to be a Pseudocolopteryx, nearly
identical to flaviventris but with a
rather different song. This original recording was poor, but diagnostic, and
for many years was the only recording known of this population. Later Guillermo
Egli (2002) published a superb recording, which matches exactly the Renaico
bird. This second recording was made in the Valparaiso Region at the mouth of
the Maipo River. Later, Jaramillo was able to see and record this song type
both at the Renaico site, as well as the Maipo River site, in addition to the
Santa Inez marsh nearer to Santiago. Santa Inez is approximately 30 km from the
type locality of citreola along the
Mapocho River in the Metropolitan region. All Chilean birds sound exactly the
same and are quite different from true flaviventris
found in E. Argentina, Uruguay, and S. Brazil (see below).
Abalos
and Areta (2009) moved the discussion further. They published sonograms of citreola from Chile and Argentina and
compared them to those of various other Pseudocolopteryx,
including flaviventris from E.
Argentina. They recorded 20 individuals from Mendoza, Rio Negro, and Neuquén,
all in W. Argentina. They also performed 17 crossed playback experiments. They
confirmed that citreola is a cryptic
species with a different song than that of flaviventris,
and that it deserves status as a biological species separate from flaviventris. Their results show the
following:
1)
Birds from W. Argentina match the
vocalizations of Chilean citreola.
2)
In the breeding season it is found from
Mendoza and Rio Negro south to Neuquén. It is absent from these areas in
winter.
3)
An October record from Salta is of citreola (based on song), but could be
of a southbound migrant.
4)
They noted a recent record during
Austral winter from Bolivia. This record pertained to a singing bird, so could
be assigned to the vocal type of citreola.
5)
The voice of citreola can been described as “tic tic tic tic tic tirik-tirik” or
“tick tick tick tick-tick-tick-you.”
Below are sonograms published in Abalos and Areta (2009), the top is the
Egli recording from Chile, and the three lower ones are from Mendoza,
Argentina.
6)
The voice of citreola is distinctive and unlike that of any other Pseudocolopteryx, including flaviventris. Below are published
sonograms in Abalos and Areta (2009) of (from top to bottom) citreola, flaviventris, dinelliana,
acutipennis and sclateri.
Although visually most similar to flaviventris,
citreola’s introductory notes are
very similar to those of dinelliana,
although the important terminal flourish is quite different.
7)
The singing behavior of citreola differs from that of flaviventris, with up-and-down
mechanical head movements in citreola,
although there are both up-and-down and side-to-side rhythmical movements done
by flaviventris.
8)
In playback experiments citreola always ignored songs of flaviventris, whereas they always
strongly responding to songs of citreola.
Similarly flaviventris never
responded to playback of citreola
songs, whereas they strongly responded to flaviventris
songs. Samples were small, but the response was quite clear.
9)
In Argentina the Monte Desert
essentially separates the breeding distribution of citreola in the west and flaviventris
in the east. They have allopatric breeding distributions, at least based on
present data.
Some additional personal notes: I have examined and measured
the type specimen in New York (Landbeck’s specimen), and it is essentially like
flaviventris but a bit longer-winged,
perhaps brighter yellow below. and with a stronger cinnamon tone on the crown.
There is essentially no reliable way to separate citreola and flaviventris
based on specimens other than the longer wing, although doubtless there will be
overlap in a larger series. The real difference is the voice.
Also, in Chile the distribution of this bird is in the
central zone from Santiago south to Valdivia, and it is nowhere common. Its
highest density appears to be near the city of Chillan. All records are from
spring – summer, it appears to leave Chile during the winter.
English Names: There is no English name for citreola. In Abalos and Areta they used the moniker “Doradito
Limón” or Lemon Doradito, based on the scientific name. The Chilean name for
the bird is the imaginative “Pajaro Amarillo” or Yellow Bird. Unfortunately
lemon or yellow are descriptors that fit all Pseudocolopteryx and are therefore not that informative. Given that
a new name is needed, perhaps it is best to base it on the most distinctive
aspect of the bird, its song. In the spirit of many species of Cisticola, I propose this bird’s English
name be “Ticking Doradito.” The song does indeed clearly sound like a series of
tick notes that speed up at the end. This is a better descriptor of the song
than the name of flaviventris, which
hardly warbles. One could also opt for the patronym Landbeck’s Doradito,
although I find this less colorful and also less useful than “Ticking
Doradito.” I realize this name may sound odd, but it is distinctive, short and
unique.
Recommendation: I propose that the name citreola
be dusted off and brought back to life, and it be given to a species level
taxon breeding in Chile and W, Argentina and wintering at least to Bolivia – Pseudocolopteryx citreola, the Ticking
Doradito.
Literature Cited.
Abalos, R. & J. I. Areta. 2009, Historia Natural y
vocalizaciones del doradito limón (Pseudocolopteryx cf. citreola) en Argentina.
Orn. Neotrop. 20: 215–230
Bostwick, K. S., and K. Zyskowski. 2001. Mechanical sounds
and sexual dimorphism in the Crested Doradito (Tyrannidae: Pseudocolopteryx
sclateri). Condor 103:861-865.
Egli, G. 2002. Voces de las aves chilenas. UNORCH, Santiago
de Chile.
Hellmayr, C. E. 1927. Catalogue of
birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural
History. Initiated by Charles B. Cory, continued by Charles E. Hellmayr. part
5. Tyrannidae
Landbeck, L. 1864. Contribuciones a la Ornitología de Chile.
An. Univ. Chile 24: 336–348.
Wetmore, A. 1926. Observations on the
birds of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 133:
1–448.
Alvaro
Jaramillo, March 2010
Comments
from Robbins:
“YES. The
vocal data clearly support recognition of citreola as a species and I
like Alvaro’s English name suggestion.”
Comments
from Bret Whitney:
“Yes. I first recorded this bird on 7 Nov 1986, and
immediately recognized it as very different from P. flaviventris. It showed
no interest in a recording of flaviventris
from Buenos Aires province. Looking into
it, I dug up the name citreola, and
called attention to its validity to numerous ornithologists over the
years. The work has now been done and
its range more clearly defined, so I would definitely vote to recognize citreola at the species level. In my opinion, it is the most endangered
species in the Tyrannidae. Ticking
Doradito sounds fine for an English name though they all “tick” to one degree
or another. Another name to consider
might be Neglected Doradito; hopefully the past tense will become ever more
appropriate and poignant as it receives more attention from this point
forward. Even if it one day becomes the
“protected doradito”, it remains that the big story was that it was neglected
for so long before we stepped up.
doradito desatendido, yeah.”
Comments from Stiles: “YES. All the evidence points to species status for citreola. “Ticking Doradito” seems OK as an English name – I hesitate to go for “Neglected” or something similar because there are probably a fair number of similar cases waiting for attention. This is the sort of analysis we really need to sort out such cases, and “neglect” or no, it was worth waiting for!”
Comments
from Nores:
“YES. Sus voces
diferentes muestran claramente de que se trata de dos especies distintas, a
pesar de su parecido. Especialmente importante considero los experimentos de
playback realizados por Abalos y Areta (2009).”
Comments
from Schulenberg:
“YES to
recognize citreola as a species. I also vote in favor of "Ticking
Doradito" was the English name.”
Comments
from Remsen: “YES. Nice work documenting species rank – all data
are consistent with treatment as a separate species. “Ticking Doradito” is fine with me.”