About the Golden-bellied Flycatcher
The golden-bellied flycatcher (Myiodynastes hemichrysus) is a passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. The golden-bellied flycatcher has a complicated taxonomic history. It was originally described as Hypermitres hemichrysus. By the early 1900s it had been reassigned to genus Myiodynastes, which had been erected in 1847. A 1927 publication treated it as a subspecies of the golden-crowned flycatcher (M. chrysocephalus).
By at least 1979 it was again being treated as a full species. At that time it was considered monotypic. A 2016 publication detailed the vocal differences and similarities between the golden-bellied flycatcher and the three subspecies of the golden-crowned flycatcher. Based on that study, by 2020 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World moved two subspecies from the golden-crowned to the golden-bellied. The Clements taxonomy followed suit in 2022 and the IOC and both subcommittees of the American Ornithological Society in 2023. The golden-bellied and golden-crowned flycatchers are sister species.
The golden-bellied flycatcher... Wikipedia →