Shrike-like Cotinga

Shrike-like Cotinga
male L. elegans buckleyi
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tityridae
Genus: Laniisoma
Swainson, 1832
Species: L. elegans
Binomial name
Laniisoma elegans
(Thunberg, 1823)
Synonyms

Laniisoma buckleyi (Sclater & Salvin, 1880)

The Shrike-like Cotinga (Laniisoma elegans), also known as the Shrike-like Laniisoma or the Elegant Mourner, is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. As suggested by its common name, it was formerly considered a cotinga. As it is far from being "shrike-like", this means that the widely used common name is entirely misleading. It is the only member of the genus Laniisoma.

It is found in Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil and disjunctly in humid Andean forests in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It has been suggested that the Andean taxa (buckleyi, venezuelense and cadwaladeri) should be considered a separate species, the Andean Laniisoma (L. buckleyi). If this population was split off, the nominate taxon (elegans) would constitute a monotypic Brazilian endemic, the Brazilian Laniisoma (L. elegans). It is generally rare and local throughout its range, and, if split, the Brazilian species would likely be considered threatened.

References