Fire-eyed diucon
| Fire-eyed diucon | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Pyrope Cabanis & Heine, 1860 |
| Species: | P. pyrope
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| Binomial name | |
| Pyrope pyrope (Kittlitz, 1830)
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| Breeding Non-Breeding | |
| Synonyms | |
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See text | |
The fire-eyed diucon (Pyrope pyrope) is a passerine bird of South America belonging to the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae.[2] It is found in Argentina and Chile and as a vagrant to the Falkland Islands.[3]
Taxonomy and systematics
[edit]The fire-eyed diucon has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described in 1830 as "Muscicapa Pyrope".[4] In 1860 it was moved to the newly erected genus Pyrope and then in 1927 to genus Xolmis.[5][6] In 1970 one author returned it to Pyrope while others retained it in Xolmis.[7][8] Two genetic studies published in 2020 showed that it did belong to Pyrope.[9][10] Taxonomic systems began making the change in 2021.[11][12][13] However, as of December 2024 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retained the species in Xolmis.[14]
The fire-eyed diucon is the only member of genus Pyrope. It has two subspecies, the nominate P. p. pyrope (Kittlitz, 1830) and P. p. fortis (Philippi Bañados & Johnson, AW, 1946).[2]
Description
[edit]The fire-eyed diucon is 18.5 to 21.5 cm (7.3 to 8.5 in) long and weighs 31 to 50 g (1.1 to 1.8 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark gray crown, face, and upperparts. Their primary coverts and remiges are black with pale gray edges on the inner remiges. Their tail is dark gray with paler outer feathers and paler tips on the others. Their throat is very pale ashy gray with faint darker gray streaks. Their breast is a darker ashy gray, their belly grayish white, and their vent area white. Subspecies P. p. fortis is larger than the nominate and has darker upper- and underparts. Adults of both sexes of both subspecies have a bright red iris that gives the species its English name, a black bill, and black or blackish legs and feet. Juveniles have a brown iris.[15]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]The nominate subspecies of the fire-eyed diucon is found from northern Chile's central Coquimbo Region and west-central Argentina's Neuquén Province south to Cape Horn. Subspecies P. p. fortis is found on Chile's Chiloé Island.[15][16] The nominate subspecies has also been recorded as a vagrant on the Falkland Islands.[3] In Chile and Argentina the species inhabits open landscapes including the edge of Nothofagus forest, open woodlands, agricultural lands and gardens, and the shrubby ecotone between forest and steppe. In elevation it mostly ranges up to at least 2,000 m (6,600 ft) and may be found as high as 3,050 m (10,000 ft).[15][16]
Behavior
[edit]Movement
[edit]The fire-eyed diucon's mainland population is completely migratory. It breeds in Argentina and in Chile from the Atacama Region south to Cape Horn and entirely vacates that range in the austral winter. It spends the winter in Chile from northern Atacama north to the central Coquimbo Region. The Chiloé Island subspecies P. p. fortis is thought by some authors to be a year-round resident and by others to migrate north like the mainland subspecies.[1][15]
Feeding
[edit]The fire-eyed diucon's diet is not known in detail. It feeds primarily on insects and also in the austral winter includes fruits like wild berries and grapes. It forages mostly singly or in pairs, dropping from a perch to prey the ground or sallying from a perch to capture it in mid-air ("hawking").[15]
Breeding
[edit]The fire-eyed diucon breeds starting in October in northern Chile and as late as December or January in the south. Males make a flight display in which they fly high with slow wing beats and without vocalizing. The species' nest is an open cup woven from sticks and grass lined with lichen, moss, or wool. It is placed in a shrub or tree up to about 5 m (15 ft) above the ground and often in streamside vegetation. The clutch ranges from two to four eggs with three being the most common size. The eggs are creamy white with red spots. Shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) are known to parisitize the nest. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.[15]
Vocalization
[edit]The fire-eyed diucon is not highly vocal. Its song is "short call notes terminating in a flourish...pt wheet whut T-T-wheeeooo".[15] Its call has been described as "a quiet peet"[16] and a "soft, subdued pit or whit", "a soft pt", and "a very brief and relatively high pitched tseet"[15].
Status
[edit]The IUCN has assessed the fire-eyed diucon as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered fairly common, and its "wide distribution and abundance, including in urbanized areas, suggest that there are no current significant human threats".[15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c BirdLife International. (2016). "Fire-eyed Diucon Xolmis pyrope". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22700007A93758538. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22700007A93758538.en. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (March 2025). "Tyrant flycatchers". IOC World Bird List. v 15.1. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
- ^ a b Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 30 March 2025. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 30 March 2025
- ^ von Kittlitz, Heinrich (1830). "Ueber die Vögel von chili, beobachtet im Mä und Anfang April 1827". Mémoires présentés à l’Académie impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg par divers Savans et dans ses assemblées (in German). 1: 191.
- ^ Cabanis, Jean Louis; Heine, Ferdinand (1860). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt. Vol. 3. In Commission bei R. Frantz.
- ^ Cory, C. B., and C. E. Hellmayr. 1927. Catalogue of birds of the Americas. Field Museum Nat. History Publ., Zool. Ser., vol. 13, pt. 5. page 19.
- ^ Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1970. "A guide to the birds of South America". Livingston Publishing Co., Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
- ^ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 30 March 2025. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 30 March 2025
- ^ Chesser, R.T.; Harvey, M.H.; Brumfield, R.T.; Derryberry, E.P. (2020). "A revised classification of the Xolmiini (Aves: Tyrannidae: Fluvicolinae), including a new genus for Muscisaxicola fluviatilis". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 133 (1): 35–48. doi:10.2988/20-00005.
- ^ Ohlson, J.I.; Irestedt, M.; Batalha Filho, H.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Fjeldså, J. (2020). "A revised classification of the fluvicoline tyrant flycatchers (Passeriformes, Tyrannidae, Fluvicolinae)". Zootaxa. 4747 (1): 167–176. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4747.1.7. PMID 32230123.
- ^ Areta, Nacho; Pearman, Mark (September 2020). "Proposal 885: Revise the generic classification of the Xolmiini". South American Classification Committee, American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved May 10, 2025. The proposal was accepted in January 2021.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Tyrant flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ Clements, J. F., et al. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved August 30, 2021
- ^ HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 9. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy retrieved December 23, 2024
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Portman, M., A. Brush, and T. S. Schulenberg (2021). Fire-eyed Diucon (Pyrope pyrope), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.fiediu1.01.1 retrieved May 11, 2025
- ^ a b c de la Peña, Martín R.; Rumboll, Maurice (2001). Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica. Princeton Illustrated Checklists. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 75, map 75.1. ISBN 0691090351.
