Northern Schiffornis

The northern schiffornis, or northern mourner, (Schiffornis veraepacis), is a species of Neotropical bird in the family Tityridae, the tityras, becards, and allies. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country except El Salvador, and in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. == Taxonomy and systematics == The northern schiffornis was originally described in 1860 as Heteropelma verae-pacis. However, genus Heteropelma had earlier been established for a wasp and so by the principle of priority the species had to be reassigned. For much of the twentieth century Schiffornis was placed in the manakin family Pipridae and its species were called manakins. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed the placement of Schiffornis in Tityridae and taxonomic systems made the reassignment. In 1998 the American Ornithological Society was unsure where to place the genus and listed its members as incertae sedis but in 2011 moved them to Tityridae. What is now the northern schiffornis was eventually treated as a subspecies of what was then called the thrush-like manakin and later called the thrush-like schiffornis, Schiffornis turdina. Since at least the late twentieth century taxonomists had suspected that several species were embedded within Schiffornis turdina. Studies published in 2007 and 2011 confirmed that S.…