Northern Tufted Flycatcher

The northern tufted flycatcher or simply tufted flycatcher (Mitrephanes phaeocercus) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is found from Mexico to Ecuador. == Taxonomy and systematics == The northern tufted flycatcher was originally described as Mitrephorus phaeocercus. It was later determined that genus Mitrephorus already "belonged" to other taxa so by the principle of priority genus Mitrephanes was erected for it. The northern tufted flycatcher's further taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy recognize these four subspecies: M. p. tenuirostris Brewster, 1888 M. p. phaeocercus (Sclater, PL, 1859) M. p. aurantiiventris (Lawrence, 1865) M. p. berlepschi Hartert, EJO, 1902 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World adds a fifth, M. p. eminulus, that the IOC and Clements include within M. p. berlepschi. Three other subspecies have been proposed but all three of those taxonomic systems include them within the IOC/Clements four subspecies. What is now the olive tufted flycatcher (M. olivaceus) of Peru and Bolivia was previously treated as a subspecies of the northern tufted flycatcher. The northern tufted and olive tufted flycatchers are the only species in genus Mitrephanes. This article follows the four-subspecies model. == Description…