Order
Passeriformes
Family
Parulidae
Genus
Basileuterus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Black-cheeked Warbler Basileuterus melanogenys

Aidan Griffiths
Version: 1.0 — Published September 30, 2016

Systematics

Geographic Variation

Three subspecies of Basileuterus melanogenys usually are recognized (e.g., Lowery and Monroe 1968, Dickinson and Christidis 2014)

melanogenys, described as Basileuterus melanogenys Baird 1865; type locality "(San José?)", Costa Rica

Occurs in the highlands of Costa Rica. See Detailed Description.

eximius, described as Basileuterus melanogenys eximius Nelson 1912; type locality Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama.

Occurs in western Panama (Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama). Similar to nominate melanogenys (and considered to be a junior synonym by Wetmore et al. 1984), but paler and grayer; underparts paler and more whitish; and sides of breast and flanks grayer, less greenish (Nelson 1912).

bensoni, described as Basileuterus bensoni Griscom 1927; type locality Chitrá, 4700 feet [1431 m], Veraguas, Panama

Occurs in the highlands of western Panama (Veraguas).

Similar to nominate melanogenys, but upperparts gray (rather than olive or greenish); underparts whiter; and breast band darker.

Subspecies

Related Species

The broad concept of Basileuterus of earlier authors (e.g., Lowery and Monroe 1968) is not a monophyletic group, but is divided into two clades (Lovette et al. 2010). The first clade, now recognized as the genus Myiothlypis, contains sixteen species. This is a sister taxon to a clade comprising the second clade (true Basileuterus), and the genera Cardelina and Myioborus.

Lovette et al. (2010) identified melanogenys as sister to Basileuterus belli (Golden-browed Warbler). This study, however, did not include the taxon ignotus (Pirre Warbler), which variously has been considered to be a subspecies of melanogenys (Lowery and Monroe 1968, Wetmore et al. 1984) or as a separate species (American Ornithologists' Union 1998) that forms a superspecies with melanogenys (Sibley and Monroe 1990).

Recommended Citation

Griffiths, A. (2016). Black-cheeked Warbler (Basileuterus melanogenys), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.blcwar1.01