Order
Passeriformes
Family
Thraupidae
Genus
Eucometis
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Gray-headed Tanager Eucometis penicillata

Carly S. Baker and Kevin J. Burns
Version: 1.0 — Published September 10, 2010

Systematics

Geographic Variation

Seven subspecies are usually recognized (Storer 1970). In general, subspecies that are west of the Andes are smaller, have a reduced crest, and a darker head (Ridgely and Tudor 1989).:

E. p. pallida: Richer yellow on chest, head and throat are a darker gray (Isler and Isler 1999). Occurs southeastern Mexico to eastern Guatemala.

E. p. spodocephala: Underparts are a deeper, orangish yellow (Isler and Isler 1999). Nicaragua, and the Pacific Slope of Costa Rica.

E. p. stictothorax: Head is greenish olive instead of gray, throat is yellowish olive,and lacks a prominent crest (Isler and Isler 1999, Skutch 1954). Southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama.

E. p. cristata: Pale gray crest, olive-tinged throat (Restall et al. 2006). Eastern Panama, northern Colombia.

E. p. affinis: Long crest, but shorter than E. p. cristata and E. p. penicillata and with less white on the tips, paler throat (Isler and Isler 1999, Restall et al. 2006). Northern Venezuela.

E. p. penicillata: Has the largest crest, a white chin and throat (Restall et al. 2006). Southeast Colombia south to eastern Peru, and east to the Guyanas and northern Brazil.

E. p. albicollis: Head, throat, and the very long crest are a "buffy gray" (Isler and Isler 1999). Eastern Bolivia, northern Paraguay, northeast Argentina, and south central Brazil.

Burns and Racicot (2009) sequenced DNA from three individuals of the Gray-headed Tanager, two from adjacent populations in Bolivia and one from Panama. The two Bolivian individuals were very similar to each other, but the Panamanian sample differed in 4.8% of the base pairs sequenced, a level higher than that observed between many avian species and genera. Thus, multiple independent evolutionary units that perhaps represent distinct species may exist within the Gray-headed Tanager.

Subspecies


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Eucometis penicillata [spodocephalus Group]


EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Eucometis penicillata [penicillata Group]

Related Species

The Gray-headed Tanager is the only member of the genus Eucometis. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA show that it belongs to a large clade of lowland tanagers that include all members of the genera Ramphocelus, Tachyphonus, Coryphospingus, Rhodospingus, Lanio, and Trichothraupis (Burns and Racicot 2009). Among these species, its closest relative is the Black-goggled Tanager (Trichothraupis melanops), with which it shares a number of features including general  size, presence of a crest, and other plumage characteristics (Willis 1985, Isler and Isler 1999, Burns and Racicot 2009).  In addition, Willis (1985) noted several common behaviors of these two species, including army-ant following. Based on these similarities and complementary geographic distributions, Willis (1985) suggested placing the Black-googled and Gray-headed tanagers in the same genus, Trichothraupis.  Although this suggestion has not yet been adopted, the DNA phylogeny (Racicot and Burns 2009) agree with Willis's assessment.

Recommended Citation

Baker, C. S. and K. J. Burns (2010). Gray-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.grhtan1.01