Myadestes is a genus of solitaires, medium-sized mostly insectivorous birds in the thrush family, Turdidae.

Myadestes
Puaiohi (M. palmeri)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Subfamily: Myadestinae
Genus: Myadestes
Swainson, 1838
Type species
Myadestes genibarbis
Swainson, 1838
Species

See text

They are found in the Americas and Hawaiʻi, where several island species have become extinct.

Taxonomy edit

The genus Myadestes was introduced in 1838 by the English naturalist William Swainson to accommodate a single species, the rufous-throated solitaire, which is therefore the type species of the genus.[1][2] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek mua meaning "fly" and edestēs meaning "eater".[3]

The genus contains 12 species:[4]

Genus MyadestesSwainson, 1838 – twelve species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Brown-backed solitaire

 

Myadestes occidentalis
Stejneger, 1882
northwest Mexico to Honduras
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Slate-colored solitaire

 

Myadestes unicolor
Sclater, PL, 1857
south Mexico to Nicaragua
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Townsend's solitaire

 

Myadestes townsendi
(Audubon, 1838)
west Canada to central Mexico
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Kamao

 

Myadestes myadestinus
(Stejneger, 1887)
Kauai (Hawaiian Islands, extinct) Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 EX 


Puaiohi

 

Myadestes palmeri
(Rothschild, 1893)
Kauai (Hawaiian Islands) Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 CR 


Oloma'o

 

Myadestes lanaiensis
(Wilson, SB, 1891)
Hawaiian Islands
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


ʻŌmaʻo

 

Myadestes obscurus
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)
Hawaii (Hawaiian Islands) Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


Cuban solitaire

 

Myadestes elisabeth
(Lembeye, 1850)
Cuba
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Rufous-throated solitaire

 

Myadestes genibarbis
Swainson, 1838
West Indies
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Black-faced solitaire

 

Myadestes melanops
Salvin, 1865
Costa Rica and Panama
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Varied solitaire

 

Myadestes coloratus
Nelson, 1912
Panama
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


Andean solitaire

 

Myadestes ralloides
(d'Orbigny, 1840)
north Venezuela to west Bolivia
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


References edit

  1. ^ Swainson, William John (1838). Flycatchers. Naturalist's Library. Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars. p. 132.
  2. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 89.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 263. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Thrushes". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 April 2023.