In South America, a New Species of Bird named Flatbill flycatchers have been discovered.

Key Facts

• Flatbill flycatcher are members of genus Rhynchocyclusin exclusively New World family Tyrannidae.
• Four known species in this genus are distributed across southern Mexico to north-eastern Bolivia, Brazil and eastern Venezuela.

Four Species of Genus Rhynchocyclus

• Genus Rhynchocyclus currently comprises of four species:

1. Olivaceous flatbill (Rhynchocyclus olivaceus),
2. Eye-ringed flatbill (Rhynchocyclus brevirostris),
3. Pacific flatbill (Rhynchocyclus pacificus)and
4. Fulvous-breasted flatbill (Rhynchocyclus fulvipectus).

• Two of these species, Rhynchocyclus pacificus & Rhynchocyclus fulvipectus are monotypic, while other two are polytypic.

Subspecies of Rhynchocyclus olivaceus

There are nine sub-species of Rhynchocyclus olivaceus. All the subspecies are very similar to each other. They have a remarkable constancy in morphometric characters and plumage colour patterns. It evidences their cryptic nature. All the species are large-headed and flat-billed.