The brown-capped vireo (Vireo leucophrys) is a small passerine bird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. It is found in Mexico, much of Central America, and in South America from Venezuela to Bolivia.
Taxonomy and systematics
The brown-capped vireo was originally described in 1844 as Hylophilus leucophrys. For much of the twentieth century it was treated as conspecific with the warbling vireo (Vireo gilvus).
The brown-capped vireo's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it these 14 subspecies:
V. l. eleanorae Sutton & Burleigh, 1940
V. l. dubius (Phillips, AR, 1991)
V. l. amauronotus Salvin & Godman, 1881
V. l. strenuus Nelson, 1900
V. l. bulli Rowley, JS, 1968
V. l. palmeri (Phillips, AR, 1991)
V. l. costaricensis (Ridgway, 1903)
V. l. chiriquensis (Bangs, 1903)
V. l. dissors Zimmer, JT, 1941
V. l. mirandae Hartert, EJO, 1917
V. l. josephae Sclater, PL, 1859
V. l. leucophrys (Lafresnaye, 1844)
V. l. maranonicus Zimmer, JT, 1941
V. l. laetissimus (Todd, 1924)
However, the Clements taxonomy does not recognize V. l. dubius, V. l. palmeri, and V. l. costaricensis. It includes V. l. dubius within V. l. eleanorae, V. l. palmeri within V. l. strenuus, and V. l. costaricensis within V. l. chiriquensis. In addition it calls V. l. eleanorae, V. l. bulli, V. l. amauronotus, and V. l. strenuus the "(northern) amauronotus group" and the other subspecies the "(southern) leucophrys group" within the species.
This article follows the 14-subspecies model.
Description
The brown-capped vireo is 11.5 to 12.5 cm (4.5 to 4.9 in) long and weighs about 12 to 13.5 g (0.42 to 0.48 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies V. l. leucophrys have an olive-brown crown, a white supercilium, a dusky spot on their lores, a dusky streak behind the eye, and grayish white ear coverts. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are grayish...
