A becard is a bird of the genus Pachyramphus in the family Tityridae.
Taxonomy
The genus Pachyramphus was introduced in 1839 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in the volume on birds by John Gould that formed part of Charles Darwin's Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. The type species was designated by Gray in 1840 as the green-backed becard (Pachyramphus viridis). The generic name is from the Ancient Greek pakhus meaning "stout" or "thick" and rhamphos meaning "bill".
The genus had traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggests that it is better placed in the family Tityridae, where it is now placed by the IOC.
The genus contains seventeen species:
Image
Scientific name
Common name
Distribution
Pachyramphus viridis
Green-backed becard
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Pachyramphus versicolor
Barred becard
from Costa Rica to northwestern Ecuador and northern Bolivia.
Pachyramphus spodiurus
Slaty becard
Ecuador and far northern Peru.
Pachyramphus rufus
Cinereous becard
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela
Pachyramphus castaneus
Chestnut-crowned becard
Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia and regions of Venezuela
Pachyramphus cinnamomeus
Cinnamon becard
south-eastern Mexico south to north-western Ecuador and north-western Venezuela
Pachyramphus polychopterus
White-winged becard
Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Pachyramphus marginatus
Black-capped becard
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Pachyramphus albogriseus
Black-and-white becard
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
Pachyramphus salvini
Cryptic becard...
