Tolmomyias is a genus of Neotropical birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is one of the two genera containing the "flatbills"; the other is Rhynchocyclus.
Taxonomy
The genus Tolmomyias was introduced in 1927 by the Austrian ornithologist Carl Eduard Hellmayr with Platyrhynchus sulphurescens Spix, 1825, the yellow-olive flatbill, as the type species. The genus name Tolmomyias combines the Ancient Greek tolma "courage" or "boldness" with the Neo-Latin myias "flycatcher".
These species are notoriously difficult to identify, except by voice. Their taxonomy is complex and it is likely that some "species" actually include several species level taxa. They are relatively thickset birds with proportionally large heads and, as suggested by their name, flat bills. All have a primarily yellow-green plumage with distinct edging to the wings, and the crown is often grey. They are usually found in humid forests where they forage well above the forest floor and will join mixed flocks. Their bag-shaped nests are often placed near wasp nests.
Species
The genus contains seven species:
Image
Common name
Scientific Name
Distribution
Yellow-olive flatbill
Tolmomyias sulphurescens
Central and South America
Orange-eyed flatbill
Tolmomyias traylori
south-eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and north-eastern Peru.
Yellow-margined flatbill
Tolmomyias assimilis
southern Central America, and the Chocó and Amazon in South America.
Yellow-winged flatbill
Tolmomyias flavotectus
north west Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.
Grey-crowned flatbill
Tolmomyias poliocephalus
Amazon and Atlantic forests
Ochre-lored flatbill
Tolmomyias flaviventris
Colombia and Venezuela, south to Peru, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, and on both Trinidad and Tobago.
Olive-faced flatbill
Tolmomyias viridiceps
Western Amazonia.
