The crescentchests are a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, ''Melanopareia'', of

suboscine The Tyranni (suboscines) are a suborder of passerine birds that includes more than 1,000 species, a large majority of which are South American. It is named after the type genus '' Tyrannus''. These have a different anatomy of the syrinx musculat ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

birds from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The genus has long been placed with the tapaculos in the family Rhinocryptidae. Their placement there has been questioned and in 2007 the genus was placed in its own family, Melanopareiidae, by the South American Classification Committee. Subsequently, the family was accepted by the

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Bird List and the

Clements Checklist ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

. The family Melanopareiidae was formally erected in 2009.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Melanopareia'' was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist, ornithologist and illustrator. It was he who first requested Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate m ...

. He listed two species in the genus but did not specify the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

; in 1855 the English zoologist George Gray selected ''Synallaxis maximiliani''

D'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...

, ( olive-crowned crescentchest) as the type species. The genus name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

μελας/''melas'', μελανος/''melanos'' meaning "black" with παρηιον/''parēion'' meaning "cheek". The crescentchests range in length from , in weight from and have relatively long tails compared to the tapaculos. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

is striking with a distinctive band across the chest that gives the group their name. The crescentchests are birds of arid scrub. They generally forage on the ground, but their diet has not yet been recorded. Two species, the collared crescentchest and olive-crowned crescentchest, are widely distributed across central and southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. The other two species, the elegant crescentchest and Marañón crescentchest, have a more restricted distribution in Peru and Ecuador. Little is known about the behaviour of the crescentchests. The only species about which anything is known about the breeding behaviour is the olive-crowned crescentchest. That species is a seasonal breeder. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

of that species is a 15 cm high cup made of vegetable fibres and palm fronds, hidden in grasses or low shrubs close to the ground. The

clutch size A clutch of eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for example the California condor b ...

is two to three eggs, the eggs are white with blotches or black spots. No species of crescentchest is considered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

to be

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

by human activities, but the Marañón crescentchest is listed as near threatened. Although the species is apparently tolerant of some disturbance it has a tiny global range and is uncommon even within that range. Melanopareia maximiliani 1847

Species

The genus contains the following four species:

References

External links

* *
Crescentchests
Don Roberson's Bird Families of the World. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2080466 Melanopareia Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa described in 1853