''Platycichla'' is a small disputed genus of tropical

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 ...

thrushes The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycat ...

. It contains just two species: * Pale-eyed thrush, ''Platycichla (Turdus) leucops'' * Yellow-legged thrush, ''Platycichla (Turdus) flavipes'' These are medium-sized (20–23 cm long)

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s of humid mountain forests. Their nests are a typical thrush's lined cup of twigs. In both species the male is mainly dark grey or black with yellow legs and bill, and the female essentially warm brown above and paler below. The ''Platycichla'' thrushes mainly feed in trees and bushes on

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and some

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. They are shy species, and the females in particular is difficult to see, since she does not sing. The song of the male consists of melodic musical phrases. The main argument for separating this

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 ...

from ''

Turdus ''Turdus'' is a genus of medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for 'thrush'. Most of the species are called thrushes; the term thrush is also used for man ...

'' is the smaller size of the former compared to most members of the latter. Similarities in

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 ...

, vocalization, behavior, and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

lead to the

South American Classification Committee The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

eliminating ''Platycichla'' (instead including the two species in ''Turdus'') following a proposal in 2006.

References

* ''Thrushes'' by Clement and Hathaway, * *

External links

Evaluation leading to Platycichla being eliminated (South American Classification Committee)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q907260 Bird genera Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird