Golden-collared honeycreeper
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The golden-collared honeycreeper (Iridophanes pulcherrimus) is an uncommon species of Neotropical bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Iridophanes.
| Golden-collared honeycreeper | |
|---|---|
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| Male in Ecuador | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Thraupidae |
| Genus: | Iridophanes Ridgway, 1901 |
| Species: | I. pulcherrimus |
| Binomial name | |
| Iridophanes pulcherrimus (P.L. Sclater, 1853) | |
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| Synonyms | |
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It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.
Taxonomy
The golden-collared honeycreeper was formally described in 1853 by the English zoologist Philip Sclater from a specimen collected near Bogotá in Colombia. He coined the binomial name Tangara pulcherrima.[2][3] It is now the only species placed in the genus Iridophanes that was erected by Robert Ridgway in 1901.[4][5] The genus name Iridophanes combines the Ancient Greek iris meaning "rainbow" and -phanēs meaning "showing". The specific epithet pulcherrimus is Latin for "very beautiful".[6]
A molecular phylogenetic study of the tanager family published in 2014 found that the golden-collared honeycreeper and the green honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) were sister species.[7]
Two subspecies are recognised:[5]
- I. p. pulcherrimus (Sclater, PL, 1853) – central Colombia through east Ecuador to south-central Peru
- I. p. aureinucha (Ridgway, 1879) – west Colombia to northwest Ecuador
