How should we call this bird?
FollowSeveral species of toucanets that look different share the same scientific and English name. But one species of toucanet of the same group has two different scientific and English names. Sounds confusing I know but the taxonomic status of this fantastic green-colored toucanet (I wont call it Emerald yet) is uncertain.
From Costa Rica to Northern Central America we call Emerald Toucanet to a bird that has white yellowish throat in Belize and Guatemala, but blue throat here in Costa Rica and Panama. The pattern of colors in the bill is diferent too. That toucanet in Costa Rica is identical to the one in Panama but they call it Blue-throated Toucanet. So, same name but different bird, or same bird but different name?
Our Facebook friend Theo Grijalva posted two days ago a picture of Aulacorhynchus prasinus in Guatemala. Well, let me try to explain the problem as I see it. “Emerald Toucanet” is an assemblage of Neotropical toucanets that inhabit humid montane forests distributed from Mexico south to Bolivia.
A. prasinus, is considered to constitute a complex of multiple species that consists of at least seven morphologically and genetically divergent species, mainly distinguished by patterns of coloration of the throat and bill. However, vocalizations are similar among the subspecies thoughmost forms are allopatric and replace each other along elevational and latitudinal gradients. The distribution and differentiation of this group fit nicely into the “refugia” hypothesis of diversification in the Neotropics as a result of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.
Depending on the authority, numbers of species in Aulacorhynchus may range from 6 to 14 but the most accepted taxonomy recognizes the following:
A.cognatus (Goldman’s Bluethroated Toucanet) Endemic to the isolated mountains in the Darien of eastern Panama
A. caeruleogularis (Bluethroated Toucanet) Endemic to the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama
A. wagleri (Wagler’s Toucanet) Endemic to the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero and southern Oaxaca in Mexico.
A. prasinus (Emerald Toucanet) Inhabits cloud forest from northeastern Mexico south to Nicaragua. Depending on the area where Theo Grijalva took the picture in Guatemala, the bird can be A. prasinus chiapensis or A.prasinus virescens.
A. albivitta (Whitethroated Toucanet) Ranges along the Andes of northern South America from Venezuela and eastern Colombia.
A. griseigularis (Greythroated Toucanet) Endemic to the central and western Andes of Colombia
A. atrogularis (Black-throated Toucanet) Ranges along the eastern slopes of the Andes of Peru
Problem solved. It seems that the bird we have in Costa Rica is Bluethroated Toucanet. But wait just a minute!! The American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU ) is the organization that rules the taxonomy of all birds in North and Central America, and according to them there is only one green-colored toucanet species in this region : Aulacorhynchus prasinus, the Emerald Toucanet. Period. Only one.
So if the nomenclature of birds is important to you, or if you really want to know how many different species of toucanets you saw in Central America in your las trip, you have to wait for a while. For now, birders from Costa Rica up to Guatemala have to use a standard name for several different birds, and while you are in Costa Rica you should use a name that you know that is not right!!
