Elaenia is a genus of passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family which occur in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Except by voice, specific identification is often difficult since many species are very similar. They are also known by the common name elaenia, which they share with the similar tyrant flycatchers of the genus Myiopagis.
Elaenia flycatchers are typically brownish, greyish or olive above, and off-white and/or pale yellow on the belly, with a white or pale yellowish eye-ring of variable strength and two or three wing bars. Some species show a crest; often with a semi-concealed white patch/streak.
Taxonomy The genus Elaenia was introduced by the Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1836. The type species was subsequently designated as the yellow-bellied elaenia. The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek ελαινεος elaineos "of olive-oil" or "oleaginous".
The genus contains 22 species:
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Yellow-bellied elaenia Elaenia flavogaster Central and South America as far as northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Caribbean elaenia Elaenia martinica West Indies and parts of Central America. Large elaenia Elaenia spectabiliswestern Amazonia to eastern Brazil and central Bolivia. Noronha elaenia Elaenia ridleyanaFernando de Noronha White-crested elaenia Elaenia albicepsPeru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and northernmost Chile. Small-billed elaenia Elaenia parvirostris Paraguay and neighbouring regionswinters to northern half of South America Olivaceous elaenia Elaenia mesoleuca Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Slaty elaenia Elaenia streperawestern Amazon Basin, Colombia and Venezuela. Mottle-backed elaenia Elaenia gigas Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Brownish elaenia Elaenia pelzelniBrazil, Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. Plain-crested elaenia Elaenia cristataBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Lesser elaenia Elaenia chiriquensis northern half of South America Coopmans's elaenia Elaenia brachypterasouthwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador Rufous-crowned elaenia Elaenia ruficepsBrazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela Mountain elaenia Elaenia frantzii Guatemala to Colombia and western Venezuela Highland elaenia Elaenia obscurasoutheastern Ecuador to Bolivia and northwestern Argentina Small-headed elaenia Elaenia sordida southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina Great elaenia Elaenia dayiVenezuela and far northern Brazil, and may also occur in Guyana. Sierran elaenia Elaenia pallatangae Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela Tepui elaenia Elaenia olivinaGuyana and Venezuela Blue Mountain elaenia Elaenia fallax montane forest of Jamaica Hispaniolan elaenia Elaenia cherriei montane forest of Hispaniola
See also Myiopagis, another genus of tyrant flycatchers commonly known as elaenias
References
Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca.