Tunchiornis is a genus of birds in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. Its members are found in Central and South America.
Taxonomy
The genus Tunchiornis was introduced in 2014 by David Slager and John Klicka with Hylophilus ochraceiceps Sclater, PL, 1860, the ochre-crowned greenlet, as the type species. The genus name combines El Tunche from Peruvian mythology, the whistling guardian spirit of the forest, with Ancient Greek ορνις/ornis, ορνιθος /ornithos meaning "bird".
The genus' further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, AviList, the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee (SACC) recognize these four species:Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 3, 2025Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 25 July 2026. A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 25 July 2026
Image Common name Scientific name DistributionOchre-crowned greenletTunchiornis ochraceicepsMexico, Central America, western Colombia.Rufous-fronted greenletTunchiornis ferrugineifronsWestern Amazonia.Guianan greenletTunchiornis luteifronsGuiana shield.Para greenletTunchiornis rubrifronsPará, Brazil.
However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) does not recognize T. ferrugineifrons as a species but includes it as a subspecies of T. ochraceiceps. Confusingly, it calls T. ochraceiceps by its old name "tawny-crowned greenlet" and calls T. rubrifrons the "rufous-fronted greenlet", which the other systems use for T. ferrugineifrons. It also calls T. luteifrons the "olive-crowned greenlet".HBW and BirdLife International (2025). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 10. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy#birdlife-s-taxonomic-checklist retrieved October 12, 2025 And in July 2026 the SACC renamed all members of Tunchiornis "brownlet". They made the change because the genus Tunchiornis is not closely related to the other genera of greenlets and because its species are more brown than green.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 25 July 2026. A classification of the bird species of South America: Recent Changes. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCRecentChanges.htm retrieved 25 July 2026
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