Long-tailed Hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus) [XC705347]
by JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA from Paragominas, Paragominas, Par\u00e1, Brazil (flight call)
Long-tailed Hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus) [XC394430]
by Caio Brito from BDFFP, Amazonas state, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Phaethornis superciliosus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Long-tailed Hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus) and Long-billed Hermit (Phaethornis longirostris) following SACC (2005). Phaethornis superciliosus (Sibley and Monreo 1990, 1993) was provisionally split into Phaethornis superciliosus and Phaethornis margarettae by Stotz et al. (1996) but this treatment has not been adopted, following SACC (2005).
Often considered conspecific with Long-billed Hermit (Phaethornis longirostris), but with disjunct distributions the two are probably better treated as forming a superspecies. All subspecies of Great-billed Hermit (Phaethornis malaris) except nominate have also traditionally been attributed to present species instead, but their affinities appear to lie with that species. Subspecies muelleri has been associated with ochraceiventris of Great-billed Hermit (Phaethornis malaris). Venezuelan birds sometimes separated as subspecies saturatior, but they fall within variation found in nominate subspecies. A single hybrid of nominate superciliosus with subspecies malaris of Great-billed Hermit (Phaethornis malaris) was found at a locality of sympatric occurrence.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1766) - Southern Venezuela, the Guianas and northern Brazil (north of Amazon in Pará and Roraima).
muelleri Hellmayr, 1911 - Northern Brazil (south of Amazon in Pará and Maranhío).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet