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Fork-tailed tody-tyrant

species of bird

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 6, 2025
Entity authorityQ915434 ↗
Source-derived summary

The fork-tailed tody-tyrant or fork-tailed pygmy tyrant (Hemitriccus furcatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is endemic to Brazil.

Taxonomy and systematics

The fork-tailed tody-tyrant was originally described in 1846 as Todirostrum furcatum. During part of the twentieth century some authors placed it by itself in genus Ceratotriccus, which by about 1980 was merged into Hemitriccus. Its closest relative appears to be Kaempfer's tody-tyrant (H. kaempferi).

The fork-tailed tody-tyrant is monotypic.

Description

The fork-tailed tody-tyrant is about 11 cm (4.3 in) long. Adults have a distinctive tail whose outer feathers are longer than the inner ones and curve slightly inwards; males' tails are somewhat more deeply forked than females'. The sexes otherwise have the same plumage. They have a bright cinnamon-brown forehead and a brownish olive crown and nape.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Fork-tailed tody-tyrant” as species of bird. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1846, 1980—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Fork-tailed, tody-tyrant and species can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of bird. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q915434. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1846 and 1980.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Classification context
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  2. Expand the search: follow Fork-tailed tody-tyrant primary sources, Fork-tailed tody-tyrant archive and Fork-tailed research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fork-tailed tody-tyrant” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.