Piratic Flycatcher (Legatus leucophaius) - HBW 9, p. 406

Taxonomy: Platyrhynchos leucophaius Vieillot, 1818, Cayenne.
Affinities uncertain. Possibly sister to Myiozetetes, on basis of syringeal morphology and fully enclosed globular nest. Molecular data give limited support that it is basal to clade including Phelpsia and Philohydor, while additional analyses indicate some affinity to Pitangus and Myiozetetes; link to Myiozetetes also suggested by piratical nesting behaviour, although observations suggest such behaviour and/or nest adoption either has evolved several times independently or is ancestral trait in the subfamily. Race variegatus indistinguishable from nominate on coloration alone; races probably meet in Honduras, though limits not well defined. Birds from S Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina described as race albicollis, but merely average somewhat larger. Additional molecular data and closer systematic examination needed to establish relationships, and to determine validity of races. Two subspecies currently recognized.