Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Stub-tailed Spadebill (Platyrinchus cancrominus) - HBW 9, p. 340

French: Platyrhynque à queue courte German: Kurzschwanz-Breitschnabeltyrann Spanish: Picoplano Rabón
Other common names: Mexican Spadebill

Taxonomy: Platyrhynchus cancrominus P. L. Sclater and Salvin, 1860, Choctum, Guatemala.
Relationships within genus unclear, pending completion of major genetic study. Has sometimes been considered conspecific with P. mystaceus, but the two behave as separate species in Costa Rica. Birds from Yucatán Peninsula sometimes separated as race timothei and those from El Salvador S to NW Costa Rica as race dilutus, but poorly differentiated from other populations; additional work required in order to assess taxonomic status of these forms. Treated as monotypic.

Distribution: SE Mexico (from S Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas and Yucatán Peninsula) S to Nicaragua and W Costa Rica; recently found also in NW Panama (Bocas del Toro Archipelago).