Hemitriccus is a genus of small South Americanbirds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. They are commonly known as tody-tyrants or bamboo tyrants, but the former name is (or was) also shared with several members of the genus Poecilotriccus. Several species from the genus Hemitriccus are very similar, and consequently best separated by their voice.
Taxonomy
The genus Hemitriccus was introduced in 1860 by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine to accommodate a single species, Muscicapa diopsTemminck, 1822, the drab-breasted bamboo tyrant.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greekhēmi- meaning "half-" or "small" with trikkos, a word for an unidentified small bird that in ornithology signifies a tyrant flycatcher.[4]