It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae.

It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

[2] The syntypes of Psaris fraserii Kaup (Proc.

37-38), an adult male and female, are held in the vertebrate zoology collection of National Museums Liverpool at World Museum, with accession number NML-VZ D1868 and NML-VZ D1868a.

The specimen came to the Liverpool national collection via the 13th Earl of Derby’s collection which was bequeathed to the people of Liverpool in 1851.