Editing Sunbittern (section)

===Subspecies===
The sunbittern was formerly treated as two species (''E. helias'' and ''E. major''), but now they are treated as a single species with considerable variation between the [[subspecies]]. The three subspecies are recognised on the basis of plumage characters and size. The three subspecies are [[allopatric]].<ref name="HBW3"/>

* ''E. h. helias'' {{small|([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1781)}} – Amazonian sunbittern
* ''E. h. major'' {{small|[[Gustav Hartlaub|Hartlaub]], 1844}} – northern sunbittern
* ''E. h. meridionalis'' {{small|[[Hans von Berlepsch|Berlepsch]] & [[Jan Sztolcman|Stolzmann]], 1902}} – foothill sunbittern