In accord with AOS-NACC (Chesser et al. 2022), Lesser Kiskadee is removed from Pitangus and is placed in the genus Philohydor Lanyon 1984, based on genetic evidence that Lesser Kiskadee is not the sister species to Greater Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus, and indeed the two species are not at all closely related (Harvey et al. 2020); Lesser Kiskadee also differs markedly from Greater Kiskadee in cranial and syringeal morphology and in nest structure (Lanyon 1984).