Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant

Overview

The Anairetes flavirostris, or yellow-billed tit-tyrant, is a species of tyrant flycatcher classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. It belongs to the subfamily Elaeniinae and is found across several South American nations, with a stable population across a large range.

Identification

• A small bird 10 to 12 cm long, weighing 6 to 7 g, with a blackish split crest formed by elongated feathers on the crown.
• White supercilium and face marked with bold black streaks, paired with medium gray-brown upperparts featuring faint blackish streaks.
• Distinctive bill structure with a black maxilla and a yellow mandible having a black outer half or tip, along with slate-gray to black legs.
• Dawn song described as a rising trill with a stuttered burst afterward: brreeee brr-br-br, accompanied by rising-falling musical trills and chatters.

Habitat

Inhabits a variety of dryish semi-open to open landscapes, including dry montane and desert scrublands, thorn scrub, and humid woodlands dominated by Polylepis and Gynoxys trees. Found in the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, generally between 1,900 and 4,100 m elevation, though it reaches near sea level in coastal lomas fog oases west of the Andes.

Diet

Feeds primarily on insects, occasionally supplemented by grass seeds. Typically forages singly, in pairs, or in small family groups, sometimes joining mixed-species flocks by gleaning from shrubs, hovering briefly, or making short sallies to catch prey in midair.

Did you know?

Despite its name, the yellow-billed tit-tyrant is not a true tit but a tyrant flycatcher; its active foraging behaviour and crests are merely reminiscent of the true tits in the family Paridae.