Rufous Casiornis

Overview

The rufous casiornis (Casiornis rufus) is a species of tyrant flycatcher that shares its genus with the ash-throated casiornis. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, though its population is believed to be decreasing due to habitat conversion for agriculture and plantations.

Identification

• 17 to 18 cm in length and weighing 22 to 27 g, with sexes displaying identical plumage.
• Rufeous head, upperparts, wings, and tail, contrasting with a cinnamon throat and breast featuring a whitish middle and a pale buffy yellowish belly.
• Dark brown iris, dark bill with a pinkish base, and blackish-gray legs and feet.
• Vocalisations include a "very high, downslurred feeeèh" and a "brief, weak psee note".

Habitat

Found across southeastern Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina, and parts of Brazil, with rare vagrant records in Chile and Uruguay. It inhabits varied wooded landscapes including deciduous woodlands, gallery woodlands, wooded cerrado, scrubby and wooded Chaco, and dry forest in Peru. Elevation ranges from near sea level up to 1,500 m in Brazil and locally to 2,500 m in Bolivia.

Diet

Thought to capture insect prey using sallies from a perch, although little is otherwise known regarding its specific diet or feeding behaviours.

Did you know?

Originally described as Thamnophilus rufus, the species was mistakenly placed in the typical antbird family before being moved to the genus Casiornis in 1856, and it was only in the 1970s that its placement within the tyrant flycatchers was firmly recognised.