Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant

Overview

The sharp-tailed grass tyrant (Culicivora caudacuta) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae, found in parts of South America. It is the only member of its genus and a year-round resident that inhabits grasslands across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Identification

• Measures 10 to 11 cm in length with a highly graduated tail that resembles those of Synallaxis spinetails.
• Features a wide white supercilium and a thin black eye-line on a warm buffy brown face, with a bushy blackish crown in males and a browner crown in females.
• Underparts are pale yellowish white with a warm cinnamon-buff wash on the flanks, while wings and back display wide blackish streaks on a buffy brown background.
• Possesses a black bill, black legs and feet, and a dark brown iris.
• The song consists of weak, short, ascending burry whistles described as "tweee tweee tweee", while calls are series of unmusical "tick" notes.

Habitat

Found in grasslands including cerrado, savanna, and wet or tall native grasslands, often near marshes and small watercourses. The species ranges from near sea level to 1,400 m in elevation and shuns disturbed areas, with a distribution that is rather local and centred in Brazil but extending into neighbouring countries.

Diet

Feeds mostly on insects but also includes seeds in its diet. It forages in pairs or small flocks of up to ten individuals, often joining mixed-species feeding flocks and favouring areas with weeds and grass clumps. It clings to vertical stems to grab prey in mid-air or hover-glean from vegetation, occasionally perching below grass seed heads to feed like a finch.

Did you know?

Although currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, the species was previously assessed as Threatened in 1988 and Vulnerable in 2004, with its population believed to be decreasing due to habitat conversion to soybeans and Eucalyptus plantations.