White-eyed Tody-Tyrant

Overview

The Hemitriccus zosterops is a small bird belonging to the tyrant flycatcher family, Tyrannidae. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List, with a very large distribution across the northern Amazon Basin.

Identification

• Approximately 11 cm long with olive-green upperparts and a pale yellow, unstreaked belly.
• Features a whitish spot above the lores and an indistinct white eye-ring on a grayish-olive face.
• Wings are dusky with two distinct wing bars created by yellowish tips on the coverts.
• Song consists of a simple staccato 'pik' series or a high, sharp, slightly slowing and descending rattling trill.

Habitat

Inhabits humid terra firme forest in lowlands and foothills of the northern Amazon Basin, ranging from Colombia and Ecuador through Peru to northern Brazil. The nominate subspecies is widespread, while H. z. flaviviridis is restricted to northern Peru west of the Napo and Ucayali rivers.

Diet

Feeds primarily on arthropods, foraging singly or in pairs in the lower to middle levels of the forest. It employs short upward sallies from a perch to grab prey from vegetation, occasionally joining mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

While the nest is anecdotally described as pendant, almost nothing else is currently known about the breeding biology of this species.