Rufous-crowned Greenlet

Overview

The rufous-crowned greenlet (Hylophilus poicilotis) is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae, native to South America. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, with a stable population across a large range in southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina.

Identification

• Size: Approximately 12.5 cm long and weighing between 9 and 12 g.
• Plumage: Features a bright chestnut-brown forehead and crown with mottled greyish-black ear coverts, an olive-green upper body, and a yellowish underbody.
• Bill and Eyes: Possesses a dull blackish upper bill, a grey to dusky pink lower bill, and dark reddish-brown irises.
• Song: Emits a rapid 'teweét-teweét-' or 'swee-swee-' call, with significant regional variation.

Habitat

This species inhabits moist to humid forests, woodlands, scrublands, and mature secondary forest across a range from sea level to 1,800 m in elevation. Its distribution covers southeastern Brazil from southern Mato Grosso do Sul to Rio Grande do Sul, eastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina's Misiones Province, with unconfirmed reports from Bolivia.

Diet

The rufous-crowned greenlet feeds primarily on arthropods and occasionally consumes fruit. It forages from the canopy down to near the ground, typically gleaning food while perched, either singly, in pairs, in family groups, or within mixed-species flocks.

Did you know?

Although it is a sedentary year-round resident, its breeding season remains largely undefined, with the only known indicator that it apparently includes September.