Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet

Overview

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet (Phylloscartes parkeri) is a small bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is a monotypic species found in a narrow range across Peru and Bolivia, where it is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Identification

• Approximately 11.5 cm long, with a cinnamon-rufous forecrown, lores, and eye-ring.
• Wings are dusky to blackish with bright yellowish olive-green edges, featuring two wing bars formed by pale yellowish olive-green tips on the coverts.
• Breast and flanks are yellow with wide dull olive-green streaks, contrasting with an unmarked pale yellow belly.
• Song described as a high, springy, laughing chatter that quavers and rises slightly, resembling "chi chi tchrrEEEEeeeEEEEEew".

Habitat

Found along the eastern slope of the Andes, from Peru's Department of Huánuco south to southwestern Bolivia's Beni Department. It inhabits intact humid montane evergreen forest at elevations between 650 and 1,550 m in Peru, potentially lower in Bolivia. The species is a year-round resident that appears restricted to undisturbed forest.

Diet

Feeds primarily on arthropods by foraging actively in the forest canopy. It perches horizontally on branches and makes short sallies to grab and hover-glean prey from leaves and twigs. Typically forages in pairs or small groups, almost always as part of a mixed-species feeding flock.

Did you know?

The first known specimen was collected in 1899 but was misidentified as a rufous-lored tyrannulet. It is the last of four species of genus Phylloscartes described in the late twentieth century, with no others described since 1995.