Grey-headed Piprites

Overview

The grey-headed piprites, Piprites griseiceps, is a species of tyrant flycatcher found in Central America. It is a year-round resident that is considered uncommon to rare across its range.

Identification

• Measures 12 to 13 cm in length with an especially long tail and weighs approximately 16 g.
• Features a slate-gray head with a bold white eyering, olive-green upperparts with yellow-green flight feather edges, and yellowish olive underparts.
• Has a blackish maxilla, a paler mandible, dark irises, and gray legs and feet.
• Song consists of an undulating two-second phrase of quick, sputtering notes, accompanied by calls like a liquid 'whit!' or a soft, rolling 'purrr'.

Habitat

Found on the Caribbean slope of Central America, ranging from eastern Guatemala through Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica to western Panama. It inhabits wet primary forest and mature secondary forest, typically between sea level and 750 m, though it can reach higher elevations in certain areas.

Diet

Forages mostly in the middle level of the forest, taking small fruits and insects via sally from a perch. It frequently joins mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

Prior to genetic studies in 2009, this species was classified with the manakins in the family Pipridae before being moved to the tyrant flycatchers.