Torrent Tyrannulet

Overview

The torrent tyrannulet is a small bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, although its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• Length of 9.5 to 12 cm, with an average weight of 8.3 g.
• Mostly black head with a partially hidden white patch on the crown; gray back, rump, and uppertail coverts.
• Black wings with gray or grayish-white edges on the coverts, and a black tail sometimes with indistinct grayish-white tips.
• Grayish-white chin and throat, white breast and belly; dark brown iris, black bill, and black legs.

Habitat

Found across a disjunct range in the highlands of Central and South America, including Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. It inhabits rocky, fast-flowing mountain streams, primarily in forested terrain but also in open landscapes and occasionally marshes, at elevations ranging from 35 m to 3,200 m depending on the location.

Diet

Feeds primarily on flying insects and other arthropods. Forages actively, singly or in pairs, by hawking from boulders in the stream or from streamside vegetation, and occasionally from the ground in grassy areas or gravel paths.

Did you know?

Between flights, the bird characteristically wags and flicks its tail. In Costa Rica, a nesting record at an unusually low elevation of 35 m was possibly caused by displacement from upstream hydroelectric construction.