Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin

Overview

The dwarf tyrant-manakin, or dwarf tyranneutes, is a small bird in the family Pipridae. It is a year-round resident of the Amazon Basin, found across parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

Identification

• 7.5 to 9 cm long with an olive head, upperparts, wings, and tail.
• Throat and breast are paler grayish olive, with a pale yellow belly.
• Dark maxilla contrasting with a paler mandible, and grayish legs and feet.
• Song is described as a 'curt zweeh-wit' or 'zweeh-dewít', with a call of 'very high, hurried prutrut---'.

Habitat

Primarily inhabits the interior of humid terra firme forest in the western and central Amazon Basin, avoiding forest edges and clearings. It is mainly a lowland bird, reaching altitudes of up to 800 m in Peru and 400 m in Colombia and Ecuador.

Diet

Feeds mostly on small fruits, supplementing its diet with some small invertebrates. Usually forages in the mid-story of the forest, though it will also forage in the canopy.

Did you know?

The bird is so difficult to see that it is almost always detected by its calls rather than its plumage. Males perform a distinctive display by flying straight up from a high perch with quick wingbeats and plunging back down to the same spot.