Guatemalan Tyrannulet

Overview

The Guatemalan tyrannulet, also known as the paltry tyrannulet, is a very small passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico, and is currently assessed as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Measures 10 to 12 cm in length with olive green upperparts and mostly off-white underparts that feature faint darker breast streaks and sometimes a pale yellow wash on the belly and undertail coverts.
• Displays a grayish crown, a short whitish supercilium, and wings and tail that are mostly olive green with yellow edges on the coverts, flight feathers, and tail feathers.
• Possesses a short brownish black bill and long brownish black legs, with adults having light brown or brownish black irises.
• Emits a clear, slightly ringing to plaintive call described as 'peeu' or 'pyeu', and likely shares the mistletoe tyrannulet's dawn song pattern.

Habitat

Ranges from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas east across Guatemala into southern Belize and south into El Salvador, occupying elevations between 500 and 2,500 m. It inhabits the interior and edges of evergreen forest as well as more open forest, plantations, and fields with scattered trees and shrubs, favouring areas with mistletoes.

Diet

Diet includes mistletoe berries, other fruits, and insects, though it has not been detailed extensively. It forages singly or in pairs, mostly from the forest mid-story to the canopy, taking food by gleaning while perched and making short sallies.

Did you know?

Former congener mistletoe tyrannulets are assumed to build oval nests with side entrances from mosses and plant fibers bound with spider web, placing them 2 to 15 m above the ground, although detailed breeding biology for the Guatemalan tyrannulet itself remains unconfirmed.