Small-headed elaenia

Small-headed elaenia
at Serra do Mar State Park, São Luiz do Paraitinga, São Paulo state, Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrannidae
Genus:	Elaenia
Species:	E. sordida
Binomial name
Elaenia sordida Zimmer, 1941
Synonyms
Elaenia obscura sordida

The small-headed elaenia (Elaenia sordida), also known as the Brazilian elaenia ^[2] , is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. ^[3] It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. ^[4]

Taxonomy and systematics

The small-headed elaenia is monotypic. ^[3] It was previously treated as a subspecies of the highland elaenia (E. obscura); between 2016 and 2020 taxonomic systems split the two. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [ excessive citations ]}

Description

The small-headed elaenia is 16 to 20 cm (6.3 to 7.9 in) long and weighs 24 to 34.5 g (0.85 to 1.2 oz). It is a large elaenia without a crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a dark olive head with lighter cheeks, a dusky loral spot, and a thin whitish eyering. Their upperparts are dark olive. Their wings are mostly dusky with pale edges on the flight feathers. The tips of their wing coverts are whitish to yellowish and show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky with white tips on unworn feathers. Their chin and throat are grayish yellow, their breast and flanks dull gray-olive, and their belly and undertail coverts grayish yellow. Both sexes have a brown iris, a stubby blackish brown to black bill with a pinkish base to the mandible, and brown to black legs and feet. Juveniles have dark rufescent brown upperparts and dirty grayish white underparts. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Distribution and habitat

The small-headed elaenia is found in Brazil locally in Bahia and from southern Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais south into extreme northern Uruguay and west into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. It inhabits the undergrowth and edges of humid subtropical and temperate forest, secondary forest, and coastal restinga . It also inhabits forest fragments and patches of young secondary forest. In elevation it occurs between 2,150 and 3,000 m (7,100 and 9,800 ft) in Brazil. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Behavior

Movement

The small-headed elaenia appears to be a year-round resident in most of its range though it might be present in Uruguay only during the breeding season. ^[9]

Feeding

The small-headed elaenia feeds on insects and fruit. Like its former "parent" the highland elaenia, it primarily forages near the top of the forest canopy but tends to remain hidden. It finds food by gleaning while perched, while briefly hovering, and with short upward sallies to take insects in mid-air. ^[9]

Breeding

The small-headed elaenia's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to include at least October to February. Its one known nest was a cup made of grass and placed in a vertical fork in a shrub about 1.2 m (4 ft) above the ground. it contained two eggs that were white to pinkish with cinnamon markings. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known. ^[9]

Songs and calls Listen to the small-headed elaenia on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The small-headed elaenia's song is a "high, melodious 'the-weedrr-wee-der-wee' " and its call a "nasal 'rrree' ". ^[10]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the small-headed elaenia as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. ^[1] It is rare (e.g. in Paraguay) to fairly common but local. It occurs in several protected areas in Brazil. It "[a]ccepts rather disturbed habitats, as well as fragmented habitats". ^[9]

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Brazilian Elaenia Elaenia sordida". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T103681211A104077255. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103681211A104077255.en . Retrieved 1 October 2024.
2. HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8.1. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/taxonomy retrieved August 26, 2024
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Tyrant flycatchers". IOC World Bird List. v 14.2. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
4. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 28 September 2024. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved September 29, 2024
5. BirdLife International (2016) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 9. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/BirdLife_Checklist_Version_90.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB].
6. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2019. IOC World Bird List (v 9.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.9.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
7. Boesman, Peter; Minns, Jeremy (February 2019). "Recognize Elaenia sordida as a separate species from Elaenia obscura (Proposal 806; 27 February 2019)". South American Classification Committee RECENT CHANGES. SACC. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
8. Clements, J. F., et al. 2019. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2019. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved August 30, 2019
9. del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Small-headed Elaenia (Elaenia sordida), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.higela3.01 retrieved October 1, 2024
10. van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 294–295. ISBN   978-0-19-530155-7.
11. de la Peña, Martín R.; Rumboll, Maurice (2001). Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica. Princeton Illustrated Checklists. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 70, map 70.20. ISBN   0691090351.