Sooty-headed tyrannulet

Sooty-headed tyrannulet
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrannidae
Genus:	Phyllomyias
Species:	P. griseiceps
Binomial name
Phyllomyias griseiceps (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1871)

The sooty-headed tyrannulet (Phyllomyias griseiceps) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. ^[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treat the sooty-headed tyrannulet as monotypic. ^{[2] [3]} However, since 2019 the Clements taxonomy has assigned it four subspecies based on a study published in 2014. ^{[4] [5]}

This article follows the monotypic species model.

Sooty-headed tyrannulet, Copa Linga Lodge, Ecuador

Description

The sooty-headed tyrannulet is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs about 8 g (0.28 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a grayish to blackish crown and dull grayish olive nape, back, and rump. Their lores and supercilium are white with a dark stripe through their eye. Their lower face is grizzled. Their wings are dusky with narrow whitish edges to the inner flight feathers and the ends of the coverts. Their tail is dusky. Their throat is grayish white, their breast and flanks pale olive, and their belly bright yellow. They have a dark brown iris, a very small and rounded black bill, and black legs and feet. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [ excessive citations ]}

Distribution and habitat

The sooty-headed tyrannulet has a highly disjunct distribution. The separate populations are found thus: ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [ excessive citations ]}

• Extreme eastern Panama and slightly into northwestern Colombia
• In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia
• In the Serranía del Perijá on the Colombia-Venezuela border
• From extreme southwestern Colombia south through western Ecuador to Loja Province
• From southern Napo Province in Ecuador south to central Peru
• The valleys of the Cauca and Magdalena rivers in Colombia and into western and northern Venezuela
• From eastern Venezuela east across Guyana and Suriname into French Guiana
• Locally in southeastern Venezuela and northern Amazonian Brazil

The sooty-headed tyrannulet primarily inhabits humid evergreen forest in the tropical zone. It shuns the forest interior and favors forest edges, clearings with scattered trees, and regrowing partially cleared areas. It also occurs in other relatively open landscapes like early succession secondary forest, forest on dry sandy soil, and coffe and cacao plantations. In elevation it reaches 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Colombia, 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in Ecuador, 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Peru, 1,300 m (4,300 ft) in Venezuela, and to about 500 m (1,600 ft) in the Guianas and Brazil. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [ excessive citations ]}

Behavior

Movement

The sooty-headed tyrannulet is a year-round resident throughout its range. ^{[6] [13]}

Feeding

The sooty-headed tyrannulet feeds primarily on insects and on lesser amounts of small fruits and berries. It usually forages alone or in somewhat separated pairs unless in a fruiting tree and occasionally joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It forages from the forest's mid-level to the canopy, taking prey and fruits by gleaning while perched and while briefly hovering. ^{[6] [9] [10] [11] [ excessive citations ]}

Breeding

One sooty-headed tyrannulet nest is known. It was a small lichen-covered cup in the crotch of a small branch 13 m (43 ft) above the ground. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology. ^[6]

Songs and calls Listen to the sooty-headed tyrannulet on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The sooty-headed tyrannulet often sings from an open perch. Its song varies geographically, but in general is "an emphatic phrase of clear, short whistled notes, first one stressed, 'whip, whip-di-irip' or 'whit, whit-wheeu' ". ^[6]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the sooty-headed tyrannulet 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 considered local in Panama, fairly common in Colombia, more numerous in western Ecuador than eastern, "poorly known" in Peru, "locally common" in Venezuela, and local in Brazil. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [ excessive citations ]} It occurs in several protected areas. "Because of its relatively large range and tolerance of converted habitat, this species is not considered to be at any risk." ^[6]

References

1. BirdLife International (2018). "Sooty-headed Tyrannulet Phyllomyias griseiceps". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22699107A130200424. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22699107A130200424.en . Retrieved 18 September 2024.
2. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Tyrant flycatchers". IOC World Bird List. v 14.2. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
3. 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
4. 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
5. Harvey, M.G.; et al. (2014). "Notes on bird species in bamboo in northern Madre de Dios, Peru including the first Peruvian record of Acre Tody-Tyrant (Hemitriccus cohnhafti)". Occasional Papers of the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science. 81: 1–38. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
6. Fitzpatrick, J. W. (2020). Sooty-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias griseiceps), 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.sohtyr1.01 retrieved September 19, 2024
7. vanPerlo, Ber (2006). Birds of Mexico and Central America. Princeton Illustrated Checklists. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 64, map 64.2. ISBN   0691120706.
8. McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 147. ISBN   978-0-9827615-0-2.
9. Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 454–455. ISBN   978-0-8014-8721-7.
10. Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O’Neill, and T.A. Parker III. 2010. Birds of Peru. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Plate 186
11. Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela (second ed.). Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 46.
12. van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 290–291. ISBN   978-0-19-530155-7.
13. Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998.