The tawny-crowned greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps) is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country except El Salvador, and every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.[2]
The tawny-crowned greenlet was formally described in 1860 by the English zoologist Philip Sclater. The specimen had been collected in the state of Oaxaca of southwestern Mexico by the French ornithologist Adolphe Boucard. Sclater coined the binomial nameHylophilus ochraceiceps.[3] The specific epithet combines the Modern Latinochraceus meaning "ochraceous" with -ceps meaning "-capped".[4] The species is now placed in the genus Tunchiornis that was introduced in 2014.[5][2]
The tawny-crowned greenlet's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC treats it as the only member of its genus and recognizes these ten subspecies:[2]
Other taxonomic systems have split Tunchiornis ochraceiceps into multiple species. AviList recognizes four:[6]
Ochre-crowned greenlet (T. ochraceiceps ochraceiceps, T. o. pallidipectus, T. o. pacificus, T. o. nelsoni, and T. o. bulunensis)
Rufous-fronted greenlet (T. ferrugineifrons ferrugineifrons and T. f. viridior)
Guianan greenlet (T. luteifrons)
Para greenlet (T. rubrifrons rubrifrons and T. r. lutescens)
The Clements taxonomy does not recognize pacificus as a taxon separate from pallidipectus but otherwise mirrors the AviList arrangement and English names.[7]
Tawny-crowned greenlet (T. ochraceiceps ochraceiceps, T. o. bulunensis, and T. o. ferrugineifrons)
Olive-crowned greenlet (T. luteifrons)
Rufous-fronted greenlet (T. rubrifrons rubrifrons and T. r. lutescens)
The North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) recognizes one species but within it divides the subspecies into two groups. It calls rubrifrons and lutescens the "rubrifrons group" with the English name "red-fronted greenlet". The rest of the subspecies are the "ochraceiceps group" and retain the English name "tawny-crowned greenlet".[9][10]
The independent South American Classification Committee, formerly part of the AOS, has accepted a proposal to split T. ochraceiceps into four species but has not implemented it due to lack of agreement on English names. The four species use the same main divisions as the IOC and Clements but like HBW does not include pallidipectus, pacificus, nelsoni and viridior.[11][12][13]
This article follows the IOC treatment as a single species.
Description
The tawny-crowned greenlet is 9.5 to 13cm (3.7 to 5.1in) long and weighs 8.4 to 13.5g (0.30 to 0.48oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspeciesT. o. ochraceiceps have a yellowish forehead and a yellow-brown crown. Their face is mostly dull grayish. Their upperparts are olive-brown that is slightly more greenish on the rump. Their wings' primaries and secondaries are grayish black with buff-brown edges on the outer webs. Their tail is dull brown with cinnamon-brown edges on the feathers. Their chin is mottled grayish white, their throat gray with a faint yellow-green tinge, their breast ochraceous, their flanks yellowish gray, their belly's center yellow, and their vent grayish yellow. Their underwing coverts are yellow. They have a pale gray iris, a gray maxilla, a paler mandible, and pinkish to grayish legs and feet.[14]
The other subspecies of the tawny-crowned greenlet differ from the nominate and each other thus:[14][15][16][17]
T. o. pallidipectus: paler throat and underparts than nominate with pale buffy breast, grayer flanks, and pale yellow underwing coverts
T. o. pacificus: darker gray throat and underparts than pallidipectus with little or no yellow on the belly, brownish gray flanks, and pale yellow underwing coverts
T. o. nelsoni: tawny forehead and crown, olive-greenish upperparts with olive-brown middle back and wing coverts, and pale dingy greenish yellow underparts
T. o. bulunensis: darker olive-green upperparts than nominate with bright greenish yellow underparts
T. o. ferrugineifrons: rufous forehead ("front"); paler more whitish throat than nominate with dull whitish underparts that have a heavy olivaceous wash
T. o. viridior: paler russet forehead than ferrugineifrons, greener back than nominate and ferrugineifrons
T. o. luteifrons: dull buffy yellow head and face, less greenish back than nominate with more brownish orange-yellow edges on the flight feathers and more yellowish underparts washed with buffy on the breast
T. o. lutescens: bright rufous forehead; pure green upperparts, brown tail, and primrose yellow throat and underparts
T. o. rubrifrons: bright rufous forehead and honey yellow face; rather greenish back, rufescent brown tail, and deep honey yellow throat and breast
Distribution and habitat
The subspecies of the tawny-crowned greenlet are found thus:[9][14][15][16][17]
T. o. ochraceiceps: from southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca in southern Mexico south into Belize and northern Guatemala
T. o. pallidipectus: Caribbean slope from southern Guatemala south through Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica into northwestern Panama
T. o. pacificus: Pacific slope from southern Gulf of Nicoya in west-central Costa Rica south into western Panama[6][18]
T. o. bulunensis: extreme eastern Panama south through western Colombia into northwestern Ecuador's Esmeraldas Province and slightly into northwestern Carchi and northern Imbabura provinces[19]
T. o. ferrugineifrons: from Amazonas and western Bolívar states in Venezuela south through eastern Colombia from southern Vichada Department[20] and through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru; east from there into Brazil north of the Amazon to the Negro River and south of the Amazon through Amazonas state into Acre state
T. o. luteifrons: from eastern Bolívar in Venezuela east through the Guianas and in Brazil north of the Amazon from the Branco River east to the Atlantic
T. o. lutescens: Brazil south of the Amazon from eastern Amazonas east to the Tapajós River and south to west-central Mato Grosso
T. o. rubrifrons: Brazil east of the Tapajós to the Atlantic in extreme western Maranhão and south to north-central Mato Grosso
The tawny-crowned greenlet inhabits a variety of landscapes. Overall it is found in evergreen forest in the tropical and lower subtropical zones.[9] Its habitat is called rainforest in northern Central America, where it is found from sea level to 1,300m (4,300ft).[21] It inhabits "mature wet forest" in Costa Rica up to 1,300m (4,300ft).[18] Guides to Colombia and Ecuador place it in humid forest, in the former country to 800m (2,600ft) and in the latter mostly below 700m (2,300ft).[20][19] In Peru it favors humid terra firme forest up to 1,200m (3,900ft).[22] In Venezuela it is found in both terra firme and transitional forest up to 1,600m (5,200ft).[23] In Brazil's humid forest it ranges mostly from sea level to 800m (2,600ft) and "occasionally much higher".[24]
Behavior
Movement
The tawny-crowned greenlet is a year-round resident.[9]
Feeding
The tawny-crowned greenlet's diet has not been detailed for all subspecies, but where it is known it is primarily arthropods including insects and spiders and occasionally includes small berries. Where it has been observed, it forages from the forest's lower levels to its mid-story. It takes prey by gleaning from live and dead foliage while perched or with a short sally. It feeds actively, making frequent short flights between trees, and is often quite acrobatic, hanging upside-down to forage. It often joins mixed-species feeding flocks and in Mexico has been observed attending army ant swarms.[14][15][16][17]
Breeding
Most subspecies of the tawny-crowned greenlet are seen in pairs or small family groups, suggesting a year-round monogamous relationship. Its breeding season has not been defined for all subspecies but includes April to July in Belize, March and April perhaps to August in Costa Rica, and July and January in Panama. It spans at least August to October in southern Peru. In northern Brazil T. o. luteifrons breeds mostly between July and November but often begins earlier. The few known nests were cups made from various plant fibers, covered with moss, and placed in a horizontal branch fork or woven among small branches. The only known clutches were of one or two eggs. The incubation period is not known. The only observed time to fledging was 13 to 14 days after hatch. One individual did all of the incubation; both parents provisioned nestlings.[14][15][16] Nothing is known about the breeding biology of the "Para" or "rufous-fronted" greenlet (rubrifrons and lutescens).[17]
The tawny-crowned greenlet's vocalizations vary across its range. In Central America and northern and western South America its song is described as a "pure whistle that is steadily repeated many times at intervals of a few seconds" and is flat-pitched or slightly ascending.[14] It has been written as "wi-seeeeee or wi-heeeeee".[21] It also makes a "rapidly repeated rising nasal note: nya-nya-nya-nya".[14] The song of T. o. luteifrons is a "steadily repeated ventriloquial, penetrating phrase of two slightly descending pure whistles, the second one lower-pitched and longer than the first one, e.g. teee-yeee or teee-eeuw.[16] Subspecies T. o. rubrifrons sings a "pure whistle that is steadily repeated many times at intervals of a few seconds...flat-pitched or slightly ascending". T. o. lutescens sings a "steadily repeated phrase of three whistles, the first one short, the second one lower-pitched and longer, and the last one even lower, e.g. ti-teee-yeee or ti-teee-eeuw.[17]
Status
The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so in 2022 began to separately assess the "tawny-crowned" (sensu stricto), "olive-crowned", and "rufous-fronted" greenlets. All three are assessed as being of Least Concern. The "tawny-crowned" has a very large range and the other two have smaller but still large ranges. Their population sizes are not known and all are believed to be decreasing. All three are "threatened by the loss and fragmentation of [their]] habitat for small-scale agricultural conversion".[1][25][26] The tawny-crowned greenlet is considered fairly common in northern Central America and Costa Rica.[21][18] It is uncommon in Colombia, "locally fairly common" in Peru, and fairly common in Venezuela.[20][22][23] It is called "frequent to uncommon" in Brazil.[24] All of the tawny-crowned greenlet's subspecies are primarily dependent on large tracts undisturbed forest, so forest fragmentation is a threat across its range.[14][15][16][17]
↑ Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 3, 2025
1 2 3 4 Check-list of North American Birds (7thed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. p.440.
↑ R. Terry Chesser, Kevin J. Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Fifty-seventh supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk 2016, vol. 133:544-560 retrieved February 12, 2023
↑ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 29 September 2025. A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithological Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved September 29, 2025
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Remsen, Jr., J. V., G. M. Kirwan, P. F. D. Boesman, D. Brewer, J. del Hoyo, and N. Collar (2025). Ochre-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tacgre2.01 retrieved November 20, 2025
1 2 3 4 5 Remsen, Jr., J. V., G. M. Kirwan, P. F. D. Boesman, D. Brewer, J. del Hoyo, and N. Collar (2025). Rufous-fronted Greenlet (Tunchiornis ferrugineifrons), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tacgre4.01 retrieved November 20, 2025
1 2 3 4 5 6 Remsen, Jr., J. V., G. M. Kirwan, P. F. D. Boesman, D. Brewer, J. del Hoyo, and N. Collar (2025). Guianan Greenlet (Tunchiornis luteifrons), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tacgre5.01 retrieved November 20, 2025
1 2 3 4 5 6 Remsen, Jr., J. V., G. M. Kirwan, P. F. D. Boesman, D. Brewer, J. del Hoyo, and N. Collar (2025). Para Greenlet (Tunchiornis rubrifrons), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tacgre3.01 retrieved November 20, 2025
1 2 3 Garrigues, Richard; Dean, Robert (2007). The Birds of Costa Rica. Ithaca: Zona Tropical/Comstock/Cornell University Press. pp.228–229. ISBN978-0-8014-7373-9.
1 2 Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Vol.II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p.571. ISBN978-0-8014-8721-7.
1 2 3 McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p.178. ISBN978-0-9827615-0-2.
1 2 3 Fagan, Jesse; Komar, Oliver (2016). Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp.290–291. ISBN978-0-544-37326-6.
1 2 Schulenberg, T.S.; Stotz, D.F.; Lane, D.F.; O'Neill, J.P.; Parker, T.A. III (2010). Birds of Peru. Princeton Field Guides (revised and updateded.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p.508. ISBN978-0691130231.
1 2 Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela (seconded.). Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. p.681.
1 2 van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.338–339. ISBN978-0-19-530155-7.
Skutch, Alexander F. (1960). "Tawny-crowned greenlet"(PDF). Life Histories of Central American Birds II. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 34. Berkeley, California: Cooper Ornithological Society. pp.35–38.
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