| White-throated spadebill | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Platyrinchus |
| Species: | P. mystaceus |
| Binomial name | |
| Platyrinchus mystaceus Vieillot, 1818 | |
 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The white-throated spadebill (Platyrinchus mystaceus) is a tiny passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It lives in the tropical Americas.
The adult white-throated spadebill is 3.8 inches (9.7 cm) long, weighs 0.33 oz (9.4 g), and has large eyes and a very short tail. The large head is distinctively marked, with a long yellowish supercilium, blackish ear coverts, yellow eyering, and a black stripe down each side of the neck. The crown has a concealed yellow crest, which is erected as a fan by the singing male. The upperparts are dark olive brown, and the underparts are buff apart from the white throat. The bill is black above and brown below, and is very broad and flat, hence the English and scientific names "spadebill" and Platyrinchus.
Sexes are similar, other than the female having a smaller crown patch, but young birds are brighter and ruddier above, lack the crown patch, and have a grey throat and breast shading to a whitish belly. They are not particularly vocal but have a sharp chweet call.
The subspecies Platyrinchus mystaceus insularis occurs only in Trinidad, Tobago and in Venezuela, other forms differing in the brightness of the underparts or the crown colour. The taxonomy of this species is uncertain, with some dubious subspecies, but also the possibility that what is usually treated as the white-throated spadebill consists of more than one species.
The white-throated spadebill breeds from Costa Rica through South America to western Ecuador, Brazil, and northeastern Argentina. It also occurs on both Trinidad and Tobago. This bird was recently found to be far more common on the Amazonian slope of the Colombian Cordillera Oriental than it was believed in the 20th century. It is not rare in its wide range, and thus not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. [2]
This species is found in wet hill forests and will to some extent use secondary forest and other disturbed habitat. It likes habitat with thick, tangled undergrowth and medium-sized trees with a canopy height of 33–100 ft (10–30 m) such as Elaeagia (Rubiaceae) and Hieronyma oblonga (Phyllanthaceae), overgrown with epiphytes and hemiepiphytes (e.g. Clusiaceae). [3]
White-throated spadebills are solitary active birds, difficult to see as they move rapidly through the undergrowth in search of small arthropods, their mainstay food. These are taken with a sudden upward-darting sally flight and audible bill-snap from under the foliage, or less often from mid-air. This species occasionally joins mixed-species feeding flocks. [4]
The deep cup nest is made of dead grass and plant fibres and placed low in a sapling. The typical clutch is two yellow-tinged white eggs with a rufous wreath.
The green hermit is a large hummingbird that is a resident breeder from southern Central America south to northern South America
The black-throated mango is a species in subfamily Polytminae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. It is found in Panama, in every mainland South American country except Chile, and in Trinidad and Tobago.
The yellow-bellied elaenia is a small bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula through Central and South America as far as northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago.
The tropical kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher. This bird breeds from southern Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States through Central America, South America as far as south as central Argentina and eastern Peru, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Birds from the northernmost and southern breeding areas migrate to warmer parts of the range after breeding.
The great kiskadee, called bem-te-vi in Brazil, pitogue in Paraguay, and benteveo or bichofeo in Argentina, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is the only member of the genus Pitangus.
The rufous-breasted hermit or hairy hermit is a hummingbird that breeds from Panama south to Bolivia, and on Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada. It is a widespread and generally common species, though local populations may change in numbers and disappear altogether in marginal habitat.
The tropical parula is a small New World warbler. It breeds from southernmost Texas and northwest Mexico (Sonora) south through Central America to northern Argentina, including Trinidad and Tobago. This widespread and common species is not considered threatened by the IUCN.
The yellow-legged thrush is a songbird of northern and eastern South America and the Caribbean.
The sulphury flycatcher is a passerine bird which is a localised resident breeder from Trinidad, the Guianas and Venezuela south to Amazonian Peru, northern Bolivia and Brazil.
The white-headed marsh tyrant, also known as simply the marsh tyrant, is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family, the only species of the genus Arundinicola. It breeds in tropical South America from Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad south to Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay.
The streaked xenops is a passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in the New World from Costa Rica and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Argentina.
The streaked flycatcher is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.
The fuscous flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family, and the only member of the genus Cnemotriccus. It breeds from Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, and on both Trinidad and Tobago. The fuscous flycatcher ranges in northern and eastern South America, including the entire Amazon Basin, and the Guianas; also all of Brazil except the very southeastern border area with Uruguay.
The plain antvireo is a passerine bird species in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Mexico, every Central American country except El Salvador, on both Trinidad and Tobago, and in every mainland South American country except Chile, French Guiana, Suriname, and Uruguay.
Euler's flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds in South America east of the Andes from Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and Argentina, and on the islands of Trinidad and formerly also Grenada. This species is named for the Swiss ornithologist Carl Euler.
The southern beardless tyrannulet is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from Costa Rica through South America south to Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.
The slaty-capped flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is found in northern Bolivia to Costa Rica and in Trinidad.
The social flycatcher is a passerine bird from the Americas, a member of the large tyrant flycatcher family (Tyrannidae).
The squirrel cuckoo is a large and active species of cuckoo found in wooded habitats from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad. Some authorities have split off the western Mexican form as the Mexican squirrel-cuckoo.
The stub-tailed spadebill is a passerine bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is commonly found in tropical dry rainforests or tropical moist lowlands throughout Central America. First scientifically described in 1860, it was originally thought to be the same as Platyrinchus mystaceus but was later reclassified as a sympatric species. The stub-tailed spadebill may grow up to 9.5 cm (3.74 in) long and may weigh up to 12 g (0.42 oz). It has a white throat, yellow breast, and brown mantle and wings. The stub-tailed spadebill is most easily recognizable due to its stubby tail, broad bill, and its distinctive bird song. Some morphological differences like its greatly reduced crown differentiate it from other related species.
