- Muscisaxicola capistratus
Identification
18 cm
Adult: Upperside is grey-brown showing little contrast to tail or wings. Head shows black front continuing to the area around the eye, and behind that grey-brown like the back but crown is rufous. Underside changes gradually from pale throat, light grey breast to cinnamon flanks and vent.
Juvenile has paler cinnamon on underside and lacks rufous on crown but has cinnamon wing bars.
Similar species
This species lacks pale eye-brow and supraloral areas shown by most Ground Tyrants. Head of especially the young bird can be similar to Dark-faced Ground Tyrant but that species lacks the cinnamon on rear underparts.
Distribution
South America: breeds in southern Chile and southern Argentina (Patagonia); winters in Andean areas to Bolivia and southern Peru.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
The scientific name has changed from capistrata to capistratus.
Habitat
Breeds in Patagonian grassy steppe areas up to 450 m asl and winters in grassy puna between 2000 and 4500 m asl.
Behaviour
Food consists of insects and similar invertebrates, most of which is captured while the bird is on the ground.
Produces aerial displays where the male flies up high while wings produce a whirring sound.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- Jaramillo, A. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117409
- Farnsworth, A. and G. Langham (2020). Cinnamon-bellied Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola capistratus), 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.cibgrt1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cinnamon-bellied Ground Tyrant. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cinnamon-bellied_Ground_Tyrant
