- Myiopagis viridicata
Identification
13·5 cm
Given that it is unusual to see the semi-concealed yellow crown patch, the key features to the ID are the lack of wing bars and the underparts which are described in Hilty & Brown as: "grayish throat merging into olive gray chest is set off from pale yellow lower breast and belly".
Variable both according to subspecies and individually among members of the same population.
Distribution
From Mexico through Central America and much of South America.
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina
Accidental to the United States with 1 record at High Island in Texas.
Taxonomy
This species might be a candidate for a future split if more analysis is done.
Subspecies
Ten subspecies are recognized in this species[1].
- M. v. jaliscensis: Tropical western Mexico (Sinaloa and Durango to Guerrero)
- M. v. minima: Tres Marías Islands (off western Mexico)
- M. v. placens: Tropical south-eastern Mexico (Tamaulipas) to Honduras; Cozumel Island
- M. v. pacifica: Pacific lowlands of southern Mexico (Chiapas) to western Honduras
- M. v. accola: Tropical Nicaragua to Panama, northern Colombia and western Venezuela
- M. v. pallens: Colombia (Cundinamarca, Huila and Santa Marta region)
- M. v. restricta: Tropical southern Venezuela
- M. v. zuliae: Sierra de Perijá (Colombia/Venezuela border)
- M. v. implacens: Tropical south-western Colombia (Nariño) and western Ecuador
- M. v. viridicata: South-eastern Peru to eastern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay, northern Argentina, eastern and south-eastern Brazil
Habitat
Forest edge and second growth, partly open areas
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of a variety of insects, fruits, berries and seeds.
Vocalisation
Calls are different in northern part of the range, in middle part (Costa Rica and Panama) and in South America[2].
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Note in discussion at Xeno-Canto
- Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
- Garrigues and Dean 2007. The birds of Costa Rica - a field guide. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-7373-9
- Lepage D. (2021) [Avibase - https://avibase.ca/F219499B]. Retrieved 11 February 2021
- Fitzpatrick, J. W. (2020). Greenish Elaenia (Myiopagis viridicata), 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.greela.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Greenish Elaenia. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Greenish_Elaenia
