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Lesser Elaenia - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Stanley Jones
Panama Province, Panama, March 2013
Elaenia chiriquensis

Identification

Most Lesser Elaenias are identified by voice. Lesser Elaenia is easily confused since it has no obvious fieldmark.

It is slightly crested and sometimes shows a white crown. It has a narrow white eye-ring and 2 whitish wing-bars.

Photo by paul47
El Valle, Panama, March 2008

Distribution

It is distributed from Costa Rica through Panama to tropical South America but seems to be absent from the Pacific coast, the north-east of Brazil and much of south-western Amazonia.

Taxonomy

Coopmans's Elaenia was formerly included in this species.

Subspecies[1]

There are 2 subspecies:

  • E. c. chiriquensis:
  • E. c. albivertex:

Habitat

It is found in open grassy areas but also sometimes in open woodlands or attached to bushes in open areas.

Behaviour

It is a seasonal migrant which disappears from Central American areas and the southern end of its range, but timing and extent of movements are poorly understood.

Diet

Foraging is often happening at mid to high levels of bushes.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2016. IOC World Bird Names (version 6.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
  3. Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
  4. Morton & Stutchbury (2001): Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-675556-6

Recommended Citation

External Links

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