White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies albicauda
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Huánuco, Peru, August, 2017

Agriornis albicauda

Identification

Photo © by Jon Gallagher
South of Cruz Conga, Cajamarca, Peru

25–28 cm (9¾-11 in)

• Dark greyish-brown upperparts; darker on wings
• Pale supercilium
• White throat heavily streaked black
• Pale greyish-brown breast and flanks
• Pale centre to belly
• White tail with dark greyish-brown central rectrices
• Heavy, dark bill

Distribution

South America: found in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

Taxonomy

The scientific name has changed from andicola to albicauda because andicola was unavailable for this taxon; as a result, the subspecies was also changed, andicola to pollens.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• A. a. pollens:

• Andes of Ecuador (north to Imbabura)

• A. a. albicauda:

• Andes of Peru to western Bolivia, northern Chile and north-western Argentina

Habitat

High-altitude shrub and grassland, farmed arable and pasture, semi-arid bushy country, open areas with sparse vegetation and scattered rocks.

Behaviour

Diet

They use a conspicuous perch to hunt for their prey, which consists mostly of large insects, small mammals, lizards, frogs, eggs or nestlings of other birds.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Aug 2018)
3. SACC proposal to change the scientific name of this species

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2023) White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 November 2023 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-tailed_Shrike-Tyrant

External Links

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