White-fronted Tyrannulet

Acrochordopus zeledoni

Phyllomyias zeledoni

Identification

• Upperside mostly olive
• Crown bluish grey
• Supercilium narrow over the eye, wider but indistinct over the lores, and connecting over the bill at the front of the head
• Wings dark with two wing bars and fringes of tertials and tail feathers yellow
• Sides of head mottled grey
• Breast grey-olive
• Underside yellow
• Eyes pale to reddish-brown

Similar Species

Rough-legged Tyrannulet differs in having a vocalization at higher pitch. These two may be separated only by elevation in norther Bolivia.

Distribution

Central to South America: Costa Rica and Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and eastern portions of Ecuador and Peru.

Taxonomy

This species was formerly included within Rough-legged Tyrannulet.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized^[1].

• A. z. zeledoni
  • Mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama
• A. z. wetmorei
  • Sierra de Perijá (Colombia/Venezuela border)
• A. z. viridiceps
  • Coastal mountains of northern Venezuela
• A. z. bunites
  • Tepuis of southern Venezuela in Bolívar (Cerro Chimantá-tepui)
• A. z. leucogonys
  • Eastern Andes from Colombia to eastern Ecuador and south-eastern Peru

Habitat

Moist forest canopy and sometimes edges on lower mountain slopes, up to a maximum elevation of 1800 m asl in most of the range but to 2800 m in Costa Rica.

Behaviour

Usually seen in or near canopy, often in mixed fouraging flocks. Mostly seen performing active movements. Food includes both insects and small berries.

Vocalisation

A "pseet" note is given either singly or as part of a series. Early mornings, it is most often heard as a slow series (1 note per 1-2 seconds), at other times of the day is may be gives as a more compact series or as well separated single notes. Additionally, a similar sounding but longer, down-slurred version of the call is also known. However, this species seems silent a lot of the time.

References

1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.1)_red. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
3. Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
4. Schulenberg, T. S. & Stotz, D. F. & Lane, D. F. & O'Neill, J. P. & Parker III, T. A. & Egg, A. B. (2010). Birds of Peru: Revised and Updated Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691130231
5. Fitzpatrick, J. W., J. del Hoyo, G. M. Kirwan, and N. Collar (2022). White-fronted Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias zeledoni), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.roltyr1.01.1

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-fronted Tyrannulet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-fronted_Tyrannulet

External Links

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