- Knipolegus striaticeps
Identification
13–13·5 cm (5-5¼ in)
Male is dark grey with the head almost blackish producing a hooded appearance. It becomes a little paler towards the rear, and slightly paler on underside than upperside. Wings have pale edges to primaries and secondaries and pale tips to coverts producing two weak wing bars. Bill and legs are dark, eye is orange to red.
Female is olive brown on upperside with rufous crown and rump. Wings are dark with two white wing bars and pale edges to secondaries, tail is dark. Underside is whitish with dusky stripes on front and side of head, throat, breast and flanks but unstreaked belly and vent.
Similar species
Males of most similar tyrants have concealed white in wings, missing from this species, and the contrasting rufous crown on the female is also good for separating this species.
Distribution
South America: found in eastern Bolivia to northern Argentina, western Paraguay and extreme south-western Brazil.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Dry shrubland and especially woodland, edges, but also in Brazil in dense forest. Found mostly below 1000 m but reported up to 1900 m asl.
Behaviour
Usually found singly or in pairs, but not in mixed species flocks. Has a habit of twitching its tail.
Diet
Feeds on insects and similar invertebrates.
Breeding
They construct an open cup nest from grass, horsehair and feathers. It is placed in a cactus. The clutch contains 2 eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Ber van Perlo. 2009. A field guide to the Birds of Brazil. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7
- Farnsworth, A. and G. Langham (2020). Cinereous Tyrant (Knipolegus striaticeps), 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.cintyr1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cinereous Tyrant. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cinereous_Tyrant
