Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies ferruginea
Photo © by Oregonian
Nevado De Ruiz, near Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, 30 August, 2006

Ochthoeca fumicolor

Identification

14·5–16 cm (5¾ in) Upperside to crown is warm brown, with side of head about same color, but the supercilium is strong and pale.
Underside is buff to rufous, wings dark with two prominent rufous wing bars.
Tail is very dark but outer tail feathers are white.
Eye, bill and legs are dark.

Variation

Subspecies superciliosa (Rufous-browed Chat-tyrant)
Photo © by iainp
High Andes, Venezuela, July 2010

Generally, birds are more bland and buff to the south with stronger rufous tones to the north and north-east.
Subspecies superciliosa differs significantly in being brighter rufous on undersides, supercilium being equally bright rufous and very broad, while it may have only one wing bar. It is also smaller with especially a shorter wing.

Distribution

South America: found in Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Taxonomy

HBWalive^[4] did split this into two species: the first subspecies was called Rufous-browed Chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca superciliosa) while the rest was known as Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant. No other main taxonomic entity has agreed.

Subspecies

Five subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• O. f. superciliosa:

• Andes of western Venezuela (Trujillo, Mérida and eastern Táchira)

• O. f. fumicolor:

• Eastern Andes of Colombia and western Venezuela (western Táchira)

• O. f. ferruginea:

• Central and Western Andes of Colombia (Antioquia)

• O. f. brunneifrons:

• Central and Western Andes of Colombia to central Peru

• O. f. berlepschi:

• Andes of south-eastern Peru (Cuzco and Puno) to western Bolivia

Habitat

Photo © by Peter R. Bono
Manu Road, Quebrada at 3020m before reaching Ajcanacu Pass, Peru, July 2008

Paramo, forest and woodland, mostly observed at 2200-4200 m asl. Subspecies superciliosa averages higher mainly at timberline scrub.

Behaviour

Mostly found close to ground either perching there or on a (thick) branch. Feed mainly on insects and similar invertebrates.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Bird Forum Member observations
4. del Hoyo, J., Collar, N. & Kirwan, G.M. (2020). Rufous-browed Chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca superciliosa). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/1343716 on 23 March 2020).
5. Farnsworth, A., J. del Hoyo, N. Collar, G. Langham, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bbctyr1.01

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown-backed_Chat-Tyrant

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