- Myiodynastes maculatus
Identification
22 cm long; weighs 43 g. The head is brown with a yellow crown patch, usually concealed; dusky eye mask and a white supercilium. Upperparts are brown with darker brown streaks on the back. Wings have rufous and white edges; tail and rump have chestnut edges. Underparts are yellowish-white, with marked brown streaks. Sexes similar. Juvenile birds have brown coloring where the adults are black.
Distribution
Breeds in Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, south to Bolivia and Argentina. The southern subspecies M. m. solitarius, migrates to the Guianas and Venezuela from March to September.
Taxonomy
A member of the tyrant flycatcher family. (Statius Muller, 1776)
Habitat
Edges of forests and cocoa plantations.
Behaviour
Typical flycatcher, perching on branch or twig and sallying forth to catch flying insects. Also eats small lizards, and berries. Has a noisy sqEEE-zip call. Nests in a tree hollow or bromeliad plant, building a cup-shaped nest of twigs and grasses. Female builds the nest and lays 2-3 eggs, which are creamy-white with red-brown spots. Incubation is 16-17 days, and both parents feed the young, which fledge in 18-21 days.
