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Rufous-tailed Tyrant - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Aracal
Sabaneta, Colombia, May 2011
Knipolegus poecilurus

Identification

14·5–15 cm (5¾-6 in)

  • Grey upperparts with buffy wing bars
  • Grey streaks in breast band
  • Salmon underside with pale rufous undertail coverts and underside of tail.
  • Notice the red eye

Variations

Subspecies peruanus
Photo by Stanley Jones
Oxapampa, Peru, August 2017

The birds from the Tepuis are darker, less rufous (almost none in the tail) with more contrasting breast band.

Distribution

South America in several separate populations: Andes of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador; Andes of Colombia, and Venezuela; coastal mts of Venezuela; Tepuis of Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela.

Taxonomy

Five subspecies are recognized[1]:

  • K. p. poecilurus:
  • K. p. venezuelanus:
  • Coastal cordillera of northern Venezuela (Distrito Federal)
  • K. p. paraquensis:
  • Subtropical southern Venezuela (Cerro Paraque area of Amazonas)
  • K. p. salvini:
  • Tepuis of southern Venezuela, Guyana and extreme northern Brazil
  • K. p. peruanus:

Habitat

Moist montane forest edges and high altitude shrubland.

Behaviour

Diet

Usually sitting in relatively open spots, sallying for insects.

Not associated with mixed flocks.

Breeding

The only nests seen have contained a single egg.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Ridgely and Tudor 2009. Field guide to the songbirds of South America - The Passerines. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71979-8
  3. Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
  4. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Oct 2017)

Recommended Citation

External Links

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