Chocolate-vented Tyrant (Neoxolmis rufiventris)

This distinctive large ground-dwelling flycatcher is an Austral migrant moving from breeding grounds here in the Patagonian Steppe to wintering areas in the Pampas. This was a seasonally late straggler. We saw just one on our visit while friends who birded this area about a week later were unable to find this species. Adults usually have a more contrasting white patch on their wing-coverts and deeper rust color than this. We speculated that this bird might be immature. However it is not a good match for the juvenal plumage described by Fjeldsa and Krabbe which is more streaky. This Tyrant is now classified by SACC, Clements, IOC HBW, and H&M as the sole member of the genus Neoxolmis. Earlier authors included it with the Monjitas in Xolmis or with the Bush-Tyrants in Myiotheretes.