- Mecocerculus poecilocercus
Identification
11 cm (4¼ in). A tyrannulet with prominent white outer tail feathers.
- Thin white supercilium
- Faint blackish eyestripe
- Whitish face
- Medium grey crown, greenish-olive rest of upperparts
- Bright greenish-yellow rump and uppertail-coverts
- Dusky wings with two white to pale buff wingbars, pale yellow edges of flight feathers
- Dusky olive tail, white outer tail feathers
- Greyish-white throat and underparts, yellowish-white belly and undertail-coverts
Sexes similar, females are slightly smaller. Juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
South America: found in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, and to southern Peru.
Uncommon to common in its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Moist montanes, especially mossy cloudforest.
Occurs at 1400 to 3050 m, mainly at 1800 to 2400 m. Replaces White-banded Tyrannulet at lower elevations.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects, takes sometimes small fruits.
Forages actively, often hopping along thin branches in dense foliage, regularly fanning its tail. Usually seen in pairs or in small groups of up to six birds, often in mixed-species flocks.
Breeding
Birds with enlarged gonads have been recorded in August and September in Colombia. No other information available.
Movements
This is a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-tailed Tyrannulet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-tailed_Tyrannulet
