| White-bellied pygmy tyrant | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Myiornis |
| Species: | M. albiventris |
| Binomial name | |
| Myiornis albiventris | |
 | |
Thewhite-bellied pygmy tyrant orwhite-breasted pygmy-tyrant[2] (Myiornis albiventris) is a species ofbird in the familyTyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found inBolivia,Ecuador, andPeru.[3]
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant ismonotypic.[3] However, one author has treated it as a subspecies of theeared pygmy tyrant (M. auricularis)[2]; major taxonomic systems retain it as a full species.[3][4][5][6]
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant wasoriginally described in 1894 asOrchilus albiventris.[7]
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant is about 7 cm (2.8 in) long and weighs about 5 to 6 g (0.18 to 0.21 oz). It is a very small, large-headed bird. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a buff whitish area surrounding the eye with a grayish crescent behind the earcoverts. Their crown is bright olive with a brown tinge and their back and rump are bright olive. Their wings are dusky with bright olive-yellow edges on the flight feathers and tips of the coverts; the latter show as two indistinctwing bars. Their tail is dusky. Their throat and upper breast are whitish with faint gray streaks and the rest of their underparts are white with a tinge of yellowish olive on the sides andcrissum. They have a reddish iris, a blackish bill, and pinkish legs and feet.[8][9]
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant is found intermittently along the eastern slope of the Andes from extreme southeasternZamora-Chinchipe Province in southern Ecuador south through Peru and central Bolivia as far as westernSanta Cruz Department. Especially in Peru it extends from the slope eastward along outlying ridges. It inhabits humidmontane forest, where it favors edges and gaps such as those caused by fallen trees. It also is partial to vine tangles. In elevation it ranges from 350 to 1,200 m (1,100 to 3,900 ft) overall but only up to 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in Peru.[8][9]
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant is a year-round resident.[8]
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant feeds on insects. It mostly forages in the vegetation's lower and middle levels, taking prey using short upward sallies from a perch to grab it from leaves.[8]
Nothing is known about the white-bellied pygmy tyrant's breeding biology.[8]
| Songs and calls |
The white-bellied pygmy tyrant is "[e]asily overlooked except by voice". Its song is "a mellow, tinkling, rising-falling trill:triiiiieww, sometimes becoming longer, with [the] last few notes stutteredtrriiiEEEEiii'rr'rrl". Its calls are "a quiettrrt ortrrrrl and a more slowly trilledtree ee'ee'ew".[9]
TheIUCN originally in 1988 assessed the white-bellied pygmy tyrant as Near Threatened but since 2004 as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered generally uncommon though "fairly common but local" in Peru.[8][9] It is found in several protected areas.[8]
