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Agile Tit-Tyrant Uromyias agilis Scientific name definitions

John W. Fitzpatrick
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2004

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

The Agile Tit-tyrant is a small flycatcher of montane northwestern South America.  Found in the Andes from western Venezuela south to Ecuador, the species inhabits undergrowth and edge habitat in forests quite high in elevation, from 2700 to 3400 meters.  It has a dark brown head with white supercilium and white-streaked cheeks, black upperparts with brown edging, and whitish underparts with dense black streaking and a lemon belly.  Agile Tit-tyrant and its congener, the Unstreaked Tit-tyrant, act very chickadee-like in their flocking and foraging behavior.  The species gives a short trill as well as thin, high contact notes while in flocks.

Field Identification

12·5 cm. Streaked flycatcher with flattened black crest and very long, graduated tail. Has brownish-black crown, feathers elongated into bushy, flattened crest, bordered entirely below by white supercilium also consisting of elongated feathers; lores black, broad eyestripe dark brown, face finely streaked black and white; upper­parts warm brown, heavily streaked black; wings dark, dusky brown, innermost remiges narrowly edged whitish; tail dusky, outermost rectrices edged white; throat whitish, finely streaked black, underparts pale yellow, heavily but finely streaked blackish except on lower belly and undertail-coverts; iris dark brown; bill black, lower mandible yellow at base; legs dark grey. Sexes alike, female slightly smaller. Juvenile has two buffy wingbars.

Systematics History

Closely related to U. agraphia. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Andes of W Venezuela (Mérida, Táchira), E & C ranges of Colombia, and Ecuador (S to Cotopaxi on W slope, to NE Loja on E slope).

Habitat

Upper montane cloudforest and shrubby elfin-forest thickets, with strong preference for mixed or pure stands of Chusquea bamboo; 1800–3400 m, mainly above 2700 m.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects. Forages actively, in pairs or in groups of up to six individuals, almost always with mixed-species flocks, within several metres of ground. Feeds by perch-gleaning and rapid upward strikes; some acrobatic manoeuvres on thin twigs.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

A short, chattery trill, sometimes descending slightly and ending in hiccup, “t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-e-e-e-spew-it!”, also single soft chip, and sharp “speew-it!”.

Breeding

Birds with enlarged gonads in Feb in Colombia, and fledglings in Dec and Jul in NW Ecuador. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Uncommon to common. Occurs in Puracé National Park, in Colombia; in Ecuador, occurs in several protected areas on W slope of Andes, and in all national parks except Podocarpus on E slope.
Distribution of the Agile Tit-Tyrant - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Agile Tit-Tyrant

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Fitzpatrick, J. W. (2020). Agile Tit-Tyrant (Uromyias agilis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.agitit1.01
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