Black-capped Piprites Piprites pileata Scientific name definitions

The Black-capped Piprites is a buffy tyrannid with a strongly contrasting black cap and yellow bill that can be found within its fragmented range in southeastern Brazil. Pairs or individuals can be found foraging in the canopy and subcanopy of humid, dense, southern temperate forests, sometimes accompanying mixed-species flocks. The diet of the Black-capped Piprites consists of arthropods and fruit. The male Black-capped Piprites has a ritualized display which it performs repeatedly for females during the breeding season. The Black-capped Piprites has a small range and a tiny overall population size of less than 10,000 individuals that is believed to be declining. Due to these data, the Black-capped Piprites has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN watchlist.

12–12·5 cm; 1 male 15 g. Highly distinctive, with conspicuous whitish on primaries. Male has black crown to nape, contrasting chestnut upperparts; remiges blackish, edged yellowish-green, prominent whitish at base of primaries; tail rufous, mostly black central feathers; lower forehead and face down to breast cinnamon-rufous, becoming paler and yellower on lower underparts; iris dark; bill yellow; legs orange-yellow. Female resembles male but much duller above, back dull olive, upper­wing-coverts dusky with pale greyish tips (faint greyish wingbars). Juvenile und­escribed.

SE Brazil (S Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro S to N Rio Grande do Sul) and extreme NE Argentina (Misiones).

Montane Atlantic Forest, in S parts of range often associated with Araucaria; 900–2000m.

Apparently resident; some possible altitudinal movements suspected, e.g. in Itatiaia region of Brazil.

Mainly small fruits, with those of the genera Geonoma (Arecaceae), Rapanea (Myrsinaceae) and Leandra (Melastomataceae) recorded as eaten; also small arthropods. Fruits plucked from branches; arthropods taken from foliage by gleaning or hover-gleaning. Forages mostly in canopy and subcanopy, but observed also in dense understorey of Chusquea bamboo thicket. Often accompanies mixed-species foraging flocks.

Calls include single “whééu”, sometimes followed by a series of briefer, less loud notes; song a fast, rollicking sequence, e.g. “chik, chik, cheeút, chee-unh”, variable but always with chortling ­quality.

Male specimen with greatly enlarged testes in late Sept, and display observed in Sept. No other information.

VULNERABLE. Restricted-range species: present in Atlantic Forest Mountains EBA. Rare and local, with very sparse distribution; seems never to have been numerous, and habitat loss has probably reduced its numbers even further. One of strongholds is Itatiaia National Park, on Rio de Janeiro-Minas Gerais border; on Itatiaia massif occurs in dense upper montane forest, which has suffered far less than adjoining areas of lowland forest, and in this and other protected montane areas in N of range, including Serra da Bocaína National Park and Campos do Jordão State Park (both in São Paolo), its survival prospects should be good. Recent records from a few sites in Paraná (e.g. Fazenda Santa Rita (1 Anjos, L., K. L. Schuchmann, and R. Berndt (1997). Avifaunal composition, species richness, and status in the Tibagi River Basin, Paraná state, southern Brazil. Ornitología Neotropical 8(2):145–173. Close ) ) and Santa Catarina (2 Santos, R.E.F., Ribas, C.F. and Patrial, E.W. (2008). Observações recentes do caneleirinho-de-chapéu-preto Piprites pileata (Temminck, 1822) no Estado de Santa Catarina. Atualidades Ornitológicas. 146: 12-13. Close ). Very few records, recent or old, from S part of range, where Araucaria forest now extensively destroyed; may still occur in Aparados da Serra National Park, in Rio Grande do Sul. Outside Brazil, recorded once in extreme NE Argentina, in Sept 1959; multiple records since 2006 in Yabotí Biosphere Reserve (3 Maders, C., Fariña, N. and Bodrati, A. (2007). Redescubrimiento del bailarín castaño (Piprites pileata) en Argentina. Ornitología Neotropical. 18(1): 127-131. Close , 4 Bodrati, A., Maders, C., Di Santo, G., Cockle, K., Areta, J.I. and Segovia, J.M. (2009). Distribución, hábitat, y historia natural del Bailarín Castaño Piprites pileata, una especie Críticamente Amenazada en Argentina. Cotinga. 31: 95-100. Close , 5 Bodrati A., Lammertink M. and Segovia J.M. (2010). El Bailarín Castaño (Piprites pileata) está en la Reserva Natural Cultural Papel Misionero, Provincia de Misiones, Argentina. Nuestras Aves. 54: 76-78. Close ); alleged occurrence in Iguazú National Park not proven. Field surveys required in order to establish whether the species is still present at historical localities, and to determine its exact habitat requirements; in addition, important to clarify extent, if any, of seasonal movement to lower elevations, as lower-altitude forest in the region is at greater risk of destruction.