Tawny-crowned Greenlet Tunchiornis ochraceiceps Scientific name definitions

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Although it is generally fairly common and occurs over a broad range, which stretches from southern Mexico to northern Bolivia, and encompasses much of the lowlands of northern South America, the Tawny-crowned Greenlet is easily overlooked, especially without knowledge of its whistled song. As many as ten subspecies have been described, of which the three dark-eyed subspecies found in Amazonia are sometimes suggested to represent a separate species, especially as they also more or less lack much or any tawny on the cap. However, no vocal differences have been described between the two groups. Like other greenlets, this species builds a deep cup nest and lays two whitish eggs.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

9·5–12·5 cm; 8·4–13·5 g. Nominate race has crown yellow-brown, lighter and more yellowish at front (especially above bill), upperparts olive-brown, becoming slightly more greenish on rump; primaries and secondaries dull grayish black, buff-brown edgings on outer webs (giving general buff-brown color to closed wing), rectrices dull brown with cinnamon-brown edgings; ear-coverts dull grayish, chin mottled grayish white, throat dull gray with faint yellow-green suffusion; chest ochraceous, becoming brighter yellow on centre of belly and dull yellowish gray on flanks, vent dull grayish yellow; underwing-coverts and carpal area dull yellow; iris pale gray; bill gray, paler below; legs pinkish to grayish. Sexes alike. Juvenile has iris darker, head and upperparts vinous-tinged, underparts ochre. Race pallidipectus is very similar to nominate, but breast decidedly more pale, dull buffy olive (rather than rich ochraceous), yellow of abdomen and vent paler, flanks more gray, rump more green (contrasting more with back); pacificus has throat purer and darker gray than previous, underparts darker, with distinct breastband, underwing (carpal area, axillaries and underwing-coverts) paler yellow, rump more greenish; nelsoni is very like pallidipectus but greener, and is browner than following race; bulunensis has gray confined to chin and sometimes upper throat, with underparts grayish green, brightest on breast and grayest on flanks, back dull greenish olive and contrasting with orange-brown crown; ferrugineifrons has underparts generally dull whitish, more or less heavily washed olivaceous, with throat paler, more whitish, iris color apparently variable (white to gray to brown), bill blackish above and pale below; <em>viridior</em> is of a brighter, purer yellowish green above, forehead more pale russet, rectrices paler and less brown; lutescens has upperparts citrine-green, no tawny on crown, tail pale brown, underparts uniformly washed primrose-yellow, iris dark; and rubrifrons has upperparts more brownish than last, tail darker brown, iris dark.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

9·5–12·5 cm; 9·2–14·5 g. Compared to previously conspecific <em>T. ochraceiceps</em> , adult is dark citrine above, darker olivaceous on crown, with forehead and area above lores tinged dull buffy yellow, and undertail- and underwing-coverts deep buff; iris brownish or black, maxilla blackish, mandible gray, and legs and feet blue-gray. Sexes alike. Juvenile apparently undescribed.

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Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

SE Venezuela (E Bolívar), the Guianas and N Brazil (E from R Branco, S to R Amazon).

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

Undergrowth of humid evergreen or semi-deciduous forest; occasionally reported from higher strata. From sea-level up to 1200 m in Central America (exceptionally 1550 m in Panama) and Peru, but much lower in Ecuador.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

Understorey of humid evergreen or semi-deciduous forest, being rarely observed at borders or edges, and never in canopy; in Suriname interior forest; rare or absent in scrubby sandy forest. From sea-level to 1600 m.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

Probably sedentary; populations in S Veracruz (Mexico) appear to vary in abundance during course of year, suggesting possible local movement.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

Food mostly arthropods, including roaches (Blattodea), caterpillars, ants (Formicidae) and spiders (Araneae); also small fleshy fruits; two birds collected in E Panama had stomach contents comprising ants, spiders, Lepidopterans, roaches and locustids. Feeds mostly in lower or middle levels of forest; active , often hanging upside-down. Frequently in mixed flocks with parulid warblers, tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae) and others; in Belize, seems to flock especially with Red-crowned Ant-tanagers (Habia rubica).

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

Diet very poorly known, but probably comprises mainly small arthropods, especially insects. Singles or pairs forage in lower storey of forest, usually with mixed-species flocks containing various antwrens and sometimes antshrikes (Thamnophilidae), as well as other insectivores, e.g. tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae), but also occasionally independently of them. Very active, and frequently hangs upside-down from tips of live foliage.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

Song in Belize and Mexico a high, plaintive, insect-like whining “wheee” or “swee”, repeated a variable number of times, sometimes preceded by brief trill; call a harsh, nasal “doy-doy-doy”, repeated many times. In Costa Rica, a high, clear, penetrating whistle. In Peru, song a clear, descending (or occasionally ascending) whistle, “heeeeeeeeu”; call a low, mewing churring chatter, each note rising, e.g. “djreeee djree-djree-djree”, or a nasal “naaa”.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

Song a repeated, ventriloquial, penetrating phrase of two slightly descending whistles, the second lower and longer than the first, e.g. “teee-yeee” or “teeeeeuw”, given once every c. 2·5 seconds. No differences known in calls between this species and formerly conspecific T. ochraceiceps.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

A nest with eggs in Apr and one with young in May in Costa Rica; one (not yet with eggs) in W Panama in mid Jul, while a female collected in C Panama in late Jan had an egg in the oviduct; in Oaxaca, SW Mexico, male in breeding condition in late May; in SW Venezuela, males in breeding condition in Feb and Apr; in NW Colombia, pairs in breeding condition in Feb. Nest in Costa Rica a sturdy hemispherical cup with outer covering of moss, a layer of fine fibres, a thicker layer of seed down, and lining of fine fibres, attached by its rim, nests 1–7 m up in horizontal fork of branch; in South America only recently described, based on three nests found in SE Peru, all of them cups covered externally with green moss and internally with thin and light straw fibres, with inner and outer major and minor axes of 48·6 mm × 49·2 mm and 66·6 mm × 61 mm, respectively, a wall thickness of 9·8 mm, and inner depth of 38·7 mm (2 Loaiza-Muñoz, M.A., Valencia-Montoya, W.A. and Londoño, G.A. (2017). Reproductive biology of the Tawny-crowned Tunchiornis (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps) in Manu National Park, Perú. Wilson J. Orn.. 129(4): 813–819. Close ). Clutch two eggs, white, marked with purplish and gray, especially at the larger end (Costa Rica) or creamy white with dark brown spots concentrated at base, size 18·3 ± 0·4 mm × 13·1 ± 0·3 mm, mass 1·73 ± 0·12 g (2 Loaiza-Muñoz, M.A., Valencia-Montoya, W.A. and Londoño, G.A. (2017). Reproductive biology of the Tawny-crowned Tunchiornis (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps) in Manu National Park, Perú. Wilson J. Orn.. 129(4): 813–819. Close ); incubation probably by female (nest attentiveness 64%), lasting 15 days (2 Loaiza-Muñoz, M.A., Valencia-Montoya, W.A. and Londoño, G.A. (2017). Reproductive biology of the Tawny-crowned Tunchiornis (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps) in Manu National Park, Perú. Wilson J. Orn.. 129(4): 813–819. Close ); chicks fed by both parents, nestling period 11–14 days.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

No information, except that around Manaus (C Amazonian Brazil) birds in breeding condition have been trapped in Jan, Mar and Jul–Nov.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common or fairly common in many parts of its range, but rarer in Ecuador; easily overlooked. Potentially susceptible to habitat fragmentation due to patchwork clearance for slash-and-burn agriculture, given that study in C Amazonian Brazil has revealed that formerly conspecific T. luteifrons is absent from small patches of forest.

Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Olive-crowned)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Fairly common resident, but easily overlooked, especially as its song is easily missed and difficult to pinpoint. Seems not to occur in small patches of forest, and is therefore susceptible to habitat fragmentation due to patchwork clearance for slash-and-burn agriculture.