Family Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Least Concern
Crowned Chat-tyrant (Silvicultrix frontalis)
Taxonomy
French: Pitajo couronné German: Nordanden-Schmätzertyrann Spanish: Pitajo coronado
Taxonomy:
Tyrannula frontalis
Lafresnaye
, 1847,Pasto, Colombia
.
Subspecies and Distribution
S. f. albidiadema
(Lafresnaye, 1848) – E Andes of Colombia (Norte de Santander to Cundinamarca).
S. f. frontalis
(Lafresnaye, 1847) – Crowned Chat-tyrant – W & C Andes of Colombia, Ecuador (both slopes) and NW Peru (S to E La Libertad).
S. f. boliviana
(Carriker, 1935) – Andes of C & S Peru (San Martín S to Huánuco, and Urubamba Valley in S Cuzco) and Bolivia (E slope from La Paz SE to W Santa Cruz).
S. f. spodionota
(Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1896) – Kalinowski's Chat-tyrant – Junín, W Cuzco (in Cordillera Vilcabamba) and adjoining NE Ayacucho, in C Peru.
Descriptive notes
12·5–13 cm. Male nominate race has crown dark brown, bright yellow frontal band and long supercilium becoming white toward back of head; dark brown upperparts, dusky... read more
Voice
Usually silent; occasionally a thin, high-pitched, descending trill, “te-tirrrrrrrrrrr,” often... read more
Habitat
Elfin forest, montane forest borders, and scrubby thickets, usually in elevational zone 100–... read more
Food and feeding
Insects. Usually solitary, and rarely with mixed-species flocks. Inconspicuous and easily overlooked, usually perching low to the ground in... read more
Breeding
Fledglings in Sept in Colombia and Jan in Bolivia (Cochabamba); juveniles in Apr in NW Ecuador and Nov in Peru (Huánuco). Nest an open cup... read more
Movements
Resident.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Uncommon to locally fairly common. Occurs in all Andean protected areas in Ecuador and Peru and in the La Paz and Cochabamba provinces in Bolivia.
Formerly considered to include S. jelskii and S. pulchella. N and S races form two well-differentiated groups, possibly representing separate species#R. Birds of E Ecuador previously separated as race orientalis. Four subspecies recognized.