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Xenerpestes
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Double-banded Graytail Xenerpestes minlosi Scientific name definitions

J. V. Remsen, Jr.
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2003

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

A very poorly known and uncommon member of the Furnariidae, the Double-banded Graytail is largely grayish-olive above, becoming slightly darker over the crown, with two white wingbars and a narrow white supercilium, and paler underparts. Its tail is graduated, and the species regularly hangs upside-down while foraging. Like its apparent sister-species, the Equatorial Graytail (Xenerpestes singularis), which is confined to the east-slope foothills of Ecuador and northern Peru, this species generally joins large mixed-species feeding flocks, and also has dry ‘reeling’ song. The Double-banded Graytail occurs from eastern Panama into northern Colombia and south to northwest Ecuador, and is found from the lowlands to approximately 900 m.

Field Identification

11–12 cm. Tiny, warbler-like furnariid. Has creamy white supercilium, olive-buff lores, dark grey line behind eye, greyish rest of face; crown blackish, blending to grey back, rump and uppertail-coverts; wing-coverts dark grey with two conspicuous white wingbars, bend of wing yellowish, remiges dark fuscous; tail slightly rounded, dark grey; throat and underparts creamy whitish, some greyish flecking on breast, olive-buff undertail-coverts; iris light brown; upper mandible dark brown, lower mandible greyish-white; tarsus and toes greyish-brown. Sexes alike. Juvenile has greyer underparts, less distinct supercilium, lacks wingbars. Race umbraticus has darker upperparts, lacking definite streaks on crown, darker wings and tail.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Phylogenetic analysis (1) indicates that this species is sister to X. singularis, the two differing in elevational distribution. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Xenerpestes minlosi minlosi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Caribbean lowlands of Colombia E to middle Magdalena Valley (NW Santander, W Boyacá).
SUBSPECIES

Xenerpestes minlosi umbraticus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Panama (Darién), W Colombia (Caribbean lowlands E to R Sinú, and Pacific lowlands) and NW Ecuador (Esmeraldas, NW Pichincha).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Hilly tropical evergreen forest, also tall second growth; recorded from near sea-level to 900 m.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Arthropods. Usually in pairs or small groups, sometimes in mixed-species flocks. Forages from mid-storey to canopy, especially in dense vine tangles. Gleans items acrobatically, often from undersides of leaves, twigs and dead leaves, sometimes flowers; sometimes creeps briefly, like a Xenops.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a long, dry, extremely rapid chattering trill on same pitch, increasing in volume, lasts 3–12 seconds; call a sharp, thin, inflected note.

Breeding

No information. A large stick nest with side entrance, found in E Panama, may have been of this species.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Status not well known; considered rare to locally uncommon, but this may be in part a reflection of the difficulty in detecting this species. Recently listed as vulnerable in Ecuador. No data on population size, trends or specific threats; deforestation probably the main threat.
Distribution of the Double-banded Graytail - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Double-banded Graytail

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Remsen, Jr., J. V. (2020). Double-banded Graytail (Xenerpestes minlosi), 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.dobgra1.01
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