Family Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Least Concern
Forest Elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii)
Taxonomy
French: Élénie de Gaimard German: Weißscheitel-Olivtyrann Spanish: Fiofío selvático
Taxonomy:
Muscicapara Gaimardii
d’Orbigny
, 1840,Yuracares, Cochabamba, Bolivia
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Subspecies and Distribution
M. g. macilvainii
(Lawrence, 1871) – Panama (E of Canal Zone) and Caribbean coast of Colombia (E to base of Santa Marta Mts).
M. g. bogotensis
(Berlepsch, 1907) – NE Colombia (from N Santa Marta Mts and Norte de Santander) E to N Venezuela (W Zulia E to Sucre, S to Barinas, Apure and R Orinoco).
M. g. trinitatis
(E. J. O. Hartert & Goodson, 1917) – Trinidad.
M. g. guianensis
(Berlepsch, 1907) – E Amazonian Colombia, S & SE Venezuela (S of R Orinoco) and the Guianas S to N Amazonian Brazil and extreme NE Peru (N of Amazon in Loreto).
M. g. gaimardii
(d’Orbigny, 1840) – E Ecuador, E Peru, C, S & NE Brazil (S of Amazon E to Maranhão and S to Goiás and W São Paulo; also Pernambuco and Alagoas) and N Bolivia.
Descriptive notes
12–12·5 cm; 12–13 g. Small, with elongated crown feathers forming slight bushy crest. Nominate race has indistinct whitish loral spot and supercilium, narrow... read more
Voice
Short, upward-inflected, disyllabic “pitchueeet”, typically as isolated calls or separated by... read more
Habitat
Tropical lowland evergreen forest, forest borders, gallery forest and, to lesser extent, deciduous... read more
Food and feeding
Insects; berries and small fruit also eaten. Forages usually very high in forest canopy; often, but not always, with mixed-species flocks.... read more
Breeding
Nest found in Feb in Panama; breeds Mar–Sept in Colombia and Feb–Sept in Trinidad. Nest (Panama) a cup of grass and moss,... read more
Movements
Resident.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Fairly common in much of range, but easily overlooked unless voice known; difficult to locate in forest canopy and heard much more often than it is... read more
In past, placed in its own genus, Elainopsis, and moved to family Cotingidae, on basis of incomplete tarsal envelope; but recent genetic studies#R#R confirm placement in present genus. Proposed race subcinerea (EC Brazil from lower Amazon Basin E to Maranhão and Goiás) treated as synonym of nominate; intergrades broadly with nominate and with guianensis, and most individuals cannot be reliably distinguished from either. “Serpophaga berliozi” is likewise synonym of nominate. Five subspecies currently recognized.