Great Elaenia Elaenia dayi Scientific name definitions

Great Elaenia is a poorly known flycatcher restricted to isolated highlands of Venezuela. Found on tepuis in southern Venezuela, it inhabits edge and scrub habitats between 1500 and 2600 meters in elevation. The species is very large for the genus Elaenia, dark gray-brown above with a black crown, thin white eye ring, two white wing bars, olive-gray underparts and paler yellow on the center of the belly. Great Elaenia has no similar species and is relatively easy to identify since it is the size of a Myiarchus flycatcher but has the structure of an Elaenia.

20 cm; 29–40 g (race auyantepui) (1 Lentino, M., L. Pérez, G. Barrowclough, and P. Sweet (1998). Notas sobre las aves de la cima del Auyantepuy, Parque Nacional Canaima, estado Bolívar, Venezuela. Acta Terramaris 11:1–12. Close ). Large, dark, long-tailed elaenia with very rounded head, at most only slight crest, and no coronal patch. Plumage is dark sooty brown above, blacker on crown, narrow broken whitish eyering; two dull whitish wingbars, narrow whitish edging on tertials; tail dusky; mostly dull olive-grey below, throat slightly paler, becoming pale yellowish on belly; iris dark brown; bill small, black, pale base of lower mandible; legs black. Sexes alike, female slightly smaller. Juvenile undescribed. Race tyleri is notably larger than nominate; auyantepui is smaller and darker than previous, grey suffusion from chin to breast, duller yellow below, mixed with greyish on breast.

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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.

Unrecorded, but birds collected on Auyán-tepui in Feb were in breeding condition (1 Lentino, M., L. Pérez, G. Barrowclough, and P. Sweet (1998). Notas sobre las aves de la cima del Auyantepuy, Parque Nacional Canaima, estado Bolívar, Venezuela. Acta Terramaris 11:1–12. Close ).