Family Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Least Concern
Many-colored Rush-tyrant (Tachuris rubrigastra)
Taxonomy
French: Tyranneau omnicolore German: Vielfarben-Tachurityrann Spanish: Sietecolores
Taxonomy:
Sylvia rubrigastra
Vieillot
, 1817,Paraguay
.
Subspecies and Distribution
T. r. libertatis
Hellmayr, 1920 – W Peru (Piura S to Arequipa).
T. r. alticola
(Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1896) – C & SE Peru (Junín S to Puno), W Bolivia (La Paz, Oruro) and NW Argentina (Jujuy, Tucumán).
T. r. loaensis
R. A. Philippi [Bañados] & A. W. Johnson, 1946 – N Chile (Antofagasta at confluence of R Loa and R San Salvador).
T. r. rubrigastra
(Vieillot, 1817) – SE Brazil (Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul), C & W Chile (Atacama S to Chiloé and Aisén), Argentina (Misiones, and from Santa Fe to Buenos Aires and S to Santa Cruz) and Uruguay; in winter also Paraguay and interior SE Brazil.
Descriptive notes
11–11·5 cm; 6·5–8 g. Vibrantly coloured, the most colourful of all tyrannids. Male nominate race has crown black, prominent golden supercilium, semi... read more
Voice
Bizarre, rapid series of insect-like “tic” notes, and musical “piwup bzzzzt... read more
Habitat
Extensive reedbeds, marshes, and grassy lake edges, very rarely leaving patches of reeds for... read more
Food and feeding
Insects. Forages alone or in family groups in dense rushes, usually well concealed. Mainly perch-gleans items from reed edges or floating... read more
Breeding
Eggs in Oct, nestlings in Sept and fledglings in Feb in Peru; in breeding condition in Sept and Oct and fledgling in Feb in SE Brazil. Very... read more
Movements
Migratory patterns poorly understood; populations in S parts of range move N during austral winter... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Locally common; often found in scattered, loose colonies, with intervening suitable habitat apparently unoccupied. In NW of range, abundant at L Jun... read more
Four subspecies recognized.