Family Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Vulnerable
Strange-tailed Tyrant (Alectrurus risora)
Taxonomy
French: Moucherolle à queue large German: Rotkehl-Schleppentyrann Spanish: Yetapá acollarado
Taxonomy:
Muscicapa risora
Vieillot
, 1824,Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
.Distribution:
S Paraguay (S from Presidente Hayes) and NE Argentina (E Formosa and Corrientes, rarely Chaco and Misiones; formerly S to Buenos Aires); no recent records from S Brazil and Uruguay.
Descriptive notes
20 cm, breeding male 30cm including tail. Male is mostly black above (feathers fringed brown in fresh plumage), with grey on rump, whitish scapulars, whitish tips of wing-... read more
Voice
Male call unknown; female call, when young close, is a repetitive, soft and weak whistled “thee-uu... read more
Habitat
Savannas, marshes and damp grasslands; also shrubby areas. Below 500 m.
Food and feeding
Insects. Perches conspicuously atop a tall grass stem, post or shrub, sallying both into the air and to grass for prey. Male flies slowly... read more
Breeding
Eggs in Sept–Dec. Nest an open grassy cup, lined with feathers, hidden on or near ground; in Formosa, Argentina, built in tall... read more
Movements
Resident; possibly a partial migrant in S part of range.
Status and conservation
VULNERABLE. Rare to locally uncommon or fairly common. Estimated global population at least 10,000 individuals continuing to decline, and no recent reports from a large... read more
Formerly placed in monotypic Yetapa, on basis mainly of exaggerated tail and elongated hallux; but plumage pattern very similar to that of A. tricolor, with which it shares highly modified outer rectrices and numerous other derived features unique within the family. Monotypic.