Family Tyrant-flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Least Concern
Tawny-crowned Pygmy-tyrant (Euscarthmus meloryphus)
Taxonomy
French: Tyranneau à calotte fauve German: Graubrust-Zwergtyrann Spanish: Tiranuelo copetón
Taxonomy:
E[uscarthmus]. meloryphus
Wied
, 1831,Vale Fundo, southern Bahia, Brazil
.
Subspecies and Distribution
E. m. paulus
(Bangs, 1899) – NE & C Colombia (Magdalena and Guajira to Norte de Santander and S in Magdalena Valley to Huila) and N Venezuela (E to Sucre, S to NE Bolívar).
E. m. meloryphus
Wied, 1831 – E Brazil (Maranhão and Ceará S to Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul), N & E Bolivia (S from Pando), E Paraguay, NW & NE Argentina (S to Tucumán and, in E, to Córdoba and N Buenos Aires) and Uruguay; rare migrant to extreme SE Peru (E Puno)#R.
Descriptive notes
10–12 cm; 4·6–10 g. Tiny, peculiar pygmy-tyrant with bushy, bright rufous crown. Nominate race has lores and indistinct eyering dull buffy to whitish; drab... read more
Voice
Distinctively noisy, sometimes in duets; dry, unmusical “plee-plit-irick” endlessly... read more
Habitat
Arid lowland and montane scrub, overgrazed pastures with scattered dense bushes, dry weedy fields... read more
Food and feeding
Insects, including larvae. Forages alone or in pairs, very near (mostly below 2 m) or even on ground in densest shrubs; often extremely... read more
Breeding
Season Oct–Dec in Argentina (probably similar in S Brazil, where nest found in early Nov) and Oct–Nov in N Colombia, with... read more
Movements
Mainly resident; populations in extreme S appear to be present only during breeding season,... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Fairly common to common, even locally abundant, e.g. in N Venezuela. Occurs in many protected areas, including at least a dozen... read more
Hitherto treated as conspecific with E. fulviceps (which see). Two subspecies recognized.