Ornate Flycatcher Myiotriccus ornatus Scientific name definitions

Taxonomic note: Lump. This account is a combination of multiple species accounts originally published in HBW Alive. That content has been combined and labeled here at the subspecies level. Moving forward we will create a more unified account for this parent taxon. Please consider contributing your expertise to update this account.

This brightly colored flycatcher well deserves its name: the yellow rump, white lores, dark gray head, and olive back are distinctive. The color of the tail varies geographically: in the nominate subspecies of Colombia the tail is brown with a rufous base, but the base of the tail is yellow in the subspecies of the west slope of the Andes of  Colombia and Ecuador, and is entirely rufous in the two subspecies that occur along the east slope of the Andes. Ornate Flycatchers occupy the understory of humid montane forest between 700 and 2200 meters of elevation, where they forage at low or middle levels in forest openings. Typically they are found around openings in the forest, such as at treefalls or along the margins of streams, where they perch in a low, open site and sally for insects. They are generally encountered as pairs or individuals, and do not join mixed-species flocks. The distinctive call of the Ornate Flycatcher is a high, emphatic "peut!"

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

11·4–12 cm; 8·2–13·4 g. Strikingly patterned flycatcher . Nominate race has black on face and crown, conspicuous white crescent-shaped pre-ocular patch, semi-concealed bright yellow coronal patch; rest of head and throat grey, upperparts deep olive, rump bright golden-yellow; wings dusky black; tail bright rufous at base, dusky black on distal half; breast rich olive, belly bright golden-yellow; iris dark brown; bill black; legs black or brown. Sexes alike, female slightly smaller than male. Juvenile undescribed. Race <em>stellatus</em> has tail yellowish at base, is also much smaller than nominate, with loral crescent more restricted and often interrupted in middle.

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

12 cm; 10–14·5 g. A striking tyrant-flycatcher that is fundamentally very similar to formerly conspecific M. ornatus, with which there is no geographical overlap; bare parts all black or slate-coloured, eyes sometimes grey, dark brown or coffee-coloured, tarsi can be pinkish grey, and bill sometimes has creamy-white base to mandible. Nominate phoenicurus has tail entirely rufous; race aureiventris has back slightly paler green, lighter grey throat with grey extending farther down, breast paler green.

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Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

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.

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Humid montane forest and older second growth, often in old treefall gaps and dark, mossy ravines and stream edges; mainly 600–2500 m, locally down to 300 m near foothills.

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

Humid montane forest and woodland in foothills and subtropics, especially around openings, clearings, landslides, streambanks and light gaps; recorded between 700 m and 2200 m in E Peru and mainly at 800–2000 m in E Ecuador, where found locally down to 500 m.

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Diet very little known beyond insects, but presumably very similar to that of M. phoenicurus (which see). Forages singly or, more often, in pairs; joins mixed-species flocks only when they move through its small territory. Perches upright at low to mid levels on open, exposed perches, almost always in deep shade; pauses for long periods, actively moving head about in search of aerial prey. Sallies mainly into air, frequently returns to same or nearby perch. Highly sedentary, found in same foraging zone day after day.

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

Stomach contents in SE Peru contained 193 prey items, of which beetles (Coleoptera) 47%, Hymenoptera 34% (ants 26%, bees and wasps 8%), bugs (Hemiptera) 10%, homopterans (planthoppers) 6%, and others 3%. No known differences in foraging behaviour from M. ornatus.

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Very loud (for size of bird), ringing, single “peek” or “wheep”, repeated frequently while actively foraging or perched, occasionally in rapid series.

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

Differences from M. ornatus, if any, poorly known. Dawn song a sharp note followed by a chippering trill: “PSEW! ti’ti’ti’ti’ti”; also gives quiet “pip, pip, pip” notes in flight and a sharp, squeaky “PSEW”  note, like that at start of song, from perch.

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Nest in Mar and mid Apr (see Ornithological Note), and birds in breeding condition in May in Colombia. Mar nest found in Colombia was dome-shaped, made of rootlets, placed 1·3 m up on steep earth bank and well concealed; it contained one nestling (2 Hilty, S. L., and W. L. Brown (1986). A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Three active nests found in NW Ecuador in Jul (with eggs or young) were spherical, mossy balls with a side entrance, affixed at back to a solid substrate (once a Cichona sp. tree), 3–5 m above ground; externally, one nest was 15 cm wide, 12 cm tall and 8 cm front to back, the entrance was 3·5 cm wide and 3 cm tall, and internally, the chamber was 5·5 cm wide and 8 cm tall, with a compact cup of 4·5 cm wide by 3 cm deep. Eggs cream-coloured or off-white, with small, sparse, cinnamon flecks and spots, heaviest at larger end, size 16·9–17 mm × 12·8–13·4 mm (n = 3); young nestlings have eyes closed, pink skin and sparse natal down (3 Greeney, H. F., A. Solano-Ugalde and G. A. Londoño (2016). Nest architecture, eggs, nestlings and taxonomic affinities of the Ornate flycatcher (Myiotriccus ornatus). Ornitología Colombiana 15:70–81. Close ). No other information.

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

Season: in breeding condition in mid Aug–Dec in SE Peru (race aureoventris). A nest under construction found in E Ecuador (race phoenicurus) in Jul and three in SE Peru (race aureoventris) in Sept were spherical, mossy balls with a side entrance and inner cup of tightly compacted fine grasses and fibres, affixed at back to a solid substrate, 0·8–5 m above ground. One nest was sited in an Iriartea deltoidea palm and another on an unidentified palm; nest entrances were 3·9 ± 0·3 cm × 3·8 ± 1·1 cm and walls 2·6 ± 0·2 cm thick, while internally, mean distance from entrance lip to back of nest was 5·9 ± 1 cm and egg cups were 3·4 ± 0·2 cm deep, and externally, nests measured 10·2 ± 2·2 cm front to back, 8·2 ± 1·4 cm wide and 11·4 ± 1·9 cm tall. Eggs cream-coloured or off-white, with small, sparse, cinnamon flecks and spots, heaviest at larger end, size 16·8–19·6 mm × 13·1–14·2 mm (n = 6); young nestlings have eyes closed, pink skin and sparse natal down (3 Greeney, H. F., A. Solano-Ugalde and G. A. Londoño (2016). Nest architecture, eggs, nestlings and taxonomic affinities of the Ornate flycatcher (Myiotriccus ornatus). Ornitología Colombiana 15:70–81. Close ). No other information.

Ornate Flycatcher (Western)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Fairly common to common. Occurs in numerous conservation units, among them Tambito Natural Reserve and Tatamá National Park, in Colombia; in Ecuador, found in Río Palenque Science Centre and many other protected areas, and common in Cordillera de Mache at Bilsa (Esmeraldas), although local extinctions have perhaps occurred historically in SW Ecuador.

Ornate Flycatcher (Eastern)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Fairly common to common. Known from many conservation units including Inti Llacta Reserve and Sangay National Park, in E Ecuador, and Manu National Park, in SE Peru.