Paramo ground tyrant
The paramo ground tyrant, more widely known as the plain-capped ground-tyrant, is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and possibly Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The paramo ground tyrant was originally described in 1849 as Taenioptera alpina. It was eventually moved to genus Muscisaxicola that had been erected in 1837. Until the 2020 publication of a molecular phylogenetic study it had been widely treated as conspecific with the cinereous ground tyrant and Taczanowski's ground tyrant. Of the major taxonomic systems, only the IOC calls it the "paramo ground tyrant"; Wikipedia generally follows IOC nomenclature. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World call it the "plain-capped ground-tyrant".The paramo ground tyrant has three subspecies, the nominate M. a. alpinus, M. a. columbianus, and M. a. quesadae.
Description
The paramo ground tyrant is long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a sepia-brown crown, dusky lores, a wide white supercilium that extends past the eye, and a small white patch below the eye. Their nape and back are grayish brown. Their wings are a duskier grayish brown with some pale edges on the coverts. Their tail is blackish with thin white edges on the outermost feathers. Their underparts are grayish white that is darker on the breast than on the throat and belly. They have a dark brown iris, a shortish black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have cinnamon tips on the wing coverts and thin cinnamon edges on the inner remiges. Their belly and vent have a buff tinge with whitish streaks. Subspecies M. a. columbianus is almost identical to the nominate but has slightly darker upperparts. M. a. quesadae has the same plumage as the nominate but is slightly smaller.Distribution and habitat
The paramo ground tyrant is a bird of the northern high Andes and has a disjunct distribution. Subspecies M. a. columbianus is found in Colombia's Central Andes between Caldas and Cauca departments. M. a. quesadae is found in Colombia's Eastern Andes of Boyacá, Santander, and Cundinamarca departments. The nominate subspecies is found from Nariño Department in extreme southwestern Colombia south on both slopes of the Andes through Ecuador to Azuay Province. There are also sight records in northern Peru that might be of this species; the SACC calls it hypothetical in that country.The paramo ground tyrant inhabits puna and páramo grasslands, often in rocky areas, and arid montane scrub. In elevation it ranges between in Colombia and mostly between in Ecuador. The sight records in Peru were between.