Slaty-headed tody-flycatcher
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher, or slate-headed tody-flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, and possibly French Guiana.
Taxonomy and systematics
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher was originally described in 1806 as Todus Sylvia. It was later moved to genus Todirostrum. Following a 1988 publication, taxonomic systems moved sylvia and several other species from Todirostrum to genus Poecilotriccus. By the early twenty-first century genus Poecilotriccus had species called both "tody-tyrant" and "tody-flycatcher" so taxonomic systems began renaming the "tyrants" to "flycatcher". The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher shares genus Poecilotriccus with 11 other species.The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher has these five subspecies:
- P. s. schistaceiceps
- P. s. superciliaris
- P. s. griseolus
- P. s. sylvia
- P. s. schulzi
Description
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher is about long and weighs. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies P. s. sylvia have a gray crown and nape. Their lores are gray; they have a white line above the lores and a broken white eye-ring on an otherwise gray face. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are olive. Their wings are blackish with narrow yellowish edges on the inner flight feathers and large yellow tips on the coverts; the latter show as two wing bars. Their tail is olive. Their throat and underparts are grayish white with grayish streaks on the lower throat and breast and an olive tinge on the flanks. Juveniles have an olive crown and back, buffy wing bars, and paler, grayer, unstreaked underparts.The other subspecies of the slaty-headed tody-flycatcher differ from the nominate and each other thus:
- P. s. schistaceiceps: pale yellow sides, flanks, and crissum, unstreaked underparts, and a highly variable iris color from pale yellow to reddish brown
- P. s. superciliaris: somewhat darker than nominate
- P. s. griseolus: somewhat darker than nominate with more gray on the lower throat and breast
- P. s. schulzi: darker than nominate with much grayer breast and deeper ochraceous wing bars.
Distribution and habitat
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher has a highly disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:- P. s. schistaceiceps: from southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca in southern Mexico south on the Gulf/Caribbean slope through Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras and on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes through Nicaragua and Costa Rica into Panama to the Canal Zone
- P. s. superciliaris: Colombia on Caribbean coast, valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca rivers, the middle of the Dagua River valley, and on the eastern slope of the Eastern Andes south to Meta Department
- P. s. griseolus: extreme eastern Colombia and across most of northern Venezuela
- P. s. sylvia: from northeastern Roraima state in northern Brazil through southwestern Guyana; possibly in French Guiana
- P. s. schulzi: northeastern Brazil from eastern Pará east to Piauí
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher inhabits dense scrubby vegetation in a variety of landscapes in the tropical and lower subtropical zones. These include the edges of primary forest both natural and along roads, secondary forest, overgrown clearings and pastures, gallery forest, and somewhat open woodlands. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to overall though only to about in Costa Rica and Venezuela. It reaches in Colombia.
Behavior
Movement
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher is believed to be a year-round resident.Feeding
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher feeds mostly on arthropods and also includes fruit in its diet. It typically forages in pairs and only rarely joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It mostly forages in dense vegetation near the ground but will occasionally hunt in the forest canopy. It primarily takes prey from foliage with short sallies from a perch.Breeding
The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher's breeding season has not been fully defined. Overall it appears to span from January to August with much geographic variation. Its nest is pear-shapedwith a side entrance made from moss, grass, and other plant fibers. It is usually suspended from the tip of a branch with some cover above it up to about above the ground. The typical clutch is two eggs that are creamy white with brown spots. Fledging occurs about 18 to 21 days after hatch. The incubation period and details of parental care are not known.