Alder Flycatcher

The orange-crested flycatcher (Myiophobus phoenicomitra) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Taxonomy

The Orange-crested flycatcher was first described by Ornithologists, Władysław Taczanowski and Hans von Berlepsch in 1885 as Myiobius phoenicomitra with the type locality being Tungurahua Province in Ecuador.^[2] It was later moved from the genus Myiobius to Myiophobus. There are currently two recognized subspecies:^[3]

• M. p. phoenicomitra - (Taczanowski & Berlepsch, 1885): East slope of the Andes from southern Colombia, through eastern Ecuador into northern Peru
• M. p. litae - (Hartert, 1900): West slope of the Andes from central Colombia into northwestern Ecuador

Description

The Orange-crested flycatcher is a small bird, weighing 10-11g.^[3] It is mostly olive in colour with a dark brown tail and wings and faint ochre wing-bars. It has a stubby light-coloured bill and dark eye with a faint eye-ring. The males eponymous orange crest is usually hidden, making it less useful as a distinguishable feature in the field. The similar-looking Flavescent flycatcher can be told apart by its broken eye-ring and black bill.^[4] Its call is phoneticized by some as "sit-sit-sit-still" or "sit-sweet-sit".

Distribution

There are three main disjunct populations, one on the western slopes of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador (M. p. litae), one on the eastern slopes of the Andes from southern Colombia to northern Peru (M. p. phoenicomitra), and another separate population around Chachapoyas Province, Peru.^[5]

References

Media related to Myiophobus phoenicomitra at Wikimedia Commons