Mottle-backed Elaenia

Elaenia gigas

Large elaenia with a striking headdress. It inhabits lightly-wooded areas, such as overgrown clearings, forest edge, and river islands, along the eastern base of the Andes. Mostly gray and olive with a yellow belly and white wingbars. Spiky white crest is frequently held erect, and is bordered by dark forehead tufts that can look like little horns. Usually found hawking insects from a conspicuous perch, and gives short, burry calls.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Elaenia gigas
Authority
Sclater, PL, 1871
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Tyrannidae
Genus
Elaenia

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
rising

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Short-billed Canastero

Short-billed Canastero

Asthenes baeri

Medium-sized, rather nondescript bird, plain dull brown with a tail that is usually held cocked. Note the orange throat patch. Inhabits arid areas with scrub and woodlands, where it forages both in trees and on the ground. The song is a high nasal trill. The similar Sharp-billed Canastero has a longer bill and tail and an indistinct eyebrow.

White-throated Fantail

White-throated Fantail

Rhipidura albicollis

A distinctive fantail, all dark except for a white throat and a short white eyebrow. The tail, often fanned, is a shade darker with white tips to all tail feathers except the central pair. Juvenile is like adult, but with reduced white on face and brownish edges to the dark body feathers. Gives very harsh contact calls. Song is a musical phrase of 6-7 notes that ascends first and then descends. Found in a wide range of wooded habitats, from dense forest to forest edge and gardens, from lowlands up into the mountains.

Sula Hanging-Parrot

Sula Hanging-Parrot

Loriculus sclateri

A tiny stub-tailed green parrot with a golden-bronze back, a narrow red throat, a bright red rump, and a small red shoulder patch. Juveniles are duller and more poorly marked. Singles or small groups occur within treetops of forest and nearby secondary growth areas in the lowlands. No other tiny green, short-tailed parrot occurs within its limited range in the Sula and Banggai islands. Very high-pitched calls include “zeet-weet-wit,” rising in pitch at the end. Sometimes birds only utter the first two notes or single “zeet” notes.

Start Your Bird Watching Journey

Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.