Mountain Elaenia
Elaenia frantzii
Unobtrusive and easily overlooked flycatcher of highlands in Central America; recently found in northern Chiapas. Occurs mainly at forest edge and in overgrown scrubby areas with trees and fruiting bushes. Perches quietly and fairly upright, sallying out to pluck berries. Note the overall drab plumage, rounded head (lacks distinct crest of larger and bulkier Yellow-bellied Elaenia), whitish eyering, and big whitish edges to the tertials.
Identification
This tyrant flycatcher is 14–15 cm (5.5–5.9 in) long and weighs 17–20 g (0.60–0.71 oz). The upperparts are dull olive, with a narrow white eye ring. The wings are dusky with narrow yellow feather edges and two off-white wing bars. The throat and breast are yellowish grey, becoming dull yellow on the belly. Sexes are similar, but young birds are browner above, paler below and have brighter wing bars.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Elaenia frantzii
- Authority
- Lawrence, 1865
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tyrannidae
- Genus
- Elaenia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This is an inconspicuous species, with a slurred peeeeur call, longer than that of mistletoe tyrannulet, and a repetitive d’weet d’weet song. It is solitary when not breeding.<p>The mountain elaenia breeds between 1,200 and 2,900 m (3,900 and 9,500 ft) in altitude in wet mountain forests, especially at the edges and in clearings and in adjacent second growth, semi-open areas, or pastures with trees. It moves lower in winter, down to 600 m (2,000 ft), and also appears to undergo seasonal movements.<p>Its nest is a cup of mosses, liverworts and lichens, lined with plant fibres. It is built by the female 2–15 m (6.6–49.2 ft) high in a tree or bamboo. The two cinnamon-blotched whitish eggs are incubated by the female for 15–16 days to hatching.<p>It perches on a shaded watchpoint from which it sallies forth to pick insects, spiders, and many berries and seeds from foliage or even the ground. All its food is taken in flight.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Lesser Roadrunner
Geococcyx velox
Slightly smaller version of the familiar cartoon Greater Roadrunner, but usually the two species do not occur in the same places. Favors dry brushy woodland and overgrown weedy fields in tropical lowlands and foothills. Can be very elusive, but at other times runs out in the road or sits quietly sunning itself on a fence post or bush top in the early morning. Note that the center of the throat and breast are plain rich buffy, without the dense dark streaking of Greater Roadrunner.
Yellow-throated Apalis
Apalis flavigularis
A slender, long-tailed mid-story and canopy warbler-like bird with olive green upperparts extending to the flanks, a grayish face (sometimes extending to the forehead) with a striking pale lemon eye, and a bright yellow throat and breast bisected by a thin black bar. Pairs are resident in forest, forest edge, and plantations, where they may join mixed-species flocks. Song, often in duet, a strident repeated two syllable “ti-leep” from the male and a higher-pitched ‘ti-ti-ti….” from the female.
Spot-fronted Swift
Cypseloides cherriei
Little-known swift found mostly in mountainous areas, though flocks occasionally venture into lowlands. All dark with short square tail and angular wings. Namesake white spots on forehead and behind eyes are distinctive, but these can be extremely difficult to see. Many swifts are best left unidentified. Sex and age variation not well known; some birds, maybe juveniles, can show whitish scaling on belly. Occasionally seen singly or mixed with flocks of other swifts, but most often in monotypic flocks of up to several dozen individuals. Voice can be helpful with practice; typically a staccato chatter followed by “pew pew pew” notes like a laser gun.
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