Helmeted Pygmy-Tyrant
Lophotriccus galeatus
Tiny flycatcher; common and widespread, but heard far more often than seen. When seen well, note pale eye and elongated crown feathers, giving this bird a hammer-headed appearance. Found in humid forest understory and second-growth as well as in savanna woodland. Frequently found near gaps and vine tangles where it sits quietly, then sallies upward to glean insects from leaves. Song is an irregular series of ticking notes that sometimes runs into a trill, often given for long periods throughout the day. Similar to Double-banded Pygmy-Tyrant, but vocalizations are less buzzy.
Taxonomy
The helmeted pygmy tyrant was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a sample collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Montacilla galeata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The helmeted pygmy tyrant is now placed in the genus Lophotriccus that was introduced by the German ornithologist Hans von Berlepsch in 1883. The species is monotypic. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek lophos meaning "crest" with trikkos which is an unidentified small bird. In ornithology triccus is used to denote a tyrant flycatcher. The specific name galeatus is Latin for "helmeted".
- Scientific name
- Lophotriccus galeatus
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tyrannidae
- Genus
- Lophotriccus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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