Black-crested Tit-Tyrant
Anairetes nigrocristatus
Beautiful little flycatcher with a spiky crest found in the Andes of northern Peru, just barely reaching over the border into southern Ecuador. Male is quite distinctive with a solid black face, black-and-white streaking, and a long crest that sticks up in front of its white crown. Female and immature are grayer with less contrasting plumage and shorter crest; the orange bill might lead to confusion with Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant, but Black-crested lacks brown on the back and yellow on the belly. Very similar to Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant, but Black-crested has broader white tips to the tail; also note its more northern range. Inhabits scrub and light woodland, often giving squeaks and rapid trills.
Taxonomy
The black-crested tit-tyrant's genus, Anairetes, is believed to be most closely related to the genera Mecocerculus and Serpophaga; however, there is no definitive evidence supporting this claim. Members of the genus Anairetes are known commonly as tit-tyrants because their active foraging behavior and crests are reminiscent of the true tits in the family Paridae.
- Scientific name
- Anairetes nigrocristatus
- Authority
- Taczanowski, 1884
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tyrannidae
- Genus
- Anairetes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Naumann's Thrush
Turdus naumanni
Paler and more orangish than Dusky Thrush. Adult males are the brightest-colored and young females have patchy black on the throat and chest. Note the plain wings without Dusky’s rufous paneling; also note Naumann’s less contrasting head pattern and orange-scaled underparts. Hybrids show a combination of Dusky and Naumann’s features. Naumann’s breeds in taiga and winters in forests and parks; mixes with Dusky on wintering grounds, but less in favor of open habitat. Vocalizations similar to Dusky Thrush.
White-eared Conebill
Conirostrum leucogenys
This unmistakable warblerlike bird is fairly common in forests and edges from Panama to Colombia and Venezuela. Males are pale pearly-gray below and richer blue-gray above with a dark cap, a white cheek, and chestnut undertail coverts. Females are grayish above and pale grayish-buff below. Note the sharply pointed bill. Almost always found in pairs, usually in the canopy of forests and edges in lowlands, up to around 800 m. Sometimes joins mixed-species flocks.
Hawaiian Crow
Corvus hawaiiensis
This large, black, and extraordinarily loud bird vanished from Hawaiian forests in 2002. Fortunately it survived in aviaries, and captive bred birds began to be released back into the wild in 2016 in remote parts of the Big Island; early signs are promising with several pairs attempting to nest. Known to Native Hawaiians as ʻAlalā, it is the only crow or crow-like bird currently found on the archipelago. It is much bigger than the crows found on the US mainland, and is closer in size to a raven. Gives a variety of loud caws, croaks, and squeals.
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