Yellow Tyrannulet
Capsiempis flaveola
Small flycatcher, bright yellow overall with two yellow wingbars, a dark line through the eye, and a short yellow eyebrow. Rather long tail. Sexes alike. Brighter yellow than most other tyrannulets. Found in shrubby second growth with some trees, sometimes associated with stands of tall bamboo. Usually in pairs. Widespread through much of South America. Listen for its spritely chattery song.
Identification
The yellow tyrannulet is 10.5-11.4 cm long, weighs 8 g, and with its slender build and small bill resembles a tiny vireo or warbler. Its upperparts are olive-green and the underparts are bright yellow. The head has whitish or pale yellow supercilia. The wings and tail are dusky brown with weak yellow feather-edging, and there are two yellowish wing bars. Sexes are similar, but young birds are browner above and paler yellow below. The call is a soft pewik and the duetted song is a rhythmic pee-tic-keek. There is some geographical variation in both appearance and vocalisation.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Capsiempis flaveola
- Authority
- (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tyrannidae
- Genus
- Capsiempis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-sided Warbling Finch
Poospizopsis hypochondria
Small tanager of semi-arid montane forest at upper elevations in the eastern Andes from NW Argentina to Lake Titicaca, and in the Sierra de Comechingones in C Argentina. Prefers scrubby vegetation, including open Polylepis forest, often in small flocks with other species. Underparts gray and whitish with rufous restricted to sides and flanks on males, and lower belly on females. Similar Bolivia Warbling-Finch shows rufous across chest.
Little Friarbird
Philemon citreogularis
Large honeyeater with a brown-feathered crown and bare, blue-gray facial skin. Gray-brown upperparts and cream underparts. Easily distinguished from other friarbirds by its smaller size, facial skin coloration, and lack of a "horn" on the bill. Juveniles have yellow coloration on throat and shoulders. Found in a wide variety of habitats but is particularly common along rivers and in suburban gardens.
White-browed Scrub-Robin
Cercotrichas leucophrys
A medium-sized scrub-robin with gray-brown upperparts, a strong white eyebrow and moustache, and a diagnostic streaked breast and flanks (though streaking on the breast is sometimes diffuse). Races in northeast Africa have a rufous tail and back and extensive white on the upper wings, while farther south the back and tail are browner and the white on the wings is reduced to two distinctive wingbars. Pairs are abundant in woodland, preferring drier savanna, where they either skulk, run on the ground with the tail cocked searching for food, or perch in a prominent position singing a characteristic “twee-too-too” song, or a variety of other quavering sweet notes that can be complex and varied.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.