The lesser elaenia is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
Similar species: Perching Birds
By Thibaud Aronson
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Uploaded Jun 16, 2024. Captured Jun 4, 2024 21:34 in XXM5+26 Moyobamba, Peru.
comments (8)
In particular, on the east slope of the Andes, you can get Sierran, Lesser, and White-crested occurring together and I haven't found anyone able to properly explain to me how to tell them apart (and I've no doubt that there are loads of misidentified photos online).
Guidebooks say that Lesser Elaenia has a characteristic song but NOT ONCE (I'm not exaggerating) have I had a promising looking Elaenia respond to playback of that species.
In this case, the Morro de Calzada is farther east out in the foothills, which mostly rules out Sierran and White-Crested. From what I can see on eBird, Lesser Elaenia is the expected species in that location. There is also the possibility of Small-billed Elaenia, a migratory species which would just be arriving at this time. That one can usually be identified by its third wingbar (see my photo from 2022), and of course this bird looks like it's moulting, with weird messy-looking wingbars to make things more complicated. But after looking at lots of photos, I do think it's Lesser, making it my first photo of that species, one of my most ridiculous Peruvian bird nemeses.
Anti-Elaenia rant over haha Posted one year ago
But on a serious note, what a painful group of species, thanks for explaining! Posted one year ago
And I'm still missing 6 of the 17 to complete the Peruvian set...
Posted one year ago