Yellow-browed Tyrant

Appearance

The yellow-browed tyrant is 15 to 16.5 cm long and weighs about 20 g. Adult males have a mostly dark grayish olive face with a bold bright yellow supercilium. Their upperparts are dark olive. Their wings are dusky black with grayish white edges on the flight feathers and grayish white tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Their tail is dusky with white outer webs on the outer feathers. Their underparts are bright yellow with an olive wash on the sides of the breast. Adult females are overall paler than males, especially their supercilium and throat. Their throat and breast have olive mottling. Both sexes have a dark iris, a short, narrow, black bill, and blackish legs and feet. Juveniles resemble adult females with olive spots on the breast.

Distribution

The yellow-browed tyrant has a disjunct distribution. One population is found across north-central Venezuela and very slightly into eastern Colombia. Its other, much larger, range extends from far southeastern Peru across northern Bolivia and central Brazil to the Atlantic and south through southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina to northern Buenos Aires Province.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the yellow-browed tyrant as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon in Colombia, rare in Peru, and "uncommon and rare" in Venezuela. It "[t]pically breeds in habitats of human-populated areas, but occurs also in many national parks and other protected areas, especially in [the south]".

Habitat

It inhabits the edges of forest, brushy fields, pastures with some trees, gallery forest, and treed areas around lakes and marshes. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 2,000 m in Brazil. It reaches 200 m in Colombia, occasionally reaches 1,000 m in Peru, and in Venezuela occurs up to 500 m north of the Orinoco River and only 150 m south of it. It reaches 2,800 m in Bolivia.

Reproduction

The yellow-browed tyrant breeds between June and September in Venezuela, between October and January in Brazil and Bolivia, and between August and February in Argentina. Its nest is a shallow open cup made from rootlets and twigs. It is typically placed in a tree's branch fork or in a bush. The clutch is two to four eggs but usually three. The incubation period is 15 to 16 days and fledging occurs 15 to 20 days after hatch. Details of parental care are not known. Nest parasitism by shiny cowbirds has been observed.

Food

The yellow-browned tyrant feeds on insects, though details are lacking. It mostly forages singly and less often in pairs. It typically perches upright on an exposed branch. It takes prey mostly by gleaning from vegetation and branches and less often makes short sallies to capture prey in mid-air.