Boat-billed flycatcher

Megarynchus pitangua

The boat-billed flycatcher is a passerine bird. It is a large tyrant flycatcher, the only member of the monotypic genus ''Megarynchus''.
Boat billed flycatcher With cicada as pray, seen at the Peperpot reserve, distr. Commewijne Suriname. Boat-billed flycatcher,Geotagged,Megarynchus pitangua,Spring,Suriname

Appearance

Adult boat-billed flycatchers are one of the largest species of tyrant flycatcher, measuring 23 cm long and weighing 70 g . The head is black with a strong white eyestripe and a concealed yellow crown stripe. The upperparts are olive-brown, and the wings and tail are brown with only faint rufous fringes. The underparts are yellow and the throat is white.

The massive black bill, which gives this species its English and generic names, is the best distinction from the similar great kiskadee, which also has more rufous tail and wings, and lacks the olive tone to the upperparts. The call is a strident trilled ''nya, nya, nya''.
Boat-billed flycatcher, Putumayo, Colombia  Boat-billed flycatcher,Colombia,Colombia 2018,Colombia South,Fall,Geotagged,Megarynchus pitangua,Mocoa,Putumayo,South America,World

Reproduction

It breeds in open woodland with some tall trees from Mexico south to Bolivia and Argentina, and through to Trinidad. The nest, built by the female, is an open saucer of sticks. The typical clutch is two or three whitish eggs heavily blotched with brown. These are incubated mostly by the female for 17–18 days with a further 24 days to fledging.
Boat-billed flycatcher, Florencia, Colombia  Boat-billed flycatcher,Caquetá,Colombia,Colombia 2022,Florencia,Geotagged,Megarynchus pitangua,South America,Summer,World

Food

Boat-billed flycatchers wait on a concealed perch high in a tree and sally out to catch insects in flight. They will also take invertebrates off the foliage and eat some berries.

References:

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Status: Least concern
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyTyrannidae
GenusMegarynchus
SpeciesM. pitangua