Gray-crowned Flycatcher

About the Gray-crowned Flycatcher

The grey-crowned flatbill or grey-crowned flycatcher (Tolmomyias poliocephalus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The grey-crowned flatbill was originally described as Rhynchocyclus poliocephalus. The species has three subspecies, the nominate T. p. poliocephalus (Taczanowski, 1884), T. p. klagesi (Ridgway, 1906), and T. p. sclateri (Hellmayr, 1903). Subspecies T. p. klagesi was originally described as a separate species, Rhynchocyclus klagesi, and was treated as such by some early twentieth century authors. By the second half of the century it was widely accepted in its current status. Its validity as a separate taxon has been disputed and some authors include it within T. p. sclateri.

The gray-crowned flatbill is 12 to 12.5 cm (4.7 to 4.9 in) long and weighs about 11 g (0.39 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a mostly gray head with a whitish stripe above the lores, a faint whitish eye-ring, and greenish gray ear coverts. Their back, rump, uppertail coverts... Wikipedia →