Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant

About the Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant

The short-tailed pygmy tyrant (Myiornis ecaudatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found on Trinidad and in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The short-tailed pygmy tyrant was originally described in 1837 as Todirostrum ecaudatum. In the early to mid-twentieth century it was placed in genus Perissotriccus which was later merged into Myiornis. Several authors have suggested that genus Myiornis should be merged into genus Hemitriccus.

The short-tailed pygmy tyrant has two subspecies, the nominate M. e. ecaudatus (D'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) and M. e. miserabilis (Chubb, C, 1919). Between about 1940 and 1970 some authors included what is now the black-capped pygmy tyrant (M. atricapillus) as a third subspecies. The short-tailed and black-capped pygmy tyrants apparently form a superspecies.

The short-tailed pygmy tyrant is 6 to 7 cm (2.4 to 2.8 in) long and weighs about 4.2 g (0.15 oz). It is the smallest passerine on Earth. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a mostly dark gray head with blackish lores, a... Wikipedia →