Rufous-tailed Tyrant

About the Rufous-tailed Tyrant

The rufous-tailed tyrant (Knipolegus poecilurus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The rufous-tailed tyrant was formally described in 1862 as Empidochanes poecilurus. Later authors placed it genera Cnemotriccus and by itself in Eumyiobius. A 1937 publication placed it in its current genus Knipolegus.

The rufous-tailed tyrant has these five subspecies: K. p. poecilurus (Sclater, PL, 1862) K. p. venezuelanus (Hellmayr, 1927) K. p. paraquensis Phelps, WH & Phelps, WH Jr, 1949 K. p. salvini (Sclater, PL, 1888) K. p. peruanus (Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1896)

However, each subspecies is as variable as the species as a whole and there are no significant genetic differences among them. The rufous-tailed tyrant is 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 13 to 15 g (0.46 to 0.53 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies K. p. poecilurus have a mostly grayish to brownish gray head and upperparts with a whitish throat. Their wings are dusky with buff edges on the inner remiges and buffy-gray tips on the coverts that... Wikipedia →