White-eyed Tody-Tyrant

About the White-eyed Tody-Tyrant

The white-eyed tody-tyrant (Hemitriccus zosterops) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The white-eyed tody-tyrant has two subspecies, the nominate H. z. zosterops (Pelzeln, 1868) and H. z. flaviviridis (Zimmer, JT, 1940).

The species had a complicated taxonomic history from its original description to late in the twentieth century. It was described as Euscarthmus zosterops. It was later moved to genus Idioptilon, and later still both Euscarthmus and Idioptilon were merged into Hemitriccus. In the early twentieth century some authors treated what is now the white-eyed tody-tyrant as a subspecies of the stripe-necked tody-tyrant (H. striaticollis). And what is now the white-bellied tody-tyrant (H. griseipectus) was for a time treated as conspecific with the white-eyed.

The white-eyed tody-tyrant is about 11 cm (4.3 in) long and weighs 7.8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an olive-green crown and nape. They have a whitish spot above the lores and... Wikipedia →