Greenish Tyrannulet

About the Greenish Tyrannulet

The greenish tyrannulet (Phyllomyias virescens) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In the early to mid twentieth century some authors placed the greenish tyrannulet in genus Xanthomyias; that genus was merged into Phyllomyias in the 1970s. Some of the same authors, and others, treated the greenish tyrannulet and Reiser's tyrannulet (P. reiseri) as conspecific. They were separated around the turn of the twentieth century. The two of them and Urich's tyrannulet (P. uruchi) form a superspecies.

The greenish tyrannulet is monotypic. The greenish tyrannulet is 12 to 13.5 cm (4.7 to 5.3 in) long and weighs 10 to 12 g (0.35 to 0.42 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a bright olive crown, nape, back, and rump. They have white lores and supercilium, an olive line through the eye, and whitish ear coverts with faint darker speckles. Their wings are dusky with pale yellowish edges on the flight feathers and the ends of the coverts; the last show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky. Their throat is whitish... Wikipedia →