Strange-tailed Tyrant

About the Strange-tailed Tyrant

The strange-tailed tyrant (Alectrurus risora) is a Vulnerable species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina and Paraguay and as a vagrant in Brazil and Uruguay. The strange-tailed tyrant was formally described in 1824 by Louis Pierre Vieillot as Muscicapa risora, erroneously placing it in the Old World flycatcher family. Ironically, in 1816 he had erected genus Alectrurus, to which the species was later moved. For a time it was placed in the monotypic genus Yetapa.

The strange-tailed tyrant is monotypic. It shares genus Alectrurus with the cock-tailed tyrant (A. tricolor). The strange-tailed tyrant is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long excluding the male's 10 cm (3.9 in) tail. Adult males in breeding plumage have a mostly black face with white lores and a white supercilium. Their back is mostly black with white scapulars and a gray rump. Their wings are black with white tips on the coverts and white edges on the flight feathers. Their tail is black and very long with a highly modified outer pair of feathers. Those feather shafts are bare at the base and the inner webs of the outer two-thirds are very... Wikipedia →