White-bellied Tody-Tyrant

About the White-bellied Tody-Tyrant

The white-bellied tody-tyrant (Hemitriccus griseipectus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. The white-bellied tody-tyrant has two subspecies, the nominate H. g. griseipectus (Snethlage, 1907) and H. g. naumburgae (Zimmer, JT, 1945).

The species had a complicated taxonomic history from its original description to late in the twentieth century. It was described as Euscarthmus griseipectus. It was later moved to genus Idioptilon, and later still both Euscarthmus and Idioptilon were merged into Hemitriccus. What is now the white-eyed tody-tyrant (H. zosterops) was for a time treated as conspecific with the white-bellied. A few authors have treated naumburgae as a subspecies of the white-eyed tody-tyrant but that assignment has not been widely accepted.

The white-bellied tody-tyrant is 9.5 to 11 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) long and weighs 8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz). The sexes and the subspecies have essentially the same plumage. Adults have an olive-green crown and nape. They have gray lores, an indistinct white eye-ring, and light gray ear coverts. Their back and rump are... Wikipedia →