Foothill Elaenia

About the Foothill Elaenia

The foothill elaenia (Myiopagis olallai) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The foothill elaenia has three subspecies, the nominate M. o. olallai (Coopmans & Krabbe, 2000), M. o. coopmansi (Cuervo, Stiles, Lentino, Brumfield & Derryberry, 2014), and M. o. incognita (Cuervo, Stiles, Lentino, Brumfield & Derryberry, 2014).

The foothill elaenia is 12 to 12.5 cm (4.7 to 4.9 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark gray crown with a partially concealed white stripe along its middle. They have a mottled gray and white loral spot, eyering, and lower face. Their upperparts are olive green. Their wings are dusky with thin olive green edges on the primaries and pale yellow edges on the other flight feathers. Pale yellow tips on the wing coverts form three bars on the closed wing. Their tail is browner than the wings and the feathers have thin olive green edges. Their throat is whitish with faint gray mottling. The rest of their underparts are sulphur yellow with olive markings on the lower... Wikipedia →