Small-headed Elaenia

About the Small-headed Elaenia

The small-headed elaenia (Elaenia sordida), also known as the Brazilian elaenia, is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The small-headed elaenia is monotypic. It was previously treated as a subspecies of the highland elaenia (E. obscura); between 2016 and 2020 taxonomic systems split the two. The small-headed elaenia is 16 to 20 cm (6.3 to 7.9 in) long and weighs 24 to 34.5 g (0.85 to 1.2 oz). It is a large elaenia without a crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a dark olive head with lighter cheeks, a dusky loral spot, and a thin whitish eyering. Their upperparts are dark olive. Their wings are mostly dusky with pale edges on the flight feathers. The tips of their wing coverts are whitish to yellowish and show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky with white tips on unworn feathers. Their chin and throat are grayish yellow, their breast and flanks dull gray-olive, and their belly and undertail coverts grayish yellow. Both sexes have a brown iris, a stubby blackish brown to black bill with a pinkish... Wikipedia →