Black-capped Flycatcher
Encyclopedia
The Black-capped Flycatcher, Empidonax atriceps, is a very small passerine
bird
in the tyrant flycatcher
family. It is endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica
and western Panama
.
This species is found in the high canopy of mountain oak
forest, coming lower at the edges and in clearings, and also in second growth and bushy pastures. It breeds mainly in the highest forested areas, from 2450 m to 3300 (even 4000) m altitude, but will descend to as low as 1850 m in the height of the rainy season.
The cup nest is made of grass and mosses and lined with plant fibre; it hangs from grass at the top of an earth bank, or is placed 2–12 m high in a vertical tree fork. The typical clutch is two unmarked cream or white eggs. Incubation by the female is 14–15 days to hatching, with another 17 days to fledging.
The Black-capped Flycatcher is 11.5 cm long and weighs 9 g. Most of its head and the rear of its neck are sooty black, the upperparts are olive-brown and the underparts are paler brown, becoming whitish on the throat and yellower on the lower belly. The head has a broad white eye ring, broken above the eye. The wings and tail are blackish, the former having two pale brown wing bars. The sexes are similar, but young birds have a browner head and paler wing bars. The call is a whistled kip and the song is a loud keer keer.
This species is easily distinguished from migratory
Empidonax
flycatchers by its blackish head and generally dark appearance.
Black-capped Flycatchers are tame, active birds, usually seen alone when not breeding. They eat insect
s, often taken in flight in short sallies from an open perch.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the tyrant flycatcher
Tyrant flycatcher
The tyrant flycatchers are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds on Earth, with more than 400 species. They are the most diverse avian family in every country in the Americas, except for the United States and...
family. It is endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and western Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
.
This species is found in the high canopy of mountain oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
forest, coming lower at the edges and in clearings, and also in second growth and bushy pastures. It breeds mainly in the highest forested areas, from 2450 m to 3300 (even 4000) m altitude, but will descend to as low as 1850 m in the height of the rainy season.
The cup nest is made of grass and mosses and lined with plant fibre; it hangs from grass at the top of an earth bank, or is placed 2–12 m high in a vertical tree fork. The typical clutch is two unmarked cream or white eggs. Incubation by the female is 14–15 days to hatching, with another 17 days to fledging.
The Black-capped Flycatcher is 11.5 cm long and weighs 9 g. Most of its head and the rear of its neck are sooty black, the upperparts are olive-brown and the underparts are paler brown, becoming whitish on the throat and yellower on the lower belly. The head has a broad white eye ring, broken above the eye. The wings and tail are blackish, the former having two pale brown wing bars. The sexes are similar, but young birds have a browner head and paler wing bars. The call is a whistled kip and the song is a loud keer keer.
This species is easily distinguished from migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
Empidonax
Empidonax
The genus Empidonax is a group of small insect-eating passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family, the Tyrannidae.Most of these birds are remarkably similar in plumage: olive on the upper parts with light underparts, eye rings and wing bars...
flycatchers by its blackish head and generally dark appearance.
Black-capped Flycatchers are tame, active birds, usually seen alone when not breeding. They eat insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, often taken in flight in short sallies from an open perch.