Common Tody-Flycatcher
Encyclopedia
The Common Tody-Flycatcher or Black-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Todirostrum cinereum, is a very small passerine
bird
in the tyrant flycatcher
family
. It breed
s from southern Mexico
to northwestern Peru
, eastern Bolivia
and southern Brazil
.
The Common Tody-Flycatcher is a tiny, big-headed bird, 9.5-10.2 cm long, weighing 6.5-6.8 g, and with a long, straight black bill. The upper head is black, shading to dark grey on the nape and dark olive-green on the rest of the upperparts. The usually cocked tail is black with white tips, and the wings are blackish with two yellow wing bars and yellow edging to the feathers. The underparts are entirely yellow. Sexes are similar, but young birds have a greyer upper head, buff wing markings, and paler underparts.
Males of this species have a rapid grasshopper-like
ticking te’e’e’e’e’e’t call something like a Tropical Kingbird
, and a dawn song consisting of a very fast high tic repeated up to 110 times a minute for minutes on end.
It is a very common inhabitant in gardens, shady plantations, second growth and the edges and clearings of forest, although it avoids the dense interior of mature woodland and also arid areas. The Common Tody-Flycatcher is usually seen in pairs, making rapid dashing sallies or hovering to pick small arthropod
s off the vegetation. It often wags its tail as it moves sideways along branches.
It breeds from sea level to 1150 meters altitude, locally 1500 meters. Both male and female birds build a pouch nest with a visored side entrance, which is usually suspended from a thin branch or vine 1-5 meters high in a tree, though occasionally it can go up to 30 meters. The female incubates the two usually unspotted white eggs for the 15–16 days prior to hatching.
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
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
. It breed
Breed
A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...
s from southern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to northwestern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, eastern Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
and southern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
The Common Tody-Flycatcher is a tiny, big-headed bird, 9.5-10.2 cm long, weighing 6.5-6.8 g, and with a long, straight black bill. The upper head is black, shading to dark grey on the nape and dark olive-green on the rest of the upperparts. The usually cocked tail is black with white tips, and the wings are blackish with two yellow wing bars and yellow edging to the feathers. The underparts are entirely yellow. Sexes are similar, but young birds have a greyer upper head, buff wing markings, and paler underparts.
Males of this species have a rapid grasshopper-like
Grasshopper
The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper...
ticking te’e’e’e’e’e’t call something like a Tropical Kingbird
Tropical Kingbird
The Tropical Kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher. This bird breeds from southern Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the USA through Central America, South America as far as south as central Argentina and western Peru, and on Trinidad and Tobago...
, and a dawn song consisting of a very fast high tic repeated up to 110 times a minute for minutes on end.
It is a very common inhabitant in gardens, shady plantations, second growth and the edges and clearings of forest, although it avoids the dense interior of mature woodland and also arid areas. The Common Tody-Flycatcher is usually seen in pairs, making rapid dashing sallies or hovering to pick small arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s off the vegetation. It often wags its tail as it moves sideways along branches.
It breeds from sea level to 1150 meters altitude, locally 1500 meters. Both male and female birds build a pouch nest with a visored side entrance, which is usually suspended from a thin branch or vine 1-5 meters high in a tree, though occasionally it can go up to 30 meters. The female incubates the two usually unspotted white eggs for the 15–16 days prior to hatching.
Common names
- EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Black-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Common Tody-Flycatcher. - SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Titirijí común, titirijí lomicenizo, espatulilla amarilla, mosquerito común. - PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
: Ferreirinho, Ferreirinho-relógio, Reloginho, Relógio, Sebinho-relógio.
External links
- Common Tody-Flycatcher videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Common Tody-Flycatcher photo gallery VIREO–(with/ picture of hanging pouch nest) Photo-High Res
- Photo-High Res(thumbnail); Article fermatainc
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