Black-crowned Tityra (Tityra inquisitor)

Identification & Behavior:~23 cm (9 in). The male Black-crowned Tityra is mostly dingy white with a black cap and wings. The female is similar to the male but has a white forehead and rufous sides of the head. In both sexes, the bill is solid black. The tail is mostly black with white terminal edges or all black in the sub-species buckleyi. It forages in the forest canopy and forest edges. It is similar to the Black-tailed Tityra but is distinguished by a solid black bill and by not having any red on the face and around the eye.

Status: The Black-crowned Tityra is uncommon and widespread in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 600 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Titira de Corona Negra.

Sub-species: Black-crowned Tityra (Tityra inquisitor albitorques), Du Bus de Gisignies, 1847.  E Panama, N & W Colombia (S to W Valle del Cauca, and Magdalena Valley S to N Huila), W Ecuador (S to Guayas and NW Azuay), N & C Peru (W Loreto, San Martín, Ayacucho), NW Bolivia (Pando, Beni) and NW Brazil (R Juruá and Amazon E to Manaus).
(Tityra inquisitor buckleyi), Salvin and Godman, 1890.   SE Colombia (W Caquetá and Putumayo E to Amazonas) and E Ecuador (Napo, Pastaza).

Meaning of Name: Tityra: Gr Tityrus= In Greek mythology, the name of a rustic shepherd in Virgil’s Eclogues. inquisitor: L. inquisitor, inquisitoris= investigator, searcher, examiner.

See more of the Family Tityridae