Green-backed Becard (Pachyramphus viridis)

Identification & Behavior: ~14 cm (5.5 in). The male Green-backed Becard (or Yellow-cheeked Becard) has olive upperparts and a solid black cap with broad white lores. The cheeks, throat, and breast are yellow. The rest of the underparts are white. The female is similar but has a gray head, whitish throat, and yellow breast band. It has a rufous patch on the wing bent. Both sexes have a bluish-gray bill and yellow eyering. It forages in the canopy of forest edges, tall second growth, and semi-open habitats. It is similar to the Barred Becard but the male is distinguished by having an olive back and yellow and white underparts. The female has a gray head, a yellow pectoral band, and white underparts.

Status: The Green-backed Becard is uncommon to rare in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 500-1500 m. It also occurs in Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Cabezón de Dorso Verde.

Sub-species: Green-backed Becard (Pachyramphus viridis xanthogenys), Salvadori and Festa, 1898.  (Pachyramphus viridis peruanus), E. Hartert and Goodson, 1917.

Meaning of Name: Pachyramphus: Gr. pakhus= stout, thick and rhamphos= bill. viridis: L. viridis, virere= green to be green.

See more of the Family Tityridae