Ashy-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias cinereiceps)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The Ashy-headed Tyrannulet has olive back with a gray or ash-colored crown. It has a well developed black ear patch. The bill is short and black. The wing coverts are black with creamy-yellowish wing bars. The underparts are yellow faintly streaked on the breast with olive. The loral area and around eyes are generally grizzled. It forages in the canopy and sub-canopy of humid montane forests often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is similar to a Black-capped Tyrannulet but is distinguished by having a gray cap and creamy yellowish wing bars on black wing coverts and no conspicuous pale eyebrow. Also, see Plumbeous-crowned Tyrannulet.

Status: The Ashy-headed Tyrannulet is rare in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1300-2400 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Moscareta de Cabeza Ceniza.

Sub-species: Ashy-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias cinereiceps), (P. L. Sclater), 1860.

Meaning of Name: Phyllomyias: Gr. phullon=  leaf and myias=  flycatcher. cinereiceps: L. cinis, cineris=  ashes, cinereus=  ash-coloured and ceps= headed.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae