Common Tody-Flycatcher (Todirostrum cinereum)

Identification & Behavior: ~10 cm (4 in). The Common Tody-Flycatcher has slaty-gray upperparts. The wing coverts are blackish fringed with yellow. The underparts are bright yellow. The iris is pale. The bill is black and relatively long. The tail feathers are tipped with yellowish. It forages at forest edges, second growth, scrub, and semi-open habitats. The combination of gray upperparts and yellow underparts with a pale iris is unique in its range, but see Gray-and-Gold Warbler and Tropical Parula.

Status: The Common Tody-Flycatcher is fairly common in the northwest lowlands at elevations of up 1200 m along the foothill of the west slope of the Andes. It also occurs in humid montane forest on the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 600-2000 m. The Common Tody-Flycatcher also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Espatulilla Común.

Sub-species: Common Tody-Flycatcher (Todirostrum cinereum sclateri), (Cabanis and Heine), 1859.  SW Colombia (SW Cauca, Nariño), W Ecuador and NW Peru (Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque).
(Todirostrum cinereum peruanum), J. T. Zimmer, 1930.  E Ecuador and E Peru (Loreto S to Cuzco).

Meaning of Name: Todirostrum: tody= one that resembles a member of the genus Todus Brisson 1760 and rostrum= beak. cinereum: L. cinis, cineris= ashes, cinereus= ash-grey, ash-coloured.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae