Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant (Agriornis micropterus)

Identification & Behavior: ~24 cm (9.4 in). The Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant if mostly gray-brown. The throat is whitish streaked with black. The bill is bicolored with a yellowish lower mandible. The iris is dark. The tail is gray with white webbing only on the outer tail feathers. It forages in dry and semi-humid Andean scrub. It is similar to the Black-billed Shrike-tyrant and the White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant but is distinguished by a uniform brown plumage and more importantly, by having a gray tail.

Status: The Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant is rare in extreme southern Peru at elevations ranging between 3800-4100 m. The status of this Shrike-tyrant is not well understood. It may be an Austral migrant. It also occurs in Bo and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Arriero de Vientre Gris.

Sub-species: Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant (Agriornis micropterus andecola), (d’Orbigny), 1840.

Meaning of Name: Agriornis: Gr. agrios= fierce and ornis,ornithos= bird. micropterus: Gr. mikros= small and pteros= winged. Mikroptera= small-winged.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae