Puna Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola juninensis)

Identification & Behavior: ~16 cm (6.2 in). The Puna Ground-Tyrant is gray above and lighter gray to whitish below. It has a washed brown crown. The white superciliary starts at the base of the bill and continues slightly past the eye. It forages in open wet grasslands and appears to be associated with bodies of water and bogs. It is very similar to the Taczanowski’s Ground-tyrant but is distinguished by having darker upperparts, and by the washed brown crown patch. The also similar White-browed Ground-Tyrant has a better defined rufous crown patch, and better defined and longer white superciliary that goes past the eye.

Status: The Puna Ground-Tyrant is fairly common in the high Andes at elevations ranging between 3800-4800 m. It also occurs in Bo and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Dormilona de la Puna.

Sub-species: Puna Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola juninensis), Taczanowski, 1884.

Meaning of Name: Muscisaxicola: From the genus Muscicapa Brisson 1760 (flycatcher), and genus Saxicola (wheatear Oenanthe). juninensis: Coming from or associated with Junín, a department in Central Peru.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae