Riverside Tyrant (Knipolegus orenocensis)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The male Riverside Tyrant is all black with a bluish-gray bill and dark-red iris. The female has gray upperparts. The wing coverts are dusky with two not well defined brownish wing bars. The underparts are whitish with broad dusky streaks on the breast. The tail is gray with some rufous webbing. It forages in young successional river created habitats such as stands of canebrake often mixed with Tessaria sp. It is very similar to the Amazonian Black-Tyrant but is distinguished by larger size and by foraging at young river created habitats. The female is overall darker and has only some rufous on the tail.

Status: The Riverside Tyrant is uncommon to rare on the edges of the Amazon, lower Marañon, and Napo Rivers. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Br.

Name in Spanish: Viudita Ribereña.

Sub-species: Riverside Tyrant (Knipolegus orenocensis sclateri), Hellmayr, 1906.

Meaning of Name: Knipolegus: Gr. knips, knipos= insect and lego= to pick. orenocensis: Associated with or from the Río Orinoco, in Venezuela.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae