Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca rufipectoralis)

Identification & Behavior: ~13.5 cm (5.2 in). The Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant is brownish-gray above. The wing coverts are dusky with two rufous wing bars. The subspecies rufopectoralis of Cusco and Puno has gray wing coverts and no or rudimentary wing bars. It has a prominent rufous breast and whitish gray rest of the underparts. The head is gray with long and broad white superciliary. It forages at forest edges and semi-open habitats with shrubs and scrub. The similar White-browed Chat-Tyrant forages at drier habitats and lacks the rufous breast.

Status: The Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant is common in montane forests of the east and west (south to Ancash) slopes of the Andes at elevations ranging between 2400-4100 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pitajo de Pecho Rufo.

Sub-species: Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca rufipectoralis obfuscata), J. T. Zimmer, 1942.  C & W Andes of Colombia S to N Peru (Piura, Cajamarca, Amazonas, possibly NW San Martín).
(Ochthoeca rufipectoralis centralis), Hellmayr, 1927.  NC Peru (S La Libertad, Ancash, Huánuco).
(Ochthoeca rufipectoralis tectricialis), Chapman, 1921.  SC Peru (Pasco S to Cuzco).
(Ochthoeca rufipectoralis rufipectoralis), (d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye) 1837.  SE Peru (Cuzco, N Puno) and W Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Ochthoeca: Gr. okhthos= bank, mound and oikos, oikeo = dwelling, to inhabit. rufipectoralis: L. rufus= rufous and pectoralis, pectoral= pectus, pectoris breast.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae