Rufous-winged Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus calopterus)

Identification & Behavior: ~12.5 cm (5 in). The Rufous-winged Tyrannulet has a grayish mantle. The crown is gray bordered by a white superciliary. It has a black stripe across the eye. The bill is black. The wing coverts are black with two broad whitish or buffy wing bars. The outer webbing of the secondary flight feathers is rufous forming a large rufous patch on the folded wing. The outer tail feathers show white webbing. The throat is white. The breast and upper belly are grayish. It forages in the canopy of humid and semi-humid forests and also in tall montane scrub. The rufous patch on the wing is shared by the Rufous-winged Antwren with which it does not overlap.

Status: The Rufous-winged Tyrannulet occurs in the humid and deciduous forest of Tumbes south to Lambayeque and the humid montane forests of the west slope of Piura and Cajamarca. It also occurs in the humid habitats of the Maranon Valley, and on the montane forest of the east slope of the Andes in Amazonas and San Martin at elevations ranging between 1100-2400 m. The Rufous-winged Tyrannulet also occurs in Ec.

Name in Spanish: Tiranillo de Ala Rufa.

Sub-species: Rufous-winged Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus calopterus), (P. L. Sclater), 1859.

Meaning of Name: Mecocerculus: Gr. mekos= length and kerkos= tail. calopterus: Gr. kalos= beautiful and pteros, pteron= wing, winged.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae