Sierran Elaenia (Elaenia pallatangae)

Identification & Behavior: ~14.5 cm (5.7 in). The Sierran Elaenia has olive-gray upperparts. It has a bushy crest with a central white crown patch. The wing coverts are black with two whitish and well-defined wing bars. The lower mandible is dull orange. The throat and breast are yellow-olive grading to more yellow toward the belly. It generally forages in humid Andean forest, and forest edges. It is similar to the Highland Elaenia but is distinguished by smaller size, more yellow belly, and by having a crest with a white crown patch.

Status: The Sierran Elaenia is common in humid montane forests of the east and west (S to Piura) slopes of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1100-3500 m. It also occurs in the Marañon Drainage. The Sierran Elaenia also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Fío-Fío Serrano.

Sub-species: Sierran Elaenia (Elaenia pallatangae intensa), J. T. Zimmer, 1941.

Meaning of Name: Elaenia: Gr. elaineos= of olive-oil, oleaginous. pallatangae: From or associated with Pallatanga, in Chimborazo, Ecuador.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae