White-browed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca leucophrys)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The White-browed Chat-Tyrant is mostly gray. It has a brownish-gray mantle and faint rufous edging on the wing coverts in some sub-species. It has white, broad and long superciliary. The bill is black. The iris is dark. It forages in dry Andean scrub in semi-open habitats. It is similar to the smaller Piura Chat-Tyrant and Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant but is distinguished by being gray without markings and by foraging in semi-open dry habitats.

Status: The White-browed Chat-Tyrant is common and widespread in the high Andes at elevations ranging between 2400-4200 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pitajo de Ceja Blanca.

Sub-species: White-browed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca leucophrys dissors), J. T. Zimmer, 1940.   extreme S Ecuador and N Peru (upper Marañón Valley).
(Ochthoeca leucophrys interior), J. T. Zimmer, 1930.  highlands of C Peru (Huánuco, Pasco).
(Ochthoeca leucophrys urubambae), J. T. Zimmer, 1937.  highlands of C & S Peru (Junín S to NE Ayacucho and Cuzco).
(Ochthoeca leucophrys leucometopa), P. L. Sclater and Salvin, 1877.  W Peru (Ancash) S to N Chile (Arica, Tarapacá).

Meaning of Name: Ochthoeca: Gr. okhthos= bank, mound and oikos, oikeo = dwelling, to inhabit.
leucophrys: Gr. leukos= white and ophrus, ophruos= eyebrow. Leukophrus= white-browed.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae