White-tailed Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus poecilocercus)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The White-tailed Tyrannulet has an olive-green mantle. The head is gray with a broad white superciliary and a black bill. The wing coverts are black with two broad buffy wing bars. The underparts are mostly grayish. The tail has white inner-webbing that can be seen from below or when the bird expands the tail. It forages in the canopy of humid montane forest often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is similar to the closely related White-banded Tyrannulet but is distinguished by smaller size,  white webbing on the tail feathers, buffy wing bars, and by ranging at lower elevations.

Status: The White-tailed Tyrannulet is uncommon in montane forests of the east and west (S to Piura) slopes of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1400-2700 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Tiranillo de Cola Blanca.

Sub-species: White-tailed Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus poecilocercus), (P. L. Sclater and Salvin), 1873.

Meaning of Name: Mecocerculus: Gr. mekos= length and kerkos= tail. poecilocercus: Gr. poikilos- pied, spotted, variegated and kerkos= tail.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae