White-throated Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus leucophrys)

Identification & Behavior:~14 cm (5.5 in). The White-throated Tyrannulet has brownish upperparts. The crown is gray-brown bordered with a white superciliary. It has a black bill. The wing coverts are black with two broad rufous (bruneogarginatus and pallidor) or white (leucophrys) wing bars. The throat is white but the breast is gray grading to yellowish towards the belly. The tail is gray. It forages in canopy and sub-canopy of humid montane forest and scrub often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is larger than the White-banded Tyrannulet, both of which are often members of the same mixed-species flocks.  

Status: The White-throated Tyrannulet is common in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes. It also occurs on the humid west slope of the Andes in part of the Marañon Valley, Piura, and Cajamarca, and also in the Cordillera Blanca in Ancash and Lima generally at elevations ranging between 1800-4600 m. The White-throated Tyrannulet also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tiranillo de Garganta Blanca.

Sub-species: Tiranillo de Garganta Blanca. White-throated Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus leucophrys rufomarginatus), (Lawrence), 1869.  Andes of S Colombia (Nariño), Ecuador and NW Peru (Piura).
(Mecocerculus leucophrys pallidior), Carriker, 1933.  W Andes of Peru (Ancash).
(Mecocerculus leucophrys brunneomarginatus), Chapman, 1924.  E Andes of Peru (S to Cuzco).
(Mecocerculus leucophrys leucophrys) (d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye) 1837.  E Andes from S Peru (S from Cuzco and Madre de Dios) S to N Argentina (Salta, Tucumán).

Meaning of Name: Mecocerculus: Gr. mekos= length and kerkos= tail. leucophrys: Gr. leukos= white and ophrus, ophruos= eyebrow. 

See more of the Family Tyrannidae