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Ashy-headed Tyrannulet Phyllomyias cinereiceps Scientific name definitions

John W. Fitzpatrick
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2004

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

The Ashy-headed Tyrannulet is a small flycatcher of montane northwestern South America.  Distributed from Colombia south to southern Peru, the species inhabits canopy and middle levels of humid Andean forest between 1400 and 2700 meters in elevation.  It is olive above with a blue-gray cap, black auricular border framed in white, white superciliary, and yellow underparts with a dingy olive chest.  Ashy-headed Tyrannulet is stocky for a member of the genus Phyllomyias and often perches upright.

Field Identification

11 cm; c. 10 g. Has slaty blue-grey crown sharply contrasting with bright olive back; lores and eyering white; face pattern distinctive, grizzled white and black, cheek patch yellowish, large black crescent on rear auriculars bordered posteriorly by yellow; wings dusky, two wingbars and edges of inner remiges broadly yellow; tail dusky olive; throat greyish-white, breast and flanks streaked or flammulated with olive, grading to bright yellow on belly; iris dark red; bill small and rounded, black; legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile undescribed.

Systematics History

See P. nigrocapillus. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Andes in extreme SW Venezuela (SW Táchira), Colombia (all three cordilleras), W & E Ecuador and E Peru (S to Puno).

Habitat

Humid upper montane forest, especially cloudforest, forest borders, also adjacent second growth. At 1400–2700 m; in Ecuador mostly 1350–2500 m, locally down to 900 m in S (El Oro).

Movement

Presumed resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects; probably also some small fruits. Forages in middle and upper levels of trees, usually with mixed-species flocks. Sits quietly for short periods, with slightly hunched posture, sometimes lifts one wing over head; flits quickly to new perch or hover-gleans from leaves or moss, sometimes hanging on leaves briefly to perch-glean; sometimes makes quick, short aerial sallies.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Piercing and far-carrying, a high-pitched note followed by descending trill, “sweeeee, see-ee-ee-ee-eew”.

Breeding

Fledglings seen in Oct and Nov in Colombia. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Rare to locally fairly common; probably often overlooked. More common in upper Magdalena Valley and Cueva de los Guácharos National Park, both in Colombia, and present in all national parks in humid Andean zones of Ecuador and Peru. Only three records from Venezuela, one in 1988 and two in 1996. Possibly occurs also in Bolivia (Madidi National Park).
Distribution of the Ashy-headed Tyrannulet - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Ashy-headed Tyrannulet

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Fitzpatrick, J. W. (2020). Ashy-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias cinereiceps), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ashtyr1.01
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