Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Tyrannidae
Genus
Knipolegus
Surprise Me
Previous Blue-billed Black-Tyrant
Next White-winged Black-Tyrant
- Cinereous Tyrant
© Jorge Claudio Schlemmer
- Cinereous Tyrant
- Cinereous Tyrant
+4
- Cinereous Tyrant
- Cinereous Tyrant
- Cinereous Tyrant
- Cinereous Tyrant
- Cinereous Tyrant
Watch
- Cinereous Tyrant
Listen

Cinereous Tyrant Knipolegus striaticeps Scientific name definitions

Andrew Farnsworth and Gary Langham
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2004

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

The Cinereous Tyrant is a dark, lowland flycatcher of central South America.  Distributed in and around the chaco, it is found in woodland and open habitats in northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and the southwestern edge of Brazil below 1000 meters in elevation.  Overall males are black with red irides, two gray wingbars, gray lower underparts, and gray outer webs to the outer tail feathers.  Females are olive-brown above with rufous on the crown, nape, and uppertail coverts, white lores and two white wingbars, and blackish tail with rufous on the inner webs of the feathers.  Cinereous Tyrant is typically found alone or in pairs, actively twitching the tail and gleaning insects from bush and tree tops.

Field Identification

13–13·5 cm. Male is mostly dark grey, darker head imparting distinctly hooded effect; face blackish-grey; wings dusky grey or blackish-grey, two narrow pale grey wingbars, inner remiges edged greyish; tail dusky, outer web of outer rectrices pale; throat and chest duskier; lower underparts greyish-white or whitish with fine dusky streaks; iris bright scarlet-red; bill black; legs black. ­Differs from congeners in smaller size, no concealed white in wings. Female is olive-brown above, rufous on crown, lores whitish, nape with dusky streaking; wingbars white, uppertail-coverts rufous, tail with rufous inner webs, iris pale brown; smaller and with less deep rufous tail-coverts than female K. hudsoni.

Systematics History

Formerly placed in monotypic Entotriccus, on basis of uniformly narrow primaries of both sexes. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

E & S Bolivia (C & E Santa Cruz S to E Tarija), S Brazil (extreme W Mato Grosso do Sul), W Paraguay (W of R Paraguay) and NW Argentina (Jujuy and Formosa S to Córdoba and N San Luis).

Habitat

Chaco woodland, borders and openings; also dense groves of forest in campo regions in Brazil. Mostly below 1000 m, locally to 1900 m.

Movement

Not well known. Reportedly migratory in S part of range, but details unknown; single specimen in Paraguay E of R Paraguay suggests some movement.

Diet and Foraging

Insects. Usually found singly, occasionally in pairs. Perches on exposed bushes or low trees, erect and alert, frequently twitching tail; sallies for prey.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Quiet; displaying male gives “ts-ip” call while perched, and staccato “skidi-ik” (possibly wing noise) at bottom of display-flight.

Breeding

Recorded in Nov–Feb in Argentina. Displaying male flies up from exposed perch to 8–15 m, folds wings and drops to new perch. In Argentina, nest an open cup made from grass, horsehair and feathers, placed in cactus; clutch 2 eggs. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Fairly common to locally common. Chaco woodland is increasingly being cleared for cattle grazing and agriculture, putting this species at some risk.
Distribution of the Cinereous Tyrant - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Cinereous Tyrant

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Farnsworth, A. and G. Langham (2020). Cinereous Tyrant (Knipolegus striaticeps), 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.cintyr1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos