All species › Passerines › Shrike-babblers, Erpornis and vireos › Ashy-headed Greenlet
Ashy-headed Greenlet | Hylophilus pectoralis
Grijskopvireo | Verdillo cabecigrís | Vite-vite-de-cabeça-cinza
The Ashy-headed Greenlet is a small greenlet of forest edges and open woodland in eastern South America. Its grey head, olive-green back and yellow breast band set it apart from the other greenlets in its habitat. In the guide area it occurs only in northern and eastern Bolivia.
Voice
A fast, melodious series of repeated notes, often in pairs. Calls with short, somewhat nasal notes.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
12 cm, with a pointed, pale bill and a dark eye. The head and nape are grey and contrast with the olive-green back, wings and tail. The throat is whitish, a yellow band crosses the breast and the belly is whitish. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Lemon-chested Greenlet Hylophilus thoracicus has a yellowish-green crown, a grey nape and a pale eye. Grey-chested Greenlet Hylophilus semicinereus has an olive-green crown and a grey breast without a yellow band. Dusky-capped Greenlet Pachysylvia hypoxantha has a brownish cap and yellow underparts.
Habitat
Forest edges, gallery forest, dry and semi-humid forest, várzea and woodland in savanna, in the lowlands up to about 600 m. It searches the middle and upper levels of foliage for insects, often with mixed flocks. The nest is a hanging cup in a fork.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Bolivia: in the north and east, in Pando, the Beni and Santa Cruz. Absent from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in the Guianas, eastern Venezuela and much of Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search gallery forest and forest edges in the Beni or northern Santa Cruz for a small grey-headed greenlet in mixed flocks.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species tolerates forest edges and secondary forest and has a large range.
Scientific name
Hylophilus pectoralis | Sclater, 1866
Sclater described the species in 1866 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Hylophilus was introduced in 1822 by Temminck. The genus name comes from Greek hulē, 'woodland, forest', and philos, 'loving': 'forest-lover'. The species name comes from Latin pectoralis, 'of the breast', for the breast markings. The specimen the first description was based on came from Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, Mato Grosso, Brazil.