All species › Passerines › Shrike-babblers, Erpornis and vireos › Dusky-capped Greenlet
Dusky-capped Greenlet | Pachysylvia hypoxantha
Bruinvoorhoofdvireo | Verdillo ventriamarillo | Vite-vite-de-barriga-amarela
The Dusky-capped Greenlet is a small greenlet of the canopy of western Amazonia, with a dull brown cap and yellow underparts. It is a regular member of mixed flocks high in the forest, where it makes itself heard by its repeated song.
Voice
A quick, repeated phrase of a few clear notes, often sung in series one after another from the canopy. Calls are nasal.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11.5 cm, with a fairly short tail and a thin, pointed bill. The forehead and crown are dull brown to greyish brown, the rest of the upperparts olive-green. The eye is dark. The throat is pale grey to whitish, the rest of the underparts yellow, olive on the flanks. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Lemon-chested Greenlet Hylophilus thoracicus has a grey crown, a pale eye and only a yellow band across the breast. Buff-cheeked Greenlet Pachysylvia muscicapina has buff-brown cheeks and greyish underparts. Ochre-crowned Greenlet Tunchiornis ochraceiceps lives in the understorey and has a pale eye and an ochre-brown forehead.
Habitat
Canopy and edges of humid lowland forest, mainly terra firme, also várzea and tall secondary forest, up to about 1000 m in the foothills. It searches the foliage for insects and spiders, almost always in mixed flocks. Little is known about the nest.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Colombia: in the Amazonian lowlands in the south-east. Ecuador: in the eastern lowlands. Peru: in the Amazonian lowlands east of the Andes. Bolivia: in the northern lowlands. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in western Amazonian Brazil and southern Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From a canopy tower or along an open forest edge in the eastern lowlands, watch mixed flocks in the canopy; among the tanagers moves a small yellow bird with a brownish cap.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Widespread in a large, mostly intact forest area.
Scientific name
Pachysylvia hypoxantha | (Pelzeln, 1868) (GBIF: Hylophilus hypoxanthus)
Pelzeln described the species in 1868 as Hylophilus hypoxanthus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Pachysylvia was introduced in 1850 by Bonaparte. The genus name comes from Greek pakhus, 'large, stout', and Sylvia, the warbler genus. The species name comes from Greek hupo, 'below', and xanthos, 'yellow': 'yellow below'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Rio Içana and Rio Uaupés, upper Rio Negro, Brazil.