All species › Passerines › Shrike-babblers, Erpornis and vireos › Grey-chested Greenlet
Grey-chested Greenlet | Hylophilus semicinereus
Grijsnekvireo | Verdillo pechigrís | Verdinho-da-várzea
The Grey-chested Greenlet is a small greenlet of forest edges and várzea in Amazonia, with a grey breast and an olive-green back. In the guide area it occurs in north-eastern Peru and the extreme north-east of Bolivia. It often forages in the fairly low canopy of young or flooded forest.
Voice
A very high, fast series of even notes, wee-wee-wee-wee, of eight to twenty notes, often too fast to count. The song resembles that of Scrub Greenlet.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
12 cm, with a pointed, pale bill. The crown, nape and upperparts are olive-green; the face is greyish. The throat is whitish, the breast and flanks grey and the belly whitish, with a yellow wash on the undertail-coverts. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Ashy-headed Greenlet Hylophilus pectoralis has a grey head and a yellow breast band. Lemon-chested Greenlet Hylophilus thoracicus has a bright yellow breast and a pale eye. Brown-headed Greenlet Hylophilus brunneiceps has a brown head and lives mainly in forest on poor sandy soils. Dusky-capped Greenlet Pachysylvia hypoxantha has a brownish cap and yellow underparts.
Habitat
Canopy and edges of humid forest, várzea, permanently flooded forest and secondary forest, especially where the canopy is fairly low, up to about 400 m. It gleans insects from leaves in pairs and with 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
Peru: in the north-east, in Loreto, mainly south of the Amazon. Bolivia: in the extreme north-east. Ecuador: not recorded with certainty; there are reports from the far east. Colombia: possibly in the east, unconfirmed. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazilian Amazonia.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search along rivers and in várzea around Iquitos, where the species forages with mixed flocks in low canopy. Listen for the fast, high series of notes.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species has a large range and tolerates secondary forest.
Scientific name
Hylophilus semicinereus | Sclater & Salvin, 1867
Sclater & Salvin described the species in 1867 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 semi-, 'half', and cinereus, 'ash-grey': 'half grey'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Belém, Pará, Brazil.