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Slaty-capped Flycatcher | Leptopogon superciliaris
Grijskruinleptopogon | Mosquerito orejinegro
The Slaty-capped Flycatcher is a slim, upright tyrant flycatcher of the humid montane forests of Central and South America, found in the region only in Trinidad. It is recognised by its grey crown and the dark crescent on the ear-coverts, and has a habit of briefly raising one wing over its back.
Voice
An explosive, nasal call rendered as pit-chew or pit-chew-chup, sometimes preceded by a few short, downslurred chup notes; heard mainly early in the morning.
Recording: José María Loaiza B. — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
13–14 cm. Crown and nape slate grey, with a narrow white supercilium. The face is pale and mottled, with a distinctive blackish crescent on the ear-coverts behind the eye. Back and rump dark olive; the dusky wings have two pale buff to ochre wing bars and yellow-green edges to the flight feathers. The throat is greyish, the breast yellowish with an olive-grey wash and the belly pale yellow. The bill is narrow and dark. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Ochre-bellied Flycatcher Mionectes oleagineus has an olive head without a grey crown or ear crescent, and ochre underparts. Olive-striped Flycatcher Mionectes olivaceus is streaked on the throat and breast and has a small pale spot behind the eye. The pewees of the genus Contopus and Euler's Flycatcher Lathrotriccus euleri lack the grey cap and ear pattern.
Habitat
Humid evergreen forest on mountain slopes and in valleys, including older secondary forest and shaded coffee and cacao. It perches upright in the middle storey and sallies to leaves or twigs to pick off insects; sometimes joins mixed flocks of small birds.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
In Trinidad a resident in the forests of the Northern Range, mainly at higher elevations; absent from Tobago. Absent from the rest of the region. Outside the region from Costa Rica and Panama through the coastal mountains of Venezuela and along the Andes to Bolivia.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In Trinidad best searched for in the Northern Range forest, for example around the Asa Wright Nature Centre and along the road to Blanchisseuse. The nasal call gives the bird away; when perched, the crescent on the ear-coverts stands out.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species has a large range. In Trinidad it is confined to montane forest and thus depends on its conservation.
Scientific name
Leptopogon superciliaris | Tschudi, 1844
Tschudi described the species in 1844 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Leptopogon was introduced in 1844 by Cabanis. Leptopogon is Greek, from leptos 'fine, slender' and pōgōn 'beard', after the fine bristles at the base of the bill. superciliaris is Modern Latin for 'eyebrowed', from supercilium 'eyebrow', after the pale supercilium. The specimen the first description was based on came from Vitoc, Peru.