Royal flycatchers and allies | Onychorhynchidae

Koningstirannen | Mosqueros reales y afines

This small family was long placed with the tyrant flycatchers and was split off only on the basis of DNA studies. In Mexico and Central America it numbers four species in three genera, all of the lower and middle layers of humid lowland forest. The bill is flat and broad, with long bristles at the corners of the mouth, suited to catching flying insects. The royal flycatcher has a crest that usually lies flat over the back of the head but opens in display or excitement into a broad fan, red in the male and yellow-orange in the female, with blue-black tips. The Myiobius species are olive with a bright yellow rump; they move restlessly through the foliage, fanning the tail and drooping the wings to flush insects, and often join mixed flocks. The Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher is a tiny cinnamon bird that sallies for insects from a perch. The nests are striking: the royal flycatcher hangs a long, ragged nest, sometimes more than a metre long, from a branch over a stream, and Myiobius builds a hanging pouch with a side entrance. The clutch is usually two eggs.