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White-eared Conebill | Conirostrum leucogenys
Witoorspitssnavel | Conirrostro orejiblanco
The White-eared Conebill is a small, warbler-like bird with a blue-grey back, a black cap, a white ear patch and rufous underparts. It searches for insects in pairs or small groups in the crowns of trees. In the guide area it occurs only in eastern Panama.
Voice
A high, thin tsit and short, high trills, often repeated by a group while foraging.
Recording: Jerome Fischer — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
9–10 cm. A very small, compact bird with a short tail and a fine, pointed, conical bill. Black crown and black face with a clear white patch on the ear-coverts. Upperparts blue-grey, underparts and undertail coverts warm rufous. Male and female are alike; young birds are greyer, with a less distinct ear patch and paler underparts.
Confusion species
Bananaquit Coereba flaveola has a white eyebrow, a yellow breast and a curved bill. Tropical Parula Setophaga pitiayumi has a yellow throat and breast and white wing bars. The combination of a white ear patch and rufous underparts is unique in the guide area.
Habitat
Crowns and edges of humid and semi-humid forest, tall secondary forest, forest edges and open country with scattered tall trees, in the lowlands and low foothills. It searches for insects among leaves and flowers, often in mixed flocks.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
In the guide area only in eastern Panama, in the east of Panamá Province and in Darién. Outside the guide area in northern Colombia and north-western Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Rarely recorded in Panama; the best chance is in the crowns of trees along forest edges and clearings in Darién or in the Bayano area, using a telescope or binoculars from an open spot.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). Locally fairly common in most of its range; scarce and little known in Panama.
Scientific name
Conirostrum leucogenys | (de Lafresnaye, 1852)
De Lafresnaye described the species in 1852 as Dacnis leucogenys; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Conirostrum was introduced in 1838 by D'Orbigny, ACVMD & de Lafresnaye. Conirostrum is Latin, from conus 'cone' and rostrum 'bill', after the fine, sharply conical bill. leucogenys is Greek, from leukos 'white' and genus 'cheek', after the white cheek patch. The specimen the first description was based on came from Bogotá, Colombia.