The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet (''Phylloscartes parkeri'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) comprise a Family (biology), family of passerine birds which is found virtually throughout North America, North and South America. It is the world's largest family of birds, with more than 400 species, and is ...

, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

. The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet is the last of four species of

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Phylloscartes'' described in the late twentieth century. It was preceded by the Alagoas tyrannulet (''P. ceciliae'') in 1987, the restinga tyrannulet (''P. kronei'') in 1992, and the Bahia tyrannulet (''P. beckeri'') in 1995. The four were the first members of the genus described since the

Minas Gerais tyrannulet The Minas Gerais tyrannulet (''Phylloscartes roquettei'') is an Endangered species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. Taxonomy and systematics The Minas Gerais tyrannulet is monotypic. Though relationships among member ...

(''P. roquettei'') in 1928, and as of late 2024 no others had been described since. The first known specimen of the cinnamon-faced tyrannulet was collected in 1899 but was misidentified as a rufous-lored tyrannulet (''P. flaviventris''). When it was recognized as a separate species the two were suggested to form a

superspecies In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet's

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

honors American ornithologist Theodore A. Parker III for his "skill in the field ndunbridled enthusiasm for birds and conservation".

Description

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet is about long; six individuals weighed between . The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a cinnamon-rufous forecrown, lores, and

eye-ring The eye-ring of a bird is a ring of tiny feathers that surrounds the orbital ring, a ring of bare skin immediately surrounding a bird's eye. The eye-ring is often decorative, and its colour may contrast with adjoining plumage. The ring of feather ...

and a faint white streak behind the eye. A dusky band arcs above, behind, and under the pale cinnamon-buff ear

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

. Their crown is gray with a light olive wash and their back and rump are olive-green. Their wings are dusky to blackish with bright yellowish olive-green edges on the flight feathers. Their wing

have large pale yellowish olive-green tips that form two

wing bar The following is a glossary of common English language terms used in the description of birds—warm-blooded vertebrates of the class Aves and the only living dinosaurs. Birds, who have and the ability to (except for the approximately 60 ext ...

s. Their tail is dusky with yellowish olive-green edges to the feathers. Their chin is whitish with pale yellow edges and their throat darker yellow. Their breast and flanks are yellow with wide dull olive-green streaks. Their belly and undertail coverts are unmarked pale yellow. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a long black bill, and medium gray legs and feet.Schulenberg, T. S. (2021). Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet (''Phylloscartes parkeri''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ciftyr1.01.1 retrieved December 20, 2024

Distribution and habitat

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet is found in a narrow band along the eastern slope of the Andes from Peru's

Department of Huánuco Huánuco () is a Political division of Peru, department and region in central Peru. It is bordered by the La Libertad Region, La Libertad, San Martín Region, San Martín, Loreto Region, Loreto and Ucayali Region, Ucayali regions in the north, t ...

south to southwestern

Beni Department Beni (), sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern Departments of Bolivia, department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second-largest department in the country (after Santa Cruz), covering 213,564 square kilometers (82,458 ...

in Bolivia. It inhabits intact humid montane

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

at elevations between in Peru and perhaps lower in Bolivia.

Behavior

Movement

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet is a year-round resident.

Feeding

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet feeds primarily on

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s . It forages actively, usually in the forest canopy. It typically perches horizontally on a branch, sometimes with its tail slightly cocked up, and makes short sallies to grab and hover-glean prey from leaves and twigs. It typically forages in pairs or small (family?) groups and almost always as part of a

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

Breeding

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet is presumed to breed primarily between August and November. Its one known nest was a globe made of moss about above the ground. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.

Vocalization

The cinnamon-faced tyrannulet's song is "a high, springy, laughing chatter that quavers, rising slightly: ''chi chi tchrrEEEEeeeEEEEEew''" and its call is "a high ''tchew''".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the cinnamon-faced tyrannulet as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered locally fairly common and occurs in several protected areas in Peru. However, it "apparently is restricted to undisturbed forest...which leaves it particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1262911 Phylloscartes Birds of the Yungas Birds described in 1997 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot