The pileated flycatcher (''Xenotriccus mexicanus'') is a species of bird in the family

Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 species. They are the most diver ...

; it is endemic to western

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

.Garcia et al. It is a small bird with gray feathers, white chest, yellow beak and a pointed gray-feathered tip on the top if its head. The flycatcher's natural habitat is subtropical forest, but during the summer it is found in tropical high-altitude

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ma ...

. Their diet consists mainly of insects.

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban area, urban ...

has affected the pileated flycatcher's population; it is now thought to be 20,000 to 50,000 birds. The flycatcher is currently considered of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

, and does not approach any of the criteria to be considered a "threatened species". Deforestation has increased every year around the world and is the cause of many species becoming nearly threatened or endangered and also contributes to some becoming extinct, including the pileated flycatcher which was thought to be "near threatened" until 2013. Clearing of forest trees and surroundings has negatively affected the pileated flycatcher. With the loss of trees, the flycatcher has lost its place to live and create nests to care for their eggs and young. Deforestation also contributes to the loss of other species including insects, which is the dominant source of food for the flycatcher. Survival for this species will become very unlikely if the destruction of their habitat continues.

References

Xenotriccus Endemic birds of Mexico Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur Birds described in 1938 Taxa named by John T. Zimmer Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tyrannidae-stub