The rufous-tailed flatbill (''Ramphotrigon ruficauda'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

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 found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Colombia,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, Guyana,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. Rufous-tailed flatbill is a fairly common flycatcher of lowland forest in northern South America. It is somewhat solitary in areas of open understory in varzea and terra firme lowland humid forest, primarily in the Orinoco and Amazon drainages. The species is a distinctive, small flycatcher, mostly olive on the body with an obviously rufous tail and blackish wings with rufous edging. The rufous-tailed flatbill is most frequently located by its call, a two-part whistle with the first part long and rising and the second part lower and abbreviated.

Habitat

It occurs in humid lowland evergreen forest. It usually forages in the midstory of terra firme forest. It prefers sites with an open understory.

Systematics

The genus ''Ramphotrigon'' used to be considered to be related to ''Tolmomyias'' and ''Rhynchocyclus'', two other genera of small tyrant flycatchers with broad bills . It is proposed that ''Ramphotrigon'' was more closely related to ''Myiarchus'', due to shared derived features of the cranium and syrinx, and to shared similarities in nest site. Two recent phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data yielded somewhat incongruent information on the relationships of ''Ramphotrigon''. Both studies confirmed, however, that ''Ramphotrigon'' is not at all closely related to ''Tolmomyias'' or ''Rhynchocyclus''. It is found that ''Ramphotrigon'' is basal to a clade that includes ''Myiarchus'' (as well as ''Tyrannus'' and related genera),

Vocalizations

Call or day song is a low-pitched whistle. This vocalization has been described as "a softly whistled, drawn-out weeeaaaweee, sometimes followed by brief low note, has wheezy quality", and as "a low, rising-falling or slightly quavering, mewing whistle: meeooo, or with terminal emphasis: meeooo'OO . The dawn song is similar to "an alternating mournful toooo, reer; wheeee-oooh, the last two notes being like the normal daytime song" or "a low mewing whistle ending with a higher hiccup: meeoooOOoo'WEEpur!"

Similar species

The sharply two-toned basic pattern of the rufous-tailed flatbill - an olive-green bird with a bright rufous tail and wings - is distinctive and easily identifiable. Compare to dusky-tailed flatbill (''Ramphotrigon fuscicauda''), which has dusky rectrices and remiges and a more heavily streaked breast.

References

Neotropical Birds

16:33, 7 December 2011 (UTC) Ramphotrigon, rufous-tailed flatbill Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds of the Guiana Shield rufous-tailed flatbill Birds of Brazil Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tyrannidae-stub