Black-tailed Tityra
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| Black-tailed Tityra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tityra cayana (Linnaeus, 1766) |
The Black-tailed Tityra, Tityra cayana, is a medium-sized passerine bird of tropical South America. The tityras have been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher families by various authors, but the evidence strongly suggest they and their closest relatives are better separated as Tityridae. The AOU for example advocates this separation.[1]
The adult Black-tailed Tityra is 8.7 in (22 cm) long and weighs 2.1 oz (60g). The male is greyish-white above and white below, except for the head, wings and tail, which are black. There is a patch of red bare skin around the eye, and the bill is red-based with a black tip. The female is similar, but darker grey above, with a brown crown and fine brown streaks on the back and breast. This species has a buzzing weenk or doubled beeza-buzza call.
This bird is found in forest edges, second growth and plantation shade trees from Colombia, Trinidad, Venezuela, and the Amazon Basin south to northeastern Argentina and southeastern Brazil, in the pantanal, cerrado, and caatinga. Black-tailed Tityras are seen alone or in pairs, perched conspicuosly as they feed on medium-sized fruits. Some large insects are fed to the chicks.
The brown-marked buff[citation needed] eggs[verification needed] are laid in a bed of dry leaves in a tree hole, several meters above ground either in an old woodpecker nest or the crown of a dead palm tree. The female incubates alone, but both parents feed the chicks. Fledging is believed to take at least 3 weeks. In the lowlands of Colombia and Ecuador, breeding activity has been reported in March, June, July and November, suggesting either lack of a distinct breeding season and/or that two broods may be raised per year[2].
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Tityra cayana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2
- Greeney, Harold F.; Gelis, Rudolphe A. & White, Richard (2004): Notes on breeding birds from an Ecuadorian lowland forest. Bull. B.O.C. 124(1): 28-37. PDF fulltext
- Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- South American Classification Committee (SACC) (2007): Proposal #313 - Adopt the Family Tityridae.
- Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
[edit] External links
- Black-tailed Tityra videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Black-tailed Tiryra photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res
- Photo-Medium Res; Article www.ib.usp.br—"Tityridae"
- Photo-High Res; Article & synopsis arthurgrosset
- Photo-High Res--Tityra at nest; Article webserv.nhl.nl—"Black-tailed Tityra--Suriname map; and 4 High Res photos
