| Tufted Tit-tyrant | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Anairetes |
| Species: | A. parulus |
| Binomial name | |
| Anairetes parulus (Kittlitz, 1830) |
|
The Tufted Tit-tyrant (Anairetes parulus) is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, and Peru.Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.
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Passeriformes is an order containing small to medium-sized birds which have widely varied plumage and shape. The bill is modified for a range of feeding habits. The feet have three toes pointing forward and one backward which assists perching. Nests can be simple or elaborate. Young are usually naked at hatching. Birds in this order can be terrestrial, aerial, or arboreal. The order is divided into 82 families, and contains more than 5000 species, 60% of the class. They are found world-wide.
The tyrannidae family contains attilas, elaenias, kingbirds, phoebes, and tyrant flycatchers. This is a diverse family of small to medium-sized birds are usually grey, brown, or olivegreen, some being more brightly coloured. The bill is usually fairly broad with a hooked tip and rictal bristles, the wings are short and rounded to long and pointed, and the tail is usually medium-length and square, but can be greatly elongated.
Anairetes parulus subspecies include Anairetes parulus aequatorialis, Anairetes parulus parulus, and Anairetes parulus patagonicus.
The tufted tit-tyrant is a relatively small bird. It has a gray-black tuft on the top of its crown, white and gray vertical striping on the throat and breast, and a long, brown-gray tail. The back of this bird is more brown. The tufted tit-tyrant's eyes are somewhat small for its' head and its' beak is slightly long and dark gray. There is no information on differences in subspecies appearances.
Tyrant flycatchers inhabit forests and open country, and feed on insects and fruit, some eating mice, frogs, and small birds. They nest in trees or on the ground. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern. The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common'.
This species is a generalist insectivor. A study in north-central Chile found that their foraging is typical of small tyrannid flycatchers, using rapid perch gleans coupled with hover gleans and supplemented by flycatching. They use relatively long search periods (3-5 sec) followed by rapid gleans, which is typical for small tyrannids. Their active foraging (3.1±1.8 prey attacks/min) coupled with a longer search time distinguishes them from parids or regulids of the Holarctic with which they often are compared. They generally forage singly or in pairs and aggressively defend what appears to be foraging territories in winter and summer. Densities of Tufted Tit-Tyrants at the Chilean study site were higher than reported in other studies from Chile and Argentina, presumably reflecting resource availability.
There is no breeding information available for this bird.
Andrew Engilis Jr.Douglas A. Kelt The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 2009 121 (3), 585-592
This species is listed as Least Concern because of its large range of 2,640,000 square kilometres (1,020,000 sq mi), stable population, and, though not estimated, population believed to be well above 10,000.[1]