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Crowned slaty flycatcher
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Crowned slaty flycatcher
The crowned slaty flycatcher (Griseotyrannus aurantioatrocristatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in every mainland South American country except Suriname though only as a vagrant to Chile, French Guiana, and Venezuela. There are also single records of it in Panama and the U.S. state of Louisiana.
The crowned slaty flycatcher was originally described as Tyrannus aurantio-atro cristatus. It was long classified in genus Empidonomus that had been erected in 1860 for the variegated flycatcher (E. varius). Following a paper published in 1984, many taxonomic systems recognized the genus Griseotyrannus that was erected for it. However, as of early 2025 the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy retain the crowned slaty flycatcher in genus Empidonomus.
The crowned slaty flycatcher has two subspecies, the nominate G. a. aurantioatrocristatus and G. a. pallideventris.
The genus Griseotyrannus is from the Latin "griseum", meaning gray and "tyrannus" meaning tyrant or ruler. (Tyrannus is the genus of the kingbirds.) The specific epithet aurantioatrocristatus is also from Latin, with "aurantia" meaning orange-colored, "ater" meaning black, and "cristatus" meaning crested. The full Griseotyrannus aurantioatrocristatus roughly translates as "orange-black crested gray tyrant", and is "the longest binomen in recent avian nomenclature".
The crowned slaty flycatcher is 16.5 to 18 cm (6.5 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 27 to 46 g (0.95 to 1.6 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a flattened black crown with a mostly hidden golden yellow patch in the center, a gray supercilium, and dusky ear coverts. Their upperparts are brownish gray. Their wings and tail are dusky with lighter feather edges. Their underparts are light gray with a yellowish tinge on the belly. Subspecies G. a. pallideventris is smaller than the nominate, with much lighter pale grayish olive upperparts and lighter mouse-gray underparts. Juveniles have a paler and more contrasting supercilium than adults, with white edges on the wing coverts and flight feathers and thin rufous edges on the tail feathers. Both subspecies have a brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet.
The nominate subspecies of the crowned slaty flycatcher has by far the larger range of the two. It is found in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northern and eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, western Uruguay, southern Guyana, northern and central Argentina to Río Negro Province, and Brazil. Its range in Brazil is roughly bounded on the east by western Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in Chile, French Guiana, and Venezuela and once each in Panama and Louisiana. Subspecies G. a. pallideventris is found only in Brazil in an area roughly bounded by eastern Pará, Maranhão, northern Goiás, and northern Mato Grosso.
The crowned slaty flycatcher is a partial migrant. Subspecies G. a. pallideventris is a year-round resident. The nominate subspecies breeds in the area roughly south of a line from east-central Bolivia east to eastern Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil and vacates that area for the austral winter. That population regularly migrates north into northern Bolivia and Amazonian Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and southeastern Colombia. The nominate subspecies is a year-round resident in west-central Brazil between its breeding-only and wintering ranges. There are very few records in Venezuela. It fairly regularly reaches Guyana but is known in French Guiana and Chile only as a vagrant. In addition there are a few records west of the Andes in Ecuador and the abovementioned single records in Panama and Louisiana.
During the breeding season the crowned slaty flycatcher inhabits a variety of somewhat open landscapes including deciduous and gallery forest, light woodlands, scrublands, and cerrado with scattered trees. Birds wintering in the Amazon Basin primarily inhabit the canopy on the edge of forest and openings and clearings within it. While wintering there they occur in both varzea and terra firme forest. In elevation the species is found in Brazil mostly from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and occasionally higher. It reaches 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Colombia, 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in Ecuador, and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Peru. The confirmed records in Venezuela were at elevations of about 250 m (800 ft) though there is a sight record at 2,500 m (8,200 ft).
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Crowned slaty flycatcher
The crowned slaty flycatcher (Griseotyrannus aurantioatrocristatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in every mainland South American country except Suriname though only as a vagrant to Chile, French Guiana, and Venezuela. There are also single records of it in Panama and the U.S. state of Louisiana.
The crowned slaty flycatcher was originally described as Tyrannus aurantio-atro cristatus. It was long classified in genus Empidonomus that had been erected in 1860 for the variegated flycatcher (E. varius). Following a paper published in 1984, many taxonomic systems recognized the genus Griseotyrannus that was erected for it. However, as of early 2025 the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy retain the crowned slaty flycatcher in genus Empidonomus.
The crowned slaty flycatcher has two subspecies, the nominate G. a. aurantioatrocristatus and G. a. pallideventris.
The genus Griseotyrannus is from the Latin "griseum", meaning gray and "tyrannus" meaning tyrant or ruler. (Tyrannus is the genus of the kingbirds.) The specific epithet aurantioatrocristatus is also from Latin, with "aurantia" meaning orange-colored, "ater" meaning black, and "cristatus" meaning crested. The full Griseotyrannus aurantioatrocristatus roughly translates as "orange-black crested gray tyrant", and is "the longest binomen in recent avian nomenclature".
The crowned slaty flycatcher is 16.5 to 18 cm (6.5 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 27 to 46 g (0.95 to 1.6 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a flattened black crown with a mostly hidden golden yellow patch in the center, a gray supercilium, and dusky ear coverts. Their upperparts are brownish gray. Their wings and tail are dusky with lighter feather edges. Their underparts are light gray with a yellowish tinge on the belly. Subspecies G. a. pallideventris is smaller than the nominate, with much lighter pale grayish olive upperparts and lighter mouse-gray underparts. Juveniles have a paler and more contrasting supercilium than adults, with white edges on the wing coverts and flight feathers and thin rufous edges on the tail feathers. Both subspecies have a brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet.
The nominate subspecies of the crowned slaty flycatcher has by far the larger range of the two. It is found in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northern and eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, western Uruguay, southern Guyana, northern and central Argentina to Río Negro Province, and Brazil. Its range in Brazil is roughly bounded on the east by western Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in Chile, French Guiana, and Venezuela and once each in Panama and Louisiana. Subspecies G. a. pallideventris is found only in Brazil in an area roughly bounded by eastern Pará, Maranhão, northern Goiás, and northern Mato Grosso.
The crowned slaty flycatcher is a partial migrant. Subspecies G. a. pallideventris is a year-round resident. The nominate subspecies breeds in the area roughly south of a line from east-central Bolivia east to eastern Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil and vacates that area for the austral winter. That population regularly migrates north into northern Bolivia and Amazonian Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and southeastern Colombia. The nominate subspecies is a year-round resident in west-central Brazil between its breeding-only and wintering ranges. There are very few records in Venezuela. It fairly regularly reaches Guyana but is known in French Guiana and Chile only as a vagrant. In addition there are a few records west of the Andes in Ecuador and the abovementioned single records in Panama and Louisiana.
During the breeding season the crowned slaty flycatcher inhabits a variety of somewhat open landscapes including deciduous and gallery forest, light woodlands, scrublands, and cerrado with scattered trees. Birds wintering in the Amazon Basin primarily inhabit the canopy on the edge of forest and openings and clearings within it. While wintering there they occur in both varzea and terra firme forest. In elevation the species is found in Brazil mostly from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and occasionally higher. It reaches 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Colombia, 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in Ecuador, and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Peru. The confirmed records in Venezuela were at elevations of about 250 m (800 ft) though there is a sight record at 2,500 m (8,200 ft).
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