Grey-headed piprites
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Grey-headed piprites
| image = Piprites griseiceps 1902.jpg
| image_caption = Illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans, 1902
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Piprites
| species = griseiceps
| authority = Salvin, 1865
| synonyms =
| range_map = Piprites griseiceps map.svg
}}
The grey-headed piprites (Piprites griseiceps) is a species of bird in subfamily Pipritinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/flycatchers/ |title=Tyrant flycatchers |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 14.2 | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=August 2024 |access-date=19 August 2024 }} It is found in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.Snow, D. (2020). Gray-headed Piprites (Piprites griseiceps), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grhpip1.01 retrieved September 17, 2024 Prior to genetic studies in 2009, it was placed in the family Pipritinae with the manakins.{{Cite journal |last=Tello |first=Jose G. |last2=Moyle |first2=Robert G. |last3=Marchese |first3=Daniel J. |last4=Cracraft |first4=Joel |date=October 2009 |title=Phylogeny and phylogenetic classification of the tyrant flycatchers, cotingas, manakins, and their allies (Aves: Tyrannides) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00254.x |journal=Cladistics |language=en |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=429–467 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00254.x |issn=0748-3007}}
Taxonomy and systematics
The grey-headed piprites is monotypic. It shares genus Piprites with the wing-barred piprites (P. chloris) and the black-capped piprites (P. pileata). The grey-headed and wing-barred piprites form a superspecies.{{cite book | last = | first = | title =Check-list of North American Birds | publisher =American Ornithologists' Union |edition =7th | date =1998 | location =Washington, D.C. | pages = }} Genetically, it is particularly close to the wing-barred piprites.
Description
The grey-headed piprites is {{convert|12|to|13|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and weighs about {{convert|16|g|oz|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. It is considered as having an especially long tail among similar species. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a slate-gray head with a bold white eyering. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are olive-green with yellow-green edges on their flight feathers. Their underparts are yellowish olive that is lightest on their throat and belly. They have a dark iris, a blackish maxilla, a paler mandible, and gray legs and feet.{{cite book | last =vanPerlo | first =Ber | title =Birds of Mexico and Central America | publisher =Princeton University Press | series =Princeton Illustrated Checklists | date =2006 | location =New Jersey | pages =Plate 68, map 68.6 | isbn =0691120706 }}{{cite book | last1 =Fagan | first1 =Jesse | last2=Komar |first2=Oliver | title =Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America | publisher =Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | series =Peterson Field Guides | date =2016 | location =Boston | pages =278–279 | isbn =978-0-544-37326-6 }}{{cite book |last1=Garrigues |first1=Richard |last2=Dean |first2=Robert |date=2007 |title=The Birds of Costa Rica |location=Ithaca |publisher=Zona Tropical/Comstock/Cornell University Press |pages=214–215 |isbn=978-0-8014-7373-9 }}
Distribution and habitat
The grey-headed piprites is found on the Caribbean slope of Central America from far eastern Guatemala through Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro Province in far western Panama. It inhabits wet primary forest and mature secondary forest. In elevation it mostly occurs from sea level to {{convert|750|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} though it reaches {{convert|1100|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Honduras and {{convert|900|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Costa Rica.
Behavior
=Movement=
=Feeding=
The grey-headed piprites forages mostly in the forest's middle level. It feeds on small fruits and insects that it takes with a sally from a perch. It often joins mixed-species feeding flocks.
=Breeding=
=Vocalization=
The grey-headed piprites' song is "an undulating two-second phrase of quick, sputtering notes". One call is "a liquid whit!". Another is "a soft, liquid, rolling 'purrr'".
Status
The IUCN has assessed the grey-headed piprites as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is overall considered uncommon to rare, and there are especially few records of it in the northernmost and southernmost reaches of its range, with only one sighting in Guatemala. It has been noted in Honduras and Costa Rica, and it occurs in two protected areas in Costa Rica.