Slaty-headed tody-flycatcher

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher was originally described in 1806 as Todus Sylvia.{{cite book | last=Desmarest |first=Ansleme-Gaëtan | date= 1805 | title=Histoire naturelle des Tangaras, des Manakins et des Todiers |language=Latin, French |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51232404 |access-date=February 17, 2025 }} The title page is dated 1805 but the species description is attributed to 1806. It was later moved to genus Todirostrum. Following a 1988 publication, taxonomic systems moved sylvia and several other species from Todirostrum to genus Poecilotriccus. By the early twenty-first century genus Poecilotriccus had species called both "tody-tyrant" and "tody-flycatcher" so taxonomic systems began renaming the "tyrants" to "flycatcher".Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 30 January 2025. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 31 January 2025{{cite web |url=https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop334.htm |title=Proposal 334: Modify English names of some Poecilotriccus flycatchers |last=Stotz |first=Douglas |date=2008 |publisher=South American Classification Committee |access-date=February 11, 2025 }}BirdLife International (2009) The BirdLife checklist of the birds of the world, with conservation status and taxonomic sources. Version 2. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/downloads/BirdLife_Checklist_Version_2.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB]. The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher shares genus Poecilotriccus with 11 other species.

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher has these five subspecies:

• P. s. schistaceiceps (Sclater, PL, 1859)
• P. s. superciliaris (Lawrence, 1871)
• P. s. griseolus (Todd, 1913)
• P. s. sylvia (Desmarest, 1806)
• P. s. schulzi (Berlepsch, 1907)

Subspecies P. s. schistaceiceps was originally described as a full species and at least one twentieth century author retained that treatment.{{cite journal | last=Sclater |first=Philip Lutley | journal=Ibis | title=XLIV. – A List of the Tyrant‐birds of Mexico, with descriptions of some new species | volume=1 | issue=4 | pages=436–445 | publisher=British Ornithologists’ Union | date= 1859 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54832615 | access-date=February 17, 2025 }}

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher is about {{convert|9|to|10|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|6.7|to|8.5|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies P. s. sylvia have a gray crown and nape. Their lores are gray; they have a white line above the lores and a broken white eye-ring on an otherwise gray face. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are olive. Their wings are blackish with narrow yellowish edges on the inner flight feathers and large yellow tips on the coverts; the latter show as two wing bars. Their tail is olive. Their throat and underparts are grayish white with grayish streaks on the lower throat and breast and an olive tinge on the flanks. Juveniles have an olive crown and back, buffy wing bars, and paler, grayer, unstreaked underparts.Walther, B. (2020). Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher (Poecilotriccus sylvia), 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.shtfly1.01 retrieved February 17, 2025{{cite book | last =van Perlo | first = Ber| title =A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil | publisher =Oxford University Press | date =2009 | location =New York | pages =310–311 | isbn =978-0-19-530155-7 }}

The other subspecies of the slaty-headed tody-flycatcher differ from the nominate and each other thus:{{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 65, map 65.15 | 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 =252–253 | 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=196–197 |isbn=978-0-8014-7373-9 }}{{cite book | last1 =McMullan | first1 =Miles | last2 =Donegan | first2 =Thomas M. | last3 =Quevedo | first3 =Alonso | title = Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia | publisher = Fundación ProAves| date =2010 | location =Bogotá | pages =155 |isbn =978-0-9827615-0-2 }}{{cite book | last =Hilty | first =Steven L. | title =Birds of Venezuela | publisher =Princeton University Press | edition =second | date =2003 | location =Princeton NJ | pages =593 | language =English }}

• P. s. schistaceiceps: pale yellow sides, flanks, and crissum, unstreaked underparts, and a highly variable iris color from pale yellow to reddish brown
• P. s. superciliaris: somewhat darker than nominate
• P. s. griseolus: somewhat darker than nominate with more gray on the lower throat and breast
• P. s. schulzi: darker than nominate with much grayer breast and deeper ochraceous wing bars.

All subspecies usually have a dark brown iris, though it is sometimes pale yellow, gray, or white. They have a black bill and light bluish gray legs and feet.

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher has a highly disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:

• P. s. schistaceiceps: from southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca in southern Mexico south on the Gulf/Caribbean slope through Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras and on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes through Nicaragua and Costa Rica into Panama to the Canal Zone
• P. s. superciliaris: Colombia on Caribbean coast, valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca rivers, the middle of the Dagua River valley, and on the eastern slope of the Eastern Andes south to Meta Department
• P. s. griseolus: extreme eastern Colombia and across most of northern Venezuela
• P. s. sylvia: from northeastern Roraima state in northern Brazil through southwestern Guyana; possibly in French Guiana (see below)
• P. s. schulzi: northeastern Brazil from eastern Pará east to Piauí

Most sources include French Guiana in the slaty-headed tody-flycatcher's range (Clements and Hilty say "the Guianas"). However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society has no records of the species in that country.

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher inhabits dense scrubby vegetation in a variety of landscapes in the tropical and lower subtropical zones. These include the edges of primary forest both natural and along roads, secondary forest, overgrown clearings and pastures, gallery forest, and somewhat open woodlands. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to {{convert|1100|m|ft|abbr=on}} overall though only to about {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Costa Rica and Venezuela. It reaches {{convert|1350|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Colombia.

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher is believed to be a year-round resident.

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher feeds mostly on arthropods and also includes fruit in its diet. It typically forages in pairs and only rarely joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It mostly forages in dense vegetation near the ground but will occasionally hunt in the forest canopy. It primarily takes prey from foliage with short sallies from a perch.

The slaty-headed tody-flycatcher's breeding season has not been fully defined. Overall it appears to span from January to August with much geographic variation. Its nest is pear-shaped

with a side entrance made from moss, grass, and other plant fibers. It is usually suspended from the tip of a branch with some cover above it up to about {{convert|3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above the ground. The typical clutch is two eggs that are creamy white with brown spots. Fledging occurs about 18 to 21 days after hatch. The incubation period and details of parental care are not known.

{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Poecilotriccus-sylvia |species=the slaty-headed tody-flycatcher}}

According to Hilty, the slaty-headed tody-flycatcher's vocalizations are "insect- or froglike". They include "a soft, gravelly trup or trup grrrr, varying to tik trrrrrrr; nasal froglike grrrrrrr also given singly. When excited tíc-a-turrr". Fagan similarly describes one call as "a 2-part tip!-purrrrrrrr".

The IUCN has assessed the slaty-headed tody-flycatcher as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its estimated population of at least 500,000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon to fairly common in northern Central America, "relatively common only in wet southern Pacific" part of Costa Rica, common in Colombia, and locally common in Venezuela. It occurs in many protected areas both public and private. "Tolerant of converted habitat; probably benefits from deforestation if forest subsequently allowed to regenerate."

{{Reflist}}

• {{ cite book | last=Skutch | first=Alexander F. | author-link=Alexander Skutch | date=1960 | chapter=Slaty-headed tody-flycatcher | title=Life Histories of Central American Birds II | series=Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 34 | location=Berkeley, California | publisher=Cooper Ornithological Society | chapter-url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/pca/pca_034.pdf#page=491 | pages=490–495 | ref=none }}

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slaty-headed tody-flycatcher

Category:Birds of Central America

Category:Birds of Belize

Category:Birds of Colombia

Category:Birds of Venezuela

Category:Birds of the Guiana Shield

Category:Birds of Brazil

slaty-headed tody-flycatcher

Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot