Monday, April 03, 2006

The most brilliant of tyrants...

Tumbezia salvini, the Tumbes Tyrant is endemic to the tumbesian region of north west Peru. It is not common and thus any sighting is highly prized. I'd always wanted to see this bird. I have a great fondness for tyrant flycatchers but this is a particularly nice one! We saw this nesting pair at Chaparri which is about 65 km east of the large city of Chiclayo.


A back view of a male showing the neat slash of white on the wings and the white outer tail feathers.


A nice profile of the male showing the extent of yellow on the throat, the broad yellow supercilium and the black mask. The tail is often cocked, especially when singing. In general aspect this bird reminds me of stigmatura, the Wagtail-Tyrants.


A female sitting on the nest. We were lucky to see this. Most birders visit later in the year when the birds are finished breeding.

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