The black-tailed myiobius or black-tailed flycatcher (''Myiobius atricaudus'') is a species of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird in the family

Tityridae Tityridae is family of suboscine passerine birds found in forest and woodland in the Neotropics. The 45 species in this family were formerly spread over the families Tyrannidae, Pipridae and Cotingidae (''see Taxonomy''). As yet, no widely acce ...

. It was previously placed in the family

Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 species. They are the most dive ...

. Black-tailed flycatchers are found in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Their natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest. They are usually found alone or in pairs, but may join flocks of several species.

Subspecies

Seven subspecies are recognised; ''M. a. atricaudus'' from southwestern Costa Rica, Panama and western Colombia; ''M. a. portovelae'' from western Ecuador and northwestern Peru; ''M. a. modestus'' from eastern Venezuela; ''M. a. adjacens'' from southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and western Brazil; ''M. a. connectens'' from northeastern Brazil south of the River Amazon; ''M. a. snethlagei'' from northeastern and eastern Brazil; ''M. a. ridgwayi'' from southeastern Brazil.

Description

The black-tailed myiobius closely resembles the whiskered myiobius (''M. barbatus'') and the sulphur-rumped myiobius (''M. sulphureipygius'') in appearance, with olive upper parts and a yellow rump. The underparts differ in being buff rather than tawny or greyish-olive, but birds living in eastern Brazil tend to have yellowish or yellowish-buff underparts. Another distinguishing feature is the location in which the bird is seen. The black-tailed myobius haunts woodland edges and secondary forests and is less active or acrobatic than the other two species; it is found at altitudes up to .

Distribution and habitat

The species has a patchy distribution in tropical Central and South America. It is present in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru (on both sides of the Andes) and large parts of Brazil. Where their ranges overlap, it is generally found in drier habitats than the whiskered myiobius (''M. barbatus''), and at higher elevations. It generally frequents forest verges and secondary growth, often near water, whereas the whiskered myiobius prefers the interior of forests.

Status

Destruction of the Amazon rainforest is reducing the area of suitable habitat for this bird and its numbers are thought to be in decline. It is an uncommon species with a patchy distribution, nevertheless, it has a very wide range and the total population size is likely to be large; as a result, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has classified it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Subspecies

Description

Distribution and habitat

Status

References

Further reading