The many-colored rush tyrant or many-coloured rush tyrant (''Tachuris rubrigastra'') is a small

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 Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

belonging to the tyrant flycatcher 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 ...

. It is the only member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Tachuris'' and is sometimes placed in a separate

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family. It inhabits marshland and reedbeds around lakes and rivers. It is particularly associated with stands of ''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Taxo ...

''. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

is built among plant stems.

Taxonomy and systematics

A 2013 DNA-based study of South American

suboscine The Tyranni (suboscines) are a suborder of passerine birds that includes more than 1,000 species, the large majority of which are South American. It is named after the type genus '' Tyrannus''. These have a different anatomy of the syrinx mus ...

s found that the many-colored rush tyrant belonged to an isolated lineage that had been separated from other suboscines for around 25 million years. The authors proposed that it would be better placed in its own

family Tachurididae. It was subsequently suggested that the name should be Tachurisidae. The placement in a separate family was followed by

Edward Dickinson Edward Dickinson (January 1, 1803 – June 16, 1874) was an American politician from Massachusetts. He is also known as the father of the poet Emily Dickinson; their family home in Amherst, the Dickinson Homestead, is a museum dedicated to her. ...

and

Leslie Christidis Leslie Christidis (born 30 May 1959), also simply known as Les Christidis, is an Australian ornithologist. His main research field is the evolution and systematics of birds. He has been director of Southern Cross University National Marine Scienc ...

in the fourth edition of the ''

Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World The ''Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World'' is a book by Richard Howard and Alick Moore which presents a list of the bird species of the world. It was the first single-volume world bird list to include subspecies names, ...

'', but has not yet been adopted by other authorities. Four

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised. The

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

''T. r. rubrigastra'' is the most widespread, occurring from south-east Brazil to southern Argentina and central Chile, ''T. r. alticola'' is found in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

of south-east Peru, west Bolivia and north-west Argentina, ''T. r. libertatis'' is found in coastal Peru while ''T. r. loaensis'' is restricted to

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

in northern Chile.

Description

The many-colored rush tyrant is a small bird, in length. As the bird's name suggests, the

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is very colourful. The back and rump are green while the underparts are yellow apart from the white throat, black breastband and red undertail-coverts. The face is dark blue-grey, there is a yellow stripe over the eye and the crown is dark with a red patch that is often concealed. The wings and tail are dark with a white wingbar and white outer tail-feathers. Females are duller than the males.

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the many-colored rush tyrant (''Tachuris rubrigastra'')Many-coloured rush tyrant in IBC (Internet Bird Collection).
{{Taxonbar, from=Q629666 many-colored rush tyrant Birds of the Puna grassland Birds of Argentina Birds of Chile Birds of Peru Birds of Uruguay many-colored rush tyrant Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot