The orange-eyed flatbill or orange-eyed flycatcher (''Tolmomyias traylori'') is a species of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is found in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

(specifically in

várzea forest A várzea forest is a seasonal floodplain forest inundated by whitewater rivers that occurs in the Amazon biome. Until the late 1970s, the definition was less clear and várzea was often used for all periodically flooded Amazonian forests. Althoug ...

) in south-eastern

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 ...

, eastern

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 ...

, and north-eastern

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 ...

. First recognized as a species due to its distinct voice, it was only described in 1997; the

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...

commemorates the American ornithologist Melvin Alvah Traylor Jr. 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 rated the conservation status of this species 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 ...

Description

The orange-eyed flatbill grows to a length of about . It has olive upper parts and a greyish crown. The facial area, throat and chest are greyish-buff and the belly yellowish. The iris is orange, and this and the buff throat is distinctive and helps distinguish this bird from other species in the genus. The song is a series of five to seven notes "zhreee", more extended and more rasping than the yellow-breasted flatbill (''Tolmomyias flaviventris''). The flatbills in this genus are difficult to tell apart and are most easily recognised by their song.

Distribution and habitat

The orange-eyed flatbill is found in northwestern Amazonia, its range extending from southeastern Colombia, through eastern Ecuador to northeastern Peru. It appears to replace the

yellow-olive flatbill The yellow-olive flatbill or yellow-olive flycatcher (''Tolmomyias sulphurescens'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in tropical and subtopical forest and woodland in Central and South America, but over its range there a ...

(''Tolmomyias sulphurescens'') to the north of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

and is also present on large islands in the river. It favours the mid-storey of moderately-high and tall, seasonally-flooded

Várzea forest A várzea forest is a seasonal floodplain forest inundated by whitewater rivers that occurs in the Amazon biome. Until the late 1970s, the definition was less clear and várzea was often used for all periodically flooded Amazonian forests. Althoug ...

. It is usually seen by itself or in pairs, and seldom joins mixed flocks. Like other members of the genus, the bag-shaped nest has a tubular entrance near the base and is often hung near a wasp nest.

Status

The orange-eyed flatbill has a very wide range in western Amazonia and is an uncommon species. The population trend is unknown, but the bird is likely to be declining due to deforestation in the area. Nevertheless, the rate of decline is insufficient for the trend to approach the threshold criteria for rating the bird as "vulnerable", so the

has rated it as being a "

least-concern species 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 ...

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the orange-eyed flatbill
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1277405 orange-eyed flatbill Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of Peruvian Amazonia orange-eyed flatbill Taxonomy articles created by Polbot