White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia Albiceps) (15934867376)

The white-crested elaenia (''Elaenia albiceps'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It has several subspecies breeding across southern and western parts of South America. Southern birds migrate north in winter.

Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.

Description

The white-crested elaenia easily is recognizable as an elaenia by the combination of drab plumage (primarily dull green above, and whitish below); wings with conspicuous wing bars (pale tips to the greater and median wing coverts); slightly crested appearance, with a semi-concealed white center to the crown; and upright posture. small-billed elaenia, lesser elaenia and sierran elaenia cannot always be distinguished in the field. The length of the species ranges from and weight is , with an average of .

Subspecies

At least five subspecies are recognized:
* ''Elaenia albiceps griseigularis'' - Sclater, PL, 1859: found from southwestern Colombia to northwestern Peru
* ''Elaenia albiceps diversa'' - Zimmer, JT, 1941: found in north-central Peru
* ''Elaenia albiceps urubambae'' - Zimmer, JT, 1941: found in southeastern Peru
* ''Elaenia albiceps albiceps'' - (D'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837): found in extreme southeastern Peru and northwestern Bolivia
* ''Elaenia albiceps modesta'' - Tschudi, 1844: found in western Peru and northwestern Chile. This subspecies has distinctly different vocals and may potentially be re-classified as a separate species, the Peruvian elaenia.
* A sixth subspecies, ''E. a. chilensis'' - Hellmayr, 1927, found in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile is further recognized by some authorities as a separate species, the Chilean elaenia.

Distribution and habitat

The white-crested elaenia is a permanent resident in the central and southwestern coastal Andean region of South America in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and northernmost Chile. Also, in most of Argentina, mostly western, and southern and central Chile, Tierra del Fuego, it is also resident.

To the north and east in northeast Brazil, the Amazon Basin, and in the Amazonian Andes regions of eastern Colombia, Peru, and northern Bolivia southeastwards into eastern Brazil, white-crested elaenia is a non-breeding resident bird, in the austral winter. In the entirety of South America, two thirds of its range is as a non-breeding migratory species. It is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands and in 2008 a bird was found in Texas, a potential first for the United States and North America. A second bird was reported in Chicago in 2012.

Like many other species of ''Elaenia'', white-crested elaenia is found in a variety of wooded habitats. Throughout most of its breeding distribution in the Andes, white-crested elaenia is found at forest edge, in second growth, and in scrub. In at least some areas, it breeds in drier intermontane valleys, rather than the more humid forests occupied by Sierran elaenia, but the habitat relationships between the two species have not been studied in detail. In northwestern Argentina, where white-crested elaenia overlaps with small-billed elaenia, there is some degree of segregation by habitat: small-billed elaenia breeds in tall woods, and primarily below , whereas white-crested elaenia occurs in smaller trees and in agricultural areas, at elevations from .

Behavior and ecology

It regularly consumes small fruit, at least when not breeding, but takes small insects as well. It also eats a large variety of foods such as grass, berries, seeds, and nuts. The white-crested elaenia typically is solitary, but, at least when not breeding, may congregate with other frugivores at fruiting trees. Aggregations of up to 100 individuals have been reported during migration.

The oldest known white-crested elaenia from banding studies was eight years and two months old, though it is uncertain whether this represents the maximum potential longevity of the species.Jiménez, Jaime and Rozzi, Ricardo ‘¿Cuanto Viven las Aves des Bosque más Australia del Planeta?’; ''UNAB y la Unión de Ornitólogos realizan X Congreso de Ornitología''

References

External links

White-crested Elaenia videos
on the Internet Bird Collection


VIREO
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070122061917/http://www.avesdechile.cl/081.jpg Photo-Medium Res ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081221134950/http://www.avesdechile.cl/081en.htm Article & Synopsisavesdechile

{{Taxonbar, from=Q997313

white-crested elaenia
Birds of the Andes
Birds of Ecuador
Birds of Peru
Birds of Chile
Birds of Tierra del Fuego
white-crested elaenia
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by Frédéric de Lafresnaye
Taxa named by Alcide d'Orbigny