Phylloscartes ceciliae
The Alagoas Tyrannulet, a diminutive passerine belonging to the Tyrannidae family, measures a mere 10-11 cm in length. Its subtle yet distinctive appearance includes an olive-green back, a paler, yellowish belly, and a faint, often broken, whitish eye-ring contrasting with dusky lores. It usually shows two faint yellowish wing-bars, providing a key field mark for identification amidst the dense forest understory. Taxonomically, it is one of the *Phylloscartes* tyrannulets, a genus known for i...
Resident in humid montane and lowland Atlantic Forest fragments, typically found in the mid-story and sub-canopy. It prefers primary or mature secondary forest with dense undergrowth between 300 and 600 meters elevation.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on small insects and other arthropods gleaned from leaves and twigs or captured in short aerial sallies.
Often seen actively foraging in the mid-story and canopy of humid forests, the Alagoas Tyrannulet exhibits a diurnal pattern, constantly moving through foliage. It employs classic tyrannulet foraging techniques, making short, rapid sallies to snatch small insects from leaves and twigs, or gleanin...
The Alagoas Tyrannulet is an extreme endemic, restricted to a tiny, highly fragmented area of humid montane and lowland Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil. Its known range is primarily confined to a few isolated forest patches in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. The most significant popu...
Critically Endangered
- The Alagoas Tyrannulet was first described as late as 1987, highlighting how much biodiversity remains undiscovered even in well-studied regions. - After its initial discovery, the species was effectively 'lost' for a decade, with no further sightings until its rediscovery in 1999, sparking int...