Hemitriccus kaempferi
The Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrant, *Hemitriccus kaempferi*, is a diminutive and highly reclusive passerine belonging to the Tyrannidae family, often considered one of the world's most enigmatic birds. Measuring a mere 9.5-10 cm (3.7-3.9 in) in length and weighing just 6-7 grams, it is a small bird with olive-green upperparts, a dull whitish throat, and pale yellowish underparts, usually showing a faint pale eye-ring and indistinct yellowish wing-bars. Its cryptic plumage and secretive nature make it...
Found primarily in the dense understory of humid lowland Atlantic Forest, typically inhabiting areas with bamboo thickets or dense regenerating vegetation, from sea level up to approximately 600 meters.
Its diet consists almost exclusively of small insects and other invertebrates, which it gleans from leaves and twigs or catches in short, agile sallies within the dense understory.
This highly secretive and inconspicuous bird is primarily diurnal, spending its time furtively moving through dense undergrowth, often alone or in pairs. It employs an active foraging strategy, gleaning insects and other small invertebrates from foliage and small branches, frequently making short...
The Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrant is endemic to southeastern Brazil, with a highly disjunct and fragmented distribution within the Atlantic Forest biome. Its primary range includes coastal lowland areas of the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and northeastern Rio Grande do Sul, with additional isolated...
Vulnerable
- The Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrant is so elusive it was considered one of the 'lost birds' for much of the 20th century, with very few sightings between its description in 1904 and its 'rediscovery' in the late 1980s. - Its scientific name, *Hemitriccus kaempferi*, honors its collector, Emil Kaempfer, ...