Myiotheretes pernix
The Santa Marta Bush Tyrant (Myiotheretes pernix) is a robust, medium-sized tyrant flycatcher, measuring approximately 20 cm (8 inches) in length and weighing around 38-42 grams. Its plumage is characterized by dark olive-brown upperparts, a streaked throat and chest, and a striking contrasting rufous belly and vent. Key field marks include these rufous underparts, dark overall appearance, and distinct cinnamon-rufous wing panels visible in flight and at rest, often complemented by a faint wh...
This species inhabits high-elevation humid montane cloud forest, elfin forest, and paramo-edge scrub, typically found near ravines and forest borders. It is restricted to elevations between 2,000 and 3,200 meters (6,500-10,500 feet) above sea level.
Its diet consists primarily of large insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, flies, and moths, which it captures during aerial sallies or by gleaning from vegetation.
The Santa Marta Bush Tyrant is a diurnal species, often observed perching conspicuously on exposed branches, snags, or shrubs at the forest edge, surveying its surroundings. Its primary foraging strategy involves sally-gleaning or sally-striking: it launches from a perch to catch insects in mid-a...
The Santa Marta Bush Tyrant is strictly endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia. Its entire global distribution is confined to this single, isolated massif. It occupies elevations typically ranging from 2,000 to 3,200 meters (6,500 to 10,500 feet) above sea...
Critically Endangered
- The Santa Marta Bush Tyrant is one of the rarest and most range-restricted birds in the world, found only in a single isolated mountain range. - It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, a biodiversity hotspot. - Its distinctive rufous belly and cinnamon-rufous win...