Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant
Ochthoeca fumicolor
The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor) is a uncommon tyrant flycatcher found in 5 countries, weighing about 17 g. The brown-backed chat-tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers.
About the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant
The brown-backed chat-tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The brown-backed chat-tyrant is 14.5 to 16 cm (5.7 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 19 g (0.56 to 0.67 oz). The sexes have much the same plumage though females have somewhat paler and duller underparts than males. Adults of the nominate subspecies O. f. fumicolor have a warm brown crown and wide whitish supercilium that begins at the lores and becomes somewhat ochraceous past the eye. The rest of their face is grayish. Their upperparts are rufescent brown that becomes a rufous brown on the rump. Their wings are dusky or blackish with two prominent rufous wing bars. Voice: The brown-backed chat-tyrant usually sings from a perch but occasionally while hidden. Its song in Venezuela is described as "as a fast, rhythmic duet, plee, plít'ter'tew, plít'ter'téw..." and in Peru as "a weak, squeaky chatter, often in duet, of tsi'wit and tee notes". Its dawn song in Ecuador is "a fast chattered keé-ke-de keé-ke-de keé-kedu-keéekeé-ke-du-keé".
What the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant can be seen all year round, with peak activity in November. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant?
- The brown-backed chat-tyrant is 14.5 to 16 cm (5.7 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 19 g (0.56 to 0.67 oz). Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant?
- The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant is a small sized bird weighing about 17 g.
- Where can you see a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant?
- The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant occurs in 5 countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela.
- What does a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant?
- The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant is most easily confused with the Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, the Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant and the White-browed Chat-Tyrant.
- Is the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant endangered?
- The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant for real
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