Velvety Black Tyrant

The velvety black tyrant is 17.5 to 18 cm (6.9 to 7.1 in) long. Adult males of the nominate subspecies are almost entirely glossy blue-black and have a small bushy crest. Their primaries have white bases that are conspicuous in flight but usually not visible at rest. Adult females are also mostly glossy blue-black. They do not have a crest but have a black-streaked chestnut throat. Subspecies M. n. hoflingae is smaller than the nominate. Males have brown primaries and females have a smaller throat patch than the nominate. Voice: As of April 2025 xeno-canto had eight recordings of velvety black tyrant vocalizations; the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had one of them and five others. Males make "a short high See" in their display flight. Their call is "a somewhat hoarse sounding dry trilling note krrr See.rrrrr".