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The yellow-bellied elaenia is a small bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Mexico, in every Central American country, in every mainland South American country except Chile, on Trinidad and Tobago, and on several islands in the Lesser Antilles.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The yellow-bellied elaenia is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 21 to 29 g (0.74 to 1.0 oz). It is medium-sized, has a small head, and a bushy crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies E. f. flavogaster have a brownish olive crown with a partially concealed white stripe in the middle of the crest. They have whitish lores and a faint whitish eyering on an otherwise pale brownish olive face. Their upperparts are brownish olive. Voice: The yellow-bellied elaenia's dawn song has been rendered as "trr-dyeéuw, trr-trreeenh-weeeuw" or "we-do, we-do". Other renderings are "a series of burry teeotree or tee-tree notes interspersed with an occasional wurrTREE" and "a leisurely and buzzy spud-deeer, spud-deer-dzz, spud-deer... over and over".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Yellow-bellied Elaenia sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Martinique.
When to see it
Peak activity in May · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
White-crested ElaeniaElaenia albicepsThe white-crested elaenia is 13.5 to 15 cm (5.3 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12.5 to 24.2 g (0.44 to 0.85 oz).
Mountain ElaeniaElaenia frantziiThe mountain elaenia is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 14 to 24 g (0.49 to 0.85 oz).
Small-billed ElaeniaElaenia parvirostrisThe small-billed elaenia is 13 to 15 cm (5.1 to 5.9 in) long.
Side by side: White-crested Elaenia vs Yellow-bellied Elaenia · Mountain Elaenia vs Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Learn the Yellow-bellied Elaenia for real
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