Yellow-breasted flatbill

Yellow-breasted flatbill
Yellow-breasted flatbill at Riachuelo, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil.
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrannidae
Genus:	Tolmomyias
Species:	T. flaviventris
Binomial name
Tolmomyias flaviventris (Wied, 1831)

The yellow-breasted flatbill or yellow-breasted flycatcher (Tolmomyias flaviventris) is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is found in South America, ranging from Colombia and Venezuela south to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, and on both Trinidad and Tobago. There are significant variations in its voice and plumage, with western birds duller and more olive, and eastern and northern birds brighter and more ochre-yellow. The two are sometimes considered separate species, the western olive-faced flatbill (or flycatcher), T. viridiceps, and the eastern and northern ochre-lored flatbill (or flycatcher), T. flaviventris.^[1]

This species is found in the upper levels of forests, secondary growth and the edges of mangrove swamps. The bottle nest is made of plant fibre and suspended from a branch, usually near a wasp nest, which presumably provides some protection from predators. The typical clutch is two or three creamy white eggs, which are marked with violet, mostly at the larger end. Incubation by the female is 17 days to hatching.

The yellow-breasted flycatcher is approximately 12.7 cm long and weighs 11.3 g. The head and upperparts are olive-green with darker, yellow-edged, wing and tail feathers. There are two yellowish wing bars. The throat, breast and eye-ring are golden yellow, the lores are ochreous, and the abdomen is dull yellow. The bill is flattened laterally, and is black above and white below. Sexes are similar. There are other races, differing in the tone of the upperpart or underpart colour.

Yellow-breasted flycatchers are inconspicuous birds, tending to keep to high perches from which they sally forth to catch insects. The call is a loud whistled peeee-it.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). "Tolmomyias flaviventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2006. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 12 May 2006. 
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.