More than a little unique, this tiny flycatcher stands out from the rest with a black body topped off by a white head.
Meet the White-headed marsh tyrant
Photo Courtesy of PEHart / CC BY-SA 2.0
The white-headed marsh tyrant (Arundinicola leucocephala), also known as simply the marsh tyrant measures 12.7 cm long and weighs 15 g. The male is entirely brown-black, apart from the relatively large white head and yellowish lower beak. He has a thin, pointed bill with a yellow lower mandible and a blackish upper mandible. His eyes are dark brown, and his legs and feet are blackish.
Photo Courtesy of Bernard DUPONT / CC BY-SA 2.0
The female has brown upperparts and wings along with a black tail. Her underparts, sides of the head, and forecrown are dull white.
Her bill, eyes, and legs are the same as the male.
Photo Courtesy of Brian Ralphs / CC BY 2.0
These birds are a resident species in South America from Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad south to Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay.
White-headed Marsh-Tyrant likes to live around freshwaters, such as marshes and ponds, in reed beds, and at the edges of mangrove swamps. It frequents marshy areas along streams, usually being found below 500 meters of elevation.
This bird likes to wait on an exposed perch in marsh vegetation or a branch near water, occasionally sallying out to feed on insects, their staple diet, before returning to the perch.
These birds build an oval ball-shaped nest line with feathers made from grasses and other plant material, with a porched side entrance. It is placed at the end of a branch near or over water. Both sexes incubate the typical clutch of two or three creamy-white eggs, which are marked with a few brown spots. Incubation lasts about 12 to 16 days, a process shared by both adults. Young are also fed by both parents and fledge about two weeks after hatching.
The White-headed Marsh-Tyrant is fairly common over its range, and populations are not currently thought to be threatened at this time.
Photo Courtesy of Bernard DUPONT / CC BY-SA 2.0
You can watch this bird in action right here in the video below:
