Black-and-white Tody-flycatcher Poecilotriccus capitalis Black-and-white Tody-tyrant

Black-and-white Tody-flycatcher Poecilotriccus capitalis
(aka Black-and-white Tody-tyrant)

Carajás, Pará, Brazil
October 2005

The Black-and-white Tody-flycatcher is distributed in south Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, Rondônia in Brazil and, way across Brazil, in Carajás. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. This suggests that it might be one of those species that is much more widespread than current knowledge suggests.

The fact that it is found in tangled viny thickets on the edge of humid forest might lead to it being under-reported but it does not seem that hard to see. That said, although we saw the male on a few occasions, I didn't manage to get a photo of it. The male is black above and white below and has a white spot on the lores and pale yellow edging on the tertials. The bill is similar to the female's being dark above and orange below.

Nest of Black-and-white Tody-tyrant, Carajás, Pará, Brazil, October 2005 - click for larger image

The female, shown here, has a stunning chestnut crown and is olive above with a grey head and mainly whitish below with greyer flanks.

We found this pair as they were putting the finishing touches to their nest which can be seen here in photo 3. The entrance was on the right hand side. It was about 1 metre off the ground and easily seen from the road.

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