Cock-tailed Tyrant - Alectrurus tricolor

Cock-tailed Tyrant (Alectrurus tricolor)

Male Cock-tailed Tyrant, Brazil, April 2001 - click for larger image

Emas National Park, Goiás, Brazil
April 2001

The Cock-tailed Tyrant is classified as VULNERABLE. Its numbers have been in rapid decline due to extensive loss of its required habitat, namely seasonally wet and dry grassland featuring tall grasses as seen in the photos.

Female Cock-tailed Tyrant, Brazil, April 2001 - click for larger image

The first photo shows an indication of a cocked tail but in full breeding plumage the male has an extraordinary cocked tail with the inner tail feathers very broad and held in a perpendicular position much like the tail of an aircraft. This is displayed to great effect during the mating season (normally September to November)

The female is brown instead of black and has a normal tail.

They are to be found in a few remaining areas of suitable habitat such as the Emas and Serra da Canastra National Parks in Brazil, San Rafael National Park in Paraguay and in some scattered locations in Bolivia.

There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 2, Plate 42; and Sick, Page 477.

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