| Crested Black-tyrant (Knipolegus lophotes) | ||||
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Brazil The Crested Black-tyrant is a bird of open country normally with shrubs where it is usually found as highly dispersed pairs with large territories. It is found in south Brazil and Uruguay. |
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It has a high, permanently erect crest, a dark red or reddish-brown iris, glossy-blue-black plumage with a white band on the wings which is normally only seen in flight. It looks remarkably like the Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens) of North America to which it is entirely unrelated. In fact the Phainopepla is closely related to the waxwing family and this seems to be another good example of convergent evolution. Their main food is insects which they catch in the air but they are also reported to eat fruit. There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 2, Plate 42; and Sick, Page 474. |
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