Sulphury Flycatcher (Tyrannopsis sulphurea)
Sulphury Flycatcher, Roraima, Brazil, July 2001 - click for larger image Brazil

If you see what looks a bit like a Tropical Kingbird in Mauritia palms making a harsh, squeaky call it is likely to be a Sulphury Flycatcher. They range throughout the Amazon and Orinoco Basins.

Sulphury Flycatcher, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, July 2004 - click for larger image Look for the stubbier bill, the whitish supercilium, the white throat with grey streaks particularly at the borders, the olive on the side of the chest, the browner wings and the shorter, squarer tail.

They look similar to a Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) or a White-throated Kingbird (Tyrannus albogularis) and one wonders why it is in a genus of its own. Apparently the anatomy of the syrinx or voice organ is quite different. The closest relative of the Sulphury Flycatcher seems to be the Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua).

Sulphury Flycatcher, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, July 2004 - click for larger image There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 2, Plate 44; Hilty & Brown, Plate 39; and Ridgely & Greenfield, Plate 74.
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