White-browed Ground-tyrant (Muscisaxicola albilora)

White-browed Ground-tyrant Muscisaxicola albilora
Chilean name: Dormilona de ceja blanca

Chile

The White-browed Ground-tyrant breeds in the Andes of central and south central Chile at between 1,500 and 4,000 metres. In the southern winter it migrates northwards in April to the Andes of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador returning south in September.

They are usually found near bogs, marshes or streams where they forage for their insect prey.

Ground-tyrants are terrestrial flycatchers that are normally seen on the ground running around while feeding then suddenly stopping on a rock or shrub in a very erect posture.

There are several species many of which look very similar. One of the areas to concentrate on is the contrast between the back and the wings and tail. The White-browed Ground-tyrant has a browner back than similar species found in this area with less contrast between the back and the wings and tail. It also has a rufous crown patch but this has a diffuse border rather than the crisp border to be found on the Rufous-naped Ground-tyrant M. rufivertex. It has a long pale supercilium which extends behind the eye and white outer feathers to the tail.

White-browed Ground-tyrant, Cajon del Maipo, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image

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