Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant

The Rufous-sided Pygmy-tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Suriname. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant is classified as Near Threatened (NT), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.

The small rufous-sided pygmy tyrant is a member of the family Tyrannidae, a name taken from the Greek word tyrannas, meaning ‘lord’ or ‘ruler’, and refers to their aggressive behaviour (3). The plumage is mostly a drab brown, slightly darker on the wings, and, as the name suggest, the sides are a warm orange. The long, brown tail feathers are edged in yellowy-orange. The underparts are pale yellow, the throat is white, and the light brown face has a short, whitish ‘eyebrow’, or supercilium. More

The rufous-sided pygmy tyrant occurs in most of the protected areas in the Cerrado, including the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (7), the Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba National Park, and Jalapão State Park (4). Surveys have been undertaken in Brazil, which uncovered no additional populations (2), but there have been no other conservation measures targeted at this small bird. More

locating both the Masked Antpitta and Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant in just a few days as well as seeing some other fantastic Amazonian bird species. Riberalta is a little known and rarely visited locality in Bolivia that merits more than the few days that we spent birding. Jon Hornbuckle brought the area to our attention and Sjoerd Mayer who spent almost three weeks in the area and produced the excellent CD-ROM. Sjoerd recorded some very interesting birds not least the 'recently split' Masked Antpitta. More