Brown-crested Flycatcher - new for REGUA: 18 September

A walk around the Wetland Trail produced a few decent birds despite the unseasonally hot and dry weather conditions. The undoubted highlight was this Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus, a first for REGUA, picked up on call by sharp-eared REGUA guide Leonardo. This large chunky flycatcher performed brilliantly and allowed some good pics to be taken. Call is key to identifying Myiarchus flycatchers, but the pale brown crown, rufous fringes to the primaries and tail feathers, bright lemon belly and vent and pinkish base to the bill, make this a relatively easy species to identify.

Brown-crested Flycatcher is widely distributed across much of eastern South America with an isolated population in the Peruvian Andes, as well as parts of Central America and into the south-western US. They are migratory at both the northern and southern ends of the their range, but despite distribution maps showing them to be resident in south-east Brazil, they are much more common in the drier interior of Brazil and are very rare on the coastal slope of the Atlantic Forest, where the morphologically similar and resident Short-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus ferox is the dominant Myiarchus (compare here).

The REGUA Brown-crested Fly is probably on route from the Amazon basin, where the southern birds winter. I love tyrant-flycatchers and could have happily watched it for hours. This bird comes hot on the heels of a Black-collared Hawk Busarellus nigricollis, another species that is more abundant in drier environments, seen over the wetland at the beginning of the month. Maybe the current dry conditions in Rio state have something to do with both of these vagrants turning up?

Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus, REGUA wetland,
18 September 2012. Note the rufous in the tail.

Note the pinkish base to the lower mandible - diagnostic amongst
Myiarchus flycatchers of the region

The bird frequently opened its bill to cool down.

It ended up being a tyrant-flycatcher day with 1 very flighty Hangnest Tody-Tyrant (a rare bird at REGUA and only my second here), 1 Yellow-bellied Elaenia, 1 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, 5 Yellow Tyrannulet, 1 Bran-coloured Flycatcher, and a male Green-backed Becard seen. Throughout the morning we also had nice views of a very showy adult Rufescent Tiger-Heron, 2 Striated Heron, 1 Snowy Egret (surprisingly scarce here at the moment), 2-3 White-barred Piculet, 1f Chestnut-backed Antshrike, 1 Wing-banded Hornero, 1f Yellow-backed Tanager and a Chestnut-vented Conebill.

Hangnest Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus nidipendulus, another species that prefers
drier, less humid environments.

Yellow Tyrannulet Capsiempis flaveolus

Rufescent Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma lineatum

Also seen were lots of Capybara, 3 Broad-snouted Caiman and a brilliant Brazilian Owl Caligo brasiliensis. By late morning the temperature was getting ridiculously hot and so it was back to the lodge for a swim and an ice cold coke.

Brazilian Owl Caligo brasiliensis