The eye-ringed tody-tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is endemic to Brazil.
Region
Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil
Typical Environment
Occurs in humid lowland and foothill Atlantic Forest, typically in dense understory, vine tangles, and bamboo thickets. It favors primary and well-developed secondary forest but may appear in forest edge with sufficient cover. The species usually keeps to shaded, cluttered microhabitats a few meters above ground. It avoids open habitats and is negatively affected by fragmentation and degradation.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A tiny flycatcher of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, the eye-ringed tody-tyrant is easily recognized by its crisp white eye-ring. It forages quietly in dense understory, often detected by its high, thin calls rather than seen. The species is sensitive to forest fragmentation and persists best in sizable tracts of humid forest. It sometimes joins mixed-species flocks moving through vine tangles and bamboo.
Temperament
quiet and somewhat skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief sallies
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly or in pairs, sometimes with a dependent juvenile. It may join mixed-species understory flocks but often forages independently. Likely monogamous, building a small, domed or globular nest of moss and fibers placed low in dense vegetation.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are high-pitched, thin tsee or tsee-tsee notes delivered at intervals from low perches. Songs can be a soft, repetitive series of squeaky trills that carry poorly, making the bird easier to hear at close range than at distance.
Plumage
Olive-green upperparts with slightly duskier wings and faint wingbars; underparts grayish to yellowish-olive with paler throat and belly. Feathers are soft and plain-textured, aiding camouflage in the understory.
Diet
Primarily small insects and other arthropods gleaned from leaves and fine twigs. It makes short sallies to snatch prey and also picks from suspended dead leaves and vine tangles. Spiders and tiny beetles are common items, with occasional small larvae.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in dense understory, especially in vine tangles, bamboo, and shaded thickets a few meters above the ground. Often forages along forest edges and gaps where cover remains thick.
