The Piura chat-tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is endemic to Peru.
Region
Andes Mountains (northern Peru)
Typical Environment
Occurs on the humid west slope of the Andes in northern Peru, in remnant cloud forests, elfin woodland, and dense shrubby edges. It favors ecotones such as forest margins, ravines, and second-growth thickets adjacent to mature montane forest. Birds often use low to mid-level perches within mossy vegetation and bamboo or Chusquea patches. The range is localized and fragmented, with strong association to moist microhabitats within an otherwise drier broader landscape.
Altitude Range
2000–3200 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A small tyrant flycatcher restricted to the western Andean slopes of northern Peru, especially around the Piura–Cajamarca region. It keeps to mossy forest edges and thickets, sallying out to catch insects before returning to a low perch. The species has been treated in Ochthoeca but is now widely placed in Silvicultrix. Ongoing habitat loss in its tiny range has raised conservation concerns.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with quick sallies from low to mid-level perches
Social Behavior
Typically encountered singly or in pairs, especially during the breeding season. Pairs defend small territories along forest edges and ravines. The nest is a small cup placed in dense vegetation, banks, or tangles, and both adults attend young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Delivers a thin, high-pitched series of chips and short trills, often from a concealed perch. Also gives sharp scolding calls when disturbed, with brief, chatty phrases typical of chat-tyrants.
Plumage
Compact chat-tyrant with slaty-olive upperparts and warmer, cinnamon to rufous tones on the underparts, especially the belly and vent. Wings show pale buffy wingbars and subtle edging; tail often hints of rufous. The head is grayish with a faint pale supercilium and a neat, contrasting face pattern typical of chat-tyrants.
Diet
Feeds mainly on small flying and crawling insects such as flies, beetles, and caterpillars. Employs sallying flights to snatch prey from the air and short hops to glean from foliage and mossy branches. May occasionally take small arthropods from the ground or bark surfaces.
Preferred Environment
Forages along humid forest edges, shrubby clearings, and streamside thickets where perches are plentiful. Often selects sheltered, moss-laden branches and bamboo clumps within or adjacent to cloud forest.
