Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Overview

Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet: Small flycatcher with gray upperparts and breast, slight crest, pale eyebrow, indistinct eye-ring, and dull white or pale yellow belly. Wings are gray with two pale bars. The bill is small, slightly decurved, and dark with an orange base. Weak direct flight.

Range and Habitat

Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet: Breeds in southeastern Arizona and southernmost Texas. Most migrate to Mexico for the winter; also found in the tropics. Inhabits low thorn scrub, especially mesquite thickets and woodland borders.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet is the only United States representative of the Elaeniinae, a large subfamily of mostly South American tyrannid flycatchers.
It was once considered conspecific with the Southern Beardless Tyrannulet.
Less than 5% of the population occurs in the United States.
A group of beardless tyrannulets are collectively known as a "shaving" of tyrannulets.

The Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet has a large range, estimated globally at 1,500,000 square kilometers. Native to Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, the United States and Mexico, this bird prefers savanna, wetland, desert, forest, and shrubland ecosystems and can also reside in rural and urban areas. The global population of this bird is estimated at 500,000 to 5,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Northern Beardless Tyrannulet is Least Concern.