Sharp-tailed Tyrant
culicivora caudacuta
Tyrannidae,Elaeninae · Tyrannulets
- Disc 2 · 2001 listed
- Disc 3 · 2006 listed
- Disc 1 · 2011 listed
The account
Description
10.5 cm. A tiny long-tailed grassland tyrannid. Short black bill (thicker than depicted in the picture). Crown black. Long superciliary stripe white. Brownish-yellow to buff streaked with dark brown above. Below whitish with a buff wash, the sides of belly suffused with rusty-brown. (See also pictures in 38).
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The disc records this picture against the bird without a caption. Disc 3 · 2006
Where it was recorded
The discs' own checklists select Sharp-tailed Tyrant at 1 locality.
- Itirapina ITSB
How the map was made
The original program computed each red dot at display time from the locality's coordinates, using its map library and one of five base maps drawn for the screen widths of the day. That library's projection — an oblique rotation of the sphere about the map's own centre, 23.7°S 47.4°W — was read from the program and checked against the graticule the same program drew into the base maps: it reproduces every grid intersection to within about a pixel. The dots here use that projection on the 1280-pixel base map, with the coordinates the discs record. Nothing was placed by hand, no modern map data was used, and a place whose coordinate is incomplete, out of range or beyond the map's edge is listed rather than guessed.
The discs carried location maps only; none shows a distribution or range.
The account, continued
Voice
Call is a nasal 'wei wei wei' and a long series of short single notes, like 'tk..tk..tk..tk..' and then a higher and emphasized 'tktktktktktktktktktktk'. Also a 'tiktiktiktiktiktik' series.
Behavior
According to Fitzpatrick a perch gleaner and upward-striker (searching is directed upward towards vegetation) which sallies for insects in tall grass or low scrubs. Apparently also feeds on seeds (78). Joins mixed bird flocks consisting of Mimus saturninus, Alectrurus tricolor, Neothraupis fasciata, and Cypsnagra hirundinacea (79).
Breeding
Builds a cup nest (80).
Habitat and status
Found singly or in pairs in tall grass areas with some low scrubs, a biome which is highly threatened by conversion of open campos to agriculture and cattle ranching. Not uncommon in locations where it still occurs. Within Brazil this species is certainly highly endangered.
Distribution
In Estado São Paulo found near Itirapina (50 km west of Rio Claro) and probably in other remnants of tall grass capo limpo. Might be expected to occur closer to coast in suitable habitat.
Decoded from the disc's own bytes. Each part is shown under the heading the disc files it under, and the wording, spelling and punctuation are the author's.
Vocalizations
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Call. Cornell Cat#51844. San Borja, Benin, Bolivia, 6/25/89. With Tapera naevia, Amnodramus humeralis. Recording by T. A. Parker, III.
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Calls 4x. Cornell Cat#34129. Brasilia, Distrito Federal, 11/4/84. Recording by T. A. Parker, III.
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Call, Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayu, Paraguay, 6/97. Recording by Juan Mazar Barnett
Recording files on the disc
- 1351.wav Call. Cornell Cat#51844. San Borja, Benin, Bolivia, 6/25/89. With Tapera naevia, Amnodramus humeralis. Recording by T. A. Parker, III.
- 6091.wav Calls 4x. Cornell Cat#34129. Brasilia, Distrito Federal, 11/4/84. Recording by T. A. Parker, III.
- 4409.wav Call, Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayu, Paraguay, 6/97. Recording by Juan Mazar Barnett
Across the three discs
The work was published on three discs — Disc 2 in 2001, Disc 3 in 2006 and Disc 1 in 2011. Where they differ, that is a difference between historical releases, and it is never merged away. The 2011 disc is not treated as correcting the earlier ones.
Which discs list this bird
- Disc 2 · 2001 — in this disc's bird list
- Disc 3 · 2006 — in this disc's bird list
- Disc 1 · 2011 — in this disc's bird list
How that was established
- Disc 2 · 2001
aux_nonzero;local_checklist_byte45_flag_1- Disc 3 · 2006
aux_nonzero;local_checklist_byte45_flag_1- Disc 1 · 2011
aux_nonzero;local_checklist_byte45_flag_1
The disc's own record fields that place the bird on its list: a non-empty entry in the species table, and the byte that marks it as selected on a local checklist.
The account in the Disc 1 · 2011 revision
The 2011 Disc 1 revision edited this account; the sections listed below differ from the Disc 3 release text.
Sections with genuine 2011 edits (vs the Disc 3 release): distribution.
Description Disc 1 · 2011
10.5 cm. A tiny long-tailed grassland tyrannid. Short black bill (thicker than depicted in the picture). Crown black. Long superciliary stripe white. Brownish-yellow to buff streaked with dark brown above. Below whitish with a buff wash, the sides of belly suffused with rusty-brown. (See also pictures in 38).
Voice Disc 1 · 2011
Call is a nasal 'wei wei wei' and a long series of short single notes, like 'tk..tk..tk..tk..' and then a higher and emphasized 'tktktktktktktktktktktk'. Also a 'tiktiktiktiktiktik' series.
Behavior Disc 1 · 2011
According to Fitzpatrick a perch gleaner and upward-striker (searching is directed upward towards vegetation) which sallies for insects in tall grass or low scrubs. Apparently also feeds on seeds (78). Joins mixed bird flocks consisting of Mimus saturninus, Alectrurus tricolor, Neothraupis fasciata, and Cypsnagra hirundinacea (79).
Breeding Disc 1 · 2011
Builds a cup nest (80).
Habitat and status Disc 1 · 2011
Found singly or in pairs in tall grass areas with some low scrubs, a biome which is highly threatened by conversion of open campos to agriculture and cattle ranching. Not uncommon in locations where it still occurs. Within Brazil this species is certainly highly endangered.
Distribution Disc 1 · 2011
In Estado São Paulo found near Itirapina (50 km west of Rio Claro) and probably in other remnants of tall grass capo limpo. Might be expected to occur closer to coast in suitable habitat.
The work's own taxonomy
The discs carried three parallel name schemes. All three are shown as recovered; none is a modern taxonomy and none has been updated.
| Scheme | Scientific name | English name | Family |
|---|---|---|---|
| WORLD | culicivora caudacuta | Sharp-tailed Tyrant | Tyrannidae,Elaeninae |
| CLEMENTS | culicivora caudacuta | Sharp-tailed Tyrant | Tyrannidae,Elaeninae |
| AOU_HM | culicivora caudacuta | Sharp-tailed Tyrant | Tyrannidae,Elaeninae |
Source details
- Identifier on this site
- seb_species_0218
- Account identifier
- seb_account_0218
- Account number on the disc
- 218
- Source edition
- CD03 / 2006 package
- Original taxonomy scheme
- WORLD
- Structure status
- heuristic; decoded_account_text and segment JSON remain authoritative