Rufous-lored Tyrannulet

Uncommon to fairly common but local and disjunct; tied to mixed flocks in tall forest, so detection is patchy. A quality endemic that takes time and a good flock to connect with.

Small, well-marked tyrannulet (~12 cm, ~8 g). Diagnostic rufous forehead and supraloral ('rufous-lored') region, gray crown and nape, the blackish ear-coverts crescent shared with congeners, olive upperparts and yellowish underparts. Sexes alike. The rufous forecrown/loral patch against the gray crown is the clincher.

Humid to wet montane evergreen forest, mainly upper tropical zone but up into cloud forest; chiefly forest interior, also edges; ~300–1,000+ m, usually high in tall trees.

Resident. Almost always in pairs or family parties within mixed-species flocks, foraging actively in tall trees with the upright, tail-cocked Phylloscartes manner, sallying and gleaning for arthropods. Stays high — neck-craning canopy work.

A quick one-to-four-note call: high, thin and jangling 'teep-teep-teep' given while foraging, plus a sputtery jangling 'te'te'skeek!'. Documentation is sparse (only a few Xeno-canto and Macaulay cuts as of late 2024). Search Xeno-canto / Macaulay Library for 'Phylloscartes flaviventris' / 'Rufous-lored Tyrannulet' and learn the thin jangling note — it's often the only clue in a busy canopy flock.

Work tall-tree mixed flocks at Portachuelo and pre-train clients on the rufous-loral patch — in fast canopy flocks the bird shows briefly, so a sharp, agreed field mark plus the jangling call gets everyone on it. Set scopes for high, backlit perches and call the rufous face the instant it appears.