About Elaenia pallatangae P.L.Sclater, 1862
The sierran elaenia (Elaenia pallatangae P.L.Sclater, 1862) is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs approximately 12 to 18 g (0.42 to 0.63 oz). It is a small, crestless elaenia, and both sexes share identical plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an olive head with lighter, yellower cheeks, yellowish lores, a yellowish eyering, and a thin white central stripe on the crown. Their upperparts are olive, while their wings are dusky olive with paler edges on the flight feathers. The tips of their wing coverts are yellowish white, which form two distinct bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky olive. Their chin is whitish, their throat and breast are yellowish olive, and their belly and undertail coverts are pale yellow. Subspecies E. p. intensa has a lighter crown and more intensely yellow underparts than the nominate subspecies. E. p. exsul is similar to intensa but has even brighter underparts. Both sexes of all subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black bill with a dull pinkish base to the mandible, and black legs and feet. The nominate subspecies of sierran elaenia ranges from Valle del Cauca Department in Colombia’s Western Andes and Tolima Department in Colombia’s Central Andes, south through Ecuador along both slopes of the Andes, into Peru along the west slope as far as Cajamarca Department. Subspecies E. p. intensa occurs on the east slope of the Peruvian Andes from southern Amazonas Department south to Puno Department. E. p. exsul lives on the east slope of the Andes in Bolivia, reaching as far south as Cochabamba Department. This species primarily inhabits scrubby edges and rocky openings within humid montane forest in the subtropical and temperate zones. It can also be found in brushy pastures and secondary forest, especially in sites dominated by Melastomataceae. Its elevational range is 1,500 to 2,500 m (4,900 to 8,200 ft) in Colombia, 1,500 to 2,800 m (4,900 to 9,200 ft) in Ecuador, and 1,100 to 3,500 m (3,600 to 11,500 ft) in Peru.
