About Muscisaxicola alpinus (Jardine, 1849)
The paramo ground tyrant (Muscisaxicola alpinus) is 18 to 20 centimeters (7.1 to 7.9 inches) long. Males and females have identical plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a sepia-brown crown, dusky lores, a broad white supercilium that extends past the eye, and a small white patch below the eye. Their nape and back are grayish brown, their wings are a duskier grayish brown with pale edges on some coverts, and their tail is blackish with thin white edges on the outermost feathers. Their underparts are grayish white, darker on the breast than on the throat and belly. They have a dark brown iris, a relatively short black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have cinnamon tips on the wing coverts and thin cinnamon edges on the inner remiges, and their belly and vent have a buff tinge marked with whitish streaks. Subspecies M. a. columbianus is almost identical to the nominate subspecies, but has slightly darker upperparts. M. a. quesadae shares the same plumage as the nominate, but is slightly smaller in size. The paramo ground tyrant is native to the northern high Andes and has a disjunct distribution. Subspecies M. a. columbianus occurs in Colombia's Central Andes, between the departments of Caldas and Cauca. M. a. quesadae is found in the Eastern Andes of Colombia, in the departments of Boyacá, Santander, and Cundinamarca. The nominate subspecies ranges from Nariño Department in extreme southwestern Colombia south along both slopes of the Andes through Ecuador to Azuay Province. There are also sight records of what may be this species in northern Peru; the SACC classifies it as hypothetical in this country. This bird inhabits puna and páramo grasslands, often in rocky areas, and arid montane scrub. Its elevation range is between 3,200 and 4,400 meters (10,500 and 14,400 feet) in Colombia, and mostly between 3,800 and 4,600 meters (12,500 and 15,100 feet) in Ecuador. The confirmed sight records in Peru came from elevations between 2,900 and 3,350 meters (9,500 and 11,000 feet).
