About Myiopagis gaimardii (Orbigny, 1840)
The forest elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii) is a small passerine bird that belongs to the tyrant flycatcher family. Its breeding range extends from Panama through Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas to Bolivia and Brazil, and it is also found on Trinidad. This species lives in forests and at the edges of mangrove swamps. It builds a shallow cup-shaped nest from roots, bark, and grass in a tree. The typical clutch consists of two cream-coloured eggs marked with rufous and lavender. Adult forest elaenias measure 12.7 cm in length and weigh 12.2 g. Their head has a blackish crown with a partly concealed white or pale yellow central stripe, a faint whitish supercilium, and a white eyering. The upperparts are olive-green, the brown wings have yellow feather edging and two yellow wing bars. The throat is whitish, the breast is greenish-yellow, and the colour shades to yellow on the belly. The long narrow bill is black on the upper mandible and pink-based on the lower mandible. The sexes have similar plumage and appearance. M. g. trinitatis, the subspecies endemic to Trinidad, is larger and has duller upperparts than populations on the mainland. Forest elaenias are seen alone or in pairs, perching inconspicuously or catching insects and spiders in the upper levels of foliage. They also frequently eat berries, and their call is a sharp pitch-weep.
