A team of ornithologists from the American Bird Conservancy and Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology has captured the first-ever clear images and recorded the call of the Urich’s tyrannulet (Phyllomyias urichi). This is only the fourth time the species has been scientifically documented since it was first described in 1899.
The Urich’s tyrannulet (Phyllomyias urichi), photographed on May 11, 2021. Image credit: David Ascanio.
The Urich’s tyrannulet is a small, yellow-green flycatcher in the family Tyrannidae.
The species is endemic to the Turimiquire region of northeastern Venezuela.
It has a short bill, a long tail, a pinkish lower mandible, whitish lores, and yellowish wingbars.
There have only been three confirmed sightings of the Urich’s tyrannulet since it was first described in 1899; the second sighting was in the 1940s and the third in 2005.
“The Urich’s tyrannulet was one of only 16 species of birds in all of South America that no one had reported in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird database in the past 10 years, so it immediately stood out to us as one of the most poorly known birds on the continent,” said Dr. John Mittermeier, director of Threatened Species Outreach at the American Bird Conservancy.
“Considering that it is also Endangered and that much of the habitat in its small range has disappeared since it was last seen, trying to find the tyrannulet and confirm that it had not gone extinct was an important conservation priority for us.”
“It’s not as striking as many of the other birds in the same forest, and it has a shrill call, but if it’s there it means that the forest is healthy,” said Venezuelan ornithologist David Ascanio.
“It’s aligned with the presence of all these other wonderful forest birds and other species. I was shaking with excitement when we first saw it!”
Ascanio and his five-person expedition team captured the first clear photos of the Urich’s tyrannulet and the first-ever recording of its call during a six-day search that began May 11, 2021.
The ornithologists also accurately documented what the bird looks like in life.
“It constantly cocks its tail, a behavior commonly seen in warblers and some other tyrant-flycatchers, and seems to only live in forests with emergent trees, those reaching above the canopy,” they said.
“It also has a pale base to its lower mandible and an ill-defined line in the lower part of the face.”
