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Yellow-bellied Elaenia Elaenia flavogaster Scientific name definitions

Peter Hosner and Guy M. Kirwan
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated July 5, 2016

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Introduction

The Yellow-bellied Elaenia is a medium sized, widespread elaenia found from southeastern Mexico south to northeastern Argentina. Generally Yellow-bellied Elaenias are brownish olive above with two white wing bars, a pale gray breast, and pale yellow belly.  Yellow-bellied Elaenia have a conspicuous bushy crest that often is raised when the bird calls, revealing a white coronal patch.  These flycatchers inhabit a variety of woodland habitats as well as scrub and savanna, and feed on fruits and insects.  Yellow-bellied Elaenias often are relatively conspicuous, perching in the open and vocalizing frequently.

Field Identification

16–17 cm; 21–29 g. Medium-sized, small-headed elaenia with conspicuous bushy crest, often parted in middle to reveal white coronal patch. Nominate race is brownish-olive above, face slightly paler than upperparts, faint whitish eyering; wings and tail slightly duskier than back, two white wingbars, yellowish-white edgings on remiges; throat pale grey, breast olive-grey, belly yellow to pale yellow or even whitish; iris dark brown; bill black, pale base of lower mandible; legs black. Distinguished from E. chiri­quensis by larger size, more conspicuous crest; from E. spectabilis by slightly smaller size, much more distinct crest, presence of white crown patch, only two wingbars. Sexes alike. Immature is browner above, buff wingbars, no coronal patch. Race subpagana is browner and more olive above, yellower below; pallididorsalis is greyer overall, faintly greener on upperparts; semipagana is paler overall, greyer front and side of head, much-reduced white coronal patch, whiter throat, paler belly, also shorter bill.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Formerly treated as conspecific with E. spectabilis, but ranges overlap widely in Brazil, and the two differ vocally. Birds in SW Colombia appear intermediate between nominate race and semipagana. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies


SUBSPECIES

Elaenia flavogaster subpagana Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SE Mexico E from S Veracruz and Chiapas (including Mujeres I, off N Quintana Roo) S to Costa Rica, also SW Panama (Coiba I).

SUBSPECIES

Elaenia flavogaster pallididorsalis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Panama and adjacent islands (except Coiba I).

SUBSPECIES

Elaenia flavogaster flavogaster Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Colombia, Venezuela (including Margarita I and Patos I), Trinidad, Tobago, S Lesser Antilles (the Grenadines, Grenada), the Guianan Shield, Brazil (S, except in W and C Amazonas, to Rio Grande do Sul), SE Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and NW and NE Argentina.

SUBSPECIES

Elaenia flavogaster semipagana Scientific name definitions

Distribution

(1)extreme SW Colombia, W and S Ecuador (S to El Oro, including Puná I) and interior NW Peru (recently recorded in Tumbes (2) ).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Variety of humid and arid, wooded habitats, including lighter woodland, second growth and edge, scrub, savanna, as well as brushy river margins, weedy clearings with scattered trees, also trees in towns, gardens; absent from heavily forested areas. Mostly below 1500 m; recorded to 2500 m in Andes.

Movement

Mainly resident; in Mexico, those in Veracruz and Oaxaca largely withdraw to S of Isthmus of Tehuantepec in winter months.

Diet and Foraging

Insects and berries taken. Usually found singly or in pairs; larger numbers may gather at fruiting trees. Animated and conspicuous, typically perching openly and calling frequently, often seeming agitated and excited; crest frequently raised while calling. Forages with aerial sallies, perch-gleans, and hover-gleans.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Calls include hoarse “breeer”, rising and then falling, and repeated “wreek-kreeup” with hoarse or burry quality; dawn song “trr-dyeéuw, trr-trreeenh-weeeuw” or “we-do, we-do”.

Breeding

Season Feb–Sept; May–Sept in Colombia (although birds in breeding condition in Feb), mainly Apr–Jun in Lesser Antilles; mainly Apr–Jun in Trinidad and Tobago, but recorded also in Nov–Dec; nest-building observed in Mar in Venezuela; sometimes two broods. Nest a neat grass or moss cup, lined with feathers and decorated with lichens and bark, placed in fork of small branch. Clutch two eggs, rarely one or three, colour pinkish white with chestnut and grey markings, size 20·5–21 mm × 15 mm (3); incubation by female, period 16 days; chicks brooded by female, fed by both parents, fledging period 15–17 days.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Fairly common to common throughout most of range; rather uncommon locally, e.g. in parts of Ecuador. Range possibly extends farther S; sight record from N Chile (near Arica). Occurs in numerous national parks and other protected areas. Preference for more open woodland and widespread tolerance of converted habitats, combined with large range, suggest that this species is reasonably secure. Probably of some importance as a seed-disperser; has been shown to disperse seeds widely in second-growth areas.

Distribution of the Yellow-bellied Elaenia - Range Map
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Distribution of the Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Abundance map
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Data provided by eBird

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Elaenia flavogaster

Abundance

Relative abundance is depicted for each season along a color gradient from a light color indicating lower relative abundance to a dark color indicating a higher relative abundance. Relative abundance is the estimated average count of individuals detected by an eBirder during a 1 hour, 1 kilometer traveling checklist at the optimal time of day for each species.   Learn more about this data

Relative abundance
Year-round
0.03
0.37
0.75

Recommended Citation

Hosner, P. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Yellow-bellied Elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yebela1.01
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