Appearance

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher is a slender, small headed bird with an olive green back and distinctively ochraceous underparts. It can also be identified by its habit of lifting its wings up over its back, one after the other and then ruffling its crown feathers. Ochre-bellied Flycatcher is unusual, among tyrant-flycatchers, for consuming both insects and large quantities of small fruit. Ochre-bellied Flycatcher engages in both lekking and solitary display behavior.

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher is similar in shape to congeners Streak-necked (Mionectes striaticollis) and Olive-striped (Mionectes olivaceus) flycatchers, but those species have streaked breasts, and have yellow green (not ochraceous) underparts.

Ochre-bellied flycatcher is most similar to a sibling species, McConnell’s Flycatcher (Mionectes macconnelli), and the two occur sympatrically throughout a large portion of their ranges. They are very similar in appearance, but the wings of McConnell’s lack the rufous tips to the tertials and wing coverts of Ochre-bellied Flycatcher. Ochre-bellied Flycatcher also is similar to Gray-hooded Flycatcher (Mionectes rufiventris), and the two are sympatric in southeastern Brazil. As its name implies, however, Gray-hooded differs by its light gray head and throat; also, Gray-hooded Flycatcher tends to occur at higher elevations than Ochre-bellied.

The following description is based on Todd (1921) and Fitzpatrick (2004), and refers to nominate oleagineus; see also Geographic Variation:

Adult: Sexes similar. Upperparts greenish olive. Wings olive, greater and median coverts narrowly edged with buffy ochraceous, and tertials broadly edged with buffy ochraceous. Tail dark grayish brown or dusky olive. Underparts, including the throat, rich cinnamon buff, with little or not olivaceous wash.

Juvenile: Similar to adult; underparts more buffy.

Partial preformative molt involving most wing coverts but not alula or flight feathers. Juveniles resemble adults, but have a more greyish tinge to the throat and a tawny-olive cast to the underparts. First and second year birds often have more worn primaries 8, 9, and 10 with brownish primary coverts and dull green edging. In females during this time, these primaries tend to be broader, while in males they tend to be narrower (Wolfe et al. 2009).

Iris: dark brown

Bill: maxilla black; mandible black, basally paler: dull brown, brownish white, pink, or dull orange brown

Tarsi and toes: dull blackish slate, dark gray, gray, pinkish gray

Bare parts color data from Wetmore (1972), Robbins et al. (1985), and Wiedenfeld et al. (1985).

Total length: 12.5 cm (Stiles and Skutch 1989), 12.5-14 cm (Howell and Webb 1995), 12.7 cm (Hilty 2003), 13 cm (Hilty and Brown 1986, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001b)

Linear measurements:

The following data are from Wetmore (1972), and for assimilis; see also Ridgway (1907)

male (n = 10)

wing length: mean 68.6 mm (range 66.1-72.5 mm)

tail length: mean 52.7 mm (range 46.9-55.9 mm)

bill length (culmen from base): mean 14.4 mm (range 13.3-15.7 mm)

tarsus length: mean 16.8 mm (range 16.0-17.9 mm)

female (n = 10)

wing length: mean 59.5 mm (range 58.0-61.5 mm)

tail length: mean 44.1 mm (range 42.0-46.7 mm)

bill length (culmen from base): mean 13.7 mm (range 12.6-14.5 mm)

tarsus length: mean 15.2 mm (range 14.3-16.8 mm)

Mass: Panama: male, range 9.0-10.0 g (n = 6; Robbins et al. 1985); female, range 8.0-11.0 g (n = 12; Robbins et al. 1985)

Panama: mean 16.4 ± 1.2 g (range 14.4-18.5 g, n = 20, sexes combined; Dunning 2008)

Trinidad: male, mean 12.5 g (range 11.5-14 g, n = 11; Snow and Snow 1963)

Trinidad: female, mean 10.9 g (range 10-11.5 g, n = 7; Snow and Snow 1963); female, egg-laying, 15.5 g (n = 1; Snow and Snow 1963)

Trinidad: mean 12.1 g (range 9-14.5 g, n = 242, sex undetermined but presumably sexes combined; Snow and Snow 1963)

Peru: mean 9.6 ± 0.7 g (range 7.5-10.8 g, n = 47-51, sexes combined; Capparella and Lanyon 1985)

Bolivia: mean 12 ± 1.2 g (range 10.0-14.8 g, n = 31-32, sexes combined; Capparella and Lanyon 1985)