Rufous-browed Tyrannulet Phylloscartes superciliaris

The Rufous-browed Tyrannulet is the sole member of the genus Phylloscartes to be found in Central America, where it occurs from Costa Rica to Panama; the species also occurs disjunctly in South America, from northwest Venezuela, over the east slope of the Andes through Colombia to southeast Ecuador and extreme northern Peru. Like its congenerics, this species prefers humid montane forest habitats, while its overall altitudinal range covers 600-2000 m. In common with other Phylloscartes, this species is a canopy-dweller, where singles, pairs, or what are presumably family parties, regularly join mixed-species flocks, and feed on insects and also, to some extent, small fruits. Nothing concrete is known concerning the Rufous-browed Tyrannulet’s breeding ecology. Three subspecies of Rufous-browed Tyrannulet have traditionally been recognized, but the validity of these requires revalidation, given that only slight morphological differences between them have been described, but this task is complicated by the lack of available specimen material.