Alagoas Tyrannulet Phylloscartes ceciliae Scientific name definitions

Arguably the rarest member of the genus Phylloscartes, the Alagoas Tyrannulet is currently considered Critically Endangered by BirdLife International, and is apparently known from just 21 localities, all of which are in the northeast Brazilian states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. The species was only discovered as recently as the 1980s and an ongoing rapid decline is suspected to be occurring owing to severe habitat loss and fragmentation. The Alagoas Tyrannulet occurs in upland humid forest, where the species often joins mixed-species flocks in the midstory and subcanopy. Its diet consists of small insects taken from the surface of leaves and branches. Breeding probably occurs between September and February, but only one nest has been reported, and this was incompletely described. This is a small, olive-green tyrannulet with two pale yellowish wingbars, a whitish supercilium, and a white cheek patch with a dusky outline. Underparts are whitish washed dark green on the flanks and pale yellowish on the lower belly.