Puna Ground-Tyrant Muscisaxicola juninensis Scientific name definitions

The Puna Ground-Tyrant is a fairly small, resident high-Andean specialist, usually found above 3,700 m elevation, primarily at 4,200‒4,800 m. It frequents Puna grassland, and the borders of bogs, as well as the ecotone between wetlands and drier rocky slopes.

Compared to most other Muscisaxicola species, it has shorter wings and a shorter bill. Although it has a rufous area on the top of the head like several other ground-tyrant species, the color is diffuse and not concentrated in a distinct patch like several of the others, providing a further clue to its identification. Puna Ground-Tyrant has mainly grayish-brown plumage, paler than the very similar White-browed Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola albilora) (with which it was sometimes suggested to be conspecific in the past) but darker than the Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola rufivertex) (with which some early authors also confused this species).

It tends to occur in pairs or family groups and does not appear to form flocks during the nonbreeding season, unlike many of the species’ congeners. Mostly observed on the ground, it is a silent and sometimes confiding bird.

The Puna Ground-Tyrant is a poorly studied species and there are rather few data on its breeding habits, diet, and other aspects of the species’ natural history, whilst there are even rather few recordings of its vocalizations. Among those species confined to the Puna, it is therefore something of a priority for future studies, although it is not considered threatened on the IUCN Red List.