Plain-capped Ground-Tyrant

The paramo ground tyrant is 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a sepia-brown crown, dusky lores, a wide white supercilium that extends past the eye, and a small white patch below the eye. Their nape and back are grayish brown. Their wings are a duskier grayish brown with some pale edges on the coverts. Their tail is blackish with thin white edges on the outermost feathers. Their underparts are grayish white that is darker on the breast than on the throat and belly. They have a dark brown iris, a shortish black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have cinnamon tips on the wing coverts and thin cinnamon edges on the inner remiges. Their belly and vent have a buff tinge with whitish streaks. Subspecies M. a. columbianus is almost identical to the nominate but has slightly darker upperparts. M. a. quesadae has the same plumage as the nominate but is slightly smaller.

The paramo ground tyrant is a bird of the northern high Andes and has a disjunct distribution. Subspecies M. a. columbianus is found in Colombia's Central Andes between Caldas and Cauca departments. M. a. quesadae is found in Colombia's Eastern Andes of Boyacá, Santander, and Cundinamarca departments. The nominate subspecies is found from Nariño Department in extreme southwestern Colombia south on both slopes of the Andes through Ecuador to Azuay Province. There are also sight records in northern Peru that might be of this species; the SACC calls it hypothetical in that country. The paramo ground tyrant inhabits puna and páramo grasslands, often in rocky areas, and arid montane scrub. In elevation it ranges between 3,200 and 4,400 m (10,500 and 14,400 ft) in Colombia and mostly between 3,800 and 4,600 m (12,500 and 15,100 ft) in Ecuador. The sight records in Peru were between 2,900 and 3,350 m (9,500 and 11,000 ft).

The paramo ground tyrant feeds on insects. It usually forages by itself in the breeding season; outside that it often is in small flocks that may include other species. It is almost wholly terrestrial; it will perch on rocks or a wall, though less often than some other ground tyrants. It runs and hops along the ground, stopping to stand erect before grabbing prey, or makes a short sally to the ground from a low perch.