Rufous-tailed Tyrant

The rufous-tailed tyrant is 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 13 to 15 g (0.46 to 0.53 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies K. p. poecilurus have a mostly grayish to brownish gray head and upperparts with a whitish throat. Their wings are dusky with buff edges on the inner remiges and buffy-gray tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Their tail is dusky with wide cinnamon edges on the inner webs that are conspicuous in flight. Their underparts are dull buffy gray or cinnamon-buff with a gray wash on the breast. Adult females are very similar to males but slightly browner overall. Both sexes have a red iris, a longish black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have a cinnamon wash, more rufous in the tail than adults, cinnamon wing bars, and a brown iris. The other subspecies of the rufous-tailed tyrant differ from the nominate and each other thus:

K. p. salvini: grayer upperparts than nominate, with no wing bars, little rufous in tail, white belly, and rufous vent K. p. venezuelanus: intermediate between salvini and nominate K. p. paraquensis: smaller and darker than nominate, with no wing markings and no rufous in the tail K. p. peruanus: variable but generally darker than the nominate

The rufous-tailed tyrant has a disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:

K. p. poecilurus: Colombian Andes and Serranía del Perijá on the Colombia-Venezuela border K. p. venezuelanus: Venezuela in western states of Táchira and Mérida and separately in the northern Capital District K. p. paraquensis: Cerro Sipapo, a tepui in Venezuela's northwestern Amazonas state K. p. salvini: tepuis in southern Venezuela's southern Amazonas and southern Bolívar states and immediately adjacent western Guyana and northern Brazil The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society also has records in Suriname. K. p. peruanus: eastern slope of the Andes from western Sucumbíos Province of northeastern Ecuador south through Peru into western Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia The rufous-tailed tyrant inhabits a variety of landscapes, most of which are somewhat open. In the Andes these include the edges and clearings of humid montane forest, shrubby areas adjacent to them, and pastures with scattered trees. In most other areas it inhabits these landscapes and also secondary forest. In Peru it also is found in stunted ridgetop forest on nutrient-poor soil. In southern Venezuela it mostly occupies stunted second growth forest on white-sand soils heavy with Melastomataceae. …

The rufous-tailed tyrant feeds on insects. It usually forages singly or in pairs and only rarely joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It perches upright, often somewhat hidden in low bushes but also higher on the forest edge and in the open on fence posts. When perched it often lifts and slowly drops its tail. It takes most prey in mid-air with a short sally "(hawking)". It will also drop to the ground to take prey.