Pied Water-Tyrant

The pied water tyrant is 12.5 to 13.5 cm (4.9 to 5.3 in) long and weighs 11 to 16 g (0.39 to 0.56 oz). Both sexes have prominent rictal bristles. Adult males are mostly white. They have a black hindcrown and nape, a mottled black and white back, black wings with small white tips on the tertials, and a black tail with small white tips. They have entirely white underparts. Females have brownish mixed with the black on the hindcrown, nape, and back. Both sexes have a dark iris, a sharply hooked black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have the same pattern as adults but are brown where adults are black.

The pied water tyrant has a disjunct distribution which has not been fully defined. Sources agree that it is found in eastern Panama, from northern and central Colombia into northwestern Venezuela, on Trinidad, and from eastern Colombia across northern Venezuela, the Guianas, and to the mouth of the Amazon in extreme northern Brazil. They differ regarding records outside those areas. The IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) do not list any other countries. BirdLife International (BLI) adds Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Ecuador, and Peru as locations where the species is a resident. The IUCN, which generally uses BLI range data, lists it as resident in Ecuador and Peru and as a vagrant in Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Curaçao. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World cites refereed papers, other published works, and eBird data to note its minor presence in Ecuador and Peru. The South American Classification Committee of the AOS lists it as confirmed in Peru and present as a vagrant in Ecuador. Neither mention the other Caribbean islands. The pied water tyrant primarily inhabits freshwater marshes and the margins of lakes and ponds; it also occurs in nearby grasslands and gardens. In elevation it occurs mostly below 450 m (1,500 ft) but reaches 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Colombia.

The pied water tyrant feeds on insects. It primarily forages singly or in somewhat separated pairs. It takes prey mostly in the open by gleaning from floating and emergent vegetation; it also takes prey from the water surface and open ground or jumps from the ground to snatch it in mid-air. It often is seen on low perches like fence posts and on floating vegetation and sometimes runs on the ground to capture prey.