Tepui Redstart

The tepui whitestart is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 7.5 to 12 g (0.26 to 0.42 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies M. c. castaneocapilla have a mostly gray head with a rufous crown, a pale gray stripe above the lores, and thin white crescents above and below the eye. Their upperparts are gray with an olive tinge. Their wings are gray. Their tail is black with much white on the outer two pairs of feathers and a large white spot at the tip of the next pair inward. Their throat and most underparts are yellow and their undertail coverts white. Subspecies M. c. duidae is brighter overall than the other two subspecies. It has a whiter, more visible loral stripe, larger eye crescents, and purer gray upperparts than the nominate with rich orange-yellow underparts. M. c. maguirei has more conspicuous eye crescents and paler yellow underparts than the nominate. All subspecies have a dark iris, a blackish bill, and dusky gray to blackish legs and feet.

The tepui whitestart has a disjunct distribution in the tepui region where Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil meet. The nominate subspecies is the most widespread. It is found from Auyán-tepui and Sierra de Lema in Venezuela's eastern Bolívar state east and south into western Guyana and extreme northern Brazil's Roraima state. Subspecies M. c. duidae is found on several Venezuelan tepuis in southern Bolívar and northern and central Amazonas state. M. c. maguirei is found only on Cerro de la Neblina, which is mostly in Venezuelan Amazonas and extends slightly into Brazil's Amazonas state. The species inhabits the edges and clearings of primary and secondary montane forest. In elevation it ranges between 1,200 and 2,200 m (3,900 and 7,200 ft).

The tepui whitestart feeds on insects and is assumed to also feed on other arthropods. Pairs forage mostly by gleaning from the forest's understory to its middle levels and often join mixed-species feeding flocks.