Ashy-headed greenlet

Hylophilus pectoralis

Photo by Michel Giraud-Audine (Flickr)

Common name:
ashy-headed greenlet (en); vite-vite-de-cabeça-cinza (pt); viréon à tête cendrée (fr); verdillo cabecigrís (es); aschkopfvireo (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Vireonidae

Range:
This South American species is found from eastern Venezuela and the Guyanas, into coastal north-eastern Brazil and also further inland along the Amazon basin almost as far as Manaus, and through Tocantins and Goiás into Mato Grosso, Rondônia and across the border into north-eastern Bolivia.

Size:
These birds are 12-13 cm long and weigh 11,5-12 g.

Habitat:
The ashy-headed greenlet is mostly found in lowland rainforests and mangroves, but also uses dry tropical forests, scrublands, second growths and rural gardens. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 600 m.

Diet:
They feed on insects and berries.

Breeding:
Ashy-headed greenlets nest in an deep cup woven with grasses and plant fibres, which is placed in  fork in a scrub or tree. There the female lays 2 eggs which are incubated by both parents. There is no information regarding the length of the incubation and fledgling periods.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common. The population trend is currently unknown but the ashy-headed greenlet it is not believed to be declining significantly.