White monjita

Xolmis irupero

Photo by Cláudio Timm (Wikipedia)

Common name:
white monjita (en); noivinha-branca (pt); pépoaza irupéro (fr); monjita blanca (es); weißnonnentyrann (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Tyrannidae

Range:
This species is found in eastern Brazil, from Ceará to Espírito Santo, and from Mato Grosso do Sul and Santa Catarina, in southern Brazil,  to Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and northern Argentina.

Size:
These birds are 17-18 cm long.

Habitat:
The white monjita is mostly found in dry savannas and grasslands, also using dry scrublands, pastures, marshes and lakes, and urban areas. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.300 m.

Diet:
They hunt flying insects by sallying out from a perch.

Breeding:
White monjitas breed in August-January. They nest in a large cup made of twigs and grass, lined with feather and hair, and placed in a tree hollow or in an abandoned nest of rufous hornero Furnarius rufus, about 3 m above the ground. The female lays 3-4 white eggs with fine reddish and grey markings, which she incubates alone for 12-14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge about 17 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range but is described as uncommon. This population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.