The sierran elaenia (Elaenia pallatangae) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The sierran elaenia has three subspecies, the nominate E. p. pallatangae (Sclater, 1862). E. p. intensa (Zimmer, 1941), and E. p. exsul (Todd, 1952). For much of the twentieth century what are now the two subspecies of the tepui elaenia (E. olivina) were also treated as subspecies of it. The tepui elaenia was not recognized as a separate species until about 2008 after which taxonomic systems made the change.
Description
The sierran elaenia is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 12 to 18 g (0.42 to 0.63 oz). It is a small elaenia without a crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an olive head with lighter and yellower cheeks, yellowish lores, a yellowish eyering, and a thin white strip in the center of the crown. Their upperparts are olive. Their wings are dusky olive with paler edges on the flight feathers. The tips of their wing coverts are yellowish white and show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky olive. Their chin is whitish, their throat and breast yellowish olive, and their belly and undertail coverts pale yellow. Subspecies E. p. intensa has a lighter crown and more intense yellow underparts than the nominate. E. p. exsul is similar to intensa but has even brighter underparts. Both sexes of all subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black bill with a dull pinkish base to the mandible, and black legs and feet.
Distribution and habitat
The nominate subspecies of the sierran elaenia is found from Valle del Cauca Department in Colombia's Western Andes and Tolima Department in the Central Andes south through Ecuador on both slopes of the Andes into Peru on the west slope as far as Cajamarca Department. Subspecies E. p. intensa is found on the east slope of the Andes in Peru from southern Amazonas Department south...
