Northern Royal Flycatcher

The Tropical Royal Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus coronatus, is a passerine bird of notable elegance. This species is adorned with an extraordinary erectile fan-shaped crest, which is vivid red with blue tips in males and yellow or orange in females. The bird's body length ranges from 12.5 to 18 cm, and it weighs between 9.7 to 21 grams. Both sexes share a similar plumage, characterized by dark brown upperparts with buffy bars, a cinnamon-rufous rump and tail, and a warm buff underbelly.

Identification Tips

To identify the Tropical Royal Flycatcher, look for its broken buffy eye ring and faint buffy cheek streak. The wings are dark brown with buff spots on the coverts and tertials. The throat is whitish, transitioning to a warm buff breast with narrow black bars, and a plain warm buff belly. The bird's iris is brown, the maxilla is dark brown to blackish, and the mandible ranges from horn to yellowish or orange. Legs and feet are a dull yellow or orangish hue.

Habitat

This species thrives in humid lowland forests, both primary evergreen and secondary growth. It is often found along streams and in seasonally flooded várzea forests, from sea level up to 1,200 meters in elevation.

Distribution

The Tropical Royal Flycatcher is distributed across Mexico, Central America, and every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is divided into five subspecies, each with a specific range within this broad distribution.

Behaviour

The Tropical Royal Flycatcher is a year-round resident in most of its range, with some seasonal movements noted in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and southwestern Ecuador. It forages alone or in pairs, occasionally joining mixed-species feeding flocks.

Song & Calls

The vocalizations of the Tropical Royal Flycatcher are generally inconspicuous and quiet, with variations in song among the subspecies. Calls include a loud, mellow "keeeyup" or "keee-yew," a low-pitched "sur-líp," and a squeaky to hollow "whee-uk" or "see-yuk."

Breeding

The breeding season of the Tropical Royal Flycatcher is not well established. The nest is a long, narrow structure suspended above water. The female alone incubates the clutch of two eggs and tends to the nestlings.

Similar Species

There are no similar species provided in the source data.

Diet and Feeding

Insectivorous by nature, the Tropical Royal Flycatcher sallies from perches to capture prey in mid-air or from foliage, returning to the perch to consume its catch.

Conservation status

The IUCN has assessed the Tropical Royal Flycatcher as Least Concern, with a very large range but an unknown population size that is believed to be decreasing. The Pacific royal flycatcher subspecies is considered Vulnerable due to its limited range and decreasing population, primarily threatened by habitat loss. Overall, the species is uncommon, with the O. c. occidentalis subspecies being scarce to rare.