Bird of the Month: Pied Water-Tyrant

The Pied Water-Tyrant (Fluvicola picta) is a small, active and attractive bird found from eastern Panamá to northern South America.  As its name suggest, this bird is always found close to water, in marshy habitat and sometimes open areas and even gardens.

In Panamá, it is found in the eastern half of the country, including around Panamá City, where it used to be common... now is difficult to find due to lack of adequate habitat.  I took the next photo in Costa del Este, many years ago, when the site was a huge marsh.

Both sexes look alike, and both contribute to incubate the eggs and raise the chicks.  They are often parasited by cowbirds.  In fact, we saw many cowbirds in the same fields where I took most of the photos appearing in this post.

For these, and many others reasons, is why we chose the Pied Water-Tyrant as our bird of the month!

Literature consulted:

1. Angehr G, Dean R.  The birds of Panama. A Field Guide. 2010

2. Del Hoyo J, et al. Handbook of the birds of the world Alive. Lynx editions.