White-crested elaenia

The white-crested elaenia (Elaenia albiceps) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

The white-crested elaenia is 13.5 to 15 cm (5.3 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12.5 to 24.2 g (0.44 to 0.85 oz). It is a small to medium size elaenia with a small bushy crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies E. a. albiceps have a mostly dull olive to olive-gray head with a partially hidden white or creamy white stripe in the middle of the crest. They have whitish lores and eyering. Their upperparts are dull olive to olive-gray. Their wings are dusky with white or whitish tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Their flight feathers have narrow whitish or yellowish edges with dusky bases on the inner pairs. Their tail is dusky with narrow olive edges to the feathers. Their throat is light gray or whitish gray, their breast light gray or grayish brown, and their belly and undertail coverts whitish.

The other subspecies of the white-crested elaenia differ from the nominate and each other thus:

E. a. griseigularis: paler upperparts than nominate, with less white on a shorter crest and a less distinct eyering

E. a. diversa: like griseigularis with a whiter throat, less distinct wing bars, and more contrast between the flanks and belly

E. a. urubambae: paler upperparts than nominate with paler lores, less prominent eyering, duller wing bars, and a pale yellow wash on the belly

E. a. modesta: duller overall than nominate, with no distinct lores and eyering contrast, less distinct wing bars, and pale edges on the inner flight feathers extending through what is dusky on the nominate

Both sexes of all subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black or dark gray bill with a pale base to the mandible, and black or dark gray legs and feet.