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Piratic Flycatcher (Legatus leucophaius)
Photo: Hugo Hulsberg (CC0)
🐦 Native species of the Iberá

Piratic Flycatcher

Legatus leucophaius

The pirate flycatcher that steals other birds’ nests. It usurps the domed nests of other species, above all the Great Kiskadee’s, to breed without building its own. Its insistent call gives it away in the canopy.

A small tyrant flycatcher of 14 to 15 cm with brown plumage above showing black and white streaks. The crown has a concealed yellow patch. The breast and belly are white with longitudinal black streaks. The supercilium is white. The bill is short. Its noisy, insistent call from the forest canopy gives it away. It parasitizes the nests of other birds: it takes over the domed nests of the Great Kiskadee and other species and displaces them.

Behaviour

When the time to breed comes, it actively seeks out the closed, hanging nests of other birds (caciques, oropendolas and becards) and takes them over by force. The owner of the nest is usually evicted. It feeds on fruit and some insects in the canopy. Migratory.

How and when to see it

Spring and summer during its stay in the Iberá. The insistent call from the canopy is the easiest way to detect it.

Where to see it in the Iberá

The gateways of the Great Iberá Park where piratic flycatcher has confirmed presence:

Tours to see it

Verified providers operating at the gateways where piratic flycatcher lives. You contact them directly on WhatsApp from the app.

Species profile

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