Bird
Bird
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Elaenia flavogaster
The Yellow-bellied Elaenia is a common, adaptable flycatcher of garden and forest-edge habitats across Trinidad and Tobago, most readily identified by a shaggy, often raised crest that gives it a somewhat unkempt, tousled appearance.
The Yellow-bellied Elaenia is a common, adaptable flycatcher of garden and forest-edge habitats across Trinidad and Tobago, most readily identified by a shaggy, often raised crest that gives it a somewhat unkempt, tousled appearance.
Identification
A medium-small flycatcher around 16 to 17 cm long, olive-brown above with a pale yellowish wash on the belly, two whitish wing bars, and a distinctive, bushy, often raised crest on the crown that can be flattened or erected depending on the bird's activity and alertness. The crest, along with its overall plain, somewhat drab colouring, is the most useful field identification feature.
Ecology
The Yellow-bellied Elaenia feeds on fruit and insects, foraging in garden and forest-edge vegetation, and readily perches in the open on wires, fence posts, and exposed branches, making it one of the more conspicuous small flycatchers in semi-open habitat. It builds an open cup nest in a shrub or small tree, and adapts well to gardens, secondary growth, and disturbed forest edge, tolerating a considerable degree of habitat modification.
Status in T&T
Common across both Trinidad and Tobago in gardens, forest edge, savanna, and secondary growth. It is not threatened and benefits from disturbed and semi-open habitat. It is protected under the Conservation of Wildlife Act and is not a game species.
Threats
- No significant threats; thrives in disturbed and garden habitat
