Nest and eggs of the southern Central American endemic Tawny-chested Flycatcher Aphanotriccus capitalis

Abstract

The Aphanotriccus, Lathrotriccus and Cnemotriccus clade (Cicero & Johnson 2002, Ohlson et al. 2008, Tello et al. 2009) comprises five species of tyrant flycatcher that inhabit dense second growth, disturbed forest, riverine forest and forest edges (Stiles & Skutch 1989, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Fitzpatrick 2004). These species show generally patchy distributions due to appropriate habitats being isolated from one another (Stiles & Skutch 1989, Ridgely & Tudor 1994, Fitzpatrick 2004). The breeding biology of the species in this clade is reasonably well known (Fitzpatrick 2004), with good descriptions of the nest and eggs of Fuscous Cnemotriccus fuscatus, Euler's Lathrotriccus euleri and Grey-breasted Flycatchers L. griseipectus (Fitzpatrick 2004, Greeney 2014). On the other hand, the breeding biology of both Aphanotriccus species is poorly known (Fitzpatrick 2004) and restricted to an observation of nestbuilding and an adult carrying food to another nest of Tawny-chested Flycatcher A. capitalis at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica (Young & Zook 1999).