Black-capped Hemispingus

The black-capped hemispingus is, on average, 15–16 cm (5.9–6.3 in) long and weighs 18–26 g (0.6–0.9 oz). It has olive-brown upperparts, and largely olive to olive-yellow underparts. The throat is ochreous-yellow, grading to a yellow-olive towards the underparts. The sides and top of the head are pure black, with a buff-and-white supercilium that stretches to the back of the neck. Although the black-capped hemispingus is confusable with the closely-related orange-browed hemispingus, these two species do not co-occur anywhere in their ranges. Additionally, they differ in the color of their supercilia (white in the black-capped and orange in the orange-browed) and the extent of their ear-coverts, which are broader in the black-capped hemispingus.

The black-capped hemispingus is an Andean inhabitant that is found from southern Venezuela south through Colombia and Ecuador to Cuzco in Peru. It inhabits moist montane and dwarf forests with large amounts of Chusquea bamboo at elevations of 1,800–3,600 m (5,900–11,800 ft).