Chocó Tyrannulet

The Choco tyrannulet is 10.5 to 11.5 cm (4.1 to 4.5 in) long and weighs 6.6 to 8.6 g (0.23 to 0.30 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mottled yellow forehead, dusky lores, a yellow supercilium, a dark stripe through the eye, and golden-brown ear coverts. Their crown, back, and rump are dark olive. Their wings are dusky with yellow edges on the coverts and flight feathers. Their tail is dusky. Their throat is whitish, their breast pale gray with a pale yellow tinge on the sides, their belly whitish, and their vent area pale yellow. They have a gray or brown iris, a small, rounded, black bill, and gray or black legs and feet.

The Choco tyrannulet is a bird of the Chocó bioregion. It is found from southwestern Colombia's Cauca Department south on the western side of the Andes through Ecuador to Santa Elena and Guayas provinces. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid lower montane forest, mature secondary woodland, coffee plantations, and gardens. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Colombia and to 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in Ecuador.

The Choco tyrannulet feeds on insects and small fruits, especially those of mistletoes (Loranthaceae). It forages singly or in pairs and sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It feeds mostly in the forest canopy, perching horizontally with its tail cocked and actively moving about and gleaning food while perched or with short flights.