Brown-capped Redstart

The brown-capped whitestart is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 8.5 to 11 g (0.30 to 0.39 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly gray head with a rufous crown, a whitish stripe above the lores, and white crescents above and below the eye. Their upperparts and wings are mostly gray with an olive mantle. Their tail is black with much white on the outer feathers. Their throat and most underparts are yellow and their undertail coverts white. They have a dark iris, a blackish bill, and blackish legs and feet. Juveniles have a brownish gray head and upperparts, a buffy-brown throat and breast, and a pale yellow belly.

The brown-capped whitestart has a disjunct distribution. Its larger range is on the eastern slope of the Andes from central Bolivia's La Paz Department south into northern Argentina as far as La Rioja Province. A smaller separate range is further south in the Sierras de Córdoba. Some maps show its range as continuous. The species inhabits the edges and clearings of forest and woodlands and is also found in gardens. In Bolivia it is found mostly in dry deciduous forest but favors more humid landscapes in Argentina. In Argentina it also is found mostly in native forest during the breeding season and at lower elevations in plantations of non-native species in the non-breeding. In elevation it overall ranges mostly between 1,400 and 3,200 m (4,600 and 10,500 ft) but locally reaches 3,800 m (12,500 ft) in Bolivia. In Argentina it is most common between 1,400 and 1,700 m (4,600 and 5,600 ft) but occurs as low as 400 m (1,300 ft) in the non-breeding season.

The brown-capped whitestart feeds on adult and larval insects, spiders, and other arthropods. It forages mostly by gleaning from the forest's understory to its middle levels. It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. Most Myioborus whitestarts flick the white of their tails to startle ("start") prey but the brown-capped seldom does so.