Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher (Poecilotriccus ruficeps) [XC210289]
by Jerome Fischer from Reserva Bosque Hanne, Utuana, Loja, Ecuador (call)
Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher (Poecilotriccus ruficeps) [XC260901]
by Mitch Lysinger from Napo: 'Caba\u00f1as San Isidro', 1-2 km SW Cosanga, Ecuador (call, calls, wing display noise)
Subspecies
Formerly placed in genus Todirostrum. Forms a superspecies with Lulu's Tody-Flycatcher (Poecilotriccus luluae). Subspecies appear to form two groups on plumage type, namely "bridled group" (melanomystax, peruvianus) and "plain-headed group" (nominate, rufigenis). Two specimens from Boyacá may be hybrids (melanomystax x nominate), but otherwise lack of intergradation between the two groups, combined with notable plumage differences, suggests the groups may represent two separate species, although vocalizations similar; reproductive isolation of the two groups would help to explain curious leapfrog distribution of subspecies. Lulu's Tody-Flycatcher (Poecilotriccus luluae) probably represents a further, more definitively separated offshoot of the same lineage.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
melanomystax Hellmayr, 1927 - Andes in western Venezuela (northern Mérida, eastern Trujillo) and central Colombia (Antioquia south to Cauca and head of Magdalena Valley, also Boyacá).
ruficeps (Kaup, 1852) - Extreme south-western Venezuela (southern Táchira), and north-eastern (Norte de Santander) and south-western Colombia south to south-central Ecuador.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet