Spotted Tody-Flycatcher Gallery

Todirostrum maculatum

The Birds of the World website offers these introductory words about the Spotted Tody-Flycatcher:  Just about the most widespread of the Amazonian Todirostrum flycatchers, the Spotted Tody-Flycatcher is well named for its quite heavily streaked underparts. Compared to most of its sympatric congenerics, this species lacks any black on the head. The Spotted Tody-Flycatcher occurs from northeast Venezuela south and east across much of Amazonia, as far as eastern Peru and northwest Bolivia; it also is found on Trinidad. Because of its ability to persist in secondary habitats, even in overgrown pastures, the species is generally common, although it seems to be mainly associated with wet areas, e.g. along rivers, and even mangroves. Its altitudinal range embraces from sea level to 500 m. Like other Todirostrum, the Spotted Tody-Flycatcher is an insectivore that hunts in pairs or alone, making short aerial sallies to capture prey. Breeding is comparatively well known, with eggs recorded in all months, and both members of the pair construct the nest, although only the female incubates the 1–2 eggs.

I saw and photographed my first Spotted Tody-Flycatcher on the morning of August 19, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was at Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau located on the Juruena River west of Alta Floresta.  That morning we were up early for a boat ride on the river when we spotted a Spotted Tody-Flycatcher in a tree near the river.  Since the sexes look the same, we could not tell if the bird we watched was a male or a female.  For a more detailed description of the trip that included my sighting of this bird look at this blog post.  Here are some of my photos of this cute little bird.