Description of Eggs, Nest, and Parental Care of the Smoky Bush Tyrant (Myiotheretes fumigatus) from Ecuador

Abstract

We report the first nest of the Smoky Bush Tyrant (Myiotheretes fumigatus) which was found on 11 October 2009 at the Yanayacu Biological Station, Napo Province in Ecuador. The nest was a shallow open cup, 2 m above ground on the side of a dead stump covered in epiphytes. The nest was 12 cm wide by 6.5 cm in height; internally, the cup was 7 cm wide by 4 cm deep and was lined predominantly with scales from the tree-fern (Cyathea spp.), but included a few small sticks and brightly colored feathers. Both eggs were predominantly white with a few small, widely dispersed, dark reddish spots, predominantly around the fattest area. They measured 24.0 × 18 and 23.0 × 17.5 mm, and weighed 3.6 and 3.5 g, respectively. The first fully feathered fledgling left the nest on 2 November and the second on 3 November, for a nestling period of 16–17 days. We noted the presence of a third bird (besides the pair) which remained within the territory through the entire nesting period, at times in close association with the breeding pair.