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Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Hemme Batjes, Frank Fragano and Sylvia Qu and is used with their permission.
CATTLE TYRANT Machetornis rixosa
A pair of long-legged birds hitching a ride on the back of a horse or a bull are probably this species. Of course centuries ago they would have hitched on the back of a capybara or a tapir, but horses are a lot easier to find these days. But its not for the ride that these flycatchers accompany large mammals, the insects that are stirred up by the hooves of the larger beast provide an easy and relatively effortless meal for their miniature jockeys. They descend to the ground and, after a short chase, collect their booty with a snap of their bill. Though he looks like a relatively dull, uninteresting bird, hidden beneath his crown is a rarely seen splash of scarlet, an erectile crest used only in display or when the bird feels the need to intimidate a rival.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE2865PH) Adult ventral, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE3482PH) Adult, Fortín Patria, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith July 2012).
FIGURE 3- (FPAVE2866PH) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith September 2008).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE2867PH) Pair, Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Hemme Batjes November 2005).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE2868PH) Adult , Arroyo Mboi Kae, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith August 2005).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE2869PH) Same individual as (FPAVE2868PH) upperwing (Paul Smith August 2005).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE2870PH) Pair in flight, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Qu May 2008).
VIDEO - (FPAVE2871VI) Adult, Tres Gigantes, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith August 2011).
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Machetornis rixosa
1 (FPAVE2872RE) Song  recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith March 2007).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.