Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Sylvia Qu, Myriam Velázquez, Regis Nossent,
Alberto Esquivel and José Luis Cartes and is used with permission.
WHITE-THROATED SPADEBILL Platyrinchus mystaceus
A strange little fellow with a big head, the Spadebill is a flycatcher (Tyrannidae) that really does have a spade-shaped bill! Contrary to what you may expect, it doesn´t use the bill for digging, but its widened gape surrounded by sensitive bristly hairs enable him to gulp up prey in mid-air after a short flight from a low branch. The Spadebill is an inhabitant of the undergrowth of humid forest where his big, sad eye is an adaptation for improved vision in this low-light habitat.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE1524PH) Adult, PN Ybycuí, Departamento Paraguari (José Luis Cartes July 1991).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE1525PH) Adult ventral, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Qu June 2008).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE1526PH) Adult ventral, Mbaracayú Biosphere Reserve, Departamento Canidneyú (Paul Smith October 2008).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE1527PH) Adult, So Aguara´i (Myriam Velazquez June 2007).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE1528PH) Adult male, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Regis Nossent June 2005).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE1529PH) Same individual as (FPAVE1528PH) upperside showing crown (Regis Nossent June 2005).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE1530PH) Same individual as (FPAVE1528PH) upperwing (Paul Smith June 2005).
VIDEO A - (FPAVE1531VI) Adult female, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith August 2006).
VIDEO B - (FPAVE1532VI) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith September 2010).
Females lack the yellow crown patch of males, though in the field it is rarely visible.
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Platyrinchus mystaceus
1 (FPAVE1533RE) Contact call recorded Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel November 2006).
2 (FPAVE1534RE) Alarm call recorded Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel January 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.