Coopmans's elaenia

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Coopmans's elaenia (Elaenia brachypteravon) is a small tyrant flycatcher about 13.5 cm long. Males and females look alike.

Taxonomy
It was once considered a subspecies of the lesser elaenia. A 2015 study led to it being recognized as a separate species from 2016. It has no subspecies (monotypic).

What it looks like
- Head is brownish olive with lighter cheeks and a thin white eyering; a small white patch can be seen on the crown.
- Upperparts are brownish olive; wings are dusky with white edges on the flight feathers; white on the wing shows as two wide bars when the wing is closed.
- Tail is dusky.
- Throat is gray; breast gray-olive; belly and undertail coverts pale yellow.
- Eyes are dark brown; bill is black with a pinkish base to the lower bill; legs and feet are black.

Distribution
The species has two separate populations:
- One in southwestern Colombia (Nariño) extending into northern Ecuador.
- Another on the east side of the Ecuadorian Andes in Napo and Morona-Santiago.
There is speculation the range may extend into southern Colombia and northeastern Peru.

Habitat and range in elevation
It lives in semi-open areas such as light woodlands, clearings, and forest edges.
Altitude ranges roughly from 700 to 2,800 meters in the northwest, and about 900 to 1,900 meters east of the Andes.

Behavior and diet
Coopmans's elaenia is believed to be a year-round resident. Its diet and foraging habits are not well known, but are probably similar to the lesser elaenia.

Breeding
Very little is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalizations
Songs helped separate it from the lesser elaenia. The two populations have different dawn songs: the northwestern population sings “tsee… tsee… chee-wee”; the eastern population sings “wit… wit… weedeew.” The daytime song is “a burry ’bweer, wheeb, wher’r’r’r’.” A unique rattling call lasts up to about 1 second with up to 15 notes and has not been heard in the lesser elaenia.

Conservation status
The IUCN lists Coopmans's elaenia as Least Concern. The population size is unknown and likely decreasing, but there are no identified immediate threats. In the northwest, identification difficulties make its status unclear, and east of the Andes it is known from only a few locations, making density hard to evaluate.