About Muscisaxicola albifrons (Tschudi, 1844)
The white-fronted ground tyrant, Muscisaxicola albifrons, is the largest species in its genus, with a body length ranging from 21.5 to 24 cm (8.5 to 9.4 in). Males and females have identical plumage. Adult individuals have a white forehead that extends backward in a V shape above the eyes, paired with a warm grayish brown crown, while the rest of the face is blackish. The nape and back are brownish gray. The wings are dark brown, with wide white edges on the secondary feathers that form a distinct panel on the wing. The tail is dark brown, with grayish white edges along the outermost feathers. The throat, breast, and belly are pale gray with faint darker markings, and the undertail coverts are white. Adults have a brown iris, a black bill, and entirely black legs and feet. Juvenile white-fronted ground tyrants have less white on the forehead than adults. They have cinnamon edges on their wing coverts, buff edges on their primary and secondary feathers, and drab gray edges on their outer tail feathers. This species is distributed along the Andes Mountains, from Ancash Department in north-central Peru, south through the extreme northern tip of Chile, into La Paz Department in western Bolivia. It primarily lives in wetland areas called bofedales that host cushion plants, and it also occupies nearby drier landscapes. It occurs at elevations above 3,700 m (12,100 ft), reaching up to 5,200 m (17,100 ft) in Peru and 5,600 m (18,400 ft) in Chile. Individuals of this species have been recorded roosting in glacier crevasses and nesting in ice caves.
