About Pachyramphus castaneus (Jardine & Selby, 1827)
The chestnut-crowned becard, Pachyramphus castaneus (Jardine & Selby, 1827), is approximately 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs around 17 g (0.60 oz). Males and females have identical plumage. The nominate subspecies P. c. castaneus has a dark chestnut-rufous, scaly-textured crown, dusky lores, a pale buff-whitish stripe above the lores, a gray stripe above the eye that widens and extends around the nape, and pale cinnamon cheeks. Most of its upperparts are cinnamon-rufous. Its wings are mostly dusky cinnamon, with dusky rufous coverts and dusky flight feathers edged in light cinnamon-rufous. Its tail is cinnamon-rufous, and its underparts are pale cinnamon-buff, with a paler tone on the throat. Compared to the nominate subspecies, subspecies P. c. saturatus has darker, more chestnut-colored upperparts and a slightly grayer, less scaly crown. Subspecies P. c. intermedius and P. c. amazonus have slightly paler upperparts and tail than the nominate. P. c. parui is darker overall than the nominate, with a more dusky chestnut crown. All subspecies have a dark iris, a blackish bill, and dusky legs and feet. The chestnut-crowned becard has a disjunct distribution, with each subspecies occupying its own range. P. c. saturatus ranges from southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru into northern Bolivia; east from this area into western Brazil as far as the Manaus region and the Purus River, with an isolated population in southeastern Venezuela's Bolívar state. P. c. intermedius is found in northern Venezuela, from the northern end of the Andes in Lara east through Falcón, Yaracuy, and the Coast Ranges in Anzoátegui, Sucre, and Monagas. P. c. parui is restricted to Cerro Parú in southern Venezuela's Amazonas state. P. c. amazonus occurs in Brazil along the Amazon, from eastern Amazonas east to the Tocantins River and Maranhão state. P. c. castaneus is found in eastern and southeastern Brazil, south of a line running roughly from Mato Grosso do Sul northeast to northern Bahia, south from that line to northern Rio Grande do Sul, and extending into southeastern Paraguay and far northeastern Argentina's Misiones Province. In the Amazon Basin, the chestnut-crowned becard lives in humid terra firme and várzea lowland forest, where it prefers forest edges and clearings with tall trees. It also inhabits riparian forest, secondary woodland, and coffee plantations in this region. Populations in northern Venezuela and southeastern Brazil occupy a similar mix of forest types, though some of these forests are drier than those in the Amazon Basin. In terms of elevation, the species occurs from sea level up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and reaches locally higher elevations in Brazil. It occurs up to 500 m (1,600 ft) in Colombia, locally 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Ecuador, locally 800 m (2,600 ft) in Peru, and up to 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in Venezuela.
