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.
Photographs on this web-site were taken by Paul Smith, Hemme Batjes, Regis Nossent,
Alberto Esquivel, Arne Lesterhuis, José Luis Cartes, Rebecca Zarza and Hugo del Castillo and are used with their permission.
YELLOW-BELLIED ELAENIA Elaenia flavogaster
Noisy, social and conspicuous, the Yellow-bellied Elaenia is the most commonly encountered of this confusing genus. He  forages clumsily in open areas with scattered trees, crashing through the branches as he chases an insect or screeching with annoyance at the approach of a competitor intent on stealing his thunder. His crest demonstrates his angst, raised when he is agitated, excited and curious. Familiarise yourself with him and you will have taken an important first step towards the identification of this most frustrating group of tyrant flycatchers.
FIGURE 1 - Adult ventral, Yacyretá, Departamento Misiones (Teatske Nieuborg 2007).
FIGURE 3 - Adult ventral, Encarnación, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith September 2008).
FIGURE 3 - Adult, Encarnación, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith July).
FIGURE 4 - Same individual upperwing (Paul Smith July).
FIGURE 5 - Adult upperwing, Encarnación, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith November).
FIGURE 6 - Nest, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
The identification of the individual in Figs 3-4 is uncertain. Mark Pearman and Rasmus Boegh consider it to belong to this species, but Rob Clay has suggested that it may be an Olivaceous Elaenia Elaenia mesoleuca a species that is extremely rare in Paraguay.
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FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6

FIGURE 6
Elaenia flavogaster
1 Dawn song after playback recorded Aguara-Ñu, Mbaracayú Biosphere Reserve, Departamento Canindeyú (Juan Mazar Barnett January 1997).
2 Duet recorded Aguara-Ñu, Mbaracayú Biosphere Reserve, Departamento Canindeyú (Juan Mazar Barnett October 1997).
Click the links to hear the calls. Longer versions of these calls can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.