Many-colored Rush-Tyrant

At a Glance

• Scientific Name: Tachuris rubrigastra
• Population: Unkown
• Trend:  Stable
• Habitat: Freshwater or brackish marsh with thick vegetation such as cattails or rushes; also grassy lake edges

Many-colored Rush Tyrant range map, Birds of North America, https://birdsna.org, maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The Many-colored Rush-Tyrant is one of the most striking members of the Tyrannidae family, a group of birds infamous for rather drab-colored species such as the Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant, Ochraceous Attila, and Olive-sided Flycatcher. Smaller than a Carolina Chickadee, the rush tyrant is also among the most diminutive of its family.

The Many-colored Rush-Tyrant’s bold patterning and bright plumage give rise to its Spanish nickname siete colores (seven colors), a moniker shared by other beautiful but unrelated bird species found in the Americas.

Birds of Seven Colors

The lovely Painted Bunting is one of the species that shares the nickname siete colores with the Many-colored Rush-Tyrant. This vividly colored songbird is a member of the diverse Cardinalidae family, related to birds ranging from the Scarlet Tanager to the Dickcissel.

Unlike the sedentary Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, the Painted Bunting is a Neotropical migrant that breeds in the U.S. and Mexico and winters in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Further complicating matters regarding siete colores, there is also a Brazilian tanager named the Seven-colored Tanager; that bird is related to the Green-headed Tanager, which has the nickname of “seven-colored tanager” (saíra-sete-cores) in Portuguese! A songbird of Amazonia, the Paradise Tanager is also locally called siete colores, as is the Scarlet Macaw in Bolivia.

A Singing Tyrant

This bright flycatcher is the only member of its genus. There are four recognized subspecies of Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, divided by range, size, and color differences. In Bolivia, it is considered a highland species, but other subspecies are found on the west and east sides of southern South America. Another subspecies is found in coastal Peru.

Many-colored Rush-Tyrants have long legs for their size, as well as strong feet. Both of these attributes are adaptations for navigating the reeds and rushes these birds live among in their marshy surroundings.

This bird’s rich, musical song is also unusual for a flycatcher. Most other birds in this family have sharp, unmelodic calls and songs.

Song: