# Cryptic becard

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The **cryptic becard** (***Pachyramphus salvini***) is a species of [bird](/source/Bird) in the family [Tityridae](/source/Tityridae), the tityras, becards, and allies. It is found in [Colombia](/source/Colombia), [Ecuador](/source/Ecuador), and [Peru](/source/Peru).[1]

## Taxonomy and systematics

The cryptic becard was originally called *Pachyramphus similis* but in 1899 Richmond noted that the [binomial](/source/Binomial_nomenclature) had earlier been used for a different species. Following the [principle of priority](/source/Principle_of_priority) he assigned its current binomial *Pachyramphus salvini*.[2] The genus *[Pachyramphus](/source/Pachyramphus)* has variously been assigned to the [tyrant flycatcher](/source/Tyrant_flycatcher) family Tyrannidae and the [cotinga](/source/Cotingidae) family Cotingidae. Several early twenty-first century studies confirmed the placement of *Pachyramphus* in Tityridae and taxonomic systems made the reassignment.[3]

The cryptic becard's further taxonomy is unsettled. Until publication of a 2023 study it was treated as a subspecies of the [black-and-white becard](/source/Black-and-white_becard) (*P. albogriseus*). Following that study the [IOC](/source/International_Ornithologists'_Union), the [Clements taxonomy](/source/Clements_taxonomy), [AviList](/source/AviList), the North American Classification Committee of the [American Ornithological Society](/source/American_Ornithological_Society) (NACC), and the independent South American Classification Committee (SACC) split it as a [monotypic](/source/Monotypic) species. However, as of late 2025 [BirdLife International](/source/BirdLife_International)'s *[Handbook of the Birds of the World](/source/Handbook_of_the_Birds_of_the_World)* (HBW) retains it as a subspecies of the black-and-white becard.[4][1][5][6][7][3][8]

## Description

The cryptic becard is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighs an average of about 17 g (0.60 oz). Adult males have a glossy bluish black crown. They have blackish [lores](/source/Lore_(anatomy)), a wide white stripe from above the lores to above the eye, and a thin partial white [eye-ring](/source/Eye-ring) on an otherwise grayish face. Their nape and upperparts through their uppertail [coverts](/source/Coverts) are gray. Their wings are mostly black with wide white edges on the [secondaries](/source/Secondaries_(birds)), [tertials](/source/Tertials), and median and greater coverts; the last two show as [wing bars](/source/Wing_bar). Their tail is has a black upper surface and a white-tipped pale gray lower surface. Their throat and underparts are whitish to pale gray that is somewhat darker on the sides. Adult females have a chestnut-brown crown with a wide black band below it. They have a white stripe from above the lores to a partial white [eye-ring](/source/Eye-ring) and a black stripe through the eye on an otherwise pale gray and yellowish olive face. Their nape is pale grayish yellow-green and their back, rump, and uppertail coverts olive. Their wings are mostly blackish with wide cinnamon edges on the secondaries and coverts and thinner cinnamon edges on the [primaries](/source/Primaries_(birds)). Their tail has a dusky cinnamon-brown upper surface and a darker underside with wide cinnamon feather tips. Their chin and throat are white and their underparts pale yellow to greenish yellow. Both sexes have a brown iris, a gray [maxilla](/source/Maxilla) and a slightly darker gray [mandible](/source/Mandible), and dark gray legs and feet with yellowish soles.[9]

## Distribution and habitat

The cryptic becard is found along the western slope of the Andes from southern [Antioquia Department](/source/Antioquia_Department) in Colombia south through western Ecuador and on both the western and eastern slopes in northwestern Peru to [La Libertad](/source/Department_of_La_Libertad) and [San Martín](/source/Department_of_San_Mart%C3%ADn) departments. It also occurs in small numbers on the eastern slope from central Ecuador south. It inhabits rather dry [thorn forest](/source/Thorn_forest), somewhat moister [semi-deciduous](/source/Semi-deciduous) forest, and humid foothill and [montane forest](/source/Montane_forest). It also occurs in [secondary forest](/source/Secondary_forest) and agricultural areas like coffee plantations and pastures.[9] In elevation it ranges between 500 and 2,400 m (1,600 and 7,900 ft) in Colombia, from sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in Ecuador, and between 1,500 and 3,200 m (4,900 and 10,500 ft) in Peru.[10][11][12]

## Behavior

### Movement

The cryptic becard is a year-round resident throughout its range though some individuals make seasonal movements to the eastern slope of the Andes.[9]

### Feeding

The cryptic becard feeds on [arthropods](/source/Arthropod) and small fruits. It usually forages singly or in pairs in the upper levels of the forest and sometimes joins [mixed-species feeding flocks](/source/Mixed-species_feeding_flock). It takes food from foliage and twigs with short fluttery sallies from a perch or by briefly hovering at the end of a sally.[9]

### Breeding

The cryptic becard's breeding season has not been fully defined but appears to span at least from February to May. Its nest is a bulky globe with an entrance near its bottom. It is made mostly from dead leaves with smaller amounts of moss and plant fibers included; both sexes build it. It is typically in a vertical fork near the end of a branch between about 7 and 10 m (25 and 35 ft) above the ground. The clutch size, incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.[9]

### Vocalization

The cryptic becard's song is a "short stereotypic phrase of typically three notes *tu-tu-dwit?*" and it also makes a "rapid stuttered trill *tjududududuwit*" that might be a variation of the song.[9][4] Males sing mostly at dawn and in the early morning.[9]

## Status

The [IUCN](/source/IUCN) follows HBW taxonomy and so has not separately assessed the cryptic becard but rather includes it in the assessment of the black-and-white becard.[13] The cryptic becard is considered uncommon throughout its range.[10][11][12] It occurs in a few protected areas in Ecuador and Peru.[9]

## References

1. ["Cotingas, manakins, tityras, becards"](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/cotingas/). *IOC World Bird List*. v 15.1. March 2025. Retrieved 3 March 2025.

1. Richmond, Charles W. (1899). ["Four Preoccupied Names"](https://academic.oup.com/auk/article-abstract/16/2/186/5293940?redirectedFrom=fulltext). *Auk*. '***(2): 186. Retrieved 10 November 2025.***

1. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 29 September 2025. A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithological Union. [https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm](https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm) retrieved 29 September 2025

1. Musher, L. J., N. K. Krabbe, and J. I. Areta (2023). "Underestimated Neotropical diversity: Integrative taxonomy reveals two unrelated look-alike species in a suboscine bird (*Pachyramphus albogriseus*)". *Ornithology* 140(1):12.

1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from [https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/](https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/) retrieved 3 November 2025

1. AviList Core Team. 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. [https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025](https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025) retrieved 11 June 2025

1. R. Terry Chesser, Shawn M. Billerman, Kevin J. Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Blanca E. Hernández-Baños, Rosa Alicia Jiménez, Oscar Johnson, Nicholas A. Mason, and Pamela C. Rasmussen. "Sixty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithological Society s *Check-list of North American Birds*". *Ornithology* 2025, vol. 142:1-19 retrieved 5 September 2025

1. HBW and BirdLife International (2025). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 10. Available at: [https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy#birdlife-s-taxonomic-checklist](https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy#birdlife-s-taxonomic-checklist) retrieved 12 October 2025

1. Juárez, R., P. Pyle, and P. F. D. Boesman (2023). Cryptic Becard (*Pachyramphus salvini*), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. [https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bawbec6.01](https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bawbec6.01) retrieved 10 November 2025

1. McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). *Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia*. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-9827615-0-2.

1. Ridgely, Robert S. & Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). *The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide*. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 538. ISBN 978-0-8014-8721-7.

1. Schulenberg, T.S.; Stotz, D.F.; Lane, D.F.; O'Neill, J.P.; Parker, T.A. III (2010). *Birds of Peru*. Princeton Field Guides. revised and updated ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-0691130231.

1. BirdLife International (2018). "Black-and-white Becard *Pachyramphus albogriseus*". Vol. 2018. [doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22700655A130263946.en](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22700655A130263946.en). Retrieved 10 November 2025.

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