Having lived Wild in South America for some years we can honestly say that not all tyrants are in Venezuela.

We love Venezuela but there are more Tyrants outside the country than in it.  I’m talking about birds of course, the family of Tyrant Flycatchers.

 

Tyrant Flycatchers are the largest family of birds in the World, living throughout the Americas from Canada down to Patagonia.

Tyrants are unscrupulous, agressive, domineering and vicious and many of these traits apply to the feathered family of Tyrant Flycatchers. The birds are highly territorial and we have seen them defend nest sites against much larger birds, other Tyrant Flycatcher species or even hawks. We saw this pair of White-headed Marsh Tyrants defend their beautiful domed nest against Strange-tailed Marsh Tyrants.

 

 

All Tyrant Flycatchers have relatively broad, flattish beaks which have a small hook at the end. This indicates that their preferred food is other animals. Insects provide much of their food but many of the larger species will take small amphibians and reptiles as well as small rodents.

 

From a birdwatcher’s or bird photographer’s point of view they are not the most exciting of bird families. However the success of the family, there are 400 species, makes them an unmissable element of new world ornithology.

Only two thirds of all the Tyrant Flycatchers are actually flycatchers.

They are to be found in practically all habitats -from the lowland tropical forests of Peru

 

To the high altitudinal volcanic mountains of Chile.

 

Everywhere in the Americas is home to one tyrant or another. Our time travelling over the wildlands of Patagonia was interspersed with views of the Chocolate-vented Tyrant. During the breeding season the birds would call into the fierce Patagonian winds, siren voices in the wilderness. These are the tyrants that bring pleasure to our lives.