The Tityras are peculiar bird species. In spanish, they are known as the “Pájaro chancho” or Pig Birds, because of their calls, which resemble a pig´s sound. The Black-crowned Tityra has mostly white body and a… black crown, hence the name. The female has brown face, while the male has black face instead. Both have black feathers in the wing linings. They make their nests by reusing a woodpecker’s hole made into a tree, and we even saw one woodpecker coming into the nest that the tityras were preparing. The female was going out of the nest after having deposited twigs that served as construction material, then landed just outside of the nest with more twigs. The male was not far away from the female and guarded the nest when she was not present.


