NESTING AND FORAGING ECOLOGY OF THE RUFOUS- CROWNED TODY-TYRANT (POECILOTRICCUS RUFICEPS) IN EASTERN ECUADOR

We describe the nest and eggs of the Rufous-crowned Tody-Tyrant (Poecilotriccus ruficeps), and quantitatively describe its foraging ecology at 2100 m on the east slope of the Ecuadorian Andes. All nests (n = 9) were moss and leaf balls, with a hooded side entrance, suspended from the tips of Chusquea sp. bamboo shoots. Average nest height was 2.5 m. Clutch size, determined at six nests, was two eggs. Eggs were white to pale salmon, with sparse red-brown flecking, heaviest around the larger end and measured 16.4 by 12.0 mm. Breeding behavior was recorded from April to November and nesting success was 38%. Rufous-crowned Tody-Tyrants foraged in the lower-mid strata of vegetation in disturbed areas (e.g., bam- boo at forest borders), primarily by making upward-diagonal sally maneuvers to attack insects on the undersides of live leaves. Accepted 1 July 2005.