Birds
Fire-eyed Diucon
Xolmis pyrope · also called diucon
Sitting motionless on an exposed perch before darting out to snatch a passing insect, a fire-eyed diucon announces itself with a pair of startlingly bright red eyes rarely matched by any other bird sharing its southern South American forest edges.
Overview
The fire-eyed diucon, Xolmis pyrope, is a Least Concern bird native to forest and grassland habitat across southern Chile and Argentina. Its striking red eyes, its habit of hunting from prominent open perches, and its relatively large build among tyrant flycatchers make it one of the more visually distinctive and conspicuous songbirds found anywhere in the region.
A flycatcher that prefers to be seen
Where many small forest birds stay hidden within cover, the fire-eyed diucon instead perches boldly out in the open, its striking red eyes and confident posture making it one of the easiest tyrant flycatchers to spot across the forests and grasslands of southern Chile and Argentina.
Status
Least Concern, remaining widespread and generally stable across suitable forest edge and grassland habitat in southern Chile and Argentina.
Fire-eyed Diucon: common questions
Why is it called the fire-eyed diucon?
This species has striking bright red eyes, a feature that gives the species its common name and makes it unusually easy to identify at close range compared with many similarly sized birds.
How does the fire-eyed diucon catch its food?
This species typically hunts by sitting motionless on an exposed perch before making a short, quick flight to catch passing insects, a technique known as sallying.
Is the fire-eyed diucon related to true flycatchers?
It belongs to the tyrant flycatcher family, one of the largest bird families in the Americas, though its common name references an unrelated group of birds rather than its actual taxonomic family.
Is the fire-eyed diucon a shy bird?
No, this species often perches prominently in the open rather than remaining hidden, making it one of the more visible birds found at forest edges and clearings.