Restinga Tyrannulet

The restinga tyrannulet is about 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs 7.25 to 10 g (0.26 to 0.35 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a thin yellow supercilium, a yellow broken eye-ring, and a dusky line through the eye that continues to the rear and sweeps around the mottled dusky and yellowish ear coverts. Their crown, nape, back, and rump are greenish olive that is slightly browner on the crown. Their wings are dusky with yellowish outer webs on the flight feathers. Their wing coverts have yellow tips that form two wing bars. Their tail is dusky olive with thin greenish edges on the feathers. Their chin and throat are pale yellow. The rest of their underparts are medium yellow that is brightest on the belly and has faint greenish mottling on the breast and flanks. Both sexes have a brown iris, a black bill with a pale base to the mandible, and gray legs and feet.

The restinga tyrannulet is found in southeastern Brazil along a narrow coastal band from the floodplain of the Ribeira River in southern São Paulo state south into northeastern Rio Grande do Sul. Its primary habitat is restinga, which is low-stature woodlands on coastal sand ridges. It also occurs in adjacent evergreen forest, secondary forest, and riverside forest. In elevation it is found almost entirely very near sea level but locally occurs as high as 600 m (2,000 ft).

The restinga tyrannulet feeds primarily on arthropods and also includes fruits in its diet. It forages actively, usually from the forest's understory up to about 15 m (50 ft) above the ground. It typically perches on a sloping branch and makes short sallies to grab prey from leaves and twigs. It typically forages singly or in pairs and rarely joins mixed-species feeding flocks.