Slaty Becard

The slaty becard is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long. Adult males have a black crown and nape and a whitish spot above the lores on an otherwise slaty gray face. Their upperparts are mostly slaty gray with some black on the back. Their wings are blackish with thin white edges on the flight feathers and a black patch on the primary coverts. Their tail is dusky black; the feathers sometimes have pale grayish edges. Their underparts are gray that is slightly lighter on the throat. Adult females have a dark cinnamon-rufous crown, a pale spot above the lores, and a buff-cinnamon face. Their upperparts are bright cinnamon-rufous. Their wings' flight feathers are blackish with rufescent edges. Their tail is cinnamon. Their throat is whitish. Their underparts are whitish cinnamon-buff that is somewhat more buffy on the upper breast. Both sexes have a dark iris, a blackish bill with a grayish base to the mandible, and blackish legs and feet.

The slaty becard is found in western Ecuador from western Esmeraldas Province south and slightly into northern Peru's Tumbes and Piura departments. It inhabits semi-humid and deciduous woodlands, clearings and plantations with scattered trees, and in a few locations dry scrubby ravines and humid cleared areas. In elevation it occurs mostly below 600 m (2,000 ft) in Ecuador and up to 750 m (2,500 ft) in Peru.

The slaty becard's diet has not been studied. It typically is found in pairs, usually in the sub-canopy or canopy, but also regularly forages near and on the ground.