Rufous-breasted Leaftosser
Sclerurus scansor
Very secretive nondescript bird that moves stealthily on the ground of humid forests, digging in the leaf litter, where it is normally difficult to see. Brown overall with a long and slender bill, a rufous rump and breast, and a white throat. The rather infrequently given song is a sharp descending trill.
Identification
The rufous-breasted leaftosser is one of the larger members of genus Sclerurus. It is 17.5 to 20.1 cm (6.9 to 7.9 in) long and weighs 30 to 41 g (1.1 to 1.4 oz). The sexes are alike. The nominate subspecies has a dark brownish face with a somewhat grizzled appearance. Its crown is very dark brown with blackish scalloping. Its back is rich dark brown, its rump bright chestnut, and its uppertail coverts chestnut with reddish brown tips. Its wings are dark reddish brown and its tail is sooty blackish with some faint red-brown. Its throat is pale grayish white with dusky scaling and its upper breast dull rufescent brown with a scaly appearance. It has a wide ochraceous chestnut band across the middle of its breast. Its belly and flanks are dark olivaceous brown with chestnut tones and its undertail coverts are similar with richer chestnut. Its iris is dark brown, its maxilla black, its mandible black with a whitish base, and its legs and feed blackish brown. Juveniles resemble adults but are overall darker.<p>Subspecies S. s. cearensis is slightly smaller than the nominate. It has a clear white unscaled throat and slightly brighter upper- and underparts.
Taxonomy
The rufous-breasted leaftosser's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy assign it two subspecies, the nominate S. s. scansor (Ménétries, 1835) and S. s. cearensis (Snethlage, E, 1924). BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the taxa as two separate species, the rufous-breasted leaftosser sensu stricto and the Ceara leaftosser S. cearensis. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society also does not recognize the "Ceara leaftosser" but does not address subspecies within the rufous-breasted.<p>The rufous-breasted and grey-throated leaftosser (S. albigularis) are sister species.<p>This article follows the one species, two-subspecies model.
- Scientific name
- Sclerurus scansor
- Authority
- (Ménétriés, 1835)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Sclerurus
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of the rufous-breasted leaftosser is found from central Brazil's Mato Grosso, Goiás, and Minas Gerais states south into Rio Grande do Sul and through eastern Paraguay into northeastern Argentina's Misiones Province. It mostly inhabits lowland tropical rainforest and montane evergreen forest, and also occurs in mature secondary forest. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1,600 m (5,200 ft).<p>The "Ceara" subspecies of the rufous-breasted leaftosser is found separately in northeastern Brazil between Ceará and Bahia. It inhabits the interior understorey in enclaves of brejos de altitude (humid relict forest) within the drier Caatinga. In elevation it ranges between 550 and 1,050 m (1,800 and 3,400 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The nominate subspecies of the rufous-breasted leaftosser is a year-round resident throughout its range and the "Ceara" subspecies is assumed to be also.<p>The nominate subspecies of rufous-breasted leaftosser forages mostly on the ground, flipping aside leaves, probing the ground and gleaning from it and leaf litter while hopping rather than walking. It usually forages singly, occasionally in pairs, and sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Its diet has not been detailed but has been documented to include beetles, spiders, and true bugs. The "Ceara" subspecies' diet has not been documented but is assumed to be mostly arthropods. It is assumed to forage in the same manner as the nominate.<p>The breeding season of the rufous-breasted leaftosser's nominate subspecies is thought to be in the austral spring and summer. It nests in a burrow with a cup of leaves in a chamber at its end; the burrow may be in an earthen bank or in the root ball of a fallen tree. The clutch size is two or three eggs. Nothing is known about the breeding biology of the "Ceara" leaftosser.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Pachycephala melanura
Chunky, rounded songbird with heavy thick bill. Found across a wide range of habitats across its range: largely mangroves in Australia, but also inhabits freshwater swamps in New Guinea and forests and forest edge on smaller islands. Male has an olive-yellow back, black head, white chin, bright yellow underparts, and thick yellow hindcollar. Female plain gray above, paler gray below, with yellow undertail and in some subspecies a yellow belly. Overlaps very marginally with the very similar Golden Whistler in eastern Queensland, but note mangrove habitat as well as slightly longer bill and darker uppertail; also note significant yellow on underparts in female and different song. Vocalizations include variations on whistled songs, sometimes with a whip-like ending.
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
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Dark gray cuckoo with an unusually long tail and barring on the underparts. Found in forest and thick woodland. Shy and retiring, and most easily found by voice. There are two main vocalizations. One is a long series of slurred “treow” calls which become more emphatic. This sometimes leads into the second call type, which is a three-noted “toot twet tow.” Very similar to Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, and best separated by voice, but also identified by paler upperparts, narrower barring on the underparts, and paler rufous on the undertail.
Bullock's Oriole
Icterus bullockii
The common oriole in the western U.S., wintering throughout Mexico. Adult males have a large white wing patch and mostly orange face with a black eyeline. Females are duller overall, mostly gray on the belly, usually with brightest orange on the face. Immature males are similar to females, but usually slightly brighter and with a black throat and eyeline. Breeds in riparian corridors and open woods; winters in any wooded habitat. Visits feeders with nectar and fruits. Females can be very difficult to distinguish from Baltimore Oriole, and hybrids do occur. Bullock's is usually brightest on the face, not the breast.
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