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
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Tropical Boubou
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Robust black-and-white bushshrike. There is a pale cinnamon wash on the belly and a white stripe across the top of the wing. Found in dense microhabitats within forest, woodland, thickets, and gardens. Not particularly shy, but spends most of its time in dense cover, usually in pairs. Highly vocal bird with a variety of calls. The song is a synchronized duet of hollow hoots from the male and ratcheting calls from the female. Has a very similar color pattern to other boubous, but its underparts are paler than those of Southern Boubou and darker than those of Swamp Boubou. Has a white stripe on the wing, unlike Zanzibar Boubou.
Gray-faced Tit-Babbler
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