Tapajos Scythebill
Campylorhamphus probatus
A brown, tree-climbing bird with a strongly curved bill. Appears small-headed; plumage is mostly rufous-brown with buffy streaking on head and neck. Found in tall rainforest, where it is uncommon and locally distributed; often occurs in areas with extensive bamboo thickets. Generally shy and rather difficult to observe. Forages at middle and upper levels, using extraordinary bill to probe into deep bark crevices, bromeliads, and broken bamboo stems. Regularly follows mixed-species flocks. Song is a fast, rich trill, rising and falling slightly in pitch, often preceded by a longer overslurred note. Curved bill should immediately distinguish this species from other woodcreepers in range. Occurs in central Amazonia, south of the Amazon River, between the Madeira and Xingu Rivers.
Identification
The Tapajos scythebill is 22.5 to 25 cm (8.9 to 9.8 in) long and weighs 31.5 to 38 g (1.1 to 1.3 oz). It is a slim, medium-sized woodcreeper with a very long, slim, dramatically decurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. p. probatus have a light blackish head. Their back and wing coverts are dull rufous-brown with inconspicuous lighter streaks. Their rump and tail are chestnut. Their throat is dull white with a streaked appearance. Their underparts are dull brown with narrow buffy streaks with indistinct darker borders on the breast that don't continue onto the belly. Their iris is dark brown to chestnut and their bill has a blackish maxilla and a paler mandible. Subspecies C. p. cardosoi has much narrower streaks on the upper back that minimally extend to the lower back, whitish streaks on the breast with well defined darker borders, and a brown maxilla.
Taxonomy
The Tapajos scythebill was long considered conspecific with the curve-billed scythebill (C. procurvoides). By the early 2010s BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) had separated it as this species. In July 2023 the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) adopted the split and in October 2023 the Clements taxonomy followed suit. The three systems assign it these two subspecies:<p>Subspecies C. p. cardosoi was initially described as a species in its own right.<p>The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society retains these two taxa within the curve-billed scythebill.
- Scientific name
- Campylorhamphus probatus
- Authority
- Zimmer, JT, 1934
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Campylorhamphus
Range and habitat
Subspecies C. p. probatus of the Tapajos scythebill is found in southwestern Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon River between the Madeira and Tapajós rivers. C. p. cardosoi is found in eastern Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon between the Tapajós and Xingu rivers and south into Mato Grosso state. The species inhabits humid evergreen forest. It greatly favors terra firme but occasionally occurs in floodplain and seasonally flooded forest. It often occurs in bamboo thickets or vine-rich areas. In all forest types the species favors the interior though it does visit the forest edges. In elevation it occurs below 500 m (1,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Tapajos scythebill is assumed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The Tapajos scythebill's diet has not been described but is assumed to be mostly if not entirely arthropods. It almost always forages as part of mixed-species feeding flocks and will occasionally follow army ant swarms. It forages by gleaning and probing while hitching up and along trunks, branches, vines, and bamboo.<p>Nothing is known about the Tapajos scythebill's breeding biology.<p>The nominate Tapajos scythebill's song is "a rapid trill...often (not always) with [a] longer introductory note, 'wheee, di, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-dew' ". That of C. p. cardosoi is similar, but with a higher-pitched introductory note and a faster pace. The species's usual call is "an explosive, relatively harsh 'chit-di-dit' ".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Purple-backed Thornbill
Ramphomicron microrhynchum
Small hummingbird with an extremely short, straight bill. Males are unmistakable: brilliant purple above and green below. Females are green above and whitish below with dense green spotting, especially on the flanks. Both sexes have a fairly long, notched tail. Occurs in the Andes from western Venezuela to Peru. Usually seen singly in the canopy or borders of humid elfin forest near treeline, though can gather in larger numbers at flowering trees. Also ventures into páramo; occasionally descends to lower elevations in the dry season. Seasonal movements are not understood.
Speckled Hummingbird
Adelomyia melanogenys
Small brownish hummingbird with distinctive black cheek and pale buffy eyebrow. Throat variably speckled; some populations are cleaner than others. Green back; dark tail with buffy corners. Face pattern could recall a hermit, but combination of small size, straight dark bill, and squared tail should alleviate any confusion. Widespread and fairly common in the Andes, where it forages low within forest or at the forest edge. Found from 1,000–3,000m. Visits feeders.
Writhe-billed Hornbill
Rhabdotorrhinus waldeni
A large rare bird of lowland and foothill forest on Panay and Negros, although almost extinct on the latter. Mostly black with a cream-colored tail with black terminal band, an orange casque, and a wrinkled lower bill. Male has a rufous head, a yellow pouch, and yellow around the eye. Female has a black neck and head, a smaller bill and casque, and blue and yellow around the eye and on the chin. The only other hornbill in range is Visayan, but Writhe-billed is larger, with a pale bill. Voice includes a three-noted throaty chuckle.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.