Ochre-flanked Tapaculo
Eugralla paradoxa
Heard but rarely seen; a retiring little gray bird of bamboo thickets and other dense shrubbery at forest edges, along streams, and in wooded patches. Can be confiding if an observer is quiet. Feeds by hopping quickly on the ground and through bamboo. Plumage is leaden blue-gray overall with faint paler spectacles, rich buffy flanks, and pale legs. Slightly larger and stouter-billed than Magellanic Tapaculo, which often occurs alongside Ochre-flanked in bamboo thickets (bill of Magellanic is slender).
Identification
The ochre-flanked tapaculo is 14.5 cm (5.7 in) long. Two males weighed 28.6 and 30.5 g (1.01 and 1.08 oz) and other specimens of unknown sex weighed 25.5 to 29 g (0.90 to 1.02 oz). The adults' upper parts are dark gray, the underparts as far as the abdomen paler gray, and the abdomen and vent are clay brown. The flanks are tawny brown The juvenile is barred throughout with cinnamon to rufous over dusky gray. Unusual for a tapaculo, it has a "Roman nose" facial profile.
Taxonomy
The ochre-flanked tapaculo is the only member of the genus Eugralla and has no subspecies. It had at one time been assigned to genus Triptohinus but Eugralla has priority.
- Scientific name
- Eugralla paradoxa
- Authority
- (Kittlitz, 1830)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Rhinocryptidae
- Genus
- Eugralla
Range and habitat
The ochre-flanked tapaculo is a year round resident of south-central Chile (Maule Region to Los Lagos Region) and the western parts of the adjoining Argentinian provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, and Chubut. It is found from sea level to 900 m (3,000 ft) and perhaps higher, where it inhabits dense undergrowth and bamboo in Nothofagus and mature secondary forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The ochre-flanked tapaculo forages in pairs on and near the ground in dense cover. Its primary prey is thought to be arthropods.<p>The ochre-flanked tapaculo is known to "double brood", laying eggs in September and again in November. The nest is a large ball of straw and grass with a side entrance that is usually placed 1 to 2 m (3.3 to 6.6 ft) above ground, though sometimes as high as 7 m (23 ft). Nests have been found in thick bushes, small trees, and piles of branches.<p>The ochre-flanked tapaculo's song is a short series of sharp "check" notes [1]. The members of a pair keep in contact with a softer "kek" call [2].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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