Ruddy Treerunner
Margarornis rubiginosus
This small forest bird is bright rufous overall with an obvious white throat and eyebrow. Similar to various spinetails and foliage-gleaners, but it’s the only small rufous-brown bird in its range with such a prominent head pattern. Usually seen singly or in pairs, often following a mixed-species flock. Found in montane forests and edges from 1200m up to treeline. Hitches up mossy branches, probing around for invertebrates.
Identification
The ruddy treerunner is 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 17 to 24 g (0.60 to 0.85 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a buffy whitish supercilium and eyering on an otherwise dull rufescent brown face. Their crown is dull reddish brown and they have a narrow, paler reddish, collar. Their upperparts and wing coverts are reddish chestnut. Their flight feathers are dark fuscous with rufescent edges. Their tail is a slightly paler reddish chestnut than the back; the ends of the tail feathers lack barbs, giving a spiny appearance. Their throat is whitish with a buffy white lower edge. Their breast is dull rufescent brown with pale buff "Vees" on its upper part and darker buff spots on the lower. Their belly is almost unmarked dull rufescent brown and their flanks and undertail coverts are a darker chestnut brown. Their iris is dark brown to brown, their maxilla brown to black, their mandible pinkish horn to pale pinkish white, and their legs and feet variable from grayish olive to dull pinkish to grayish brown. Juveniles have less distinct markings on their breast than adults. Subspecies M. r. boultoni has a deeper buff supercilium than the nominate, with slightly darker upperparts and deeper, richer, cinnamon underparts with smaller and fewer markings.
Taxonomy
The ruddy treerunner has two subspecies, the nominate M. r. rubiginosus (Lawrence, 1865) and M. r. boultoni (Griscom, 1924).
- Scientific name
- Margarornis rubiginosus
- Authority
- Lawrence, 1865
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Margarornis
Range and habitat
The ruddy treerunner is a bird of the highlands. It has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is found from the Cordillera de Guanacaste in northern Coasta Rica south into Panama's Chiriquí Province. Subspecies M. r. boultoni is found in eastern Chiriquí and Veraguas Provinces. The species inhabits the interior and edges of montane evergreen forest at elevations between 1,200 and 3,000 m (3,900 and 9,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The ruddy treerunner is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The ruddy treerunner feeds on a wide variety of arthropods. It typically forages singly or in pairs, usually in mixed-species feeding flocks, and at any level of the forest. It acrobatically hitches up trunks and along limbs, gleaning prey from branches and epiphytes, often while hanging upside down.<p>The ruddy treerunner's breeding season is not fully defined but appears to span from March to May. It builds an oval ball from moss, pieces of epiphyte, and ferns attached to a tree trunk and lines it with plant fibers and fern scales. Its tubular entrance is at its base. The clutch size, incubation period, and time to fledging are not known. It appears that both parents incubate the eggs, and both are known to care for nestlings.<p>The ruddy treerunner's call is "a thin, whistled tsit, usually in [a] rapid, irregular series". It also makes "metallic chirping notes and a descending trill".
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Band-tailed Pigeon
Patagioenas fasciata
Large dove found in mature montane forests from the western U.S. and Canada into Middle and South America. Soft blue-gray above and unique purplish-gray below, with white crescent on the nape. Yellow feet. Bill is yellow with black tip in northern populations, all yellow in southern ones. Forms large flocks in coniferous forests and montane areas where it feeds on seeds and fruits. When it takes off, wings make loud clapping sound.
Rusty-naped Pitta
Hydrornis oatesi
Relatively dull for a pitta, but subtly attractive nonetheless. Algae green above and dirt brown below, with a soft orange nape and a thin black line behind the eye. Female is duller than the male. Like other pittas, shy and difficult to see, hopping about and foraging on the ground, typically under thick cover. This species prefers deep and densely wooded ravines and gorges, from which its repeated explosive “chom-WIT!” can occasionally be heard.
Trinidad Piping-Guan
Pipile pipile
Large, turkey-like bird found only in the forests of northern Trinidad. It is black with white patches on the wings and crown, a light blue face, and an azure dewlap (flap of bare skin) that dangles from its throat. It is usually seen high in the trees, but on rare occasions can descend to the ground. Song is a series of drawn out, rising whistles, and it also sometimes rattles its wings loudly in flight. Locally known as “pawi”, this impressive bird is highly endangered due to hunting, and is regularly seen in only a few places, such as near the town of Grand Riviere.
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