Flammulated Treehunter
Thripadectes flammulatus
Uncommon medium-sized brownish bird of Andean montane forest from Venezuela through Ecuador and just barely into Peru. Distinctive among treehunters with its bold buffy streaking covering the entire head, back, and body. Rufous wings and tail. Sexes alike. Usually found singly or in pairs moving furtively through the understory of forest, often around bamboo, from around 2,200–3,500 m. Does not typically follow mixed-species flocks.
Identification
The flammulated treehunter is 24 to 25 cm (9.4 to 9.8 in) long and weighs 50 to 62 g (1.8 to 2.2 oz). It is the largest and most strikingly patterned member of its genus. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a blackish face and crown with sharp tawny-buff streaks that are rather golden on the crown. Their lores are speckled with blackish and golden buff. Their back is browner than the face and crown, with its blackish only along the feather shafts, and it blends to the rich medium brown rump. Their uppertail coverts are dark reddish brown. Their wing coverts are more rufescent than the back and with narrower streaks, their flight feathers dark rufescent brown, and their tail dull chestnut-brown. Their throat, breast, and upper belly are streaked with blackish and golden buff that fade to rich brown on the lower belly and flanks. Their undertail coverts are streaked with dark rufous-brown and blackish. Their iris is brown to dark brown, their bill black, and their legs and feet blackish to gray-brown. Juveniles are less distinctly streaked than adults. Subspecies T. f. bricenoi is overall paler than the nominate, with wider and blacker streaks on the upperwing coverts, an almost uniform buff throat, olive-brown instead of black streaks on the underparts, and ochraceous undertail coverts.
Taxonomy
The flammulated treehunter is a sister species of the uniform treehunter (T. ignobilis) and Peruvian treehunter (T. scrutator). It has two subspecies, the nominate T. f. flammulatus (Eyton, 1849) and T. f. bricenoi (Berlepsch, 1907).
- Scientific name
- Thripadectes flammulatus
- Authority
- (Eyton, 1849)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Thripadectes
Range and habitat
The flammulated treehunter has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is found in the Andes of southwestern Venezuela, Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, intermittently in all three Colombian Andes ranges, and more or less continuously south through Ecuador's Andes into extreme northern Peru. Subspecies T. f. bricenoi is found in the Andes of western Venezuela's Mérida state. The species inhabits montane evergreen forest and temperate forest and favors thickets of Chusquea bamboo. In elevation it mostly ranges between 2,200 and 3,500 m (7,200 and 11,500 ft) but locally occurs as low as 700 m (2,300 ft) in western Colombia.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-collared Hawk
Busarellus nigricollis
Attractive chunky hawk of marshes and wetlands. Usually seen perched quietly near water, waiting to swoop down and snatch fish or frogs. Adult is distinctive, with mostly orange plumage and a whitish head (black collar is often hard to see). Immature is brownish overall, duller than the adult, but with a similar pattern. Note rather pale, dull pinkish legs and feet (yellow or orange on most other hawks). In flight looks very broad winged and short tailed.
Bornean Shortwing
Brachypteryx erythrogyna
A small, dark songster of montane rainforest floor and undergrowth on Borneo. Male is overall dark indigo-blue with an indistinct, often concealed white eyebrow. Female has chestnut underparts, face and rump, duller chestnut-brown crown, wings and tail, with slaty-gray back, shoulders and sides. Forages on the ground where it usually stays hidden but also known to hop around rocks above the treeline. More often heard than seen. Song is an atmospheric, up-and-down series of long, metallic notes. Call, a sharp “click!”
Mountain Trogon
Trogon mexicanus
Fairly large trogon of pine and pine-oak forests in highlands; usually at upper levels in trees and often rather shy. Male is striking, with big, bold white squares on underside of tail. Female has broken white eyering on brown head and coarse black-and-white pattern under the tail. Elegant Trogon overlaps in range and can be told from Mountain by the coppery color on the top of the tail (male) or by the white stripe behind the eye (female). Also note the finely patterned tail on both male and female Elegant Trogons. The similar but smaller Collared Trogon is found mainly at lower elevation and has much finer barring on the underside of the tail.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.