Tatama Tapaculo
Scytalopus alvarezlopezi
This typical “Scytalopus” tapaculo is found only in Colombia’s western Andes. Plumage is gray with a brown tinge to the rump and faint, rusty barring on the lower underparts. Similar to Nariño Tapaculo, Spillmann’s Tapaculo, and Choco Tapaculo, and is best identified by its distinctive voice. Song is a long, pulsating series of frog-like calls that gradually increases in volume and pitch. Inhabits understory of cloud forest and is normally quite hard to see.
Identification
The Tatama tapaculo is almost entirely black, though the underparts are grayish black and the rump has a tinge of dark brown. The flanks and lower abdomen have indistinct bars. Its overall length is about 12 cm (4.7 in) and two males weighed 24.0 and 25.4 g (0.85 and 0.90 oz).
Taxonomy
Though the Tatama tapaculo was first discovered in 1992, it was not formally described until 2017. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society accepted it as a new species in May 2019. The International Ornithological Committee followed suit in June 2019 and the Clements taxonomy in July 2019. Its closest relative is the El Oro tapaculo (Scytalopus robbinsi); those two species, Stiles's tapaculo (S. stilesi), and Magdalena tapaculo (S. rodriguezi) form a distinctive clade.<p>The specific epithet honors Colombian ornithologist Humberto Álvarez-López. The English name is taken from Cerro Tatamá, the highest peak in the mountains where the Tatama tapaculo lives.
- Scientific name
- Scytalopus alvarezlopezi
- Authority
- Stiles, Laverde-R, O & Cadena, 2017
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Rhinocryptidae
- Genus
- Scytalopus
Range and habitat
The Tatama tapaculo is found primarily on the west side of the West Andes of Colombia, though it "spills over" to the east side of some ridges. It inhabits dense undergrowth in primary cloud forest but apparently shuns secondary forest. On the west side it is found from about 1,300 to 1,750 m (4,270 to 5,740 ft) elevation but on the east side can be found as high as 2,200 m (7,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Stiles et al (2017) provide the only information. The Tatama tapaculo forages for arthropods in leaf litter while walking and hopping on the ground and also flutters up to a half meter above the ground to pick prey from foliage.<p>Both the holotype and paratype of the Tatama tapaculo had enlarged gonads, which Stiles et al (2017) suggest means that the species breeds in the northern summer, when rainfall is at its lowest.<p>The Tatama tapaculo's song is "a seemingly endless, machine-like series of short, unmodulated, frog-like phrases, each involving c. 7–9 nearly identical notes, which can be repeated up to 1.5 minutes, or more" [1].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Parkesia motacilla
Brown-and-white denizen of bubbling streams and brooks. Look for white underparts with dark streaks, light buffy wash on the rear flanks, and bold white eyebrow. Stays on or near the ground, constantly bobbing its rear end up and down. Males sometime perch up high to sing. A very early migrant: arrives on the breeding grounds in eastern North America before most other warblers have even dreamed of starting migration, and arrives back on the wintering grounds as early as July or August. During the breeding season, favors fast-moving streams with lots of rocks to hop on. In the northern parts of its range, often in steep hemlock-lined ravines. Winters primarily in Middle America and the Caribbean, where it’s slightly less picky about habitat, and can be found around slower-moving water. Very similar to Northern Waterthrush, but whiter base color below, brighter pink legs, and broader white eyebrow. Also look for clean white throat (usually streaked on Northern). Best distinguished by song: several piercing clear whistles followed by a complex jumble of notes. Call note very similar to Northern: a loud, metallic chip.
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Colaptes melanochloros
Medium-sized woodpecker found in lightly forested habitats and more open areas with scattered trees. Yellow-green above with black spotted bars on the wings, back, and tail and spotted below. Note the striking face pattern with a pale eyemask, black forehead, and red hind crown. Males have a red “moustache,” which is black on females.
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Pterodroma ultima
A mainly gray or grayish brown petrel with a relatively heavy and pronounced forebody and more slender rear. Very pale faced with a relatively small, weak bill and indistinct brownish ‘M’ across back and wings. Highly pelagic, except near colonies. Great-winged Petrel is similar but uniformly brown, not gray, with a darker face. Providence Petrel is very similar but is, on average, less bulky in the forebody, appearing more slender, with a darker face. Providence also has much more contrasting white patches in the outer underwing, which in Murphy’s appear light gray at their palest. Trindade Petrel is somewhat similar, though appears more slender, and is more uniformly brown than the gray hue of Murphy’s Petrel. Silent at sea.
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