Great Xenops
Megaxenops parnaguae
Large and subtly beautiful xenops with a pointy curved bill. Has bright rusty plumage with a white throat. Inhabits caatinga woodland; unlike other xenops, does not climb trunks or use its tail for support. Often accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is a series of nervous chattering notes.
Identification
The great xenops is 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long. It has a heavy, wedge-shaped, slightly upturned bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a mostly light orange-rufous face with some blackish around the eye. Their forehead is pale but bright cinnamon-buff. Their crown and upperparts are unmarked bright rufous and their tail bright cinnamon-rufous. Their wing coverts are bright rufous, their primary coverts dull brownish, and their flight feathers bright orange-rufous with dark fuscous tips. Their throat and malar area are white and the rest of their underparts mostly light orange-rufous. Their flanks are slightly darker and their undertail coverts more rufous. Their iris is dark brown, their bill dusky brownish gray with a white base to the mandible, and their legs and feet dark gray to black.
Taxonomy
The great xenops is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies. It is only very distantly related to the members of genus Xenops and is instead sister to two species of genus Philydor.
- Scientific name
- Megaxenops parnaguae
- Authority
- Reiser, 1905
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Megaxenops
Range and habitat
The great xenops is found in a diagonal band from Piauí and Ceará states southwest through Tocantins and Bahia into Minas Gerais and Goiás. It inhabits the caatinga ecoregion and the semi-humid woodlands and forest within it. In elevation it ranges from 200 to 1,100 m (700 to 3,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Acanthiza murina
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