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
The great xenops is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The great xenops feeds on adult and larval arthropods including a variety of insects and spiders. It forages by itself and in pairs, and often (perhaps usually) joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It works its way along branches but does not use its tail for support while searching live and dead leaves and bark. It sometimes pulls or pries off bark.<p>Nothing is known about the great xenops' breeding biology.<p>The great xenops' song is a "long, very high, loud, nervous, unstructured series of chattering or liquid 'toc-toc-' and 'Wic-wic' notes, rising and falling with sudden crescendos".
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Galapagos Flycatcher
Myiarchus magnirostris
Drab but entertaining flycatcher endemic to Galápagos. Plumage is largely brownish-gray with a yellow belly, pale gray throat, and white wingbars; head has a rusty tinge in fresh plumage. Also note stout bill. The only member of its genus found in Galápagos, greatly simplifying ID. Completely fearless of people. Energetically chases insects from the ground or from elevated perches, such as bushes, cacti, spotting scopes, and surprised tourists.
Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher
Poecilotriccus pulchellus
Tiny, boldly-colored flycatcher. Compact and short-tailed; yellow below, black above, with a white throat and mustache, and small red shoulder patch. Found in secondary forest, especially with tall bamboo, in a limited range along the foothills of the Andes in southern Peru. Its chirping musical song is often duetted.
Manus Cuckooshrike
Coracina ingens
A fairly large gray bird with a heavy bill, a prominent black blotch between bill and eye, and a white underside. Found singly or in pairs in forest edges and open environments with trees, avoiding dense forest. The smaller Manus Cicadabird is the only other cuckooshrike in its limited range on the Admiralty Islands; the cuckooshrike can be distinguished from the cicadabird by its white belly. Gives “kitcheek” or “sh-zick” calls.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.