White-breasted Tapaculo
Eleoscytalopus indigoticus
Small tapaculo, found close to the ground in the dense understory of humid lowland and submontane forests, where it is usually very hard to see. It is plump with a short tail that is usually held cocked. It has a gray head and back with a white breast and a brown streaky vent and rump. The song, a froglike trill, is easily overlooked.
Identification
The white-breasted tapaculo is 11 cm (4.3 in) long. Males weigh 13 to 18 g (0.46 to 0.63 oz) and females 12.2 to 16 g (0.43 to 0.56 oz). The male's upper parts are blue-gray and its rump reddish brown. The throat, chest, and belly are white and the flanks and vent area are chestnut with dark barring. Males in a small part of its range have more extensive dark underparts. Females and immatures are similar to the males but have browner upper parts.
Taxonomy
The white-breasted tapaculo and the Bahia tapaculo (Eleoscytalopus psychopompus) were formerly placed in the genus Scytalopus, but these two species are now known to be more closely related to the bristlefronts (genus Merulaxis). The Bahia tapaculo has also been proposed as a race of the white-breasted tapaculo, but genetic data refute that. The genetic data also show large differences between the northern and southern populations of white-breasted tapaculo.
- Scientific name
- Eleoscytalopus indigoticus
- Authority
- (Wied-Neuwied, M, 1831)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Rhinocryptidae
- Genus
- Eleoscytalopus
Range and habitat
The white-breasted tapaculo is found in Brazilian states from eastern Bahia south to northeastern Rio Grande do Sul, including western Paraná and eastern Santa Catarina. It inhabits the undergrowth of open forest, forest edges, and dense secondary forest. In elevation it ranges up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The white-breasted tapaculo feeds on insects captured on or very near the ground.<p>One nest was constructed of roots and moss and buried in leaves by a tree trunk. It contained two eggs.<p>The white-breasted tapaculo's song is a seven to eight second trill that increases in volume after the first one or two seconds [1]. It often sings inside tree cavities.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Crowned Woodnymph
Thalurania colombica
Favors evergreen forest and edge in tropical lowlands, often near streams. Feeds mainly at low to middle levels in shady understory, but comes to feeders at edges and in clearings. Male is stunning but often looks all dark: note the fairly long, deeply forked tail and brilliant emerald and violet plumage. Female rather dull and plain: note the black bill, green-mottled flanks, and blue-black tail with whitish corners.
Gray Antwren
Myrmotherula menetriesii
Small antwren of rainforest midstory. Males are pale gray with black and white wing bars. Throat is gray in most of its range, but in southwestern Amazonia the center of the throat is black (but never as extensive as the broad black bib of Long-winged Antwren, which also is overall a darker gray). Females are light buffy tan below, gray above, with no wing bars, appearing more two-toned than very similar but more evenly-colored female Long-winged Antwren. Often can be heard singing in the early morning, an even paced series of rising “wuee” notes at a pace of about two notes per second.
Cape May Warbler
Setophaga tigrina
Small warbler with sharp bill that is very slightly downcurved. Plumages variable. Bright adult males are yellow below with black streaks, orange cheek patch, and white patch on wing. Dullest immature females are entirely gray with indistinct streaking below, usually with a hint of paler neck sides and greenish edges to wing feathers. Breeds in boreal forest of far northern U.S. and Canada. Winters in the Caribbean and Central America. Even in migration, shows a heavy preference for spruce trees.
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