Pernambuco Foliage-gleaner
Automolus lammi
Cinnamon above and paler below; note the striking white throat and pale eyes. Found in the understory of a precious few patches of humid forest and old second growth, where it usually accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is a vigorous fast series of 4–6 harsh nasal “ki-dee” notes. The similar-looking but geographically distant White-eyed Foliage-gleaner’s song is very different (a fast series of 5–7 slurred notes).
Identification
The Pernambuco foliage-gleaner is 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long. It is a fairly large member of its genus and has a heavy bill. The sexes have the same plumage, which is similar to that of the formerly conspecific white-eyed foliage-gleaner. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark brownish face with faint reddish streaks on the ear coverts, grizzled reddish brown and buffy lores, and a white malar area. Their crown is dark brown with narrow rufous streaks. Their back and rump are dark brown that blends to rufous uppertail coverts. Their wings are dark rufous with pale cinnamon at the bend. Their tail is bright rufous. Their throat and the sides of their neck are white with a yellow tinge, with a fairly sharp contrast with the creamy olive-buff breast and belly. The sides of their breast and flanks are brownish and their undertail coverts pale rufous. Their iris is whitish, their bill darkish, and their legs and feet grayish.
Taxonomy
The Pernambuco foliage-gleaner was previously treated as a subspecies of the white-eyed foliage-gleaner (A. leucophthalmus). Following a 2008 publication, major taxonomic systems elevated it to species rank. <p>The Pernambuco foliage-gleaner, white-eyed foliage-gleaner, olive-backed foliage-gleaner (A. infuscatus), and Para foliage-gleaner (A. paraensis) form a superspecies.
- Scientific name
- Automolus lammi
- Authority
- Zimmer, JT, 1947
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Automolus
Range and habitat
The Pernambuco foliage-gleaner is found in the Pernambuco Center of Endemism, in the far eastern Brazilian states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Sergipe. It inhabits tropical evergreen forest and mature secondary forest. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to about 550 m (1,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Pernambuco foliage-gleaner is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Details about the Pernambuco foliage-gleaner's diet are lacking, though it is known to feed on arthropods. It usually forages as part of a mixed-species feeding flock, and tends to mostly stay low in dense growth in the forest's understory. It gleans and pulls its prey from dead leaves, debris, and epiphytes.<p>Nothing is known about the Pernambuco foliage-gleaner's breeding biology.<p>The Pernambuco foliage-gleaner's song is what sets it apart from the white-eyed foliage-gleaner. It is "a strident series of 2–11 closely spaced (3–4/second), frequency-modulated notes or doublets, each with a particularly harsh, grating quality, but each doublet comprised a harsh note and a sharp thin note". Its call is loud "weck" notes that may be uttered up to 20 times. It also makes "kwek" and "kwek-kwaah" calls that are like those of the white-eyed foliage-gleaner.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous Gnateater
Conopophaga lineata
Small, compact bird with long legs and a short-tail. Found in the understory of dense humid forests and open woodlands. Note the rufous-orange face and breast, pale collar, olive-brown upperparts, and buffy belly. Males have a bold gray eyebrow which is duller in females, resembling Black-cheeked Gnateater, but with a bicolored bill.
Large Elaenia
Elaenia spectabilis
Medium-sized migratory flycatcher found at forest edges, in second growth, and along streams. As with other elaenia species, it has an olive-brown back and yellowish belly. Note the three wingbars and short crest. Very similar to Yellow-bellied Elaenia, but it is larger and has smaller crest with no white and three (not two) wingbars. The song is a loud whistle while the dawn song is series of “twee-wee-tweet” notes.
Sulphur-bellied Tyrannulet
Mecocerculus minor
This uncommon tyrannulet is found in the Andes from extreme western Venezuela to Peru. Look for a combination of yellow underparts, white eyebrow, gray crown, and buffy wingbars. Like other members of its genus, tends to perch horizontally, which helps separate it from similarly-plumaged bristle-tyrants. Singles or pairs forage with mixed-species flock, usually in the canopy or subcanopy. Occurs in subtropical forests and edges from around 1,600 to 2,800 m. Listen for squeaky series of “chew” notes.
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