Striated Softtail
Thripophaga macroura
Distinctive-looking rufous bird, heavily streaked with a bright cinnamon tail. Note the orange chin patch. Found in humid forest with dense vine tangles, where it forages by gleaning from the understory to the subcanopy and often accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is two clear notes flowed by a rattle. The superficially similar but larger Pale-browed Treehunter lacks the orange chin and has a more robust bill.
Identification
The striated softtail is 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a buff supercilium and pale lores on a otherwise buff-streaked brown face. Their crown, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are dark reddish brown streaked with black-edged reddish-rufous to rufous-buff. Their tail is pale tawny to cinnamon-rufous. Their wings are mostly dark rufous with dusky tips on the flight feathers. Their chin and upper throat are orange-rufous to yellowish orange. The rest of their underparts are dull brown with buff streaks that fade on the belly and undertail coverts. Their iris is deep chestnut brown, their maxilla dusky horn to silvery gray, their mandible bluish gray with a dusky horn tip, and their legs and feet dull greenish gray. Juveniles have a dull brown chin and throat, less well-defined streaks on the back than adults, and mottled rather than streaked underparts.
Taxonomy
The striated softtail is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Thripophaga macroura
- Authority
- (Wied-Neuwied, M, 1821)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Thripophaga
Range and habitat
The striated softtail is found in coastal southeastern Brazil from southern Bahia state south into northern Rio de Janeiro state. It inhabits tropical lowland evergreen forest, especially areas with dense vine tangles. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Long-tailed Widowbird
Euplectes progne
Large dark widowbird. Breeding males, with massive tails and red and white highlights on their broad black wings, are unmistakable. Non-breeding males lose their long tails and become streaky and brown but keep the distinctive wing pattern. Females are brown and streaky year-round. Breeds in moist grassland but sometimes found in cultivation and other open habitats. Usually in flocks, especially when not breeding. Males give a very slow display flight in which the huge tail hangs down. Song is a sizzling trill. Females could be confused with many other species but even during the non-breeding season usually associate with males, which show a distinctive wing pattern.
Honeyguide Greenbul
Baeopogon indicator
Unusual dark greenbul with upright posture that does strongly resemble a honeyguide. Males have a white eye and females a dark one. Both sexes show a large white patch in the outer tail. Found in the upper portions of lowland forest. Usually in pairs or small groups. Most often detected by call: a slow series of mewing whistles. Similar to Sjöstedt's Greenbul, but has darker gray underparts, and male further distinguished by its pale eye. Distinguished from honeyguides by its different shape, especially the longer tail. Flight is direct, unlike undulating flight of a honeyguide.
Jalca Tapaculo
Scytalopus frankeae
Long known to ornithologists as something different (and informally called “Millpo Tapaculo”), this bird was finally described as a new species in 2020. It inhabits grassy, rock-strewn areas above tree line at high elevations in the eastern Andes of central Peru. Plumage is mainly gray with tan rear parts that are faintly barred, and it sometimes shows a faint, whitish eyebrow; female is browner than male. Similar in appearance to several other tapaculos, and best identified by range and voice. Song, often given from atop a rock, is a seemingly endless series of raspy chip notes.
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