Scaly-breasted Cupwing
Pnoepyga albiventer
Adorable tiny bird that loosely resembles a minute tailless wren. Warm dark brown above with rufous overtones, and scaled below; pale-morph birds have white edgings to black “scales,” while dark-morph birds have edgings that are coffee-stain tan. Smaller Pygmy Cupwing lacks the tan spots speckling the crown and neck of Scaly-breasted. Scaly-breasted inhabits dark, damp areas in dense forest, often around boulders, streams, and ravines. Song is a jumbled series of high-pitched melodic warbles, notably more complex than the song of Pygmy Cupwing.
Identification
The scaly-breasted cupwing is a very small babbler with almost no tail, around 9 cm long and weighing between 19 and 23 g. The plumage is olive on the back and lightly scalloped on the chest.
Taxonomy
The Taiwan cupwing was once treated as a subspecies of the scaly-breasted cupwing. The Chinese cupwing has been merged into this species.
- Scientific name
- Pnoepyga albiventer
- Authority
- (Hodgson, 1837)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pnoepygidae
- Genus
- Pnoepyga
Range and habitat
The natural habitat of the scaly-breasted cupwing is subtropical moist montane forest. Within that habitat it is usually found near water. The species undertakes some altitudinal migration, moving closer to sea level during the winter over some of its range.
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Mayr's Swiftlet
Aerodramus orientalis
A grayish-brown swiftlet, paler beneath, darker above with a faintly bluish tinge, with a variably grayish rump. Very poorly known from a few specimens and field observations. Generally occurs between 900-1200 meters of elevation, but has been seen at sea level. Very similar to White-rumped Swift, but has a darker gray rump and is much larger. Vocally unknown.
Blue-billed Black-Tyrant
Knipolegus cyanirostris
Large, crestless flycatcher found along the borders of humid forests and in gallery forests, often close to water. Male is mostly glossy black, while females are brown above with a cinnamon rump and buffy below with heavy brown streaks. Usually silent.
Masked Antpitta
Hylopezus auricularis
Medium-sized antpitta of floodplain forest, particularly with palmetto understory, along the confluence of the Ríos Madre de Dios and Bení in the Riberalta area. The only antpitta in range with dark chevrons on underparts or a blue-gray cap. Forages on or near the ground, but generally perches 1-2 m up in the understory or midstory to sing at dawn. Visually distinctive in range, but song deceptively similar to, and perhaps indistinguishable from, local songs of Amazonian Antshrike. Call a more distinctive three to four-part descending whistle.
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