Russet-mantled Foliage-gleaner
Syndactyla dimidiata
Uniformly rusty-colored foliage-gleaner. Note the slightly upturned bill and the conspicuous eyebrow. Found in humid forests and gallery forests, where it forages from the understory to the middle levels and occasionally accompanies mixed-species flocks. The voice is a long or short repetition of “check” notes.
Identification
The planalto foliage-gleaner is about 17 cm (6.7 in) long and weighs 27 to 32 g (0.95 to 1.1 oz). It is a medium-sized furnariid with a long pointed bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly rufescent orange face; the color is deeper on the supercilium and the ear coverts are darker. Their crown and upperparts are bright rufescent brown with a cinnamon tinge. Their tail is rufous-chestnut and their wings are dark rufescent brown with brighter edges on the primaries. Their throat and underparts are mostly unmarked ochraceous rufous, with faint pale streaks on the breast and an olive cast on the flanks. Their iris is brown, their maxilla dark brown, their mandible horn with a pinkish base, and their legs and feet olive. Juveniles have a shorter bill than adults, a whitish throat, and brown bars on their breast. (Compared to the above, baeri has a bright olive-brown back, less rufescent wings, and duller underparts.)
Taxonomy
The planalto foliage-gleaner was long placed in genus Philydor but morphological and vocal data suggested affinities within Syndactyla. Molecular data confirmed this change and revealed that. S. dimidiata the sister species of S. rufosuperciliata. <p>While the International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treat the species as monotypic, the Clements taxonomy splits it into two subspecies: nominate S. d. dimidiata (Pelzeln, 1859) and S. d. baeri (Hellmayr, 1911). The later subspecies has been treated as a separate species in the early to mid-1900s but a recent study casts doubt on baeri's validity as either a species or subspecies. <p>This article treats the planalto foliage-gleaner as monotypic, though the putative[1] taxon baeri is mentioned.
- Scientific name
- Syndactyla dimidiata
- Authority
- (Pelzeln, 1859)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Syndactyla
Range and habitat
The planalto foliage-gleaner is found in the southern planalto from Brazil's Mato Grosso state east to Bahia and south to Paraná and eastern Paraguay's Concepción and Amambay departments. (The baeri taxon is in the southeasterly part of the species' range.) The species inhabits lowland tropical evergreen forest, gallery forest, and tropical woodlands within the cerrado. In elevation it ranges from 100 to 1,200 m (300 to 3,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The planalto foliage-gleaner is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The planalto foliage-gleaner's diet has not been studied but is assumed to be arthropods. It is most often seen foraging in pairs and occasionally as part of mixed-species feeding flocks. It forages from the forest's understory to its mid-storey, taking prey from branches and epiphytes.<p>Nothing is known about the planalto foliage-gleaner's breeding biology.<p>The planalto foliage-gleaner's song has been likened to "a small, slowly starting motorbike". It is a "rather short or very long series of 'tsjek' notes, ascending, starting and ending with some stuttering". Its contact call is "a loud, nasal 'cheh', single or doubled".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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