Unicolored Tapaculo
Scytalopus unicolor
Small, gray bird found only in the western Andes of northern Peru. Adult is plain gray, lacking any black or brown barring on lower underparts. Young birds are browner and heavily scaled with gray and buff. Inhabits forest understory and heard much more often than seen. Listen for soft frog-like notes that are given alone or in a series of accelerating bursts.
Identification
The unicolored tapaculo is 10.5 cm (4.1 in) long. The male is gray, darker above and lighter below. Its rear (above and below) sometimes has a slightly light brown wash. The female is similar but the brown wash is more often darker. The immature is brown above and dull yellowish below, with spots and bars on the belly and flanks respectively.
Taxonomy
The unicolored tapaculo is monotypic. However, it previously included blackish tapaculo (Scytalopus latrans) and trilling tapaculo (S. parvirostris) as subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Scytalopus unicolor
- Authority
- Salvin, 1895
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Rhinocryptidae
- Genus
- Scytalopus
Range and habitat
The unicolored tapaculo is found only in southern Cajamarca Department and La Libertad Department of northwestern Peru. It inhabits the dense understory of humid montane forest on the east side of the Andes at elevations of 2,000 to 3,170 m (6,560 to 10,400 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The unicolored tapaculo's diet is unknown as are its foraging and breeding phenologies. Its song is a short series of notes whose pace increases [1]. Its call is a single note [2].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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