Silvery-fronted Tapaculo
Scytalopus argentifrons
Tapaculos are small, plump, short-tailed, mostly gray birds that are as sneaky as mice. Silvery-fronted is the only tapaculo in its range, and the male has a distinctive whitish eyebrow. Also look for browner flanks with dark bars. Females don’t have the white eyebrow but are still distinctive in range because of the overall dark color and extremely furtive habits. Rarely seen well; stays on or near the ground in the forest understory. Listen for the song: a series of chips starting off fast, gradually getting slower and louder.
Identification
The silvery-fronted tapaculo is 11 cm (4.3 in) long and weighs 17 g (0.60 oz). The male of the nominate subspecies is mostly sooty black; the lower breast and belly are paler. The flanks and crissum (the area around the cloaca) are brownish red. It has a silvery forehead (the "front") and a white supercilium. The male Chiriqui is darker with a less prominent supercilium. The females of both subspecies do not have a supercilium; their upper parts are dark brown, the throat and breast are dark gray, the belly blackish, and the flanks and crissum brighter brownish red than the male's. The juvenile is similar to the female but darker with brown "scales" on the underparts.
Taxonomy
The silvery-fronted tapaculo has two subspecies, the nominate "silvery-fronted" Scytalopus argentifrons argentifrons and the "Chiriqui" S. a. chiriquensis. The Chiriqui subspecies has at times been considered a separate species.
- Scientific name
- Scytalopus argentifrons
- Authority
- Ridgway, 1891
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Rhinocryptidae
- Genus
- Scytalopus
Range and habitat
The silvery-fronted tapaculo is the only member of its family whose entire range is in Central America. (The Tacarcuna tapaculo, S. panamensis, is found in far southern Panama and Colombia.) It inhabits the Talamancan montane forests at elevations of 1,000 to 3,000 m (3,300 to 9,800 ft). The Chiriqui subspecies is found only in western Panama. The nominate S. a. argentifrons has the wider range, from western Panama north through Costa Rica almost to the border with Nicaragua. If frequents thickets and bamboo in the undergrowth of humid primary forest and secondary forest, especially in ravines and along streams.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The silvery-fronted tapaculo forages for insects and other arthropods while creeping and hopping along the ground.<p>The silvery-fronted tapaculo's breeding phenology has not been described.<p>The silvery-fronted tapaculo's song is a series of notes that slow but get louder during its five to 10 second duration [1]. Its call is similar but shorter [2].
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-faced Crombec
Sylvietta whytii
Small and virtually tailless warbler with a gray back and rufous underparts. The face is completely rufous, giving it an “open” impression. Found in a variety of savanna and woodland habitat, though mostly in Miombo in the southern part of its range. The song varies geographically: can be a soft warble or a trill. The call is a short, fast, wooden rattle. Northern and Long-billed Crombecs can look similar, but Red-faced is separated by its lack of an eye stripe.
Four-banded Sandgrouse
Pterocles quadricinctus
A small, short-tailed, intricately marked sandgrouse. The distinctive male has black marks on top of the head and three bands across the underparts. The female is plainer. Both sexes have a finely barred dark belly. Found in savanna and cultivation. Usually in pairs or small groups. Similar in size and shape to Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, but lacks that species’ fine barring on the underparts. Female separated from female Black-faced Sandgrouse by the lack of a strong white mark across the underparts. The call is a rattling, high-pitched “brrr-eeee,” often given in flight.
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Most common roadside raptor across much of North America. Often perches atop telephone poles, light posts, and edges of trees. Incredible variation in plumages, including less common dark morphs and various regional differences. Eastern adults have brilliant reddish-orange tail and pale underparts with obvious band of dark marks across belly. Western birds are typically darker. Immatures do not have a red tail.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.