Spillmann's tapaculo

Taxonomy and systematics

The Spillmann's tapaculo was previously considered a subspecies of brown-rumped tapaculo (Scytalopus latebircola) but was elevated to species rank due to differences in their vocalizations. It and chusquea tapaculo (S. parkeri) form a superspecies. The population in Colombia's eastern Andes might be different enoung to be a subspecies.

Description

Spillmann's tapaculo is 12 cm long. Males weigh 21 to and females 20 to. The male is blackish gray above with a dark brown rump. It is lighter gray below with tawny to cinnamon flanks and vent area. Some females are like the male, but most have the upperparts heavily washed with brown and an orange lower belly. The juvenile is brown above and dusky below, with barring above and below.

Distribution and habitat

Spillmann's tapaculo is found in all three Andean ranges of Colombia and south into Ecuador. In the west it extends to Cotopaxi Province and in the east into Morona-Santiago Province. It inhabits the undergrowth of humid montane forest and is especially partial to Chusquea bamboo. It ranges generally from 1900 to but is found locally up to 3500 m and as high as 3700 m in western Napo Province, Ecuador.

Behavior

Feeding

Spillmann's tapaculo forages on the ground or near it, mostly for small insects.

Breeding

Little is known about the breeding phenology of Spillmann's tapaculo, but it probably breeds throughout the year.

Vocalization

The song of Spillmann's tapaculo is a 10 to 20 second trill whose volume and sometime pitch increase https://www.xeno-canto.org/641706. The male and female have several calls such as https://www.xeno-canto.org/583493, https://www.xeno-canto.org/375580, and https://www.xeno-canto.org/273449.

Status

The IUCN has assessed Spillmann's tapaculo as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and appears to be common throughout it.

References

References

1. BirdLife International. (2018). "''Scytalopus spillmanni''".
2. (January 2021). "IOC World Bird List (v 11.1)".
3. Krabbe, N. and Schulenberg, T.S. (1997). Species limits and natural history of ''Scytalopus'' tapaculos (Rhinocryptidae), with descriptions of the Ecuadorian taxa, including three new species. Pp. 46–88 in: Remsen (1997)
4. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021
5. Krabbe, N. and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Spillmann's Tapaculo (''Scytalopus spillmanni''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.spitap2.01 retrieved April 29, 2021