Alternative name: prior to being split this and many other species were included in Rufous Antpitta.
- Grallaria rufula
Identification
15 cm
- Rufous both above and below
- Eye dark brown
- Eye ring pale
- Bill dark
- Legs dark
Variation
Northernmost birds have a paler malar area and pinkish-buff base of lower mandible. These are generally browner while southern birds are generally more reddish and southern birds might have paler central belly.
Distribution
South America: Andes of Venezuela (Táchira) and Eastern Andes of Colombia south to Cundinamarca and western Meta (but absent from the west slope in the Iguaque Massif in Boyacá and extreme southwestern Santander)
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
This species and 15 others were previously included in a complex of Rufous Antpitta/Chestnut Antpitta.
Habitat
Bamboo in moist montane forests, second growth, and nearby degraded areas. Found at 1850–3800 m asl.
Behaviour
Found on or low over the ground. It seems to prefer invertebrates.
Vocalizations
Long song is a series with relatively few, well spaced and relatively long notes of even pace and pitch. The short song consists of two notes that are both lasting about a second and given with a quarter of a second interval. The first note of the slow song is relatively simple while the second has a buzzy quality because is consists of a series of ultra-short elements.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Link to paper by Isler et al. (2020) describing taxonomy of this species.
- Birdforum thread discussing the taxonomy of this complex
- Krabbe, N., J. del Hoyo, T. S. Schulenberg, N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Rufous Antpitta (Grallaria rufula), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rufant1.01
- del Hoyo, J., Collar, N. & Kirwan, G.M. (2020). Perija Antpitta (Grallaria saltuensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/1343615 on 29 March 2020).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Muisca Antpitta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Muisca_Antpitta
