Red-billed Scythebill - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Dave B Smith
Pousada Aguape, MS, Brazil, September 2018

Identification

22–28 cm (8½-11 in)

There are 12 subspecies^[1]:

C. t. brevipennis: Tropical eastern Panama (Canal Zone to Darién) and north-western Colombia
C. t. venezuelensis: Locally in northern Colombia and north and central Venezuela
C. t. thoracicus: Coastal south-western Colombia (south-western Nariño) and western Ecuador
C. t. zarumillanus: Coastal extreme north-western Peru (Tumbes and Piura)
C. t. napensis: West Amazonia (eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru)
C. t. notabilis: West Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon (Rio Purús to Rio Madeira)
C. t. snethlageae: Central Amazonian Brazil (Rio Madeira to Rio Tapajós)
C. t. devius: South West Amazonia (northern Bolivia in La Paz and Cochabamba)
C. t. lafresnayanus: East Bolivia to south western Brazil (western Mato Grosso) and chaco of western Paraguay
C. t. hellmayri: South West Paraguay (Ñeembucú) and northern Argentina
C. t. major: Interior eastern and southern Brazil (Piauí to Minas Gerais and western Paraná)
C. t. trochilirostris: Coastal eastern Brazil (Pernambuco to south-eastern Bahia)

They live in a wide variety of forest types, both lowland and hill. Observed at heights around 480 m.

Their diet consists mostly of arthropods, spider and some vertebrates too. They forage singly or in pairs.

Their clutch contains 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both adults.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2018)
BF Member observations

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Red-billed Scythebill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-billed_Scythebill

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