THE WORLD BIRDS - An Online Bird Book
SEARCH 

TAPACULOs

Order Passeriformes    Family Rhinocryptidae

The Tapaculos of family Rhinocryptidae occur mainly in South America, a few in Central America. These are terrestrial species that fly only poorly on their short wings. They have strong legs, well-suited to their habitat of grassland or forest undergrowth. The tail is cocked and pointed towards the head. While the majority of the family are small blackish or brown birds there are some larger and more colourful species.They feed on insects, seeds and other soft plant material with their pointy bills, and will scratch on the ground like a pheasant.

Their closest relatives might be the antthrushes of family Formicariidae. They are also related to the antbirds (Thamnophilidae) and gnateaters (Conopophagidae).


Genus Acropternis - 1 species

Tapaculo,_Ocellated  Acropternis orthonyx Found: Columbia, Peru, Venezuelaß
The Ocellated Tapaculo has mainly black plumage with large white spots; reddish head, throat; brown flanks.
Image by: 1, 2) Nick Athanas



Genus Eleoscytalopus

Tapaculo,_Bahia   Eleoscytalopus psychopompus Found: state of Bahia, Brazil
The Bahia Tapaculo has dark blue upperparts; white throat, central undperparts; unbarred lower-flanks. This species is extremely rare.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Andrew_Whittaker


Tapaculo,_White-breasted   Eleoscytalopus indigoticus Found: eastern Brazil
The White-breasted Tapaculo has dark blue upperparts; white throat, central undperparts; barred lower-flanks.
Similar to: Brasilia Tapaculo. Range of Brasilia Tapaculo does not overlap that of White-breasted Tapaculo which has a whiter breast.
Image by: 1, 2) Dario_Sanches  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joao_Sergio_de_Souza



Genus Eugralla - 1 species

Tapaculo,_Ochre-flanked   Eugralla paradoxa Found: Chile and adjacent Argentina
The Ochre-flaned Tapaculo has unbarred pale rurousd flanks; orange-yellow legs; relatively large bill larger at the base. 
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Esteban Argerich, Andrew_Spencer



Genus Liosceles - 1 species

Tapaculo,_Rusty-belted  Liosceles thoracicus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru,
The Rusty-belted Tapaculo has rusty brown upperparts; white throat; white breast with rusty-yellow belt; brown and buff belly.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador  2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joe_Tobias in Peru



Genus Merulaxis

Bristlefront,_Slaty  Merulaxis ater Found: southeast Brazil
The male Slaty Bristlefront has mainly dark slate-gray plumage; short crest of feathers above the bill. Female has mainly dark brown upperparts; russet-colored underparts.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi    2. 3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Marcelo _Barreiros, Kacau Oliveira   4) Nick Athanas 
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male


Bristlefront,_Stresemann's   Merulaxis stresemanni Found: Brazil
The male Stresemann's Bristlfront has long forehead bristles; mainly slaty-gray plumage; dark rufous-chestnut rump, vent.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ciro_Albano in Brazil



Genus  Myornis - 1 species

Tapaculo,_Ash-colored   Myornis senilis Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador



Genus Psilorhamphus - 1 species

Bamboowren,_Spotted   Psilorhamphus guttatus Found: southeastern Brazil and far northeastern Argentina
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Brazil  2) Dario_Sanches  3) Rick_elis_simpson



Genus Pteroptochos

Huet-huet,_Black-throated  Pteroptochos tarnii Found: Argentina, Chile
The Black-throated Huet-huet has dark upperparts; chestnut crown; white eye-ring; black throat, upper-breast; scaly chestnut lower-breast, belly; black legs.
Image by: 1) Jose_Canas  2) Jorge_Zuniga_Vega  3) Joshua_Stone - Chile


Huet-huet,_Chestnut-throated  Pteroptochos castaneus Found: Argentina, Chile
The Chestnut-throated Huet-huet has mainly dark brown plumage; dark red throat.
Image by: 1) Joseph_Smit  2) Gaston


Turca,_Moustached Pteroptochos megapodius Found: Chile
The Moustached Turca has brown upperparts, upper-breast; white mostache stripe; brown and white striped lower-breast, belly.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Chile  2) Rodolfo_Walker - Chile  3) Gabriel_Barrera_Maffioletti - Santiago



Genus Rhinocrypta - 1 species

Gallito,_Crested  Rhinocrypta lanceolata Found: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
The Crested Gallito has sandy brown upperparts; grayish face, neck; rufous and white streaked creast; rufous flanks.
Image by: 1) Svtiste  2) Nick Athanas - Argentina  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ignacio_Hernandez



Genus Scelorchilus

Tapaculo,_Chucao  Scelorchilus rubecula Found: mainly Chile; also nearby Argentina
The Chucao Tapaculo has dark upperparts; rufous throat, upper-breast; barred black-and-white belly; gray flanks.
Image by: 1) Nicolas_Binder 2) Nick Athanas  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Matt_Brady


Tapaculo,_White-throated Scelorchilus albicollis Found: Chile
The White-throated Tapaculo has chestnut or gray upperparts; white supercilium, throat; dark barred underparts.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jose_Canas  2) Nick Athanas - Chile



Genus Scytalopus
These tapaculos have mainly gray plumage, often brown rumps and lower flanks. They are difficult to see, usually hidden among the forest floor. Many are very similar in size and best identified by range, altitude, and/or song.

Tapaculo,_Ancash   Scytalopus affinis Found: Peru
The Ancash Tapaculo has medium gray upperparts with dull brown lower back, rump, tail; buffy-brown with black barred flanks, vent. Female similar with more brown on upperparts. It can be identified by a single, churring note that is repeated for long periods.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ian_Davies, Ross Gallardy


Tapaculo,_Bahian_Mouse-colored also Boa Nova Tapaculo   Scytalopus gonzagai Found: Bahia, BrazilVenezuela
The Bahian Mouse-colored Tapacul has gray plumae; yellow to brown claws.
Image by: 1) Ciro_Albano


Tapaculo,_Blackish  Scytalopus latrans   Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The male Blackish Tapaculo has dark blackish plumage; female paler with brown flanks and rump.
Image by: 1) Aves_y_Conservacion - Ecuador  2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Hugo_Loaiza in Columbia
1) Female 2) Male


Tapaculo,_Bolivian   Scytalopus bolivianus Found: Bolivia, Peru
The Bolivian Tapaculo has mainly dark gray plumage; variable white spot on crown.
Similar to: White Crowned Tapaculo. Bolivian Tapaculo slightly smaller than White-crowned Tapaculo and darker.
Image by: 1) Dubi Shapiro  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Dubi_Shapiro


Tapaculo,_Brasilia   Scytalopus novacapitalis Found: Brazil
The Brasilia Tapaculo has gray upperparts; paler underparts; buffy-rufous rump, vent.
Similar to: White-breasted Tapaculo. Range of Brasilia Tapaculo does not overlap that of White-breasted Tapaculo which has a whiter breast.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Brazil  2) Hector_Bottai 3) Claudio_D_Timm


Tapaculo,_Brown-rumped   Scytalopus latebricola Found: northeast Columbia
The Brown-rumped Tapaculo has mainly gray plumage; brown rump, flanks.
Similar to: Caracas Tapaculo. Range of Brown-rumped Tapaculo does not overlap range of Caracas Tapaculo.
Similar to: Santa Marta Tapaculo. Santa Marta Tapaculo appears at lower altifudes than Brown-rumped Tapaculo and also usually has a white spot on the forecrown.
Similar to: Spillmann's Tapaculo. The Spillmann's Tapaculo and Brown-rumped Tapaculo vocalizations are different.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jorge_Munoz_Garcia, Luis_Uruena


Tapaculo,_Caracas   Scytalopus caracae Found: northern Venezuela
The Caracas Tapaculo has dark gray upperparts; lighter underparts.
Similar to: Brown-rumped Tapaculo. Range of Brown-rumped Tapaculo does not overlap range of Caracas Tapaculo.
Similar to: Santa Marta Tapaculo. The Santa Marta Tapaculo (Scytalopus sanctaemartae), is found at lower elevations, and also usually has a white spot on the forecrown.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jhonathan_Miranda


Tapaculo,_Choco   Scytalopus chocoensis Found: eastern Columbia, Ecuador, Panama
The Choco Tapacuol and Narino Tapaculo are very similar in appearance. They have vocalization differences and the Narino occurs at higher altitudes.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas


Tapaculo,_Chusquea   Scytalopus parkeri Found:southern Ecuador, northern Peru
The Chusquea Tapaculo has dark mainly gray upperparts; brown lowr back, rump, tail; gray underparts tending to ochre belly.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador  2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Paul Molina


Tapaculo,_Diademed   Scytalopus schulenbergi Found: Bolivai, Peru
The Diademed Tapaculo has a whitish forehead; the white extends behind the eyes.
Image by: 1)  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds - Cory_Gregory in Peru


Tapaculo,_Diamantina   Scytalopus diamantinensis Found: Bahia, Brazil
The Dimantina Tapaculo, Espinhaço Tapaculo, and Planalto Tapaculo differ mainly by their calls.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Marcelo_Barreiros  2) Guto_Balieiro


Tapaculo,_Dusky   Scytalopus fuscus Found: Chile
The Dusky Tapaculo has mainly grayish-black plumage; dark brown rear.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jose_Canas


Tapaculo,_Ecuadorian   Scytalopus robbinsi Found: Ecuador
The Ecuadorian Tapaculo has mainly gray plumage; barred brown flanks, rump. Female has more brown below.
Image by: 1) hbw.com


Tapaculo,_Junin   Scytalopus gettyae Found: Peru
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas  2) Alex_Duran
1) Juvenile


Tapaculo,_Large-footed   Scytalopus macropus Found: Peru
The Large-foooted Tapaculo has blackish-gray plumage. It is a large Tapaculo and has disproportionally large feet.
Image by: 1) hbw.com


Tapaculo,_Long-tailed   Scytalopus micropterus Found: Columbia, Ecuador, Peru
The Long-tailed Tapaculo has mainly dark gray plumage; russet brown flanks barred with black; relatively long tail.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi


Tapaculo,_Magdalena   Scytalopus rodriguezi Found: central Andes of Columbia
The Magdalena Tapaculo has mainly gray plumage; some brown on belly, flanks. Identifiable by its range and vocalization.
Image by: 1) Nigel Voaden  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Nigel_Voaden, Dubi_Shapiro


Tapaculo,_Magellanic   Scytalopus magellanicus Found: temperate rainforests of Argentina and Chile
The Magellanic Tapaculo has mainly blackish-gray plumage; darker lores; some have whitish crown.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Chile  2) Diego_Arellano  2) Roberto_Guller


Tapaculo,_Marsh   Scytalopus iraiensis Found: Brazil
The Marsh Tapaculo has mainly blackish plumage; reddish-brown legs. It occurs in seasonally flooded grassland in the floodplains of rivers.
Image by: 1) Sergio_Gregorio_Da_Silva  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Sergio_Gregorio_da_Silva


Tapaculo,_Merida   Scytalopus meridanus Found: northwest Venezuela
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Karla_Perez


Tapaculo,_Mouse-colored  Scytalopus speluncae  Found: southeastern Brazil
The Mouse-colored Tapaculo has mainly dark gray plumage.
Similar to: Planalto Tapaculo. The Planalto Tapaculo has buff flanks with dark bars; Mouse-colored Tapaculo has all gray plumage.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Brazil  2) Hector_Bottai  3) Claudio_Timm


Tapaculo,_Narino   Scytalopus vicinior Found: Pacific slope of Andes in Columbia, Ecuador
The Narino Tapaculo has dark gray upperparts; paler underparts; black barred rufous rear flanks, rump.
The Choco Tapacuol and Narino Tapaculo are very similar in appearance. They have vocalization differences and the Narino occurs at higher altitudes.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Dubi_Shapiro


Tapaculo,_Neblina   Scytalopus altirostris Found: east slope of the Andes in northern Peru
The Neblina Tapaculo has gray plumage; light brown flanks, rump.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas


Tapaculo,_Pale-bellied   Scytalopus griseicollis Found: Columbia, Venezuela
The Pale-bellied Tapaculo has gray upperparts; pale belly.
Image by: 1, 2) Andres_Cuervo  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Uribe in Columbia
1, 2) Juvenile



Tapaculo,_Pale-throated also Tacaruna Tapaculo   Scytalopus panamensis Found: eastern Panama, northwest Columbia
The Pale-throated Tapaculo has dark gray upperparts; pale throat, breast; grayish-white supercilium; chestnut belly. It is the only tapaculo that occurs within its range.
Image by: 1) hbw.com


Tapaculo,_Paramillo   Scytalopus canus Found: high elevations in West Andes of Colombia
Similar to: Paramo Tapaculo. The Paramillo and Paramo Tapaculos are similar identical in appearance but have different vocalizations. Paramo Tapaculo has a much wider range.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Anttanager


Tapaculo,_Paramo   Scytalopus opacus Found: Andes of northern Peru, Ecuador, southern Columbia
Similar to: Paramo Tapaculo. The Paramillo and Paramo Tapaculos are similar identical in appearance but have different vocalizations. Paramo Tapaculo has a much wider range.
Image by: 1) Daniel_Uribe - Columbia  2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds - Daniel Uribe , Timothy_Boucher, Columbia
1) Juvenile female


Tapaculo,_Perija   Scytalopus perijanus   Found: Serranía del Perijá mountain range on the Colombia–Venezuela border
The Perija Tapaculo has gray head; brown neck;  gray-white underparts.  Males have some buff markings on their breasts, and less sharp brown spots on their napes than females.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Andres_Cuervo
1) Juvenile


Tapaculo,_Planalto   Scytalopus pachecoi Found: Argentina, Brazil
The Planalto Tapaculo has mainly gray plumage; buff flanks with dark bars.
The Dimantina Tapaculo, Espinhaço Tapaculo, and Planalto Tapaculo differ mainly by their calls.
Similar to: Mouse-colored Tapaculo. The Planalto Tapaculo has buff flanks with dark bars; Mouse-colored Tapaculo has all gray plumage.
Image by: 1, 2) Claudio_D_Timm - Brazil


Tapaculo,_Puna   Scytalopus simonsi Found: south Peru to central Bolivia
The Puna Tapaculo has gray head, mantle, breast; light brown lower back, flanks; indistinct light gray supercilium (male).
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Lane in Peru


Tapaculo,_Rock also Espinhaco Tapaculo  Scytalopus petrophilus Found: Brazil
The Rock Tapaculo has gray upperparts, head, breast; barred flanks.
The Dimantina Tapaculo, Espinhaço Tapaculo, and Planalto Tapaculo differ mainly by their calls.
Image by: 1, 2 ) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Gabriel_Leite, Bruno_Renno    3) Nick Athanas


Tapaculo,_Rufous-vented   Scytalopus femoralis Found: Peru
The Rufous-vented Tapaculo has dark gray upperparts; paler gray underparts; black-barred rufous, under-tail, rump, near flanks.
Image by: 1)  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Christian_Nunes


Tapaculo,_Santa_Marta   Scytalopus sanctaemartae Found: Santa Marta Mountains of Colombia
The Santa Marta Tapaculo has gray head, mantle, breast; rufous brown rump, lower flanks.
Similar to: Brown-rumped Tapaculo, Caracas Tapaculo. Santa Marta Tapaculo appears at lower altifudes than Brown-rumped Tapaculo or Caracas Tapaculo and also usually has a white spot on the forecrown.
Image by: 1) Hernan_Arias  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds - Hernan_Arias


Tapaculo,_Silvery-fronted   Scytalopus argentifrons Found: Costa Rica, Panama
The Silvery-fronted Tapaculo has mainly grayish-black upperparts; paler forehead, supercilium.Females are browner. Unlikely to be confused with any other bird in Central America.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jorge_Chinchilla  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Costa Rica


Tapaculo,_Spillmann's   Scytalopus spillmanni Found: Andes of Columbia and Ecuador
The Spillmann's Tapaculo has gray head, mantle; brown rump, flanks.
Similar to: Brown-rumped Tapaculo. The Spillmann's Tapaculo and Brown-rumped Tapaculo vocalizations are different.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador  2)  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Alonso_Quevedo_Gil
1) Juvenile


Tapaculo,_Stiles's   Scytalopus stilesi Found: Columbian Andes
The Stiles's Tapaculo has mainly gray plumage; brown flanks, rump. Stiles's tapaculo's song is considerably faster and lower-pitched than that of the closely related Ecuadorian tapaculo S. robbinsi
Image by:

Tapaculo,_Trilling   Scytalopus parvirostris Found: Bolivia, Peru
Similar to; Tschudi's Tapaculo. The Trilling Tapaculo and the Tschudi's Trapaculo are virtually identical in appearance. Where their ranges overlap, the Tschudi's Tapaculo is found at higher elevation. The short, churring song of Tschudi's is very different from the long trilled song of Trilling Tapaculo
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Peru


Tapaculo,_Tschudi's  Scytalopus acutirostris Found:  central Peru
Similar to; Trilling Tapaculo. The Trilling Tapaculo and the Tschudi's Trapaculo are virtually identical in appearance. Where their ranges overlap, the Tschudi's Tapaculo is found at higher elevation. The short, churring song of Tschudi's is very different from the long trilled song of Trilling Tapaculo
Image by: 1, 2) Nick Athanas


Tapaculo,_Unicolor  Scytalopus unicolor Found: Peru
The male Unicolor Tapaculo has blackish-gray upperparts, paler underparts. Female paler with brown rump, flanks. Song can be used to differentiate from other tapaculos.
Image by: 1)Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Manuel_Roncal-Rabanal


Tapaculo,_Vilcabamba   Scytalopus urubambae Found: southern Peru at very high altitudes
The Vilcabamba Tapaculo has gray head, mantle; ochre-brown rump, flanks.
Image by: 1) Pablo_Florez  Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Pablo_Florez


Tapaculo,_White-browed  Scytalopus superciliaris Found: northern Argentina
The White-browed Tapaculo has white supercilium, throat; mainly brown upperparts; crown.
Similar to: Zimmer's Tapaculo. The White-browed Tapaculo's white supercilium continues forward past the eye while the Zimmer's supercilium does not continue as far forward. The White-browed Tapaculo has more brown on the upperparts.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas


Tapaculo,_White-crowned   Scytalopus atratus Found: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The White-crowned Tapaculo has dark gray upperparts; gray head with white forecrown patch; paler gray underparts; occasional spotting on breast; black-barred rufous flanks.
Similar to: Bolivian Tapaculo. Bolivian Tapaculo slightly smaller than White-crowned Tapaculo and darker.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Dusan_Brinkhuizen, Wladimir_Giraldo_Velasquez


Tapaculo,_Zimmer's  Scytalopus zimmeri Found: Argentina, Bolivia
The Zimmer's Tapaculo has white supercilium, throat.
Similar to: White-browed Tapaculo. The White-browed Tapaculo's white supercilium continues forward past the eye while the Zimmer's supercilium does not continue as far forward. The White-browed Tapaculo has more brown on the upperparts.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas



Genus Teledromas - 1 species

Gallito,_Sandy   Teledromas fuscus Found: Argentina
The Sandy Gallito is often found in sandy areas.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Argentina  2) Ron_Knight  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ignacio_Hernandez






CRESCENTCHESTs

Order Passeriformes    Family Melanopareia

The crescentchests are birds of arid scrub. They generally forage on the ground, but their diet has not yet been recorded. Little is know about their breeding behavior.

The tapaculos of family Rhinocryptidae are their nearest relatives and the crescentchests used to be placed in that family.


Genus Melanopareia
The crescentchests have striking plumage, long tail, long legs.

Crescentchest,_Collared  Melanopareia torquata  Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
The Collared Crescentchrest has rufous brown upperparts; white supercilium; wide black eye-line extends to neck; buffy neck; blac collar; tawny buff underparts.
Image by: 1, 2) Nick Athanas - Brazil  3, 4) Mauricio Mercadante - Brazil 


Crescentchest,_Elegant  Melanopareia elegans  Found: Ecuador, Peru
The Elegant Crescentchest has olive upperparts; black head with white supercilium; light cream throat; orange underparts. Male has with blackish upper-breast; female does not.
Image by: 1, 2) Nick Athanas - Ecuador  3) Jorge Montejo - Peru
1) Female 2, 3) Male


Crescentchest,_Maranon  Melanopareia maranonica  Found: Ecuador, Peru
The male Maranon Crescentchest has mainly olive upperparts; black crown; whitish supercilium; broad black eye-line; pale buffy throat; black collar; chestnut underparts. Female similar but paler, sooty crown; tawny underparts.
Image by: 1) jan veenstra - Peru  2) Jean Paul Perret - Peru  3) Nick Athanas - Peru


Crescentchest,_Olive-crowned  Melanopareia maximiliani  Found: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
The Olive-crowned Crescentchest has olive upperpars, crown; pale supercilium; black mask; buffy throat; black crescent on breast; rufous underparts.
Image by: 1) jan veenstra  2) Nick Athanas - Argentina





Back to Top