The chusquea tapaculo (''Scytalopus parkeri'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Rhinocryptidae. It is found in southern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and far northern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The chusquea tapaculo is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

. It and Spillmann's tapaculo (''Scytalopus spillmanni'') form a superspecies.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

Description

Male chusquea tapaculos weigh and females . Adults of both sexes are dark gray above and lighter gray below. The lower back and rump are brown. The lower belly is yellowish and the flanks and vent area are yellowish to cinnamon with blackish bars. Juveniles are lightish brown above with blackish bars; the underparts are dark with pale bars.Greeney, H. F. and N. Krabbe (2020). Chusquea Tapaculo (''Scytalopus parkeri''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.chutap2.01 retrieved April 29, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The chusquea tapaculo is found only in southern Ecuador and northernmost Peru, from the East Andes and the Chilla Mountains of Ecuador south to

Cordillera del Cóndor The Cordillera del Cóndor (Condor mountain range) is a mountain range in the eastern Andes that is shared by and part of the international border between Ecuador and Peru. The range extends approximately 150 km north to south and its m ...

that straddles the Ecuador-Peru border. As its name implies, the chusquea tapaculo inhabits ''

Chusquea ''Chusquea'' is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina. They are sometimes referred to as South American mountain bamboos. Unl ...

'' bamboo stands and adjacent undergrowth in humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. In Ecuador it ranges in elevation from but in Peru only to

Behavior

Feeding

Very little is known about the chusquea tapaculo's diet except that it appears to be mostly insects. Nothing has been published about its foraging behavior.

Breeding

The chusquea tapacolo's nest is a ball of moss lined with fine fibers and placed in a natural cavity in an earthen bank. The only two clutches described each had two eggs. At one nest both adults incubated the eggs. Though year round nesting has been suggested, most breeding in far southeastern Ecuador was between August and December.

Vocalization

The male chusquea tapaculo's song is a series of 10 to 12 notes that fall in pitch and then level of

What appears to be an excited call is thi

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the chusquea tapaculo as being of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

. Much of its range is within preserves and other protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269446 Chusquea tapaculo Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes Chusquea tapaculo Chusquea tapaculo Taxonomy articles created by Polbot