The rusty-breasted nunlet (''Nonnula rubecula'') is a species of

near-passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing to mor ...

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 Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

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 ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

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Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and possibly

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

.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 24 August 2021. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved August 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

Taxonomists recognize the seven subspecies of rusty-breasted nunlet listed below.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/ Retrieved August 25, 2021HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021 However, the species' taxonomy is unsettled. Some of the subspecies might be species in their own right, some might not be valid at all as separate taxa, and the nominate subspecies might actually represent two subspecies or species.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 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021Rasmussen, P. C., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Rusty-breasted Nunlet (''Nonnula rubecula''), 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.rubnun1.01 retrieved November 10, 2021 *''N. r. tapanahoniensis'' Mees (1968) *''N. r. duidae''

Chapman Chapman may refer to: Businesses * Chapman Entertainment, a former British television production company * Chapman Guitars, a guitar company established in 2009 by Rob Chapman * Chapman's, a Canadian ice cream and ice water products manufacturer ...

(1914) *''N. r. interfluvialis'' Parkes (1970) *''N. r. simulatrix'' Parkes (1970) *''N. r. cineracea'' Sclater, PL (1881) *''N. r. simplex''

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

(1937) *''N. r. rubecula''

Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. They constitute ...

(1824)

Description

The rusty-breasted nunlet is long and weighs . The subspecies vary in structure and color from each other. In general, the more northerly subspecies have a longer and narrower bill and a shorter tail than the more southerly ones. The nominate subspecies has what amounts to two or three color morphs. Some members of it have plain dark gray-brown upperparts and wings. Their lores are rufous and they have a whitish band from the lores that joins a white ring around the eye. Their tail is dark brown. Their throat, breast, and flanks are brown with a reddish tinge and the abdomen is whitish. Other members of the nominate are paler and grayer, especially on the crown, but in the southeast are a darker brown with a warmer brown tail. Some have a bright orange-rufous (instead of brown) throat, breast, and flanks. ''N. r. tapanahoniensis'' has a very gray crown and a cinnamon tinge to the vent. ''N. r. duidae'' has a rufous chin. ''N. r. interfluvialis'' has a grayer tail and ''N. r. simulatrix'' a darker tail than the others. ''N. r. simplex'' is drab and dark while ''N. r. cineracea'' has warmer brown underparts.

Distribution and habitat

The rusty-breasted nunlet is found in two disjunct areas. The subspecies are distributed thus: *''N. r. tapanahoniensis'', the southern

Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * ...

and northern Brazil to the left bank of the lower

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

; "hypothetical" in French Guiana *''N. r. duidae'', eastern Venezuela north of the Orinoco River *''N. r. interfluvialis'', southern Venezuela and northern Brazil between the Orninoco and

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

rivers *''N. r. simulatrix'', southeastern Colombia and northwestern Brazil between the Negro and Amazon rivers *''N. r. cineracea'', northeastern Ecuador, northeastern Peru, and western Brazil south of the Amazon *''N. r. simplex'', northern Brazil south of the lower Amazon *''N. r. rubecula'', eastern and southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina The rusty-breasted nunlet primarily inhabits humid ''

terra firme Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

'' and '' várzea'' forest, and is also found in

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

and forest edges. It can be found at any level within the forest but is most often in the midstory. In Venezuela it is usually found in areas of sandy soil; in southeastern Brazil's

Paraná state Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology *Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city *Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province * Paraná, Buenos Aires, a settlement ...

it occurs in gallery forest, and in upper

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

it shuns ''

igapó Igapó (, from Old Tupi: "root forest") is a word used in Brazil for blackwater-flooded forests in the Amazon biome. These forests and similar swamp forests are seasonally inundated with freshwater. They typically occur along the lower reaches of ...

'' forest.

Behavior

Feeding

The rusty-breasted nunlet's diet is reported to include large

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s, both adult and larval. The nunlet occasionally briefly joins

mixed-species foraging flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

Breeding

The rusty-breasted nunlet was thought to nest in a burrow, but a 2020 publication revealed that it nests in a shallow scrape on sloping ground that it roofs with twigs and leaves. Over a seven year period the authors studied 17 nests in Agentina's Misiones Province; they were in various stages of construction and use when discovered. Most clutches were of four eggs though one had three. Both sexes incubated the eggs and brooded and fed the nestlings.

Vocalization

The rusty-breasted nunlet's song is "a mewing series of 'weeip, weeip, weeip' notes (up to 20) that rise in both pitch and volume". It does not sing often.

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 rusty-breasted nunlet as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range but its population is unknown and believed to be decreasing. Its apparent density varies from rare to rather common in various parts of the range, though it might be undercounted due to its unobtrusive behavior. It occurs in several protected areas.

References

External links

Rusty-breasted nunlet photo gallery
VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q1264332 rusty-breasted nunlet Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Guianas Birds of Brazil Birds of the Cerrado Birds of Paraguay rusty-breasted nunlet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot