The short-billed leaftosser (''Sclerurus rufigularis'') 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 Furnariidae. It is found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Description

The short-billed leaftosser is a stocky bird with a short tail. It reaches a length of about and compared to other leaftossers its beak is short, being rather than long. Otherwise, it is similar in appearance to the tawny-throated leaftosser (''Sclerurus mexicanus'') being dark brown with a buffy-ochre throat and rufous breast. It may have a faint reddish-brown eye-stripe and pale brown eye-ring.

Distribution

This funarid has a widespread distribution in the northern Amazon rainforest. Its range includes Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, and extends into the Andean foothills up to an altitude of about .

Ecology

Leaftossers are secretive birds that move through the undergrowth probing the leaf-litter with their beaks. They are difficult to observe, but may be recognised by the calls they emit, particularly at dawn and dusk. Short-billed leaftossers feed on the ground, hopping rather than walking, probing moist soil and rotten wood with their beaks and flicking aside dead leaves while foraging for small invertebrates. Their diet includes spiders, insect egg cases, ants, beetle larvae and adult beetles.

Status

Compared to similar-sized ground-dwelling, birds, ''S. rufigularis'' is intolerant of fragmentation of its forest habitat and does not persist in isolated remnants of forest. This may be because of its inability to cross open ground and thus it is unable to disperse or recolonise forest fragments, or it may be due to a failure to adapt to the forest-edge changes in its habitat. However, even if the number of birds is declining somewhat, the bird has a very extensive range and a presumed large total population, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 its conservation status 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 ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q589526 short-billed leaftosser Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Guianas short-billed leaftosser Birds of Brazil Taxonomy articles created by Polbot