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Choco Tapaculo Scytalopus chocoensis Scientific name definitions

Niels Krabbe and Thomas S. Schulenberg
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated September 25, 2017

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Introduction

The Choco Tapaculo takes its name from the Chocó biogeographic region, which extends from eastern Panama to northwestern Ecuador and which encompasses the geographic range of this species. The Choco Tapaculo occurs at relatively low elevations for a Scytalopus tapaculo, with an elevational range between about 350-1450 m. For many years this species was confused with the Nariño Tapaculo (Scytalopus vicinior), which is extremely similar in appearance. Recent field work has revealed that the Choco and Nariño tapaculos have different vocalizations, however, and also demonstrate little overlap in elevational distribution, with Nariño Tapaculo occurring mostly at higher elevations than Choco Tapaculo. The loud, long song of Choco Tapaculo, which typically begins with a short stutter, is heard far more often than this bird is seen. It forages for small invertebrates on or very near the ground in humid forest, but most aspects of the biology of the Choco Tapaculo are not documented.

Field Identification

11 cm; male 19–22·5 g, female 17–20·1 g. A fairly small tapaculo with relatively heavy bill and dark-barred brown flanks. Male has upperparts dark grey, crown and mantle with indistinct dark feather tips, wings, lower back and uppertail-coverts, sometimes also central nape, washed with dark brown, rump brown, rump and uppertail-coverts barred dusky; tail blackish; grey below, palest on throat, upper belly occasionally with lighter broad tips, flanks, lower belly and undertail-coverts dark reddish-brown with blackish lunulate bars; iris dark brown; bill varies from black to blackish; tarsus blackish-brown to blackish on front and outside, grey-brown to dark grey-brown on rear and inside. Female is similar, but brownish wash above more extensive, including mantle and crown, throat distinctly light grey and grading to grey of breast, lower belly sometimes with some bright ochraceous. Juvenile is drab brown above (paler on primary coverts) with narrow dark tips, rump and uppertail-coverts as adult; appears barred below, feathers of chin and throat basally light grey, those of breast and belly blackish, all with paler subterminal band and narrow blackish tip, flanks and undertail-coverts as adult.

Systematics History

Formerly included within S. vicinior. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Pacific slope in E Panama (Cerro Pirre, Serranía de Jungurudó (1) ) and from W slope of W Andes of W Colombia S to NW Ecuador (R Guayllabamba).

Habitat

Inhabits dense undergrowth of wet, mainly primary forest, occasionally forest borders, at 250–1250 m; 1340–1465 m in Panama. Replaced at higher elevations by S. vicinior, with no known areas of contact; in extreme N of range, replaced on Cerro Tacarcuna massif by S. panamensis.

Movement

Probably sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Eight stomachs all held unidentified small insects, and one contained beetle larvae. Terrestrial.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Male song a very resonant series 5–60 seconds long of similar up-downstrokes at 3 kHz (first overtone; fundamental audible), pace 2·6–3·6 per second, first few notes often slightly lower-pitched and delivered at faster rate. Call by both sexes a series 0·4–1 second long of 3–8 short, sharp notes at 2·5 kHz (first overtone; fundamental audible); female may give sharp, explosive, buzzy “brzk” at 5 kHz.

Breeding

Female with active gonads in Feb; juveniles collected from two nests in Aug. One nest, hidden amongst leaf litter on steep slope, was spherical ball of rootlets interwoven with moss, external diameter 12 cm, internal diameter c. 8·5 cm, entrance hole 4 cm in diameter; male and female both visited nest to feed the two nestlings.
Not globally threatened. Fairly common. Known to occur in Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, in Ecuador; probably occurs in Farallones de Cali National Park and other protected areas in Colombia.
Distribution of the Choco Tapaculo - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Choco Tapaculo

Recommended Citation

Krabbe, N. and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Choco Tapaculo (Scytalopus chocoensis), 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.chotap1.01
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