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Ash-throated Gnateater | Conopophaga peruviana
Grijskeelmuggeneter | Jejenero golicinéreo | Chupa-dente-do-peru
The Ash-throated Gnateater is a small gnateater of the western Amazon basin, with a white tuft behind the eye. It lives low in the undergrowth of lowland forest and is heard more often than seen. The grey male and the rufous female differ clearly.
Voice
A hollow, short call, hwrickik, and a two-syllabled, sneeze-like sound. On take-off the wings whirr.
Recording: Mitch Lysinger — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11–12 cm, round and short-tailed, on long legs. The male has a grey face and breast, a brown crown, a grey back washed brown, a pale chin and a white tuft behind the eye; the lower belly is brown. The female has a rufous face and breast, with brown upperparts and a smaller white tuft.
Confusion species
Chestnut-belted Gnateater Conopophaga aurita overlaps in the north of the range; the male has a black face and a chestnut breast. The females are very similar; listen to the voice and look for an accompanying male. Ringed Antpipit Corythopis torquatus walks on the ground and has a longer tail and a black-streaked breast band.
Habitat
The open undergrowth of humid terra firme lowland forest, especially at vine tangles and treefalls, also in várzea forest and on slopes and ridges. Mostly up to 600 m, locally to 1000 m in Peru, up to about 400 m in Bolivia. It searches for small arthropods on or just above the ground. The nest is a shallow cup less than a metre above the ground.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Ecuador in the eastern lowlands. In Peru over most of the Amazonian lowlands. In Bolivia only in northern La Paz. Not reliably recorded in Colombia. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in western Brazilian Amazonia.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Listen for the hollow call in lowland forest and look low in the undergrowth at treefalls. Birds often sit still on a thin stem just above the ground.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Rather uncommon, but present in several protected areas.
Scientific name
Conopophaga peruviana | des Murs, 1856
Des Murs described the species in 1856 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Conopophaga was introduced in 1816 by Vieillot. The genus name comes from Ancient Greek kōnōps, 'gnat', and -phagos, '-eating': 'gnat-eater'. The species name refers to Peru, not necessarily the type locality. The specimen the first description was based on came from Pebas and Nauta, Loreto, Peru.