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Black-tailed Leaftosser | Sclerurus caudacutus
Zwartstaartbladkrabber | Tirahojas colinegro | Vira-folha-pardo
The Black-tailed Leaftosser is the largest leaftosser of Amazonia. It lives on the floor of tall terra firme forest, often near streams and in small ravines. The whitish, scaled throat, the uniform dark brown upperparts and the black tail are the main features.
Voice
The song is a loud series of clear whistles that accelerates and drops in pitch, often ending in a short chatter. The call is a sharp, short note, often given when flushed.
Recording: GABRIEL LEITE — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
17–18.5 cm, with a long, straight bill, a short black tail and short legs. The upperparts are uniform dark brown; the rump is not or hardly more rufous. The throat is whitish with dark scaling, and the breast and belly are dark reddish brown. The sexes are alike. Juveniles are duller, with pale scaling on the breast.
Confusion species
Short-billed Leaftosser Sclerurus rufigularis is smaller, with a short bill and a rusty throat. Dusky Leaftosser Sclerurus obscurior has an ochre throat without scaling and a rufous rump, and lives mainly along the base of the Andes. Grey-throated Leaftosser Sclerurus albigularis has a plain greyish-white throat and a rufous breast band, and lives higher, in the foothills. Scaly-throated Leaftosser Sclerurus guatemalensis is very similar but lives only west of the Andes.
Habitat
Tall humid terra firme forest in the lowlands and foothills, often along streams and in small ravines, up to about 1000 m. It forages alone or in pairs on the ground for insects and other invertebrates by flicking leaves aside. The nest is in a chamber at the end of a tunnel in a steep bank or earth wall.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the Amazonian lowlands of the south-east. In Ecuador in the eastern lowlands. In Peru in the Amazonian lowlands from north to south. In Bolivia in the lowlands of the north and along the base of the Andes. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazilian Amazonia, with a separate population in the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search undisturbed terra firme forest along streams and ravines and listen in the early morning for the loud, descending series of whistles. Flushed birds fly off low with a sharp call and often land on the ground some distance away.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The range is large, but the species needs closed forest and disappears with deforestation and fragmentation.
Scientific name
Sclerurus caudacutus | (Vieillot, 1816)
Vieillot described the species in 1816 as Thamnophilus caudacutus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Sclerurus was introduced in 1827 by Swainson. The genus name combines Greek sklēros, 'stiff', and oura, 'tail'. The species name caudacutus combines Latin cauda, 'tail', and acutus, 'pointed'. The specimen the first description was based on came from French Guiana.