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Bolivian Antpitta | Grallaria cochabambae
Boliviaanse mierpitta | Tororoí boliviano | Tovacuçu-boliviano
The Bolivian Antpitta has been a separate species since the split of Rufous Antpitta in 2020; the form cochabambae had already been described earlier as a subspecies. It is named after Bolivia, the only country where it occurs. It is a small, rufous ground bird of Yungas montane forest.
Voice
As in the other species of the rufula group, the song differs mainly in pace, number and pitch of the notes. It gives short series of clear whistled notes and single call notes; a recording of the song is the main aid to identification.
Recording: Niels Krabbe — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
14–15 cm, small, round and almost tailless, on long dark legs, with a dark bill. The upperparts are rufous-brown, the underparts paler and ochraceous, the centre of the belly paler to whitish. A narrow pale ring around the eye. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Puno Antpitta Grallaria sinaensis replaces it in northern La Paz and in Peru and is separated mainly by song and range. Stripe-headed Antpitta Grallaria andicolus is larger, with a streaked head and underparts, and lives in more open scrub and Polylepis. Rufous-breasted Antpitta Grallaricula leymebambae is smaller, with a pale crescent in front of the eye and a whitish belly.
Habitat
Dense undergrowth and bamboo in humid Yungas montane forest and cloud forest, also at forest edges and in secondary forest, roughly between 2200 and 3500 m. It searches the ground for invertebrates. Little is known about breeding.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Only in Bolivia, on the east slope of the Andes in La Paz and Cochabamba and in western Santa Cruz. Absent from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the Galápagos. Does not occur outside the guide area.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Listen at dawn in the montane forest along the old road to the Chapare above Cochabamba, or in the Yungas of La Paz, for short series of whistled notes from dense undergrowth. The bird sometimes comes briefly onto the road or a trail.
Conservation status
Not evaluated as a separate species; Rufous Antpitta in the broad sense is listed as Least Concern. Yungas montane forest is cleared locally, but large continuous forests remain within the range.
Scientific name
Grallaria cochabambae | Bond & Meyer de Schauensee, 1940
Bond & Meyer de Schauensee described the species in 1940 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Grallaria was introduced in 1816 by Vieillot. The genus name comes from New Latin grallarius, 'stilt-walker', referring to the long legs. The species name cochabambae refers to Cochabamba in Bolivia, not necessarily the type locality. The specimen the first description was based on came from Incachaca, Cochabamba, Bolivia.