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Iquitos Gnatcatcher | Polioptila clementsi
Iquitosmuggenvanger | Perlita de Iquitos | Balança-rabo-de-iquitos
Iquitos Gnatcatcher was described only in 2005 and is known only from a small area of white-sand forest west of Iquitos in Peru. It lives high in the canopy of this nutrient-poor forest. With an estimated population of a few hundred birds it is among the birds with the smallest known ranges in Amazonia.
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Voice
The song is a distinctly two-part series of high, thin notes. It also has various calls, including soft, nasal notes like those of other gnatcatchers.
Recording: Juan Díaz-Alván — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11 cm, with a thin, straight bill and a long tail. The male is dark grey on the head and upperparts, with a narrow, broken white eye-ring. The throat and breast are mid-grey and the belly is white. The central tail feathers are black, with increasing white towards the outside, so that the outer tail feathers are mostly white. The female plumage and the differences between adults and young birds are not yet well described.
Confusion species
Tropical Gnatcatcher Polioptila plumbea occurs around Iquitos at forest edges, in riverine forest and in semi-open country; the male has a black crown, a white face and white underparts without a grey breast. The related Guianan Gnatcatcher Polioptila guianensis is very similar to Iquitos Gnatcatcher but does not occur in Peru.
Habitat
The canopy of tall forest on white sand (varillal) in the lowlands, around 150 m. It searches the outer foliage for small insects, usually in pairs and often with mixed canopy flocks. Little is known about the nest.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Known only from north-eastern Peru, in and around the Allpahuayo-Mishana reserve west of Iquitos (Loreto), in an area of a few thousand hectares. Absent from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Galápagos. Not known outside the guide area.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In the Allpahuayo-Mishana reserve, scan the canopy along trails through the tall white-sand forest and watch for mixed flocks. The song is often the first sign; viewpoints and clearings help to look into the crowns.
Conservation status
Not evaluated in this circumscription; elsewhere the bird is treated as a subspecies of Guianan Gnatcatcher. The population is estimated at fewer than 250 mature birds and the habitat is still declining through logging and clearance of white-sand forest; on these data the species meets the criteria for Critically Endangered.
Scientific name
Polioptila clementsi | Whitney & Álvarez A, 2005
Whitney & Álvarez A described the species in 2005 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Polioptila was introduced in 1855 by Sclater. The genus name comes from Greek polios, 'grey', and ptilon, 'feather'. The species name honours James F. Clements (1927–2005), American ornithologist and author of the world bird checklist that bears his name. The specimen the first description was based on came from Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve, Loreto, Peru.