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Paramillo Tapaculo | Scytalopus canus
Paramillotapaculo | Churrín del Paramillo | Macuquinho-do-paramillo
The Paramillo Tapaculo is a small, uniformly dark grey tapaculo found only in the north of the Western Andes of Colombia. It lives in a narrow strip of scrub and low trees at the treeline, between montane forest and páramo. On the basis of vocal differences it has been treated as a separate species since 2010.
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Voice
The song consists of series of short, repeated notes from dense vegetation and differs from that of Paramo Tapaculo; this difference was the reason for the split. Also short calls.
Recording: Ross Gallardy — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11 cm, round, with a short, often cocked tail, short wings, a thin bill and fairly long legs. The plumage is almost entirely dark grey, slightly paler below. Unlike Paramo Tapaculo, brown, barred rear flanks are almost lacking. Females are probably slightly browner above; juveniles are browner and barred.
Confusion species
Paramo Tapaculo Scytalopus opacus lives in the Central Andes and further south, has brown, barred rear flanks and a different song. Spillmann's Tapaculo Scytalopus spillmanni lives lower in montane forest, has brown flanks and a different song. Blackish Tapaculo Scytalopus latrans is blackish and usually lives lower. In tapaculos the song is the main identification feature.
Habitat
Humid scrub, low, stunted trees and Polylepis groves at the treeline, in a transition strip between montane forest and páramo that is often only a few hundred metres wide, above about 3000 m. It forages on or just above the ground for small arthropods. Almost nothing is known about its 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 Colombia: in the north of the Western Andes in Antioquia, known from the páramos of Paramillo and Frontino; possibly also elsewhere in the Western Andes. Absent from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the Galápagos. Does not occur outside the guide area.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The best-known site is the Colibrí del Sol reserve on the Frontino páramo. In the morning, listen at the treeline for the song from the shrubbery and wait quietly near gaps in the vegetation.
Conservation status
Near Threatened. Suitable habitat is estimated at only a few square kilometres, of which only a small part is effectively protected. The extent and quality of the habitat are declining; Paramillo National Park offers little protection in practice.
Scientific name
Scytalopus canus | Chapman, 1915
Chapman described the species in 1915 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Scytalopus was introduced in 1837 by Gould. The genus name combines Greek skutalē or skutalon, 'stick', with pous, 'foot'. The species name comes from Latin canus, 'grey, hoary', after the grey plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Paramillo, Antioquia, Colombia.