The Bahia tapaculo (''Eleoscytalopus psychopompus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family Rhinocryptidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to lowland

Atlantic forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and t ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.Krabbe, N., T. S. Schulenberg, P. F. D. Boesman, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Bahia Tapaculo (''Eleoscytalopus psychopompus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bahtap1.01 retrieved April 27, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The Bahia tapaculo and the

white-breasted tapaculo The white-breasted tapaculo (''Eleoscytalopus indigoticus'') is a species of bird in the family Rhinocryptidae. It is endemic to the Atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics The white-breasted tapaculo and the Bahia ...

(''Eleoscytalopus indigoticus'') were formerly placed in the genus ''

Scytalopus ''Scytalopus'' is a genus of small passerine birds belonging to the tapaculo group. They are found in South and Central America from Tierra del Fuego to Costa Rica, but are absent from the Amazon Basin. They inhabit dense vegetation at or near gr ...

'', but these two species are now known to be more closely related to the bristlefronts (genus ''

Merulaxis ''Merulaxis'' is a genus of bird in the family Rhinocryptidae. Species It contains the following species: Species

Merulaxis, Bird genera Taxa named by René Lesson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rhinocryptidae-stub ...

''). The Bahia tapaculo has also been proposed as a race of the white-breasted tapaculo, but genetic data refute that.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021Maurício, N. M, Matta, H., Bornschein, M. R., Cadena, C. D., Alvarenga, H., & Bonatto, S. L. (2008). ''Hidden generic diversity in Neotropical birds: Molecular and anatomical data support a new genus for the “Scytalopus” indigoticus species-group (Aves: Rhinocryptidae).'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 49(1): 125–135

Description

Until the 1990s the Bahia tapaculo was known from only three specimens. Surveys targeting it have resulted in sight, photographic, and audio records since then. Based on the specimens, the white-breasted tapaculo is long. One male weighed and one female. The adult's upper parts are blue-gray and its rump reddish brown. The throat, chest, and belly are white and the flanks and vent area are chestnut without the barring that the very similar white-breasted tapaculo has.

Distribution and habitat

The Bahia tapaculo is known from only a few municipalities in eastern Brazil's

state. It inhabits the understory of mature lowland forest at up to elevation, staying in dense cover near small streams.

Behavior

Nothing is known about the Bahia tapaculo's diet or feeding habits. The only data related to breeding is that a male and female collected in October 1983 had active gonads. The song is a trill up to four seconds long that increases in volume after the first one or two second

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Bahia tapaculo as Endangered. Until recently, it was feared extinct, but has since been rediscovered and is now known from the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

of Igrapiúna, Una,

Ilhéus Ilhéus () is a major city located in the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil, 211 km south of Salvador, the state's capital. The city was founded in 1534 as Vila de São Jorge dos Ilhéus and is known as one of the most important touris ...

Maraú Maraú is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. . The municipality is located in a peninsula called "Península de Maraú", physiographic area called "Região Cacaueira" (cocoa region). The city is rich in mi ...

, Taperoá, and

Valença Valença may refer to: People * Marquis of Valença, a Portuguese title of nobility *Count of Valença, a Portuguese title of nobility * Alceu Valença (born 1946), a Brazilian composer *Valença (footballer) (born 1982), full name Manoel Cordei ...

. It remains highly threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q788603 Eleoscytalopus Birds of the Atlantic Forest Endemic birds of Brazil Birds described in 1989 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot