The Ecuadorian tapaculo or El Oro tapaculo (''Scytalopus robbinsi'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

belonging to the genus ''

Scytalopus ''Scytalopus'' is a genus of small suboscine passerine birds belonging to the tapaculo family (biology), family Rhinocryptidae. They are found in South America, South and Central America from Tierra del Fuego to Costa Rica, but are absent from th ...

'', a genus of tapaculos. It is restricted to a small area in south-western

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and was not described until 1997. It is a small tapaculo, 11 centimetres long. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

is black and fairly heavy. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

is grey with a brown nape and rump and brown barring on the flanks. The tail is blackish. The female's underparts are browner than those of the male. The

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

is a series of double-notes repeated for about a minute. The bird inhabits the undergrowth of humid

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

between 700 and 1250 metres above sea-level on the Andean slope in

El Oro Province El Oro (; ''oro'' = gold) is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala. History The area was s ...

Guayas Province Guayas (, ) is a coastal Provinces of Ecuador, province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí Province, Manabí, Santa Elena Province, Ecuador, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos ...

and

Cañar Province Cañar () is a province in Ecuador. The capital is Azogues. At the time of census 2010 the province had a population of 225,184. It contains the 16th-century ruins of Ingapirca, the best-known Inca settlement in Ecuador and a product of thei ...

and undoubtedly in the intervening

Azuay Province Azuay (, ), Province of Azuay is a province of Ecuador, created on 25 June 1824. It encompasses an area of . Its capital and largest city is Cuenca. It is located in the south center of Ecuador in the highlands. Its mountains reach above sea le ...

.Krabbe, N. & Schulenberg, T. S. 1997. Species limits and natural history of ''Scytalopus'' tapaculos (Rhinocryptidae), with descriptions of the Ecuadorian taxa, including three new species. Pp. 46-88 in Remsen, J. V. d.Studies in Neotropical ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Ornithological Monographs 48. Its population is believed to be small and declining. It is threatened by the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat and is classified as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. Part of its range lies within the protected Buenaventura Reserve.

References

* *BirdLife International (2007
Species factsheet: ''Scytalopus robbinsi''.
ownloaded from on 15/8/2007. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1271514 El Oro tapaculo Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes Endemic birds of Ecuador El Oro tapaculo El Oro tapaculo