The Tacarcuna tapaculo (''Scytalopus panamensis'') 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 found in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and Colombia. This species is at risk of endangerment. One reason being that the protocols to protect these animals does not protect them entirely. The issue of endangerment is mostly due to the fact that the sole protected area only covers forests below 600m and the bird is above on elevation rate.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Tacarcuna tapaculo was formerly called "pale-throated tapaculo", and what was later split as Nariño tapaculo (''Scytalopus vicinior'') was included as a subspecies.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. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021Krabbe, N. and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Tacarcuna Tapaculo (''Scytalopus panamensis''), 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.tactap1.01 retrieved April 28, 2021

Description

The Tacarcuna tapaculo is long. The male's upperparts are dark gray and the lower back and rump are reddish. The throat and breast are lighter gray and the flanks and crissum (the area around the

cloaca In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds ...

) are tawny with black bars. It has a prominent whitish

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

. The female is similar but has browner upper parts.

Distribution and habitat

The Tacarcuna tapaculo is found only in Cerro Tacarcuna, which straddles the Panama-Colombia border, and Cerro Mali, slightly further south in Panama. It inhabits the undergrowth of humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

and its edges at elevations from .

Behavior

The Tacarcuna tapaculo forages on the ground and low in vegetation, usually in pairs. Its diet has not been recorded. Nothing is known about its breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Tacarcuna tapaculo as Near Threatened. Though it is reasonably common in its range, its range is small, approximately 490 km² (189 mi²). The population is estimated at between 6000 and 15,000 individuals and is believed to be stable. Though the species is partially protected in national parks in both countries it faces threats from mining and agricultural encroachment.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1270654 Scytalopus Birds of Colombia Birds of Panama Birds described in 1915 Taxa named by Frank Chapman (ornithologist) Taxonomy articles created by Polbot