The Marañón crescentchest (''Melanopareia maranonica'') is a species of

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 ...

in the family

Melanopareiidae The crescentchests are a genus, ''Melanopareia'', of suboscine passerine birds from South America. The genus has long been placed with the tapaculos in the family Rhinocryptidae. Their placement there has been questioned and in 2007 the genus was ...

. It is found in southern

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 northern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The crescentchests (genus ''Melanopareia'') were previously included in family Rhinocryptidae, the tapaculos. A 2010 publication confirmed earlier work and created their present genus.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, 2021 The Marañón crescentchest is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

. It and the elegant crescentchest (''Melanopareia elegans'') might form a superspecies.

Description

The Marañón crescentchest is long. A female specimen weighed . The male's crown and nape are black and its back and rump grayish olive. The chin and throat are white or light buff, and the throat is bordered on its sides and bottom with darker buff. It has broad black band just below the throat that merges into a chestnut breast; below the breast it is tawny. The female has a similar pattern. However, the black band is narrower and the underparts from that band to the tail are an ochraceous tawny.Schulenberg, T. S. and T. Johnson (2020). Marañon Crescentchest (''Melanopareia maranonica''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.marcre1.01 retrieved May 3, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The Marañón crescentchest has a very small range; it is found in the valley of the

Marañón River The Marañón River (, , ) is the principal or mainstem source of the Amazon River, arising about 160 km (100 miles) to the northeast of Lima, Peru, and flowing northwest across plateaus 3,650 m (12,000 feet) high, it runs through a deeply ero ...

and its tributaries in northern Peru and slightly into adjacent Ecuador. In elevation it occurs from . It inhabits tropical deciduous forest and dry scrub.

Behavior

The Marañón crescentchest's diet has not been described; it is presumed to be insects and perhaps seeds and other vegetable matter. Nothing is known about the species' 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 ...

, but its nest is assumed to be a cup like those of other ''Melanopareia'' species. The Marañón crescentchest's song is a "series of rich notes: ''tu tu-tu-tu'tu'tu'tu'tu'tu'tu'tu''

It has a variety of call

Status

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 ...

has assessed the Marañón crescentchest as Near Threatened. It is uncommon in its small range and the population is believed to be declining.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269505 Marañón crescentchest Birds of the Peruvian Andes Marañón crescentchest Taxonomy articles created by Polbot