The spotted antpitta (''Hylopezus macularius'') 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

Grallariidae Grallariidae is a family of smallish suboscine passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America known as antpittas. They are between long, and are related to the antbirds, Thamnophilidae, and gnateaters, Conopophagidae. T ...

. It is found in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

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 ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

, the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

, and the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

assign the spotted antpitta two subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

''H. m. macularius'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch patrician, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob ...

, 1830) and ''H. m. dilutis'' (

Hellmayr Carl Eduard Hellmayr (29 January 1878 – 24 February 1944) was an Austrian ornithologist. Biography Hellmayr was born in Vienna and studied at the University of Vienna, although he did not complete his degree. After his studies he worked in Vie ...

, 1910). They previously considered what are now the masked antpitta (''H. auricularis'') and

Snethlage's antpitta Snethlage's antpitta (''Hylopezus paraensis'') is a species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics In 1907 Emilie Snethlage originally Species description, described what is now Snethlage's antpi ...

(''H. paraensis'') as subspecies.Clements, J. F., P.C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved October 28, 2023Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 27 July 2024. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 28, 2024 They recognized the first of them as a species following a 1998 publication and the second after a study published in 2012.Carneiro, L. S., Gonzaga, L. P., Rêgo, P. S., Sampaio, I., Schneider, H., and Aleixo, A. 2012. Systematic revision of the Spotted Antpitta (Grallariidae: Hylopezus macularius), with description of a cryptic new species from Brazilian Amazonia. Auk 129: 338-351.

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

's ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' (HBW) implemented the split of the masked antpitta. However, as of early 2024 it has retained ''H. paraensis'' as a subspecies of the spotted antpitta. It also recognized ''H.'' (''macularius'') ''whittakeri'' as a spotted antpitta subspecies while the other taxonomies recognized it as the Alta Floresta antpitta.HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8.1. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/taxonomy retrieved August 26, 2024 This article follows the two-subspecies model.

Description

The spotted antpitta is about long and weighs . The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have orange-buff lores and a ring of the same color around the eye. Their ear

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

are olive-brown with a black streak below them. Their forehead, crown, and nape are dark gray. Their upperparts and tail are olive-brown. Their wings are mostly brownish with orange-buff bases and outer edges on the

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

and olive-brown edges on the secondaries. Their wing coverts are mostly brownish with wide orange-buff edges. They have a wide white "moustache" with a wide black stripe below it. Their chin and throat are white with a black line down from the bill. Their underparts are mostly pale ochraceous or buffy-white with many short black streaks on the breast. Their sides, flanks, and undertail coverts are orangey-buff. Subspecies ''H. m. dilutis'' has a more brownish back than the nominate and flanks that are olivaceous-washed dull ochraceous-yellow. Both subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

, a pink

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

with a black tip, and pinkish brown to pale gray brown legs and feet.Greeney, H. F. (2020). Spotted Antpitta (''Hylopezus macularius''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.spoant6.01 retrieved September 14, 2024Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O’Neill, and T.A. Parker III. 2010. ''Birds of Peru''. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Plate 181

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the spotted antpitta is found from eastern Bolívar state in northeastern Venezuela east through

the Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...

and northeastern Brazil, all north of the Amazon and east of the Branco and

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

rivers. Subspecies ''H. m. dilutis'' is in from central Amazonas state in southern Venezuela, in extreme southeastern Colombia, in northeastern Peru, and in the Negro River basin in northwestern Brazil. (Note that the map also includes the ranges of Snethlage's and Alta Floresta antpittas.) The species inhabits the floor and undergrowth of mature forest, both '' terra firme'' and

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

. It is a bird of the lowlands, reaching only in Colombia and in Venezuela.

Behavior

Movement

The spotted antpitta is believed to be resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The spotted antpitta's diet has not been detailed but is known to include insects. It forages mostly on the ground where it probes and flicks leaf litter and soil to find prey. It is usually seen singly and sometimes in pairs.

Breeding

The spotted antpitta's breeding season has not been defined but includes at least April to June. The one known nest was a shallow and rudimentary cup made from twigs and dead leaves and lined with rootlets. It was placed above the ground on a palm leaf. It contained two eggs that were pale greenish cream with brown and beige speckles. Both parents incubated the clutch. The incubation period, time to fledging, and other details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The songs of the two spotted antpitta subspecies differ somewhat. Both have six notes but that of ''H. dilutus'' is shorter than the nominate's. The nominate's has been written as "''whoa-whoa-wok-whoa-wok-wok''" and that of ''dilutus'' as "''hoor-hoor-hoor-hoor-ho-ho''".

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 ...

follows HBW taxonomy so its assessment of ''H. macularius'' includes both Snethlage's and the Alta Floresta antpittas. It is considered "local and uncommon" in Colombia, " common and apparently very local" in Venezuela, and "poorly known" in Peru. It occurs in many protected areas, but it "is one of many forest understory insectivores that quickly disappears from small fragments".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q920687 spotted antpitta Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds of the Guiana Shield spotted antpitta Birds of Brazil Taxonomy articles created by Polbot