The striated softtail (''Thripophaga macroura'') is a

Vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

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 Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Furnariidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to eastern

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The striated softtail 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 ...

Description

The striated softtail is long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a buff

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 ...

and pale lores on a otherwise buff-streaked brown face. Their crown, back, rump, and uppertail

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 dark reddish brown streaked with black-edged reddish-rufous to rufous-buff. Their tail is pale tawny to cinnamon-rufous. Their wings are mostly dark rufous with dusky tips on the flight feathers. Their chin and upper throat are orange-rufous to yellowish orange. The rest of their underparts are dull brown with buff streaks that fade on the belly and undertail coverts. Their iris is deep chestnut brown, their

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 ...

dusky horn to silvery gray, their

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 ...

bluish gray with a dusky horn tip, and their legs and feet dull greenish gray. Juveniles have a dull brown chin and throat, less well-defined streaks on the back than adults, and mottled rather than streaked underparts.Remsen, Jr., J. V., E. de Juana, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Striated Softtail (''Thripophaga macroura''), 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.strsof1.01 retrieved November 10, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The striated softtail is found in coastal southeastern Brazil from southern

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

state south into northern

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

state. It inhabits tropical lowland evergreen forest, especially areas with dense vine tangles. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to .

Behavior

Movement

The striated softtail is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The striated softtail feeds on

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s. It forages singly, in pairs, and in small groups that might be families, and usually as part of a

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

. It forages from the forest's understorey to the subcanopy, gleaning its prey mostly in vine tangles but also along branches and in foliage.

Breeding

The striated softtail's breeding season has not been defined but active nests have been found between September and January. The nest is a ball of grass, moss, twigs, and rootlets with a vertical entrance tube at the bottom. It is typically placed (or woven onto) a branch fork about above the ground. The clutch size is three eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The striated softtail's song is an "unstructured mixture of short rattles, 'tjew-tjew-tjew' notes, and sparrowlike chatters" that is often sung in duet. Its call is a loud "kit-kit-kit".

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 ...

originally assessed the striated softtail as Threatened, then in 1994 as Vulnerable, in 2000 as Endangered, and since 2004 again as Vulnerable. It has a small range and an estimated population of 1500 to 7000 mature individuals that is believed to be decreasing. "Widespread and continuing habitat destruction has severely fragmented this species's range. Although it has been observed in degraded forest, it may be dependent on the presence of dense vine-tangles, which are likely to occur only in little-disturbed and mature secondary forests." It occurs in several protected areas but its distribution is patchy. Brazilian authorities consider it Vulnerable.MMA (2014). Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção. Portaria No 444, de 17 de dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da União - Seção 1. Nº 245, quinta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2014.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261523

striated softtail The striated softtail (''Thripophaga macroura'') is a Vulnerable species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to eastern Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics The striated softtail is monotypic. ...

Birds of the Atlantic Forest Endemic birds of Brazil

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot