The scaled antpitta (Grallaria guatimalensis) is a species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.[1] [2]
The scaled antpitta has these 10 subspecies:[1]
The scaled antpitta and the moustached antpitta (G. alleni) form a superspecies, and some authors have suggested that they are conspecific.[3]
Grallaria antpittas are a "wonderful group of plump and round antbirds whose feathers are often fluffed up...they have stout bills [and] very short tails".[4] The scaled antpitta is 15to long and weighs 70to. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies G. g. guatimalensis have a pale olive brownish forecrown with fine black scaling and a gray crown and nape. They have whitish or buffy lores, olive brown ear coverts with thin streaks, and blue-gray skin around their eye. Their back and wing coverts are olive brown with black feather edges that give the eponymous scaled appearance. Their flight feathers and tail are light brown. Their throat is ochraceous- or tawny-brown with thin pale streaks and wide ochraceous or buffy "moustache" streaks on its sides. They often have a black-speckled paler "necklace" below their throat. Their underparts are tawny. All subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black maxilla, a grayish mandible, and pinkish or bluish gray legs and feet.[5] [6] [7]
The other subspecies of the scaled antpitta differ from the nominate and each other thus:[5] [6] [8] [9] [10] [4] [11]
The scaled antpitta has a highly disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:[2] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [4] [11]
The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society lists the scaled antpitta as vagrant on Trinidad.[12]
The scaled antpitta inhabits a variety of landscapes. It is almost always on the forest floor and usually favors areas with dense vegetation. In northern Central America it is found in humid semi-deciduous forest, pine-oak forest, and cloudforest. In Costa Rica it is found in humid montane forest, and in South America in humid forest from the lowlands to the subtropical foothill zone. In elevation it occurs between 500and in Mexico and Central America (but only 800to in Costa Rica), below 1900m (6,200feet) in Colombia, between 350and in Venezuela, mostly below 1300m (4,300feet) but as high as 2000m (7,000feet) in Ecuador, and between 650and in Peru.[2] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [4] [11]
The scaled antpitta is resident throughout its range except perhaps on Trinidad.[2] [12]
The scaled antpitta is one of several antpittas that regularly come to feeding stations set up to allow viewing them. There they are fed earthworms and similar invertebrates, which are thought to also be a large part of their natural diet. In the wild they are known to feed on a variety of arthropods and possibly also on small vertebrates like frogs. They are highly terrestrial while foraging; they hop, pause, and dash to capture prey, sometimes flicking aside and probing leaf litter to expose it. They seldom fly beyond a short distance or higher than to a low branch. They mostly hunt at dawn and dusk. They probably attend army ant swarms to capture prey disturbed by the ants.[5] [10] [4] [11]
The scaled antpitta's breeding season varies geographically. Its nest is a bulky open cup of dead plant material like sticks, leaves, grasses, and sometimes moss, and is lined with thin materials like pine needles, rootlets, and fungal rhizomorphs. They are typically placed within about 1.50NaN0 of the ground on a stump, fallen log, or overlapping branches. The usual clutch is two sky-blue to blue-green eggs. The incubation period is about 19 days and fledging occurs 17 to 19 days after hatch. Both parents incubate the clutch and care for nestlings.[5]
The song of most subspecies of scaled antpitta is "a rapid series of quavering, hollow notes lasting 2-7 seconds, slowly increasing in volume and pitch and then quickly becoming quieter at the end: cau, cau, cau-cau-caucaucaucau, cau".[5] That of subspecies G. g. sororia is "a slower-paced (6 notes/sec maximum) series of hooted notes that accelerates-decelerates at the loudest and highest-pitched notes, then accelerates again slightly: poo-poo-pu-pu'pu'pu-pu-POO-POO-POO-pu'pu".[11] That of G. g. roraimae also differs somewhat, being "a long series of low hooting notes with three longer, more emphatic notes in the middle".[5]
The IUCN has assessed the scaled antpitta as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its estimated population of at least 50,000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered threatened in Mexico and El Salvador due to habitat modification.[5] It is considered rare to uncommon throughout northern Central America[7], rare in Costa Rica[8], "uncommon and patchily distributed" in Colombia[9], "spotty and local" in Venezuela[10], "under little threat in Ecuador"[5], and "rare to uncommon" in Peru[11] .