Bahia Tapaculo

About the Bahia Tapaculo

The Bahia tapaculo (Eleoscytalopus psychopompus) is a species of bird in the family Rhinocryptidae. It is endemic to lowland Atlantic forest in Bahia, Brazil. The Bahia tapaculo and the white-breasted tapaculo (Eleoscytalopus indigoticus) were formerly placed in the genus Scytalopus, but these two species are now known to be more closely related to the bristlefronts (genus Merulaxis). The Bahia tapaculo has also been proposed as a race of the white-breasted tapaculo, but genetic data refute that.

Until the 1990s the Bahia tapaculo was known from only three specimens. Surveys targeting it have resulted in sight, photographic, and audio records since then. Based on the specimens, the white-breasted tapaculo is 11 cm (4.3 in) long. One male weighed 17.5 g (0.62 oz) and one female18 g (0.63 oz). The adult's upper parts are blue-gray and its rump reddish brown. The throat, chest, and belly are white and the flanks and vent area are chestnut without the barring that the very similar white-breasted tapaculo has.

The Bahia tapaculo is known from only a few municipalities in eastern Brazil's Bahia state. It inhabits... Wikipedia →