Nariño Tapaculo

About the Nariño Tapaculo

The Nariño tapaculo (Scytalopus vicinior) is a species of bird in the family Rhinocryptidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. The Nariño tapaculo was originally described as a subspecies of the Tacarcuna tapaculo (Scytalopus panamensis) and was retained there until after Krabbe and Schulenberg (1997) noted "no particular similarity, either in plumage or in voice, between true S. vicinior and S. panamensis".

The Nariño tapaculo looks similar to several other Andean tapaculos. The male's head is dark gray, the back is dark gray or brown, and the rump is cinnamon with dusky bars. The throat, chest, and belly are lighter gray and the flanks and vent area are yellowish brown with blackish bars. The female is similar, but the back is browner, the throat is lighter gray, and the lower belly sometimes yellower.

The Nariño tapaculo is found on the west slope of the Andes from Colombia's Risaralda and Chocó Departments south to southwestern Cotopaxi Province in Ecuador. There it primarily inhabits the understory of moist montane forest and sometimes forest edges. In elevation it generally ranges from 1,250 to... Wikipedia →