Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner

About the Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner

The scaly-throated foliage-gleaner (Anabacerthia variegaticeps), also known as the spectacled foliage-gleaner, is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Mexico, in every Central American country except Nicaragua, and in Colombia and Ecuador.

The scaly-throated foliage-gleaner's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World recognize three subspecies, the nominate A. v. variegaticeps (Sclater, PL, 1857), A. v. schaldachi (Winker, 1997), and A. v. temporalis (Sclater, 1859). The Clements taxonomy does not recognize A. v. schaldachi but includes it within the nominate.

Some authors in the early twentieth century treated the scaly-breasted foliage-gleaner and the montane foliage-gleaner (A. striaticollis) as conspecific. Later they were considered to form a superspecies but by the early 2000s it was determined that they are not even sister species. Other authors have suggested that temporalis should be treated as a separate species, and yet other authors have suggested that it is better treated as a subspecies of the... Wikipedia →