Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner

Overview

The olive-backed foliage-gleaner (Automolus infuscatus) is a species of bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, although its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• Length of 18 to 19 cm with a heavy bill.
• Face is mostly blackish brown with faint reddish streaks on the ear coverts and a white throat.
• Back and rump are rich dark olivaceous-brown, blending into dark reddish brown uppertail coverts.
• Song is described as a loud, fast, staccato, slightly descending rattle, 'tchi-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r'.

Habitat

Found in the Amazon Basin, specifically in tropical evergreen forest including terra firme, várzea, and secondary forest. Its range covers mainland South America except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, at elevations from near sea level to 700 m.

Diet

Feeds on a variety of larval and adult insects and spiders, as well as small lizards. It forages singly or in mixed-species flocks, mainly in the forest undergrowth, by acrobatically gleaning and pulling prey from epiphytes, debris, and clumps of dead leaves.

Did you know?

The bird constructs its nest in a chamber at the end of a tunnel it excavates in an earthen bank, with a clutch size of two eggs.