Elegant Crescentchest

Overview

The elegant crescentchest is a small passerine bird in the family Melanopareiidae, known for its distinctive plumage patterns and secretive behaviour. Classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, the species is found along the coastal regions of Ecuador and Peru, where it inhabits scrub and semi-arid woodland.

Identification

• Length of 14.5 cm; males weigh 16.0 to 20.2 g and females 15.5 to 19.0 g.
• Males possess a black crown, nape, and mask, with a creamy supercilium, white or pale buff throat, and a black bib. The upper chest is dark chestnut fading to tawny on the flanks and belly, while the back and rump are olive-brown.
• Females are similar, but have a sooty crown (nominate) or olive-brown crown (subspecies paucalensis) and lack the dark chestnut on the chest.
• Song described as a series of “chuck” notes; scold call a “dry penetrating churr.”

Habitat

It lives in scrub and undergrowth in semi-arid woodland, also occurring in more humid disturbed areas. Its range extends discontinuously along the coast of Ecuador from Manabí Province south into Peru as far as the Department of La Libertad, from near sea level to 2,000 m, and locally to 2,400 m in Ecuador; in Peru it reaches only 1,700 m.

Diet

The elegant crescentchest's diet has not been reported. It forages alone by hopping through dense cover on and near the ground.

Did you know?

Although almost nothing is known about its breeding, the three nests that have been described were built from dry strips of cactus and weeds, enclosed with a side entrance, and hidden on the ground.