Peruvian Plantcutter

Overview

The Peruvian plantcutter, Phytotoma raimondii, is a Vulnerable species of bird in the family Cotingidae, the cotingas. It is endemic to the coastal regions of Peru.

Identification

• 18 to 20 cm long with a stout decurved dark gray to blackish bill featuring a small tooth on the maxilla.
• Bright yellow to amber iris and dark gray to blackish legs and feet.
• Adult males have a bluish gray head and upperparts, bright orange-rufous lores, and a shaggy crest; central underparts are bright orange-rufous.
• Adult females have a whitish head and upperparts with heavy dusky streaks, and whitish underparts with a buff or tawny tinge on the belly.
• Song described as a descending series of rising-falling, annoyed, nasal brays: REEEEH reeeh reeeh.

Habitat

Found in coastal northern Peru from Tumbes Department south to Ancash Department, inhabiting dry to arid landscapes such as dry forest with a shrubby understory, desert scrublands, and thickets along watercourses. The species tends to favour slopes rather than flatlands, with elevational limits varying between sources but recorded up to 1,550 m.

Diet

Feeds on many parts of a wide variety of trees and shrubs, including buds, flowers, shoots, and leaves, with fruits forming a minor part of its diet. It usually forages in pairs or small groups, feeding mostly in the vegetation's canopy.

Did you know?

Both members of a pair construct the nest, a flimsy shallow cup of dry twigs lined with smaller twigs, hair, and feathers, typically built in the middle of a tree or shrub's canopy between 1.2 and 6 m above the ground.