Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner

Overview

The rufous-necked foliage-gleaner (Syndactyla ruficollis) is a bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae found in Ecuador and Peru. It is currently classified as a Vulnerable species by the IUCN, with a small and severely fragmented range that is experiencing ongoing habitat loss.

Identification

• A largish furnariid measuring 18 to 19 cm in length and weighing between 29 and 39 g.
• Features an orange-rufous supercilium extending to the nape, a dark brownish post-ocular band, and an ill-defined rufous collar.
• Upperparts are rich rusty brown with long thin buff streaks, bright chestnut uppertail coverts, and a dark chestnut tail.
• Underparts include a pale tawny-ochraceous chin, an olivaceous-brown breast with blurry rufescent buff streaks, and darker brown flanks with a rufescent tinge.
• Song is a harsh, nasal 'chick, chick, che-che, tirrrrrr' lasting 2–3 seconds with a downward-inflected final note, and contact calls include sharp 'ank' or 'chech' sounds.

Habitat

Found in coastal hills and the western slope of the Andes in Ecuador's El Oro and Loja provinces, and in northwestern Peru as far south as the Department of Lambayeque. It inhabits montane evergreen forest and tropical deciduous woodlands, favouring bamboo, streamsides, and shady ravines. It typically ranges in elevation from 1,000 to 2,600 m, but occasionally occurs between 400 m and 2,900 m.

Diet

Feeds mostly on arthropods, foraging singly, in pairs, or by joining mixed-species feeding flocks. It primarily gleans and probes for prey among debris, moss, bamboo stems, ferns, and bromeliads in the forest understory to mid-levels, occasionally foraging in leaf litter on the ground.

Did you know?

The rufous-necked foliage-gleaner is a year-round resident throughout its range, showing no migratory movement.