Flammulated Treehunter

Overview

The flammulated treehunter (Thripadectes flammulatus) is a large and strikingly patterned ovenbird found in the Andes of South America. It is the most conspicuous member of its genus and is assessed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

Identification

• Measures 24 to 25 cm in length and weighs 50 to 62 g.
• The nominate subspecies features a blackish face and crown with sharp tawny-buff streaks that appear golden on the crown, while the back is browner with blackish feather shafts.
• The throat, breast, and upper belly are streaked with blackish and golden buff, fading to rich brown on the lower belly and flanks.
• The bill is black, legs and feet are blackish to grey-brown, and the song consists of a series of grating notes that start as a stutter, then accelerate and become louder.

Habitat

This species inhabits montane evergreen and temperate forests across southwestern Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru, favouring thickets of Chusquea bamboo. It typically ranges between 2,200 and 3,500 m in elevation, though locally it occurs as low as 700 m in western Colombia.

Diet

The flammulated treehunter feeds primarily on arthropods and is suspected to also consume small vertebrates. It forages singly in dense undergrowth, gleaning prey from branches, moss, and debris, while rarely joining mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

The species excavates a tunnel in an earthen bank and constructs its nest from rootlets, bamboo fibres, and other plant material inside a chamber at the end of the tunnel.