Black-billed Treehunter

Overview

The black-billed treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and is assessed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN.

Identification

• A bulky, dark furnariid with a thrush-like shape, measuring 20 to 20.5 cm in length.
• Adults of the nominate subspecies have a mostly blackish-brown face with well-defined buff streaks and a crown that is blackish brown with narrow buff streaks.
• The bill is black, the legs and feet are dark blackish gray to brown, and the iris is brown to dark brown.
• Its song is described as an accelerating then decelerating, slightly descending series of approximately 10–13 sharp 'kyip' notes with a 'laughing' quality.

Habitat

The species primarily inhabits montane evergreen forest, also occurring in secondary forest and stunted forest along ridgetops. It is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, at elevations ranging between 1,000 and 1,800 m.

Diet

Its diet consists mostly of arthropods and may also include small vertebrates. It forages in dense undergrowth, usually by itself, and gleans its prey.

Did you know?

The bird excavates a tunnel up to 1 m long in an earthen bank with a chamber at the end that it floors with leaf stems and sometimes thin sticks.