Vilcabamba Tapaculo
Encyclopedia
The Vilcabamba Tapaculo (Scytalopus urubambae) is a small passerine
bird
endemic to Peru
.
This tapaculo
was formerly considered to be a subspecies
of Magellanic Tapaculo
, Scytalopus magellanicus, but is now treated as a separate species based on differences in voice.
It is a wren
-like bird with a slender bill and fairly long legs. The tail is short and held erect. It is terrestrial and prefers to run rather than fly. It inhabits dense vegetation near ground-level in forest and woodland where it forages for insect
s. The domed nest
is made of moss
, lichen
s and root-fibres.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
endemic to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
This tapaculo
Tapaculo
The tapaculos are a group of small suboscine passeriform birds with numerous species, found mainly in South America and with the highest diversity in the Andean regions...
was formerly considered to be a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of Magellanic Tapaculo
Magellanic Tapaculo
The Magellanic Tapaculo is a small passerine bird of southern South America. It belongs to the genus Scytalopus, a genus of tapaculos.-Taxonomy:...
, Scytalopus magellanicus, but is now treated as a separate species based on differences in voice.
It is a wren
Wren
The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
-like bird with a slender bill and fairly long legs. The tail is short and held erect. It is terrestrial and prefers to run rather than fly. It inhabits dense vegetation near ground-level in forest and woodland where it forages for insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. The domed nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
is made of moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
, lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s and root-fibres.