Páramo Tapaculo - closeup, Termales del Ruiz, Colombia

An unexpected appearance of this mouse-like bird. After studying the call and descriptions, our guide Manuel settled on "Páramo Tapaculo". However, it's an ambiguous common name that may refer to Scytalopus opacus or the even more rare Scytalopus canus, which was elevated to species level due to having a different call.

I'm not fully sure which of the two it is, for now have identified it as the statistically more likely Scytalopus opacus. If anybody knows the distinction based on visuals, I'm all ears.

comments (4)

Thibaud Aronson

Lion

Well done! It's not everyday you get a fully unobstructed shot of a tapaculo!
As for identification, voice is the way to go. There are subtle differences between certain groups of species but species within a group are often visually indistinguishable. Posted 12 days ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks!
  
  https://www.flickr.com/photos/fledder/52910522514/in/datetaken/
  
  From the app, which suggests the lack of brown under parts might make it "Canus". Not sure if that settles it, probably not lol. The app is old and often criticized for having poor illustrations. Posted 12 days ago
2. 1. Thibaud Aronson
    
    Lion
    
    I just had a look on eBird and Birds of the World, and Scytalopus canus is now called Paramillo Tapaculo. That species is only known from the western Andes in Antioquia, so you can confidently discard it as a candidate ID.
    As for the color of the underparts, it's not about species but about sex! Males are all gray, and females have some brown below, but that pattern is repeated in many Scytalopus species. Posted 12 days ago, modified 12 days ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      Thank you sir, that clears it up! Posted 12 days ago