JungleDragon is a nature and wildlife community for photographers, travellers and anyone who loves nature. We're genuine, free, ad-free and beautiful.

Join

Chestnut-crowned antpitta (Grallaria ruficapilla) Reserva Rio Blanco, Caldas, Colombia. Mar 20th, 2018 Chestnut-crowned antpitta,Colombia,Geotagged,Grallaria ruficapilla,Winter Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Chestnut-crowned antpitta (Grallaria ruficapilla)

Reserva Rio Blanco, Caldas, Colombia. Mar 20th, 2018

    comments (19)

  1. YESSSSSSSSSS! You did it! 3,000 bird species:
    https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/chordata/aves

    I've been refreshing it during the last minutes to see this event happening live. A major accomplishment, and what a crown jewel to round off the number!

    We've got 15K species and 3K birds to celebrate. We'll be giving it proper attention in the coming week and be sure to put a spotlight on you. Thanks so much, Thibaud!
    Posted 7 years ago
    1. No, thank you, Ferdy :) And looking forward to many more! (I hope to hit 3000 on my own list next year) Posted 7 years ago
      1. Oohhhhhh....I like the size of that backlog! Posted 7 years ago
        1. Haha yeah but you and Minor have scooped me of quite a few birds, though ;) Fortunately, I've also got the 20 or so endemics from Sao Tomé and Principe to upload yet, and some more stuff from the US, plus of course a fair number from Colombia! Posted 7 years ago
          1. The opposite is also true ;) I've uploaded many only to find out you beat me to it.

            And I'm glad that happens, as I want JD members to shine and outdo me in every possible way, it's only good news for the platform!
            Posted 7 years ago
            1. Haha oups, sorry about that ;)
              Anyway, thanks again, I'll let you go to bed now, and I'll go out for some nice dinner!
              Posted 7 years ago
      2. Here is your reward, my friend:

        JungleDragon now has 3,000 birds! Dear friends of nature,<br />
<br />
<br />
A few days ago, I noticed our total bird counter at 2,988. I teased Thibaud Aronson, an enormous bird contributor on JD, into bringing home the milestone of 3K birds, and he accepted the challenge. Two nights ago I had much fun refreshing the counter in real-time whilst at the same time he was adding new species. I wanted to see this happening live. Moments later he delivered this crown jewel to mark 3K:<br />
<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/63822/chestnut-crowned_antpitta_grallaria_ruficapilla.html<br />
<br />
With an estimation of 9-10,000 total bird species worldwide, having described 3,000 makes it one of the best documented groups of species on the platform. We've also taken special care in the species tree to have the taxonomy translated into common names:<br />
<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/chordata/aves<br />
<br />
Reaching 3,000 bird species is a community milestone achieved by all of us spanning several years. Credit goes to all! However, I do want to shine a special light on Thibaud, named "King of Birds" hereafter. A look at Thibaud's map shows why...<br />
<br />
https://www.jungledragon.com/user/2959/wildlifemap<br />
<br />
...as does his species counter: over 1,500 photographed, and over a 1,000 introduced to JD, many of which are birds. On behalf of the community, hereby we'd like to give special recognition to Thibaud with a gift that is fitting for our shared love of wildlife: Thibaud hereby is invited to pick a wildlife conservation cause of his choice, bird-related or not. JungleDragon will donate to the cause. The gift of sharing your wildlife observations on this platform is returned to wildlife itself. I cannot think of a more powerful motivator to keep sharing.<br />
<br />
Thank you all for achieving this incredible milestone!<br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziOih3Mgr7s JungleDragon

        There's a question in that post I hope you can think about. Let me know when you have an answer :)
        Posted 7 years ago, modified 7 years ago
  2. It's an egg on legs! I am jumping ahead a bit in the timeline of my trip, but #3000 had to be something special:)
    As Ferdy (and others) know, antpittas are some of the trickiest birds to see in Latin America... most of the time.
    Indeed, most species are terribly skulking, keep exclusively to dense undergrowth and are basically maddeningly difficult to get good looks at other than by pure accident if one happens to cross a trail. They are not actually shy, so you can get very close to them, and they sing constantly, it's just seeing them that is the problem.
    HOWEVER, these birds often follow large mammals to pick at disturbed insects in their wake. And in the last 2 decades, a handful of people who were in the forest everyday realized that they were being shadowed by antpittas. And it turns that by putting out worms for them everyday, you can get these little fellows to become completely tame, and, wonder of wonders, actually come out in the open.

    Rio Blanco is one such place, and Albeiro is one such man. I had the amazing luck to spend a full day alone with him in the reserve. He does his rounds early in the morning, calling the birds by name (this one is Pancho), and we actually got to see 4 species of antpittas! They each have slightly different personalities, but some even come to take the worms from his fingers! We then continued birding and ended up recording over hundred species, which is not even a quarter of the species that have been seen in the reserve! Rio Blanco has become one of the meccas of Colombian birding, and that status is absolutely earned. Truly one of the greatest experiences I've had in recent years.
    Posted 7 years ago
    1. Sorry that I made you skip ahead in your set. I know how that feels, as I'm obsessive about sharing in order taken.
      Worth it though, I don't think I've ever seen a antpitta photo this good. You couldn't have picked a better one!
      Posted 7 years ago
      1. Haha no worries! And thanks, but the setting really helped, they've set out an area that is really nice and open, with pretty good light, and you get to sit about 3 meters away! I probably took 50 photos of this guys, and got even better photos of one of the other species!
        If it fits your itinerary, that is a place I would HIGHLY recommend for your next visit to Colombia!
        Posted 7 years ago
        1. I'm afraid it's too late for the next trip, everything is already booked and paid :(
          That said, we are still going to a wonderful place (I think) and we definitely will return to Colombia in the future, but it may be a few years since we just did 3 in a row :)
          Posted 7 years ago
          1. Ah yeah that makes sense. Where are you guys going this time? Posted 7 years ago
            1. The south, at the Andean Foothills meeting the Amazon :) Posted 7 years ago
              1. Oh nice! The Florencia area? Posted 7 years ago
                1. It's here: PUTUMAYO & NARIÑO. Sorry for the caps, it's copied from email ;) Posted 7 years ago
  3. Wow! Congrats in the milestone! Posted 7 years ago
  4. Amazing, the bird seems to be posing for you. Great story too - thanks for sharing it with us. Posted 7 years ago
    1. Happy to! Posted 7 years ago
  5. Stunning effort. Congrats. Posted 7 years ago

Sign in or Join in order to comment.

The chestnut-crowned antpitta is a species of bird in the Grallariidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest, which it has a much greater tolerance for than most antpittas. Usually this bird lives at elevations of 1,900 to 3,100 m.

Similar species: Perching Birds
Species identified by Thibaud Aronson
View Thibaud Aronson's profile

By Thibaud Aronson

All rights reserved
Uploaded Jul 27, 2018. Captured Mar 20, 2018 08:27 in Vía al Guamo, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia.
  • PENTAX K-3
  • f/7.1
  • 1/200s
  • ISO1600
  • 300mm