Panao Antpitta

Appearance

"Grallaria" antpittas are a "wonderful group of plump and round antbirds whose feathers are often fluffed up...they have stout bills [and] very short tails". The holotype male Panao antpitta weighed 38 g. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly dark reddish yellow-brown crown, upperparts, wings, and tail with lighter edges on the flight feathers. They have a pale buff eyering. Their throat and breast are light reddish yellow-brown that is paler on the belly. The center of their belly is whitish and their flanks are a reddish yellow-brown whose intensity is between those of the upperparts and breast. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a blackish bill with a pinkish base to the mandible, and medium gray legs and feet.

Distribution

The Panao antpitta is found on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes in the departments of Huánaco and Pasco. Its range is south of the Huallaga River and north of the Perené River. The former separates it from the Chachapoyas antpitta and the latter from the Junin antpitta.

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy, which does not recognize the Panao antpitta, and so has not assessed it. It is "known to occur within the Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén and the Área de Conservación Privada San Marcos".

Habitat

Its exact habitat requirements have not been documented. It is thought to favor the floor and understory in the interior and edges of humid cloudforest heavy with moss and epiphytes and with much "Chusquea" bamboo. In elevation it is known between 2,750 and 3,700 m.

Reproduction

Nothing is known about the Panao antpitta's breeding biology.

Food

The Panao antpitta's diet has not been detailed but is known to include insects. Its diet is assumed to be similar to those of other "Grallaria" antpittas which include other arthropods and earthworms. It runs or hops on the forest floor and stops to find prey by flipping aside leaf litter and probing the soil.