The Ayacucho antpitta (Grallaria ayacuchensis) is a species of bird in the family Grallaridae. It is endemic to Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Ayacucho antpitta was formerly believed to be a population of the chestnut antpitta (Grallaria blakei). A pair of studies published in 2020 showed that it is a separate species, and it was formally described by Peter A. Hosner, Mark B. Robbins, Morton L. Isler and R. Terry Chesser. By mid-2022 the International Ornithological Committee, the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society had recognized the new species.Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2021. IOC World Bird List (v 11.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.11.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/ retrieved July 14, 2021Clements, J. F., et al. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved August 30, 2021Remsen, J. V., Jr., et al. Version 6 June 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved June 6, 2022 However, as of early 2024 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) had not recognized it.HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8.1. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/taxonomy retrieved August 26, 2024
The species' common name and specific name ayacuchensis come from the department of Ayacucho that contains the species' entire range.
The Ayacucho antpitta is monotypic.
Description
The Ayacucho antpitta is about long; one male (the holotype) weighed . The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have dark reddish yellow-brown crown, nape, ear coverts, upperparts, tail, and wings. Their flight feathers have slightly duskier inner vanes. Their lores, eye area, throat, breast, upper belly, sides, and upper flanks are yellowish-red brown, their lower flanks somewhat darker, their lower belly light buff with sometimes some pale gray mottling, and their undertail coverts pinkish white. They have a dark brown iris, a black bill, and dusky gray legs and feet.Greeney, H. F., A. J. Spencer, and G. M. Kirwan (2024). Ayacucho Antpitta (Grallaria ayacuchensis), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ayaant1.02 retrieved September 16, 2024
Distribution and habitat
The Ayacucho antpitta is confined the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes in the department of Ayacucho. All confirmed records are west of the Apurímac River and between the Mantaro and Pampas rivers. It is separated from the closely related Oxapampa antpitta (G. centralis) by the Mantaro River and from the Urubamba antpitta (G. occabambae) by the Apurímac River. The species' habitat preferences are not fully known but appear to be the same as those of its former conspecific chestnut antpitta. That species inhabits the understory of humid montane forest and secondary forest, heavy with moss and epiphytes, where it favors stands of bamboo and other dense undergrowth. In elevation the Ayacucho antpitta occurs between .Schulenberg, T. S. and G. M. Kirwan (2021). Chestnut Antpitta (Grallaria blakei), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cheant2.01.1 retrieved September 16, 2024Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O'Neill, and T.A. Parker III. 2010. Birds of Peru. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Plate 178
Behavior Movement
The Ayacucho antpitta is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.
Feeding
The Ayacucho antpitta's diet and foraging behavior have not been detailed; it is known to eat insects and is assumed to eat other arthropods and perhaps small vertebrates as do other members of genus Grallaria . It is known to forage on or very near the ground.
Breeding
Nothing definitive is known about the Ayacucho antpitta's breeding biology.
Vocalization
The Ayacucho antpitta's vocalizations were part of the evidence used to define it as a species. Its "trilled long song" is "a fast series of short, clear, slightly downslurred ringing notes at ca. 2.5 kHz and lasting ca. 1.7-2.5 s. The first few notes are very slightly higher in pitch, and the overall duration of individual notes shortens slightly towards the end of the song". Its short song is "a single short, clear downslurred note with a vaguely ringing quality, falling from ca. 2.3 to 1.4 kHz and lasting ca. 0.15 s". Both are subtly different from those of the Oxapampa antpitta. The species is most vocal at dawn and in the early morning. It typically sings from a low perch.
Status
The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has not assessed the Ayacucho antpitta separately from the chestnut antpitta. "The primary threat, at least in the short term, to Ayacucho Antpitta, is habitat destruction primarily through clearing for crops and grazing."
See also List of bird species described in the 2020s
References