The tawny Antpitta is confident and easy to see. It inhabits dwarf forests and moors in the central and eastern mountain ranges. It feeds on small vertebrates, insects, seeds, and fruits. It runs quickly or jumps across the ground and takes refuge in bushes or grasses.
Description
It measures 18cm long. Above it is dull brownish olive, it has an extensive flanged point and narrow buff white acular ring, it has buff buff on the sides of the head and upper parts and is somewhat mottled whitish.
Similar species
It is similar to the Rufous Antpitta and Brown-banded Antpitta.
Regional Differences
In Colombia we find the alticola subspecies in the western Andes and the quitensis subspecies in the central Andes.
Distribution
Between 2200 to 4000m. It is found in the eastern mountain range from northeast Santander to Cundinamarca, in the Central mountain range from Caldas to Nariño and head of the Magdalena valley in Huila. It is also found in northern Peru.
Habitat
It inhabits dwarf forest and moors with bushes and frailejon or in dense thickets on the edges of temperate humid forest.
Feeding
It feeds mainly on insects such as beetles and larvae of Lepidoptera and Diptera. You can also consume small animals such as leeches or frogs; and supplement with berry seeds and various fruits.
Reproduction
Builds a bulging cup-shaped nest made of moss, mud, and small twigs, and sparsely stuffed with yellowish stalks of grass; the nest is in forked branches of trees. The female lays two blue-green eggs and has a reported incubation period of 21.5 days, the longest of this genus, perhaps due to the low temperatures found in her habitat.
Behavior
It runs quickly or leaps across the ground and takes refuge in thickets or grasses, but unlike other similar species it is often confident and easy to see.
Taxonomy
More studies are needed to better elucidate their taxonomic relationships. Three subspecies are recognized; alticola, quitensis and atuensis which differ in song and could be considered a separate species.
State of conservation
His condition is of least concern.
Curiosities
It is also often known as Gralaria leonada in Ecuador.
Vocalization/ Voice
https://www.xeno-canto.org/401542
