
Magellanic Tapaculo
A species of Scytalopus tapaculos Scientific name : Scytalopus magellanicus Genus : Scytalopus tapaculos
Magellanic Tapaculo, A species of Scytalopus tapaculos
Botanical name: Scytalopus magellanicus
Genus: Scytalopus tapaculos
Content
Description General Info

Description

It is a wren-like bird, 10 to 12 cm in length. The bill is slender and black while the legs are pinkish and fairly long. The tail is short and held erect. The plumage is dark-grey with a chestnut tinge to the flanks, undertail and wings. Some birds have a silvery-white patch on the crown. Juvenile birds are brown with dark barring and usually lack white on the crown. The song is loud, staccato and repetitive.

Size
9 cm
Nest Placement
Ground
Feeding Habits
Magellanic Tapaculo primarily consumes insects and spiders. It forages on the forest floor, using its robust legs to stir leaf litter. It has a unique adaptation to its feeding that involves preferring dense underbrush, which provides ample hiding spots for its prey.
Habitat
The magellanic Tapaculo's habitat encompasses dense forests and shrubby bogs, often found near cart tracks and streams. These birds thrive at forest edges, in fields dotted with slash piles, and within rocky grasslands. Their broad geographical range includes the central and southern parts of the South American temperate zone.
Dite type
Insectivorous


General Info

Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
It is terrestrial and prefers to run rather than fly.

Distribution Area
Its range extends northwards from Tierra del Fuego as far as Valparaíso Region in Chile and San Juan Province in Argentina. Charles Darwin collected a specimen in the Falkland Islands in 1833 or 1834 but there have been no definite records there since. It inhabits dense vegetation near ground-level in forest and woodland where it forages for insects. It often occurs near water and is commonly associated with stands of Chusquea bamboo.


Scientific Classification

Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Tapaculos Genus
Scytalopus tapaculos Species
Magellanic Tapaculo