Greater scythebill

Greater scythebill
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Furnariidae
Subfamily:	Dendrocolaptinae
Genus:	Drymotoxeres Claramunt, Derryberry, Chesser, RT, Aleixo & Brumfield, 2010
Species:	D. pucheranii
Binomial name
Drymotoxeres pucheranii (Lafresnaye, 1849) [2]
Synonyms
Campylorhamphus pucherani

The greater scythebill (Drymotoxeres pucheranii) is a Near Threatened species of suboscine passerine bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. ^[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The greater scythebill was long included in genus Campylorhamphus with most other scythebills, but the discovery of its closer affinities with the scimitar-billed woodcreeper (Drymornis bridgesii) resulted in the creation of the new genus Drymotoxeres for the greater scythebill. ^[4] The two are genetically more closely related to each other than to the other scythebills and woodcreepers. ^[5]

The greater scythebill is the only member of its genus and is monotypic: no subspecies are recognized. ^[3]

Description

The greater scythebill is 24 to 30 cm (9.4 to 12 in) long and weighs 63 to 78 g (2.2 to 2.8 oz). It is the largest and heaviest scythebill with a shorter, stouter, and less curved bill than the others. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have blackish brown ear coverts, a distinct whitish supercilium, and an even bolder whitish moustachial stripe. Their upperparts are dull rufous brown to chestnut with a darker crown. Their crown and nape have thin buff streaks that sometimes continue onto the upper back. Their rump, wings, and tail are dark rufous-chestnut. Their underparts are rufous-brown to chestnut with grayish streaks on the throat, breast, and sometimes the upper belly. Their iris is dark brown, their bill dull pinkish horn to creamy gray with a blackish base to the culmen, and their legs and feet brownish gray to dark brown. Juveniles are more rufescent than adults with coarser but less well defined streaking above and below. ^{[2] [6] [7]}

Distribution and habitat

The greater scythebill is found only locally, in the Andes of central and southwestern Colombia, on the western slope of the Ecuadoran Andes south to Pichincha Province, and all along the eastern slope of the Ecuadoran Andes into Peru as far as the Department of Cuzco. It inhabits humid montane forest in the subtropical to temperate zones. It favors the interior of evergreen forest, cloudforest, and elfin forest; it does occur at the forest edges and occasionally in banana plantations. In elevation it ranges between 900 and 3,250 m (3,000 and 10,700 ft) but most often between 1,000 and 3,000 m (3,300 and 9,800 ft) in Colombia and 2,000 and 2,800 m (6,600 and 9,200 ft) in Ecuador and Peru. ^{[2] [6] [7]}

Behavior

Movement

The greater scythebill is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range. ^[2]

Feeding

The greater scythebill's diet is not known in detail but is believed to be mostly arthropods. It is almost always seen singly and readily joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It typically forages in the forest's lower and middle levels. It hitches up trunks and branches, gleaning prey from the surface and probing into crevices and moss. ^{[2] [6] [7]}

Breeding

The greater scythebill's breeding biology is almost unknown. Its breeding season includes October. The one known nest was in a vertical cavity in a living tree and contained two eggs. ^[2]

Songs and calls Listen to greater scythebill on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The greater scythebill's song is described as an "alternating series of twitters and nasal 'ik' notes" ^[2] and by another author as "a rather weak and nasal, ascending 'ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-énh' " ^[7] . It is very different from those of all other scythebills. ^{[2] [7]}

Status

The IUCN has assessed the greater scythebill as Near Threatened. It has a limited range and its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. "This scarce and poorly known species has a moderately small, fragmented distribution, and is likely to be declining in most areas owing to ongoing habitat loss." ^[1] The species is "[b]elieved to be highly sensitive to human disturbance in a region where habitat loss is extensive and continuing, if not accelerating." ^[2]

References

1. BirdLife International (2017). "Greater Scythebill Drymotoxeres pucheranii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22703177A110910175. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22703177A110910175.en . Retrieved 6 July 2023.
2. Marantz, C. A., A. Aleixo, L. R. Bevier, and M. A. Patten (2020). Greater Scythebill (Drymotoxeres pucheranii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grescy1.01 retrieved July 6, 2023
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Ovenbirds, woodcreepers". IOC World Bird List. v 13.1. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
4. Claramunt, S.; Derryberry, E.P.; Chesser, R.T.; Aleixo, A.; Brumfield, R.T. (2010). "Polyphyly of Campylorhamphus, and description of a new genus for C. pucherani (Dendrocolaptinae)". The Auk. 127 (2): 430–439. doi: 10.1525/auk.2009.09022 .
5. Harvey, M.G.; et al. (2020). "The evolution of a tropical biodiversity hotspot". Science. 370 (6522): 1343–1348. Bibcode:2020Sci...370.1343H. doi:10.1126/science.aaz6970. hdl: 10138/329703 . PMID   33303617. S2CID   228084618. A high resolution version of the phylogenetic tree in Figure 1 is available from the first author's website here.
6. McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 127. ISBN   978-0-9827615-0-2.
7. Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 388–389. ISBN   978-0-8014-8721-7.