Pearled Treerunner (Margarornis squamiger)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The Pearled Treerunner has a rufous-brown head with a buffy surpercilium and streaks on the sides of the head. The upperparts and tail are rufous. The throat is creamy-white. The underparts are spotted/streaked with whitish buff droplets fringed with black crating an ornate effect. It creeps on mossy trunks and limbs in pairs or small groups often in the company of mixed species flocks. It superficially resembles the Spotted barbtail and Rusty-winged Barbtail but the spotting pattern on the underparts is unmistakable.

Status: The Pearled Treerunner uncommon in montane forests of the east and west (Piura and Cajamarca) slopes of the Andes at elevations ranging between 2100-3700 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Subepalo Perlado.

Sub-species: Pearled Treerunner (Margarornis squamiger perlatus), Lesson, 1844.  Perijá Mts and Andes of W Venezuela (Trujillo, Mérida, Táchira), Colombia (all three ranges), Ecuador, and N Peru N of R Marañón (Piura, N Cajamarca).
(Margarornis squamiger peruvianus), Cory, 1913.  Andes of N & C Peru S of R Marañón (from S Cajamarca and Amazonas S to Cuzco).
(Margarornis squamiger squamiger), d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye, 1838.  Andes of S Peru (Puno) and Bolivia (S to W Santa Cruz); sight record in NW Argentina (Salta).

Meaning of Name: Margarornis: Gr. margaron= pearl and ornis, ornithos= bird. squamiger: L. squamiger scale-bearing, scaly.

See more of the Family Furnariidae