Plain Softtail (Thripophaga fusciceps)

Identification & Behavior: ~15.5 cm (6.1 in). The Plain Softtail has the head and underpart rufous-tawny. The wing and tail are rufous. The crown is bordered by a buffy supercilium. The iris is yellowish. The bill is pale grayish. It forages alone and in pairs in the midstory of the forest often is thick foliage and tangled vines along forest creeks, rivers, and second growth. It is similar to the Chestnut-crowned Foliage-Gleaner but is distinguished by a smaller side and by not having a distinctive chestnut crown.

Status: The Plain Softail is uncommon and local in disjunct populations in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 700 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Cola-Suave Simple.

Sub-species: Plain Softtail (Thripophaga fusciceps dimorpha), J. Bond and Meyer de Schauensee, 1941.

Meaning of Name: Thripophaga: Gr. thripos= woodworm and phagos= eating. Thripophagos= eating woodworms. fusciceps: L. fuscus= dusky, brown and ceps, caput, capitis= head, capped.

See more of the Family Furnariidae