Puna Tapaculo (Scytalopus simonsi)

Identification & Behavior: ~11.5 cm (4.5 in). The adult Puna Tapaculo is mouse gray with a variable amount of rufous on the flanks and rump.  The female is similar but has more rufous. It has a poorly defined pale eyebrow. The juvenile is brown with dusky barring throughout. The tail is short and often kept cocked.  It forages on or near the ground in humid montane forests, humid montane scrub, and Polylepis woodlands. Due to their secretive habits, extreme similarity among species and the generally low light in the places they inhabit, positive identification of a tapaculo in the field is often impossible. However, their loud and stereotyped songs and calls are given frequently and constitute the safest way to identify them to the species level. It is similar to the Diademed Tapaculo but has more rufous on the flanks and rump and lacks the pale forehead of the latter.

Status: The Puna Tapaculo is fairly common in humid montane tree line forests and adjacent humid scrub mixed with bunch grass on the east slope of the Andes. It ranges at elevations between 2900-4300 m. It also occurs in Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tapaculo de la Puna.

Sub-species: Puna Tapaculo (Scytalopus simonsi), C. Chubb, 1917.

Meaning of Name: Scytalopus: Gr. skutale or skutalon= stick, cudgel and pous, podos= foot. simonsi: In honor of Perry Oveitt Simons (1869-1901) US collector in the Neotropics, murdered in Bolivia.

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