Birds of Venezuela - Scytalopus

Genus Scytalopus, Tapaculos, are small black or grey insect-eating birds found in thick brush in the forest understory, and very rarely seen. Most tapaculos in this genus are so similar that they can only be identified by voice, usually a long repeating call.


White-crowned Tapaculo (Scytalopus atratus) ProAves Chestnut-capped Piha Reserve, Anorí, Antioquia, Colombia White crown (really just a spot) barely visible in this photo.
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

A tiny bit less secretive than most tapaculos. Found from 1000-2000m in Andean forests.

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Caracas Tapaculo (Scytalopus caracae) ENDEMIC


Blackish Tapaculo (Scytalopus latrans latrans) San Sebastian Reserve, Envigado, Antioquia, Colombia
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

Commonly heard around 2000-3000m and with a slower more bird-like call than many other tapaculos.


Merida Tapaculo (Scytalopus meridanus) ENDEMIC Colonia Tovar, Venezuela
Photograph by Margareta Wieser © All Rights Reserved.


Perija Tapaculo (Scytalopus perijanus) Near Threatened Colombia
Photograph by Andres Cuervo Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.

A newly described species, found in the Perija mountain range.

© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
Experimental sites:       Peru       Venezuela       The World       Brazil       Bolivia
Really Experimental sites:       Guyana       Cuba