Collared crescent-chest

Melanopareia torquata

Photo by Hugo Viana (Flickr)

Common name:

collared crescent-chest (en); tapaculo-de-colarinho (pt); cordon-noir à col roux (fr); pecholuna brasileño (es); rotnacken-bandvogel (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Rhinocryptidae

Range:

These birds are mostly found in inland central Brazil, in Pará, Piauí, Goiás, Bahía, Minas Gerais, São Paulo e Mato Grosso do Sul. They are also found in northern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia.

Size:

The collared crescent-chest is 14,5 cm long.

Habitat:

They are mostly found in cerrado habitat, the dry savannas of South America, in areas with dry grasslands and scattered bushes.

Diet:

These birds are known to be insectivorous but their diet is yet to be described in detail.

Breeding:

They build a globular nest with a side entrance, often on a tussock o grass. The nest is woven with dry grasses and the dry leaves of trees and bushes. The female lays 2 greenish-blue eggs, which are incubated for 15-18 days by both parents. The chicks stay in the nest for 12-14 days after hatching, being cared for by both male and female.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and described as fairly common, but patchily distributed. It is not considered threatened at present.