Rediscovery of Hylopezus (Macularius) Auricularis: Distinctive Song

The Auk 115(4):1072-1073, 1998
Rediscoveryof Hylopezus(macularius)auricularis:DistinctiveSongand Habitat
Indicate SpeciesRank
SJOERDMAIJER•
TerMeulenplantsoen
20, 7524 CA Enschede,
TheNetherlands
The first four specimensof Hylopezus
(macularius)
auricularis were collected in northern Bolivia in 1937
I heardand sawthe speciesalongthe shortroad(2
km) from Riberalta,departamentoBeni,to Hambur-
by AlfonsoM. Olalla,who wasleadingan expedition go (11ø02'S,66ø06'W;elevation135 m), which is
undertakenby the RoyalNaturalHistoryMuseumin wherea ferry crossesthe R•o Benito Victoria(VicStockholm, Sweden. The taxon first was described as toriais wherethe firstfourspecimens
werecollected
a new species(Gyldenstolpe 1941), but later was in what is now departamento
Pando).During three
namedas a subspecies
of the SpottedAntpitta (H. weeks of intensive birding around Riberalta, I did
macularius;
Gyldenstolpe1945).
not hearthebird anywhereelse.J.V. Remsen(pers.
On 5 April 1994,about10km fromtheoriginalcol- comm.) saw auricularisin similar habitat ("low,
lecting site,after playbackof a songunknown to me, dense,wet second-growth")
in 1976betweenLago
a bird showedup that I describedin my notebookas Tumi Chucua and the Rio Beni (11ø07'S,66ø10'W),
"a SpottedAntpitta with a big blackmask."In con- less than 20 km from the other two locations, but did
sultingwith Mortonand PhyllisIsler,we concluded not realizethe significanceof the observation.
that I had rediscoveredauricularis.
A specimenwas
Habitatsin the low-lyingand muddy areawhereI
collectedon 12June1995,comparedwith the origi- foundthe bird are heavilydisturbedby people,and
nal four specimens
in Stockholm(and foundto be- range from clay pits (for brick-making)to grassy
longto thesametaxon;P.Ericsson
pers.comm.),and openspacesto low secondaryforest.All of the birds
depositedin the Natural History Museum "Noel that I heard sangfrom thicketsadjacentto openarKempff Mercado" in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (specimen eas.I did not hear singingbirdsinsidea muddy for1220).
est, whereasat leasttwo birds were singingat its
The songis a long,fast,slightlydescending
series edge.However, a bird giving alarm callswas seeninof short notes (Fig. 1; see also Mayer 1996, 1st reside this forest,so it seemspossiblethat birds go
cording).It resemblesthe songof the Amazonian from the forestinterior to the edgeto sing. Other
Antshrike (Thamnophilus
amazonicus),
but is louder. taxawithin the H. macularius
groupappearto occur
Thesongis veryunlikethesongsofothertaxawithin
primarily in terrafirme forest (M. and P. Isler pers.
the Hylopezus
macularius
speciesgroup (Fig. 2) and
comm.),soits habitatsetsauricularis
apart.
alsois unlikethe songof any otherspeciesof HyloThe only other ground-dwellingantbird that I
pezus(S. Maijer unpubl. data, Ridgely and Tudor found with auricularis was the Black-faced Antthrush
1994).I heard a call consistingof a quicksuccession
(Formicarius
analis),which occurredwith auricularis
of two or threemelodiousnotesfollowedby a shorter, lower-pitched
note(Fig.3A; seealsoMayer1996, onlyinsidethe forest.It maybenoteworthythatno2nd recording)and another consistingof a single where aroundRiberaltadid I hear the conspicuous
berlepnote (Fig. 3B; see also Mayer 1996, 3rd recording). songof the AmazonianAntpitta (Hylopezus
Bothcallswere alwaysheard at dusk and were the schi).
I recommend
thatspecies
rankbereconsidered
for
last soundsof the day that I heardfrom the diurnal
on thebasisof its distinctiveplumageand
birds in the area. The more elaboratecall (Fig. 3A) auricularis
unique song,which is supportedby differencesin
also is used when the bird is alarmed.
habitat with other taxa in the maculariusspecies
group.I proposethe EnglishnameMaskedAntpitta,
basedon its distinctiveplumagecharacter.
E-mail: 100046.537@compuserve.com
FIG.1. Songof Hylopezus
(macularius)
auricularis
recordedin responseto playback,1 April 1994,Riberalta,
Beni, Bolivia (11ø02'S,66ø06'W).
1072
October1998]
ShortCommunications
1073
1 kHz
A
A
8
FIG.3. Calls of Hylopezus(macularius)
auricularis.
(A) Excited bird at 1000, 12 June1995. (B) Bird at 1845
(dusk),28 March 1994.Bothrecordingsmadeat Riberalta, Beni, Bolivia (11ø02'S,66ø06'W).
0
1
2
lkHz
Acknowledgments.--I
thank Bernard Geling and
DouglasKnappfor greatcompanyin Riberalta;Billy
Taborgafor collectingmy specimen;PerEricssonfor
comparingmy specimen
with thefouroriginalspecimens;Mortonand PhyllisIsler,TorbenDabelsteen,
JonFjelds•,and Bent-OttoPoulsenfor otherhelp;
and the recordistsfor their recordings.
LITERATURE CITED
GYLDENSTOLPE,
N. 1941. Preliminarydiagnosesof
c
somenew birds from Bolivia. Arkiv for Zoologi
33B, No. 13.
FIG.2. Songsof other taxawithin the Hylopezus
GYLDENSTOLPE,
N. 1945. A contribution to the orni-
thology of northernBolivia. KunglicaSvenska
maculariuscomplex.(A) H. m. macularius,
25 FebruVetenskapsakademiens
HandlingarSeries3, No.
ary 1996, Serra do Navio, Amap•, Brazil (01ø00'N,
23(1).
52ø20'W),recordedafter playbackby Tom Gullick;
MAYER, S. 1996. Bird sounds of Bolivia [Sonidos de
bird wasnot collected.(B) H. m.paraensis,
25 SeptemAves de Bolivia; CD-ROM]. Bird SongsInternaber 1996, Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso,Brazil (09ø41'S,
55ø54'W),recordedby Andrew Whittaker;bird was
not collected.(C) PresumedH. m. diversa,21 August
1985, Pithecia Biological Station, Peru, (05ø05'S,
74ø35'W),recordedafter playbackby Robert Ridgely; bird was not observed.
tional BeslotenVennootschap,
Westernieland,
The Netherlands.
RIDGELY,R. S., AND G. TUDOR. 1994. The birds of
SouthAmerica,vol. 2. The suboscine
passerines.
Universityof TexasPress,Austin.
Received
17 January1997,accepted
20 May 1998.
AssociateEditor:J. S. Marks