Carlos Bethancourt's Original Report, on behalf of Tino Sanchez.
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"Hello every one I hope each of you is doing well.
I just wanted to share with you a great sighting of an Antpitta, observed by Faustino Sanchez
at Canopy Lodge on Dec 05/2007. On Dec 5th around noon, I got a call from Tino Sanchez (C Lodge Guide).
He reported me an Antpitta sighting, in an army-ant swarm around 10 am. Tino and Vince Parslow from the U.K were
looking at the Rufous-Vented Ground-Cuckoo plus others birds around the swarm when both of them saw a bird that jumped
near the ground. Tino said, this is an Antpitta, so they both followed until they could get great views of it.
The bird look like a Thicket Antpitta, but I think is a juvenile, on the pictures you can see the fulvous belly plus
reddish-brown primaries, you can also see on the picture a small white line under the throat, dark-grey back.
I am attaching the pictures taking by Vince they are not great photos but good enough to id it.
I will love to hear your thoughts about it."
Carlos Bethancourt, senior guide, Canopy Tower and Lodge.
- "That is a really great find! The Canopy Lodge keeps getting great stuff.
I think it is a Scaled Antpitta based on the dark legs, dark throat with moustachial stripe,
the scaled upperparts, and the extensive ochraceous of the underparts. In the photos though it does
look more like Hylopezus than Grallaria in shape and size."
Dr. Dodge Engleman, co-author Where to Find Birds in Panama and other volumes
- "I'm afraid I have to agree with Dodge that this looks more like Scaled Antpitta from the photos-
for all of his reasons and especially because of the white "necklace" visible in one of the photos-
but we also can't really judge size from the photos, and, lacking field experience with this species
I can't say what variation in plumage and bare-part coloration juvenille H. dives might exhibit.
Did you try playback?"
Ken Allaire, Proprietor, The Canopy Report
- "...did you consider Scaled? That’s what the bird looks like to me.
Note the extensive bluish tones on the crown, nape, and upperparts, the bluish eye-ring, the extensive scaly
look above, the dark throat and pale buff collar on the lower throat. And the color of the underparts
(such as can be seen) is darker than most Thickets and appears to be more extensive. At the very least,
it is not inconsistent with the color below of Scaled. In addition, I think it more likely that
Scaled (princeps) would show up in Coclé since the range of princeps is known east to Veraguas.
Don’t you think this is another of those taxa whose known range was east to Veraguas before Coclé benefited
from all the intensive birding over the past few years?."
John Rowlett, Founder and Guide for Field Guides, Inc.
- "I agree with Dodge that it's Scaled rather than Thicket Antpitta, based on
the characters he mentioned, and also the relatively thick bill and buffy
white line across the bottom of the throat."
George Angehr, co-author Where to Find Birds in Panama and other volumes
- "I can't remember if you all mentioned, but presumably you have tried
trolling some tape for this bird? If not it sounds like that ought to be the
next order of operations. Obviously if you can get a response or better yet,
get a recording of the thing sounding off that could settle the matter
pretty quickly. (There are some Thicket Antpitta cuts on xeno canto.) I
wonder if a younger juv. Scaled might appear smaller, but I also wonder
whether Carlos' original idea of a juv./fledgling Thicket can be ruled out.
I'm not familiar with either Scaled or Thicket, but it seems that those who
are agree that this bird appears much more similar to a Scaled, while those
that saw it believe it's too small to be that species. To my, relatively
inexperienced, eye I must say that I thought structurally it was not too
dissimilar to a Hylopezus, but looking at the various imagery I can find,
agree that plumage-wise it looks better for a Scaled.
Sounds like we need sound. Then everyone should know for sure, or we can
begin invoking more radical ideas."
George Armistead, guide, Field Guides, Inc.
- "I talked to Tony this morning and he tells me this bird was half the size
of a Black-crowned Antpitta and Tino has seen the BC many times. This rules
out being a Scaled Antpitta because the Scaled and the BC are about the same
size. Tino tells me its size resembles more a Streak-chested AP.
So we are back in square one."
Raúl Arias de Para, Proprietor, Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge
- "Dr. Angehr says: "Thicket Antpitta is not found west of the Canal,
except in Bocas del Toro." And I say, "Why Not?". That's a pretty big range gap,
and if the western population is truly geographically isolated is it also
reproductively isolated? One of the most fascinating things about a number
of the discoveries in El Valle and Altos del Maria in recent years is that
the species found have often 'closed the gaps' a bit. H. dives might in
fact occupy a seldom-visited piece of the Caribbean slope somewhere between
Bocas and the Darien, and we all know that El Valle plays host to a bunch
of "Caribbean Slope" species. That having been said, I strongly agree that the photos indicate a
Scaled Antpitta- but I also know darned well that Tino knows the size difference
between the genera, so we may, as Raul said, be back to square one. George
Armistead brought up the same point I did a couple of days ago- give
playback a chance! A good vocal recording would settle the matter. And I
hate to drop the H-bomb, but are there known occasions of antpitta
hybridization? (Not that I consider cross-generic breeding likely, just
had to toss it out there). I hope you have good luck in relocating the
bird and getting 360-degree views- since none of us could view the video,
maybe there are useful stills."
Ken Allaire
- "Of course, it is possible Thicket Antpitta could be in El Valle. It has
recently been found in other places where it was not previously been known
to occur. But the possibility that a bird might occur is not evidence that
it does occur.
We are not "back to square one." The bird in the photo shows field marks
consistant with Scaled Antpitta, and which contradict it being Thicket. The
only evidence advanced in favor of it being Thicket is the apparent size,
which is notoriously difficult to estimate in the field. As I said, if it is
in fact a small bird it is possible that it is an unusually small Scaled. I
see no evidence from the photos to support it being a hybrid"
George Angehr
- "I'd forwarded on these pics to Bret Whitney a while back to get his
impression and just received the note below. He agrees with John, George, &
Dodge that it is a Scaled. That's a pretty impressive well of experience
from which we've drawn, and it seems a pretty straightforward ID to those
familiar with the species. Again, perhaps a juv would appear smaller but I
think George's cautionary note about the difficulty of judging size in the
field is important to keep in mind."
George Armistead
- "Well, very interesting... It looks to me like Scaled -- crown slightly
grayer than rest of upperparts, edges on wing-coverts and mantle feathers,
slight eye-ring, white chest-crescent above darker area -- and overall shape
and posture looks like Grallaria more than Hylopezus (but lack of obvious
moustachial streak makes me wonder if it's a juv Scaled...). Also, I think
it's quite conceivable that Scaled could occur around Canopy Tower, and go
undetected, but not Thicket.."
Bret Whitney, guide, Field Guides, Inc., discoverer of an average of one new avian species per year for two decades
- "Looks like Scaled to me, despite Tino's estimation that it was the
size of a Hylopezus. The bird is clearly scaled across the crown,
nape and mantle; the head looks pretty slaty; and the little bit we
can see of the underparts looks pretty strongly ochraceous. I'm a bit
intrigued by what looks like obvious wingbars -- not sure how that
jives with whatever race of Scaled is there (That in itself is a major
question, since El Valle sort of falls between the published ranges of
G. g. princeps of Costa Rica & W Panama, and G. g. chocoensis, the
form found in the Chocó of Colombia and up into Darien.). At any
rate, the only two Hylopezus possible would seem to be eliminated:
dives occurs only in Darien and Bocas (as far as I know), and it
shouldn't look distinctly scaled above (unless there is some strange
juvenal plumage that I don't know about); perspicillatus should show
pale streaking on the back, and even at this severe angle, I think
we'd see more of a spectacle. What I can see around the eye suggests
a bare (partial) orbital ring, which matches well with other
subspecies of Scaled that I have seen. Another good bird for El Valle!
Hold the presses! I just now discovered that you forwarded 3 photos and not just 1. Photo #2 (the profile) cinches the ID as Scaled, based on the creamy-white crescent at the lower border of the throat -- absolutely classic for this complex. Furthermore, based on this photo, I'd be tempted to assign the subspecific identity to princeps (which is more strongly rufescent on the underparts) -- either that, or an as-yet-unnamed subspecies. Actually, princeps makes more sense to me for El Valle, which biogeographically seems more like an extension of the Chiriqui massif and less like anything to do with the Chocó."
Kevin Zimmer, guide, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, author of numerous papers and books regarding neotropical birds
- "Sorry for the delay in commenting on these pictures. (I have been working in Ecuador these past few weeks,
and only just returned to a very cold and snowy northern New Hampshire.)
In any case, for a variety of reasons, these photos unquestionably show a Scaled Antpitta,
so I entirely agree with Dodge. In any case, a great find - and at least in my (extensive) experience,
unusual at an antswarm. Some years ago I was shown the purported nest of a Scaled Antpitta on the lower slopes of
Cerro Gaital (as noted by Goerge in his excellent "finding" book), but I gather they haven't been located much
(or at all?) in the area since.
Also, having a regularly seen ground cuckoo at Canopy Lodge is incredible. To put this in perspective, I have spent over three decades working on birds in Ecuador, where there occur three Neomorphus spp., and have yet to see a single example of even one of them. We are indeed fortunate to have a place like Canopy Lodge with forest supporting such a rare bird."
Robert Ridgley, authorA Guide to the Birds of Panama
